WITH its gleaming Baroque architecture and finely- manicured grounds, Chatsworth House would more likely be associated with a refined costume drama than a blood-curdling Hollywood horror movie.
But the grand country estate, made famous on screens around the world as the backdrop for Keira Knightley's hits Pride and Prejudice and The Duchess, has been chosen as the setting for a new blockbuster remake of the classic 1940s werewolf picture Th
e Wolfman.
The film also features British stars Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emily Blunt while the title role is taken by a snarling, howling, blood-covered Benicio Del Toro, playing an ill-fated émigré returning from America to his ancestral home on the fringes of Yorkshire.
But it was not just the wolf-bitten Del Toro who required many hours in make-up to ensure he looked the part.
Chatsworth itself was given a startling makeover by the 200-strong film crew who descended on the Derbyshire estate for the five-week shoot last year.
With mud smeared across its windows, vines and creepers draped from its roof, crumbling statues strewn throughout the grounds and rough moorland turf disguising its pristine lawns, the semi-ruined estate which features in the movie is almost unrecognisable from the historic stately home which draws in 600,000 visitors a year.
"It was quite extraordinary," said Simon Seligman, head of communications at Chatsworth House. "They spent three or four weeks in preparation here before they started filming, and with the lights and the smoke machines it was amazing to see the scale of the effects."
Chatsworth's haunting transformation continued long after filming, with digital technicians later adding a vast CGI dome to the building's facade for the movie's final cut. Cinema audiences will also be treated to the sight of the centuries-old house burning to the ground in a sea of flames.
"It will be quite strange to see," Mr Seligman said. "The fire scene might be a bit hair-raising for our fire officer to watch, I have to say."
The film is by far the largest-scale production yet filmed at Chatsworth, dwarfing last year's big-screen hit The Duchess, in which Knightley played the Duchess of Devonshire in a period piece about the family who have lived at the house for more than 400 years.
Mr Seligman agreed that The Wolfman marks a radical departure for Chatsworth.
"It's not what people would normally associate with us," he said. "But we judge each film on its own merits. As soon as we saw the cast-list, we were happy to be involved."
The duke and duchess stayed at home throughout the shoot, which took place in Chatsworth's grounds and at a nearby viaduct, though not in the house itself.
"They (the film-makers) asked if the family wanted to move away," Mr Seligman said. "But the duke and duchess said there was no way they were going to miss this. They loved watching it all happen."
Plans to film scenes at other regional locations including Sheffield, Barnsley and Doncaster were dropped at the eleventh hour, however, and the film's release has since been delayed. Originally scheduled to hit cinemas next month, The Wolfman will now come out in February 2010, Universal says.
When the film is finally released, experts say it should provide a timely boost for local tourism.
Emma Hewitt, of regional screen agency EM Media, said: "Chatsworth is an exceptionally good location, and has been used in some massive productions previously. It's becoming a real centre for film-making, because it is so magnificent.
"Being used for this sort of film brings massive benefits. Raising the profile of the location and it being seen across the world has a major effect on tourism. People like to come and visit the locations where these films are made."
Mr Seligman said the Chatsworth Trust will also benefit from the six-figure sum donated by the film-makers, which will be used for conservation and enhancements around the estate.
STATELY HOME'S ROLE OF HONOURPrevious productions filmed at Chatsworth:
n Restoration Roadshow (forthcoming). BBC series on restoration of antiques.
n The Duchess (2008). Keira Knightley stars in Oscar-winning biopic.
n Buildings That Shaped Britain: The Country House (2006). TV episode.
n Jane Eyre (2006). TV series.
n Pride and Prejudice (2005). Knightley takes the lead again in Jane Austen's classic.
n In Denial of Murder (2004). TV series.
n Britain's Finest (2003). TV series.
n Peak Practice (various). TV series.
n The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1986). TV episode.
n Lady Jane (1986) Helena Bonham-Carter plays Lady Jane Grey in period drama.
