
Described as “a love letter to the past” by co-writer and star Taylor Davis, Nightwalkers is a new Australian horror/comedy TV series that pays homage to ’80s films such as The Lost Boys, Fright Night and Dawn of the Dead.
“I love ‘80s [films],” notes creator and co-writer Adrian Castro. “I’m a child of the ‘70s but grew up watching all the ‘80s horror films… so, in 2007 or ’08, I wrote a feature film script version of [Nightwalkers] and it went on from there.”
The feature script, however, didn’t see the light of day until 10 years later when Davis, who plays Sam Corey in the series, asked to read it.
“We met on the set of his first feature film, Hidden Peaks,” Davis tells. “Even though I was born in the ‘90s, I still had a big appreciation for the ‘80s, and it was something me and my dad had bonded over.”
“[Adrian] had said that he had written a script originally for a feature film for a vampire film in Australia, and I was like, ‘Oh, can I read that?’ and by that point, it had been nearly 10 years since he had written it. And so I read it over and said, ‘Oh, this is really cool, we should try and do something with this and develop it more!’”
The series follows Sam and Charlie Corey (Georgina Neville), who are vampire-slaying sisters in Western Sydney dealing with increased activity in the area.
“They are literally awesome slayers who just go around saving everyone, and they don’t need any recognition,” Castro tells.
“Taylor and Georgina are essentially Sam and Charlie; so they wrote their own characters, and it was a joy to bring these characters to life and be able to pay homage to old school horror films.”
For Davis, shifting from make-up artistry to writer and star wasn’t an easy transition at first, revealing it came with some anxiety.
“It’s kind of been liberating, even though I just really hope everyone likes my acting,” she says.
“But we’ve had such a supportive team… I’m so proud of [Nightwalkers] and proud of everyone who’s a part of it because everyone was doing two, three, four jobs and no ones complained, everyone is just super excited to show what we’ve made.”
“Everyone can find something to love about this, whether it’s the action [or] the actors and how much they put into it. It’s literally for everyone.”
With the series premiering on ABC TV and iView on 4 October and then available on YouTube from 14 October, Castro and Davis will attend Supanova 2019 – Adelaide and Brisbane for a special Nightwalkers panel.
“I remember when we went to the Brisbane Supanova a couple of years ago and Taylor said, ‘Wouldn’t it be cool to have a panel one day?’” Castro recalls.
“It’s crazy,” Davis adds. “I have this thing, when I am super excited I like to just punch the air and usually, unfortunately, Adrian is there.”
Lead image: Taylor Davis and Georgina Neville in ‘Nightwalkers’.