Nazis, zombies and cyborgs: the maddest film ever made in Scotland is finally coming to a screen near you

It took three years, a tiny budget of £10,000 and the help of some of the world’s hardest rockers and a literary icon to make Scotland’s “maddest film”.

Robbie “Steed” Davidson, 46, from Kirkcaldy, initially thought his budget would easily pay for Dick Dynamite: 1944, an action-packed Second World War film featuring Nazis, zombies and cyborgs.

Failing to get money from UK film bodies, the guitarist – who currently plays for Scots punk legends The Exploited – had to raise the budget through crowdfunding. And he appealed to rockers from Queens of the Stone Age, Rancid and Electric Six, as well as Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh and Game of Thrones’ Clive Russell, to complete the film.

It was also a family affair with his kids and even his mum appearing.

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He used guerrilla tactics to feature a Spitfire and C-47 Dakota planes which would have cost thousands to hire and had to sell some of his guitars by the end of filming to make sure he could complete it.

Robbie said: “Before we started I thought 10 grand was a lot of money to make a film. Previously I’d made short films for practically nothing, roping in friends, family and guys that I know who play in bands. This is largely what I did with Dynamite but on a larger level.

“In hindsight I didn’t know what I was doing. A film on our budget should have a minimal cast and be set on one location to save on cost.

“But I wanted to make a grandiose action film so I had a big cast and we were all over the place – bars, theatres, airfields, underground bunkers, sugar silos, abandoned hospitals, hotels, churches and even a Victorian toilet on an island.”

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While the UK failed to show any interest in it, Dynamite was snapped up by an American film company and has enjoyed sold-out screenings Stateside. Catching up, the film is now available in the UK on streaming sites like Amazon Prime or to buy on DVD and Blu-ray at supermarkets and HMV.

Robbie decided to do the bulk of filming in his home patch of Fife and started in 2019. It took three years to shoot, mainly because of Covid and the minimal budget which meant he could only film at weekends. But the Kingdom was a fantastic playground of old bunkers and outdoor coastal defences Robbie could use for backdrops. He is full of praise for his home turf.

He said: “When the film got going, it gathered momentum, a real snowball effect, and the local community was so supportive that they decided to get involved. From a local business supplying vats of coffee, to friends’ cafes making enough chilli to feed an army and a local paint shop donating paint for our sets. That being said, we did run out of money towards the end and I may have sold a few guitars to keep us going.”

The idea for his feature film debut, Dick Dynamite: 1944, came to Robbie when he was on tour with The Exploited. Looking around on a plane at what people were watching, he wondered what Saving Private Ryan would be like if it starred Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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His story is set in the dying days of the Second World War, with Nazi scientists hatching a plan to turn the population of New York into zombies. To stop them, the Allies call on Austrian maverick Dick Dynamite, played by Snars – the drummer in Certain Death, another band Robbie played in – who battles Nazis, zombies and ninjas across Europe.

It has the hallmarks of a future cult classic and looks more expensive than it was, with great special effects and some heavyweight war paraphernalia including era-defining planes.

He explained how he got them in his film for nothing: “The Spitfire was shot at a local airfield in Scotland but the big planes from D-Day were stopping off at Prestwick on their way to Normandy for the 75th anniversary. I used to work in TV so I managed to bag some press passes.

“I knew I’d be able to film the planes on the runway but getting to film inside the planes would be a different ball game.

“The plan was hatched to arrive in my friend’s DeLorean. When we pulled up, all the pilots came running out and asked if it was real and wanted to have their photo taken with it, to which I asked: ‘If it’s OK to film on your plane tomorrow?’ and they obliged. I had some actors on standby and we came back the next day to film their scenes.

“It was incredible, although when it started to rain, all the spectators ran for cover and we were able to film a great all-in-one-take shot with multiple planes and vehicles.”

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Most low-budget films have a small cast but Robbie managed to rope in lots of faces rock fans will know. Before lockdown he was playing guitar in a package tour featuring eight bands. He packed a blue screen and filmed many of them while on the road. He also asked friends who were playing in Scotland, like Nick Oliveri from Queens of the Stone Age or Dick Valentine from Electric Six, to film.

Friends of friends helped him secure Irvine Welsh, who played Bond-style villain Mikael Leznik. Robbie said: “I knew he knew of The Exploited as he wears an Exploited T-shirt in both Trainspotting movies. He’s been very supportive and professed that it’s a miracle any indie film gets finished in this climate, never mind one with such ambition and tiny budget.”

Clive, 79, who has appeared in Game of Thrones and Outlander, and plays The Abbot, couldn’t believe what the film achieved.

Robbie said: “He said what we’d pulled off was miraculous and one of the big action scenes alone should have cost the same as the budget for the entire movie.”

Robbie also roped in his family. Eldest daughter Cammie helped on the make-up for Welsh and the zombies, second daughter Lucky worked on editing and effects, son Harry played different characters including a Hitler youth, and youngest Ava, three, also got a part. Their mum Val played leading lady Agent Jennings, while Robbie’s brother Shaun played another main character, Dash Dalton.

Robbie laughed: “My wee mum, Margo Davidson, got mown down in a hail of machine gun fire by cyborg stormtroopers.”

His dad Geoff, an artist for the likes of Iggy Pop and Motorhead, helped make props and wrote some of the parts. But during filming he was knocked over on his Harley Davidson and died after 17 days in hospital.

Robbie said: “We filmed for such a long time three other cast members died and my Uncle Jack, who put money in the film, passed away from cancer. He was too ill to appear in the film so was immortalised on screen in the form of Uncle Jack’s Whiskey.”

Americans have already labelled Dick Dynamite Scotland’s craziest film – quite something from a country that’s brought the world the likes of Dog Soldiers and Trainspotting.

Robbie said: “I’ve heard a few times that Dick Dynamite is the maddest film to come out of Scotland. I didn’t set out to secure such a great moniker.”

However, Robbie does despair at Scotland’s “permanently closed doors” to grassroots films.

He said: “Filmmaking in Scotland should be for everyone and there should be help out there to help nourish this talent. Scotland has a long history of fantastic storytelling and filmmakers need encouraged – not shut down. Not everyone wants to be a runner on Outlander; some people are incredibly talented and have their own stories to tell.”

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Recently playing in South America with The Exploited, Robbie hasn’t been put off making films in Scotland and is working on new projects, but he doesn’t think he could go through making a DIY film again like Dick Dynamite.

The rocker, who quit film school in Edinburgh in 2000 to play with The Exploited only to return to finish his studies a decade later, said: “While we may have had the time of our lives making a film for three or four years at weekends, it also took over my life and cost me a relationship.

“People say to me I’m living the dream, I’m touring in these amazing and incredible countries, whether it’s with the band or the movie, and they might see me on social media hanging out with superstars, or rocking out on a big stage, or filming in the Hollywood Hills, but the reality is I’m as skint as the next man. I don’t have a proper home right now or even a car.

“Without proper funding, I don’t know if I could endure another movie like Dick Dynamite.”

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Dick Dynamite: 1944 is out now on Blu-ray, DVD and digital as well as to buy and rent on Amazon Prime, iTunes, Sky Store, Virgin and YouTube