Martin Amis's novel Dead Babies, written in 1975, is very much of its era - there is mind-bending drugs, experimental sex, violence, blood and terrorisism. William Marsh's adaptation will feature all these, but with the surprise addition of the internet.

    As the director and screenplay writer told Hush Hush, the decision inclusion of the internet was "one of those eureka ideas".

    Amis's dark tale is of a group of friends staying in an English country house. In the film the terrorist group has become a virtual gang, a global killing circle which posts photographs of the murders they have committed. One of the friends is a cyber killer who's just itching to update the group's web page.

    Marsh had originally intended the film to be set in the 70s, but time got the better of him. Six years of "being rejected for funding by every major film company" meant that when the money finally came through he felt that his best ideas had been nicked and that he had missed the retro boat. Marsh duly rethought his approach to the novel and brought the setting up to date with the internet playing a central role.

    Producer Richard Holmes told Hush Hush that "it's impossible to "rumble who the murderer is" among the 10-strong ensemble cast featuring belle du jour Olivia Williams and Gangster No 1's Paul Bettany.

    Considering the movie's nine-year gestation period, and the fact that Dead Babies marks his first feature film, Marsh is surprisingly relaxed. "I don't feel any pressure," he insists. He also acts in his film, but found no conflict between the two jobs. In fact, he found it "easier" to do both, as it meant "one less person that you've got to direct".

    As a self-confessed perfectionist, Marsh does admit, however, to feeling frustrated by an "incredibly tight shoot" - he has just six weeks to complete the filming.

    Amis himself has been supportive, though detached, throughout. "His basic attitude was just 'good luck'," says Marsh, who told the writer of his plans for the book at a signing session in 1990.

    The film currently goes under the working title of The Martin Amis Project. The film-makers have found themselves at the mercy of the "so, so conservative" distributors - who fear that some people might find the title offensive, despite the fact that it features not a single dead infant. Marsh noted that it is almost certainly the American audiences who are a cause for concern with their penchant for copycat violence. Either that, or he'll have the anti-abortionists after him, he jokes.

    Marsh admits that the book's sick humour appeals to his sensibilities. Whether audiences will agree remains to be seen.