A Battle of Monsters: The Butcher Brothers on the Chilling Duality of CONSUMED

Image Courtesy of Brainstorm Media

By Shannon McGrew

In CONSUMED, the latest film from The Butcher Brothers, a married couple finds itself trapped between a madman (Devon Sawa) seeking revenge and a skin-stealing monster and must find the strength to fight their way out of the woods alive.

For the release of CONSUMED, Creepy Kingdom's Shannon McGrew spoke with director Mitchell Altieri and producer Phil Flores, otherwise known as The Butcher Brothers. During their chat, they discussed everything from the challenge of merging a cancer story with Wendigo folklore to the intense, practical effects that bring the horror to life on screen.

Thank you both so much for speaking with me today. It's been a hot second since I last watched a movie that featured the Wendigo. Can you talk about how this project came to be?

Mitchell Altieri: The screenplay was written by David Calbert and that's really where it all started. We looked at the script, and we felt that it was amazing. It had so many different layers, and it was this opportunity to try to tackle the very complex folklore of the Wendigo and also deal with this woman's battle with cancer. It's a very in-depth, personal story that David wrote. He had a parent dealing with [cancer], and I think that really drove him to write this amazing story that coupled so well with the lore of this Wendigo, this woman dealing with cancer, and this cannibalistic creature that eats you from the inside out. Seeing that and being able to rise to the challenge to create a fun, thrilling horror film with an in-depth story of this woman falls into these deeper subtexts that we've all dealt with personally.

As the horror unfolds, the film shows the ever-evolving dynamic between Sawa's madman character and Courtney Halverson's Beth. How did you know Sawa and Halverson were the right actors for the role?

Phil Flores: Actors bring so much to the screen themselves, and you have to cast for the part a lot of times. Devon and Courtney were both in mind for these roles. I know Mitch had been thinking about Devon from day one after reading the script. He fits into the character really well, and not only that, but he's such a wonderful person to work with, which made it very easy. When he comes on set, he brings an immediate presence. He was that mysterious character the whole time, which is what you want from Devon Sawa.

Courtney Halverson and Devon Sawa in CONSUMED

Knowing you were approaching a film with a cancer story and a Wendigo, how did you merge those elements for the screen?

Mitchell Altieri: David did an amazing job of using the Wendigo to represent this horrific disease. But then the challenge that Phil, I, and the filmmaking team had was how to make a fun, thrilling creature feature work that tackles this really intense thing. We approached it with that in mind in the sense that we'll create this Butcher Brother-esque world of gore and horror and jump scares and this and that, but as Phil said, allow the actors to do what they do best. You could almost remove the whole horror aspect of this, and it would be a story of dealing with this horrific disease.

One of the most impressive moments of the film is when we see Courtney's character, Beth, caught in a noose. Can you talk about preparing for that scene and making it as realistic as possible?

Phil Flores: Very tenderly and carefully handled with several professionals and stunt people. For me, reading that in the script was one of the draws of the story because you're not sure what will happen after that point for her. I won't give it away, but the story changes course when she hangs from that noose. It also touches upon all of her fears, battling her exterior and interior threats simultaneously. It was definitely a focal for the story. We took many days to make sure that it was set up correctly.

Mitchell Altieri: We had an incredible stunt team that was actually a family. Dejay Roestenberg was our main stunt coordinator, but her father, husband, and daughter are all stunt people. You've seen them in tons and tons of TV shows and movies, so we were in amazing hands. A lot of stuff in the movie was done practically, and you would see Phil and me and Jeff Allard, the other producer, hiding behind the monitor and were like, this is too real [Laughs]. Dejay really handled all of that so well.

Phil Flores: Speaking of the practical aspect of filmmaking and shooting the forest, it was pretty much all practical. The creature was practical. All the effects were practical, though we brought a little bit of CG to some parts of the creature that I don't want to give away for the story effect. However, it really was a team effort. You can't do this alone. So many great people surrounded us.

Lastly, what are you most excited for horror fans to experience with this film?

Mitchell Altieri: I hope you can kick back and watch it and get a fun thrill ride of a creature feature. But if you decide to really peel back the layers, we leave it up to the audience to really dive into this cosmic horror and wonder what's really happening. Is it even real? Is this just in her head? Is it in the madman's head? Are they really hunting and chasing and fighting the same creature?

Phil Flores: I'd say it's an elevated creature feature, and enjoy it for what it is. If you want to see more into it, you can, but make sure to enjoy the ride.

CONSUMED arrives in theaters and On Demand on August 16, 2024.