'I was always a fan': Damian McCarthy on having Severance star Adam Scott in his horror in West Cork
Adam Scott in a scene from Hokum by Cork filmmaker Damian McCarthy.
Shot in his native Bantry, Damian McCarthy’s last film, was a major international hit, lauded by film critics as one of the spookiest horrors of the year in 2024.
It was the kind of success that proves to be a career changer — yet the former electrician turned filmmaker couldn’t have anticipated the actor at the top of his wishlist for his next film would soon be shooting in his backyard. Fresh off the streaming sensation and cultural phenomenon that was its star Adam Scott was one of the many film fans who had found — and loved —
Scott was happy to swap the dystopian corridors of the multiple Emmy Award-winning show for the woods of Castlefreke in West Cork. He stars opposite a prolific Irish cast in McCarthy’s latest horror.
sees Scott play a reclusive novelist who retreats to a remote Irish location to scatter his parents’ ashes. At the inn where he’s staying, tales of a witch haunting the honeymoon suite takes hold in his mind — as disturbing visions and a shocking disappearance draw him into a nightmarish confrontation.
Though he never writes parts with actors in mind, McCarthy was glad to have the US actor, also a star of , onboard. “I was always a fan of Adam,” says the Co Cork filmmaker.
“I think he can get away with playing characters that maybe aren't that likeable, but you still root for. He has a charisma or charm that allows him to be a little bit cheeky and to maybe not be the most pleasant guy, but still you're on his side. I had seen and I just loved it. I thought Adam was so good in it. I was making my little lists at the time, and there weren’t many names.”
It happened that both men are on the books of the same US talent agency, and Scott had already been wondering what “the Oddity guy” was working on next. “He was here for the bones of two months,” says McCarthy.
“He very much soaked up all the local atmosphere, and very much got that Irish experience. He was the only American in the cast, all of the rest of the cast are Irish. It's nearly all Irish crew. I think he got a real authentic West Cork, Irish experience, very welcoming. He speaks fondly of his time here.”
Indeed he does. The American actor recently told the Guardian: “It’s difficult not to feel at home when you’re in Skibbereen in West Cork. I got to stay at the Liss Ard estate, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. And the people are the loveliest. No matter who you are, you’re going to feel at home there.”
McCarthy has assembled a strong supporting cast including Michael Patric, David Wilmot, Peter Coonan and Florence Ordesh for the film, shot primarily at West Cork Film Studios. Other locations include the famous Caha Tunnels outside Glengarriff connecting Cork and Kerry, and the woodlands around Castlefreke.
A bonus of filming in the region where he grew up, McCarthy has found, is the location has become part of the appeal for cast and crew. “When we shot and after work or if people aren't travelling home for the weekend, they go off and explore Cork, and they all come back on Monday with with these stories of: ‘I visited here. This happened.’ The social side of it is a really big part of where your studio is based.”
has plenty of humour among the chills — the circumstances in which one character meets their demise is a standout — and it’s already playing well with audiences. The filmmaker is delighted that people are responding to the humour as well as the scares.
“If I tell people I make horror films, sometimes they'll say: ‘I'll never watch it because horror films scare me too much’,” says McCarthy. “One of the biggest compliments I can get is if somebody watches one of my movies and says: ‘Well, I usually don't like horror movies, but I really liked that one’.
“My approach would be never to traumatise an audience. I'm very much trying to have the film be entertaining. When you get to the end of it, it's given you a few scares. Hopefully some of the imagery will stay with you. I never want to disturb an audience, definitely give them a good jolt but on top of that, try to lean into the silliness of it a little bit.
“The idea of a character hearing a noise in the dark basement and then going to investigate it. Why would you do this? Don't go down there! But then you want them to — that’s where that nervous laughter comes from.”
McCarthy’s love for horror was first honed through the shop his father ran in Bantry, John McCarthy Electrical. In the 1980s and '90s, it included a video rental business, and he became fascinated by films including and by John Carpenter.
"It was seeing Sam Raimi’s for the first time — a film he still loves — that made him first ponder on the possibility of a filmmaking career.
“The film is essentially one man trapped in a cabin for the night,” he says.
“I was going: ‘Okay, maybe if you did get your friends together and you didn't have any contacts in the film industry and you didn't have any money, maybe something could be made’.
" remains a masterpiece, and it had a budget, but it was just the concept of it, of one man trying to survive until dawn. When I first saw it, it just completely cracked something open for me.”
McCarthy studied filmmaking at St John’s College in Cork and began making short films in his free time while working with his father as an electrician. But filmmaking was rarely far from his mind, and he hoped making a feature film would help him establish a career.
His debut, 2020’s was well received but filmed at Bantry House, proved to be an even greater game changer.
The story of a blind twin and psychic who arrives at a remote house to investigate her sister’s death went international, winning numerous awards on the festival circuit and being widely released. The movie currently has a 96% positive rating on international review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes.
McCarthy is currently writing his next feature, a haunted house story which will also be filmed in West Cork. The establishment of West Cork Film Studios has proved to be a huge benefit for filmmaking in the region, he feels, and he plans to keep filming in his home county.
“It's always been my goal, even after the little bit of success with , when I was being offered to go abroad to shoot stuff, or shoot other people's scripts. I really want to stay in Ireland and tell Irish stories here with Irish crew, Irish cast, as much as possible.
“Having the studio here I really think is what made happen, because it meant that I could shoot in all these areas that I was familiar with, bridge that gap between West Cork and Hollywood, in a way, and start bringing actors here, which is something I hope to do again next year.
“I plan to make as many films as I can locally in Ireland, even if the films aren't set in Ireland. If I'm writing something that's set in the States, I still want to film here and build it as if it's taking place somewhere else.”
- is released in Irish cinemas on Friday, May 1
