IN The Lord of the Rings, they are mysterious and terrifying black-cloaked villains that are guaranteed to give children nightmares.

But according to two young Bolton filmmakers, the evil ringwraiths are not quite so scary in their free time.

Twins and former Thornleigh Salesian College pupils Michael and Paul Clarkson, aged 24, have made a short spoof film showing the wraiths bickering about their task — and now it is an internet hit.

They shot the parody in Rivington and posted it on YouTube, where it has already attracted more than 77,900 views.

The Fellowship of the Ringwraiths, which is just short of five minutes long, gives a comical insight into what the ringwraiths get up to when they are not hunting hobbits in The Lord of the Rings.

The film was also posted on The Lord of the Rings fan website One Ring Net and Michael said he even got a message from Mark Ordesky, executive producer of The Lord of the Rings trilogy via his YouTube channel.

He said the message from Mr Ordesky read: “I love this, Michael! Do you mind if I share it to my exec friends in LA? Very clever and well done!” Michael said: “It’s a little strange when Hollywood execs personally e-mail you about your work — it’s just great knowing that all the hard work is paying off for everyone involved.

“We’re just hoping to entertain and make people laugh really.”

The film was written and produced by Michael and Paul, known as The Clarkson Twins, and their friend Gemma Hurley, who also went to Thornleigh.

This year Michael has written four more films, including a short film which he took to the prestigious Cannes International Film Festival in France.

Michael, who now lives in London, said: “At the moment we’re concentrating on a comedy series and features — we’ve actually written a series inspired by Bolton Library called Overdue — but ultimately aim to write and direct multi-genre across all platforms.”

By day, the pair have full-time jobs with Paul, who lives in Derby, working as a nuclear physicist at Rolls-Royce and Michael producing the London Screen writers’ Festival.

The pair have also created a Star Wars/Disney parody which features Yoda helping to motivate Luke Skywalker by singing him a musical-style ditty.

They also featured in an episode of John Bishop’s Britain in 2010, appearing as themselves.

n Watch The Lord of the Ringwraiths on The Bolton News’ website.