THE team behind a successful Dorset-made zombie film have gone on to shoot a vampire follow-up.

Fanged Up is a comedy horror about a prison where the wardens are vampires and the inmates are their prey.

It stars Daniel O’Reilly, better known as the controversial comedian Dapper Laughs; former EastEnders star Danielle Harold; and professional wrestler Stu Bennett.

It comes from director Christian James and writer-actor Dan Palmer, both graduates of what is now Arts University Bournemouth.

They were brought onto the project after the DVD success of their Zombie film Stalled, which was shot in a barn in Wimborne.

Dan Palmer said: “That did quite well for us and we got great reviews from various industry magazines and the DVD sold really well.

“There was this pre-existing script called Fanged Up. The producer making that wanted it to be re-imagined and they saw Stalled and thought we would apply the same basic approach to the vampire genre.

“The production was already financed, some of the cast were already in place.”

Director Christian James said: “I would liken it to going on a very fast train, laying the track out in front of you as you go.”

The film was made at the former HM Prison Kingston, in Portsmouth.

Dan Palmer said Daniel O’Reilly plays “a lovable rogue who’s unfairly put away in prison for two days”.

He added: “When he’s taken to prison, he discovers that it’s run by vampires and the inmates are being used to feed the vampires.”

The film also features the acclaimed stage actor and Hollywood regular Steven Berkoff.

“I wrote him all these big, flowery speeches and the first day when he came on set and started reciting my dialogue, it was a real experience seeing a Bond villain and the star of Beverly Hills Cop, Rambo and all these recognised stage productions speaking my dialogue. It was surreal,” said Mr Palmer.

Mr James said he was expecting the film to face criticism because Dapper Laughs had been a controversial character.

“When we head our initial meeting, I was adamant we would make a Dan O’Reilly movie but not a Dapper Laughs movie. Dan would agree that character’s day has been and gone,” he said.

“I felt the knives would be out to some degree because Dapper Laughs is a divisive character. I was aware that the film could be seen as an acquired taste. But the reviews have been so far pretty good.”

Fanged Up is on sale on DVD in major shops such as Asda and HMV, as well as being available to stream via Amazon's Prime Video.

Meanwhile, Stalled – in which Mr Palmer played a handyman hiding in a toilet stall from a zombie apocalypse – is still proving popular, partly because its Christmas setting encourages people to re-watch it each festive season.

“It’s up there with The Grinch and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” said Mr Palmer. “We should probably just make films around popular holidays.”