Interview: Director Braden Croft Talks FEED THE GODS

Braden Croft - I made Hemorrhage in 2010, that's when we started shooting it. It was such a long haul from start to finishing that film. In the meantime I had all the scripts going and after the premiere at Fantasia there was such a solemn response - a good one, but a solemn response - I had to do something light. Something a little quicker and try and dig myself out of the hole of this one tone serious sole maker sort of thing. 

This first story was supposed to be a found footage film, very stock and dry. At that time the whole Bigfoot found footage thing was not overdone. Then Bobcat's movie came out as I switched it to a traditional narrative. The story itself is a mix of a lot of my favorite films,  Wicker Man and the folk tradition to it. so all of these things came together and stitched the what Feed The Gods was supposed to be

The Intention for me was to go for a broader tone. I didn't want to get too far into exploiting the Bigfoot as a traditional creature feature with the big kill scenes. So I aimed for a little more creepy town vibe, a little more mood to it. As far as standing out, I wanted it to be something that doesn't treat Bigfoot as a central piece as a normal monster film, more on the periphery and give it a deeper back story and more meaning and intention. A lot of the Native American lore has a recurring wild man. What if the wild man was the Bigfoot? Add a little bit of tradition in the town and that's where the horror came from.

I would say they are two extremes.The goofier one being my more by lighthearted side, the serious one being my professional side, move on and grow. It is a headbutting match between those two. It wasn't so much stock characters but a broader representation of my own character. Who was going to win out in the end? Will there be a mutual understanding between brothers? That was the heart that I wanted to inject into it. I do agree with you that it is the centerpiece of my film. More more I'm starting to think, "My God. It's a detriment to the traditional creature feature to steer away from the creature and steer towards people in the story".

Guys like Tyler (Johnston) I met through a girlfriend, who was a popular actress in her own right at the time. It was great to bring them all into the fold. I still don't know how Sean got the script but he wanted to be part of it. It feels great to see talents that I watched as a camera boy in the room come towards me for the project.

Yeah, bullet in the heart to be honest. A close friend of mine, Will Vaughan, wanted to make a film together then things just exploded from there. I had lost touch and we got modest funding and we're, "Great!We're going to get going!" I had a couple of people in mind when it was a found footage film, Brittany Willacy and Will. Then we went away from the found footage picture for the new traditional narrative that Feed the Gods became and I could not get those two. Those are my two main ones. Next thing I know Shawn Roberts and these other guys from these X,Y and Z shows came to me and it was exciting but also sad to lose Will and Brittany.

What didn't I learn on Hemorrhage. A lot of what not to do's. A big part of it was finding people to do the job that I had to do on Hemorrhage, only much better, like getting a DP. And it was the first time I worked with a modest sized crew. Finding people that do what they do best, and me as a director communicating that. 

Nat I knew through Travis who was our special effects guy. Travis made the creatures. He knew Nat through his comic conventions that he goes to with this company. I met with Nat and we were just three cool dudes who have the same vision. Add a bit of I'll scratch your back with some artwork and try to put you out there and help with the concept. I'm still obligated to that

I gave Travis strong direction because I knew what I did not want to be like, a very strong ape presence. I wanted to give it more of an Uncle Boonmee (Who Can Recall His Past Lives). That is what I wanted to pursue which is really just a man with a whole mess of hair. Travis pushed me towards something a little more abstract, with the nose, chin and pronounced browse it still had to be Bigfoot but I wanted it to stand apart from the traditional massive forehead and lumbering giant. I would say that Travis' initial take was too human, I wouldn't be scared of it by it. It would freak me out. 

His second stab at it was amazing. He made a small bust that we put on the Indiegogo page. That casts the initial found footage costume which ended up changing six months later when we shot the very ending where Will faces off against the wild man. That was in the dead of winter and that was prosthetics. Travis really just Frankensteined what he did on a small scale on the bust and applied it to an actor's face. It all kind of came together

The traditional Bigfoot films?

For me I do love elevated genre film. The Stanley Kubricks. The Rosemary's Babys. All of these things done by directors where it seems like they all do one great horror film. Friedkin with the Exorcist. When I watch a lot of the Bigfoot stuff it's all of the exploitation. It has it's place and I respect that, but I didn't want to go down that route. And I didn't want to compete with higher budget films that can actually pull off amazing kills that the crowd screams over. That is something that wore on me and pushed me away from most Bigfoot films with the same routine and I've been watching horror films since a kid. I'd rather take the chance and push it in a new direction even if it fell. At least the intention was there.

Bigfoot films were never huge draw for me which was part of the challenge but I didn't want to go in blind. Legend of boggy Creek is a must. When it was made that was the best at the time. If I  was to be honest I was more inspired by the Patterson Gimlin footage. Contemporary films, Willow Creek was one. And the one with Bishop from alien Lance Hendrickson, Abominable. When I approached my film I asked myself what pushes my mind into a Bigfoot area without ripping off all of the Sasquatch lists. So Uncle Boonmee is one that isn't a Bigfoot film but at the same time I'm like, "Wow, this meets what I want to do with mine".

Man, my head is so firmly planted in the next script and I feel bad because people want to talk about what I just did and that was like a year ago. Wicker Man was huge. That whole folk tale. I was watching a tonne of John Landis films at the time but that was more for the found footage film; American Werewolf in London and Schlock.

The next one is way darker, way more emotionally all over the map. It would be like it took the setting of The Shining and mixing it with the story of Hard Candy, between the young woman and a professional. Random Bench (Feed the Gods production company) wanted me to make this one before Feed the Gods. I am talking with a few people. The script is about three quarters done and I am just try to find the best home for it right now.