BRAVEHEART, Rob Roy and Harry Potter are hard cinematic acts to follow. But the story of an egg that hatches into the Loch Ness Monster has provoked a huge response from American filmgoers who now want to visit its legendary Scottish home.
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep was launched in the US at the end of December to an enthusiastic response from critics and viewers and was released in the UK this weekend. So far, VisitScotland, the national tourism agency, has logged 42,000 hits
to its official film website and has already had 9,000 queries from potential US visitors seeking more information about the Loch Ness area.
The success of the film is expected to bring a bonanza to the area in the same way that earlier Hollywood films with strong Scottish themes and identifiable locations attracted thousands of visitors from around the world.
In Drumnadrochit, the main village on the loch's west bank, local businesses have already joined forces to market a Waterhorse ticket, which includes entrance to the Loch Ness Centre, a loch cruise and a visit to Urquhart Castle.
"We expect to see the main benefit of increased visitors in about a year's time," said the Loch Ness Centre's managing director, Robbie Bremner.
Ironically, most of the watery scenes involving the digitally created monster and the young boy who discovers the egg were filmed on a lake in New Zealand. However, most of the battle scenes from Braveheart, starring Mel Gibson, were shot in Ireland but it is the area around Stirling, where freedom fighter William Wallace had his best-known encounter with English forces, that has reaped the long-term benefit.
The film – being called the "new ET" – stars 13-year-old Alex Etel, from Manchester, as Angus, and Emily Watson as his mother.
"One in five visitors to the UK is inspired to take a trip by images in films and TV, and we have seen visitor numbers to locations featured in films rise in the past after their big-screen debut," said a VisitScotland spokeswoman.
Films have been made about Loch Ness and its monster before, including 1934's The Secret of the Loch, featuring an underwater beast that gobbles up people and sheep. An enlarged image of an iguana was used to depict the monster.
The best-known film in recent times was Loch Ness, in 1996, which was panned by critics and went straight to video.
Ecosse Films, which financed The Water Horse with £25m from investors, is hoping for a better fate for its film, helped by a worldwide distribution deal with entertainment giant Sony.
