Interview with Olivia Rose Beatty, writer & director of Lived Once Buried Twice: The Legend of Margorie McCall

Written and directed by Olivia Rose Beatty, Lived Once Buried Twice: The Legend of Margorie McCall (2025) is a morbidly humorous short film which brings to life an old County Armagh folk tale about premature burial. It marks the directorial debut of Beatty, who grew up in Lurgan – the town where the tale originates. As the old yarn goes, some time in the 18th century a woman named Margorie McCall, who lived and worked in Lurgan, died after a brief fever. During her wake, mourners tried in vain to remove her wedding ring. Margorie was buried in Shankill Graveyard and, that very same night, was exhumed by robbers who had heard she was buried with her precious wedding ring. Also unable to remove the ring, the desperate ghouls tried to cut off Margorie’s finger. As soon as they began cutting, and the blood began flowing, Margorie awakened with an unearthly scream. Having scared off the graverobbers, Margorie proceeded to make her way home and gave her husband the shock of his life... Her headstone still stands in Shankill Graveyard to this day, and it bears the eerie inscription, 'Margorie McCall: Lived Once, Buried Twice.'  

Lived Once Buried Twice was filmed over two days on location at the Ulster Folk Museum and in Lurgan’s Shankill Graveyard, Cellar Bar and the director’s grandmother’s back garden. The short stars Lára McIvor as the unfortunate Margorie, and Maitiú McGibbon and Marcellus Kearney as the ghastly graverobbers. It has been receiving acclaim and awards at various Irish film festivals, including the Louth International Film Festival, where it premiered, and Belfast’s Cinemagic On The Pulse Film Festival. It has also been screened internationally at film festivals in cities such as Chicago, Omaha and Toronto, where its amalgamation of Gothic chills and dark, typically Irish humour has delighted audiences. Lived Once Buried Twice was released to YouTube at Easter, which is appropriate enough for a film about resurrection. Beatty, who currently works as a production coordinator, very kindly took some time to have a chat with me about her directorial debut, the old folk tale it’s based upon, and the current appeal of Irish horror cinema.

What can you remember about the first time you heard the story of Margorie McCall, and what made you decide to adapt it for the screen?

I feel like it's a story that most generations in Lurgan have grown up with, and it’s almost a tradition to pass the story down through the years so that the legend of Margorie stays alive. In terms of my earliest memory of it, I can definitely remember one of our primary school teachers spooking us with the story! It was around Halloween in 2023 when I was telling the story to someone at work and I thought that it could be a good idea for a short film. I then sat down and wrote my wee script one night for fun, and I didn't think about it again until I was scrolling on Instagram months later and saw NI Screen advertising for their Short Film Funding Call.

And it was through NI Screen you got the funding for your production?

Yes, every year NI Screen opens their Short Film Funding Call, which allows you to submit your script to be considered for selection. I submitted my script in June 2024 along with a budget plan and a pitch deck that included visual references and storyboards. I didn't hear anything for months so just assumed it hadn't got picked, but then in October I got a lovely email saying it had been selected for the funding and I was delighted! Then it was all systems go to get it made.

Writer and director Olivia Rose Beatty (centre, with clapperboard) on location with cast and crew

What sort of challenges did you face during filming and how did you overcome them?

Naturally every production has its challenges as you are depending on a lot of things to go right at certain times, but we had an amazing cast and crew that pulled out all the stops. I work in production departments in the film and TV industry so I'm used to organising different elements for shoots, however, it was really fun to get to make the creative decisions as well, and it definitely put things in perspective of how much a director has to think about - like style, tone, shot setups, costume choices etc. I definitely learnt a lot and I can't wait to do it again.

I particularly enjoyed the dark humour in your screenplay; I wasn’t expecting it. What made you decide to lean into the morbid absurdity of the story?

I think us Irish are great at seeing humour in grave situations, especially this one! Every time someone tells the story of Margorie McCall it always gets a few laughs, whether it's due to the irony or the absurdity of it, and I liked the idea of presenting that in the short. I thought the mourners in the wake scenes - our Greek chorus - would be a great way to represent this dark humour, as wakes sometimes are the funniest places. Also, for such a dark and disturbing story about getting buried alive, I thought it would be best to keep it light, haha.

It’s such a striking looking film with a really earthy, Gothic atmosphere. What made you decide to film in black and white, and were there any works of horror cinema that inspired your visual and creative choices?

The decision to shoot it in black and white was heavily inspired by Universal's Golden Age of monster movies, for example, Frankenstein (1931) and Dracula (1931). With the story being a bit of local folklore and legend, I wanted it to look and feel like a classic horror film that has been around for years just like the story. The old Hammer Horror films also influenced the opening title sequence. I think the red titles, in the same font as the titles on Stephen King's book covers, really stands out against the black and white, and it's a fun and punchy way to immediately introduce the audience to the world of the story.

For me, the 'pièce de resistance' is the shot of Margorie suddenly waking up in her grave and the terrified reaction of the graverobbers. How did you set about filming this absolute perfect moment of Gothic terror?

We shot the establishing location shots in Lurgan's Shankill Graveyard and then we filmed the "resurrection" scene in our own fake grave out at my Nanny's house. My mum and dad's friend Paddy has a digger, and he actually dug a six-foot grave out there! We then lowered in a coffin and the actors climbed down into it. It took a few takes to get the timing of Lára's scream right with the lightning strike, and the first take we did of it was really funny as she screamed too soon and scared the life out of everyone, especially our graverobbers, Marcellus and Maitiú! Fair play to the cast and crew involved as we shot this short in two days in January 2025 and it was freezing - I think it even snowed one day.

Irish horror cinema is really having a moment right now with the likes of Aislinn Clarke’s Fréwaka, Kate Dolan’s You Are Not My Mother, Lynne Davison's Mandrake and Brendan McCarthy's Caveat - to name but a few - all receiving critical acclaim. Why do you think Irish horror is more prevalent now than ever before, and what do you think it is about our stories and folklore that can make for such effective horror cinema?  

Fun fact - I actually worked on Fréwaka. I was the Assistant Production Coordinator on it and spent the summer of 2023 filming it in a very spooky house in Dundalk. My friend Róisín Browne, who produced Lived Once Buried Twice, was the Associate Producer on Fréwaka as well. We had really good craic making it.

You're right, Irish horror cinema is 100% having a moment right now. I think it intrigues audiences because our culture, music, mythology etc. are widely embraced all over the world - probably due to the huge diaspora - but these films are a significant step away from how worldwide audiences have perceived our folklore in the past. The stories of the fae are a lot darker than Disney's versions and the happy-go-lucky St Patrick's Day leprechauns. Like many cautionary tales, they are dark and sometimes disturbing therefore they fit the genre of horror perfectly, and it’s fun to see them made in modern settings or linked with current topics or themes. I think it's also great that we have such a selection of interesting characters and figures to choose from when it comes to our folklore: witches, vampires, faeries, shapeshifters, banshees, kelpies. It means filmmakers can get really creative when bringing these ancient creatures and spirits to life.

What's next for you?

This is the most popular question I've been asked these days, haha! After the lovely response that Lived Once Buried Twice has got, I'm itching to make another short film. I need to get my thinking cap on and get working on the next idea.

Watch Lived Once Buried Twice: The Legend of Margorie McCall on YouTube.

Read my review of Lived Once Buried Twice: The Legend of Margorie McCall here. 

Read more about (and see some photos of) Shankill Graveyard - and the tale of Margorie McCall - here.