The Valley is an amateur film made by then fifteen-year-old Peter Jackson

Peter Jackson

Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...

 in 1976 with his friends. It was strongly influenced by the films of Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen

Ray Harryhausen is an American film producer and special effects creator...

. It was filmed silent on a Super 8

Super 8 mm film

Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....

 camera and was shown on children's television show Spot On

Spot On (New Zealand)

Spot On was a New Zealand Children's Television series which aired between in 1973 and 1988. The format was a weekly show with three presenters. Commonly one presenter was replaced each year...

.

Plot synopsis

The Valley is about four prospectors who walk into a valley and unwittingly enter a rift in the time/space continuum. As they journey down the valley, one of the prospectors (Ian Middleton) gets taken away by a Harpy

Harpy

In Greek mythology, a harpy was one of the winged spirits best known for constantly stealing all food from Phineas...

. Another prospector (Peter Jackson) falls off a cliff. The two remaining (Ken Hammon and Andrew Neal) have to fight and destroy a Cyclops

Cyclops

A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...

. They build a raft, float across a lake and see a building in ruins. This ruin, unbeknownst to them, is the Beehive

Beehive (building)

The Beehive is the common name for the Executive Wing of the New Zealand Parliament Buildings, located at the corner of Molesworth Street and Lambton Quay, Wellington...

 building of Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

 city – they haven't travelled back in time but ahead into a Post-Apocalyptic world taken over by mythical beasts.

Credits

Starring

• Andrew Neal (Prospector #1)
• Ken Hammon (Prospector #2)
• Ian Middleton
  Ian Middleton
  Ian Middleton was a New Zealand novelist, who made a made a particular mark with his books set in post-Second World War Japan. Born in New Plymouth, he was the younger brother of noted New Zealand short story writer O. E...
  
   (Prospector #3)
• Peter Jackson
  Peter Jackson
  Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
  
   (Prospector #4)

• Directed by Peter Jackson
  Peter Jackson
  Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
  
  , Ken Hammon, and Andrew Neal
• Special Effects by Peter Jackson
  Peter Jackson
  Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
  
  
• Cinematography by Peter Jackson
  Peter Jackson
  Sir Peter Robert Jackson, KNZM is a New Zealand film director, producer, actor, and screenwriter, known for his The Lord of the Rings film trilogy , adapted from the novel by J. R. R...
  
   and Ken Hammon

External links

• http://www.badtaste.co.nz (Dead Link)