Paul Andrew Williams is about to start principal photography on Cherry Tree Lane, his follow up to the hit and miss slasher comedy The Cottage, and his gritty urban debut London to Brighton. According to the short piece over at Screen Daily, the film is being produced by Williams' own Steel Mill Pictures, with funding from the UK Film Council. Plot-wise, we're told it's a home invasion thriller, with a couple terrorised by a gang of youths on the trail of their son (wonder what he did?). Difficult to predict the final tone though, given the director's previous. There's nothing especially wrong with The Cottage, but many felt it was an odd direction to take after London to Brighton's social conscience and verite style: a bit like Ken Loach deciding to follow up Poor Cow with a Hammer Dracula. No clues from Williams either, who says that "Cherry Tree Lane is tense, harrowing and disturbing, and how these elements are handled, dramatically and cinematically will determine the final style of the film." Which is odd because it suggests he doesn't know quite how it's going to turn out. If he goes the horror route, this will be on Last House / Strangers territory, and gangsters turning up at your house is actually one of The Cottage's rather weaker plot threads. But Williams' claim that he'll be "bringing social issues to the fore" sounds more downbeat, like a Brit Funny Games, with some of Eden Lake's chavs-are-gonna-get-ya paranoia thrown in. Now that would be an ordeal. | 
