But a new movie from London-based independent filmmaker Coz Greenop gives the iconic building a chilling makeover.
Titled Dark Beacon, the psychological horror-thriller – which is currently touring cinemas in the UK – features Skins star April Pearson as Amy, a jilted lover who must rescue the pre-teen daughter of her deranged former partner from a haunted lighthouse.
‘The film is a horror movie but everything looks so pretty, which definitely wasn’t in the script,’ said Mr Greenop of his and producer Lee Apsey’s screenplay. ‘But the setting ended up playing to our advantage because the beautiful scenery tied in with the film’s themes of love and loss, grief and guilt.
‘April did an interview for Comic-Com recently and she said that Jersey was one of the most stunningly beautiful locations she’d ever worked in.’
Dark Beacon was filmed over the summer of 2016 and Mr Greenop, who is from Wakefield, said that he was surprised more filmmakers hadn’t take advantage of the scenery that the Channel Islands has to offer.
‘They are beautiful and it’s cheaper to travel from London to Jersey than it is for me to get a cab from my house to Oxford Circus,’ said the 31-year-old writer-director. ‘I think maybe one of the reasons that filmmakers don’t shoot in the Channel Islands is because you don’t qualify for BFI tax breaks. In the UK, we get a 25 per cent tax break, but not in Jersey, and I can imagine that might be off-putting for filmmakers with bigger budgets. But for us, as a low-budget production, money isn’t the be all and end all.’
The Island’s previous involvement with the film industry has been patchy, with the States channelling thousands of pounds into the infamous The Knights of Impossingworth, a fantasy film which was due to be shot primarily in Jersey with Malcolm McDowell and Bill Nighy in leading roles, but which ultimately never materialised.
On a more successful note, Fierce Creatures – the 1997 follow-up to A Fish Called Wanda – saw directors Robert Young and Fred Schepisi and stars John Cleese, Michael Palin and Jamie Lee Curtis shooting many of the film’s standout scenes at Durrell Zoo.
