SWINDON comedy horror film Afternoon of The Rat Faced Zombies will premiere at the Wyvern Theatre next month.

After months of work the short film about zombies, which was shot entirely in Swindon and features more than 100 local actors, has been released on DVD.

It is a 20-minute feature about a vat of faulty ale, which turns its consumers into the undead.

The idea came to its creator Vinson Pike after watching a news item on binge drinking.

The Stratton film-maker enlisted the help of friends John Wilson and David Watkins to write the script, before appealing to the people of Swindon to play the undead.

Vinson, 37, said: "It was great fun to film and something everyone really got involved in so it's only right we broadcast it to some of those volunteers too.

"It was a job to turn the filming around, get it edited and out on disk in two weeks but everyone who has had the chance to see it so far has been in stitches."

The two weeks of filming ended with a mob of 70 bloodied zombies storming Rodbourne Cheney Primary School.

During the shoot, the extras - dressed as zombie firemen, policemen, nurses and builders - took over the world.

After an anxious wait while the film was edited, residents will be able to see their silver screen debut on November 17.

The special screening will be open to 600 people at 6.45pm after the Preloader Festival short film competition final planned for the same night.

The film was originally placed in second place as part of the competition but the creative team pulled out to give up-and-coming young filmmakers a chance at winning.

Vinson said: "Anyone who hasn't already bought a copy of the film can get a copy on the night - out the back of a dodgy van in the car park.

"But seriously it would be great for everyone involved to have a piece of the final result."

Vinson and his team are now working on a longer version of the film under the working title 28 Beers Later.

The added scenes would also be shot in Swindon with residents as extras.

He added: "We love the zombie genre and because we're doing a horror comedy we don't have to take it too seriously."

For more information about the film visit www.zombie-film.com/swindon_preloader.htm