Dark Floors - Finnish director Pete Riski's horror project to star 2006 European Song Contest winners Lordi - will receive $405,000 (Euros 300,000) state funding from the Finnish Film Foundation.

Currently shooting at Uleaborg in Northern Finland, starring Mr Lordi, Amen the unstoppable mummy, Awa the vampire countess, Ox the hellbull and Kita the alien manbeast, the $5.6m (Euros 4.2m) Solar Films production - which will premiere locally on Feb 8, 2008 - is mainly using a Finnish cast and local extras.

'We have found a lot of amputated people in the neighbourhood, which was exactly what we were looking for,' said a PR spokesman, who insisted that although the film is being shot in the English language, a celebrity cast wouldn't make any difference in a horror movie.

Scripted by Veli-Pekka Hänninen and Riski, from an idea by Mr Lordi (Tomi Putaansuu), the film follows a father breaking into a hospital to take home his autistic daughter. Suddenly creatures from a dark world start an attack, leaving mutilated bodies all over; survival rests solely on the little girl.

Produced by Markus Selin, Dark Floors will be sold by Nordisk Film International Sales, which has also picked up another two Finnish productions supported by the foundation, including Hannu Kahakorpi's The Novelist and Mari Rantasila's Risto Rapper.

Shooting from July on a $1.6m (Euros 1.2m) budget, for MRP Matila Rohr Productions, The Novelist is the story of a would-be writer who is prevented from reaching his goal by too much work, too little love in his marriage and even less self confidence. The foundation granted $375,000 (Eu280,000) for the autumn 2008 release.

Also lensing over the summer, for Kinotar producer Lasse Saarinen, Risto Rapper is a $1.5m (Euros 1.1m) children's film scheduled for a Feb 15, 2008, launch. The foundation chipped in $540,000 (Euros 400,000).

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