Harmless they may be, but small they are not. We're talking giant Cave Wetas here - big locust-like critters whose body length can reach to over four inches. Wetas were used for some special effects - much to the non-delight of actor Neill Rea who had to put aside his trepidation about getting up close and personal with them. Entomologist Rod Goldswaard (from Wellington Zoo) was on hand to ensure that both the wetas (and Neill) remained calm. New Zealand Cave Wetas are a protected species with a life cycle of about six months.

Another very special six-legged star is a two-horned Rhinoceros Beetle. These surreal aubergine-coloured beetles are normally only found in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands but our ingenious props people managed to track down three of them: buying one from a collector and 'hiring' another two from the Natural History Museum at Te Papa.

But whilst the art department took great care of those insects, we can't claim that no cockroaches were harmed in the course of making of Demons - but they died quickly, and for the sake of art.

So just how do you source clusters of cockroaches? From two separate suppliers - a firm called Creatures Unlimited in Auckland, New Zealand and from a Wellington supplier who breeds them for use in University research laboratories.





Most of the scenes in week three were shot in the glamorous apartment of Harry (Karl Urban) and his girlfriend Celia (Sally Stockwell). But whilst it may be an upmarket, downtown address now, the building has an inauspicious past. Up until quite recently it was an undertaker's premises and the second level, where we were filming, was where the coffins were made.

Scenes filmed in that apartment included a climactic scene involving one of the core cast being wrapped in barbed wire. Or so viewers will think. In a great example of kiwi number 8 wire ingenuity, Production Designer Clive Memmott and his team used pieces of rubber bands, cut up, sprayed stiff and then sprayed silver, to give the necessary, but painless, effect.

Likewise, their inventiveness came to the fore when set-dressing Benny's squat. They utilised a former interrogation room the now abandoned Wellington Police Station. Whilst some of the props they used were breath-taking, the cockroaches were already in situ.

Filming at Victoria University one night brought back fond memories for Producer Dave Gibson who made his first forgettable short film back in the late 70s at the same location. In his little film, the part of a mouse hiding in the ivy - which covers the Hunter Building - was voiced by none other than (now) acclaimed satirist John Clarke.

In fact, during the entire six weeks, the cast and crew enjoyed only one day shooting in glorious sunshine, in the grounds of Government House (the official residence of New Zealand's Governor General). Whilst, at first glance this appears to be a very posh and UN-horror-movie-like location, council records reveal that it was the site of a sanatorium back in the 1880s so we had no qualms about depicting it as a psychiatric hospital in Demons.





A man with no complaints was actor Jonathon Hendry (Le Valliant). His entire night's work consisted of being chauffeured around, in a late model Mercedes and then having to kiss the girl.

Thank God for women drivers! Karl Urban gave the crew a scary moment whilst rehearsing a scene in which he and Benny (Katie Wolfe) are driving towards Le Valliant's lair. The First A D decided to reposition the camera crew closer to the path of the oncoming car for a better shot. Something Karl, who was not wearing his contact lenses at the time didn't initially notice. Luckily Katie did, grabbing the wheel and swinging the car away from the startled crew at the last moment. Needless to say, Karl was forbidden to drive without his contacts from then on.

The two also had to act out some very intense love scenes together and Katie was the first to admit she was feeling pretty nervous. The irony was that Karl probably looks his least attractive in those scenes: 'He's got a cut lip and a cut eye' explains Katie '...and when we did it the first time, his scab came off on my lips so its like "Hey Karl, do you want your lip scab back? Oh, and here's your eye scab too?"'

Speaking of things coming off when they're not supposed to, as well as chains, tattoos and body piercing, the thuggish Lawrence (played by Peter Daubé) also sports an ornate metal finger on his right hand - which frightened the hell out of soundman Ray Beentjes on the first day of shooting. Peter recalled : 'We were in a nightclub acting out this full-on demonic scene of rage with the music blaring and my metal finger accidentally flew off and tapped Ray on the shoulder. He absolutely freaked out!'

Mind you, the waspishly thin Ray got his own back by scaring everyone in his 'extra role' as a 'failed alien experiment' later in the shoot.

Another very special extra was required. For reasons central to the plot (but confidential at this point), a one-armed extra was required for a very specific scene. Where to locate such a man without offending or exploiting him? Our search began at the prosthetics department of Wellington Hospital and through contacts there a surprising number of amputees came forward. Once it was finalised that a man with a below-the-elbow amputation was needed, the man in question performed his vital task with great aplomb.