Atomic Robot News: The Meyer Brothers Turn "The Legend Of Grassman" Into A Feature Film

The Meyer Brothers Turn "The Legend Of Grassman" Into A Feature Film

Written By: Ken Hulsey
Sources: Tyler Meyer / Avery Guerra

I know that I have really beaten the fact that there are a plethora of Bigfoot movies being made out there right now into the ground, so I'm not going to force you to mill over the ever growing list yet again.

That being said, I am going to make note of one of these films that I touched on in a prior article called "The Legend of Grassman."

Now, I know that your head may be swimming from trying to keep all of these films straight, and I wouldn't want to pile another one on you, but this one looks pretty damn good, so I think that it deserves mention.

Tyler and Dennis Meyer began work on the film back in 2008 after they had just completed work on the script for a 19th century vampire film called, "Consumed". The pair debated for some time whether to try and tackle the project for their first foray into feature films, but ultimately decided to try something with a smaller budget.

The eager film makers set to developing a script based on a local, Ohio, legend about the 'Grassman', a hairy relative of Bigfoot that was first sighted by white settlers in the mid 1800s.

Being veterans of both the movie and television business really helped the pair in preparation for taking on such an iconic monster as Bigfoot. Knowing that they would have to 'get it right' if they wanted any success with the film, the Meyer brothers did their home work.

Director, Tyler Meyer, explains, "When it came to Bigfoot, which has been done to death in movies, we took our inspiration from our childhoods. We were kids in the 70’s and grew up on stuff like 'The Legend of Boggy Creek' and 'In Search Of…' That stuff was freaky. And it was absolutely real to us. And that’s what we decided to try and capture with our film, the 'real' Bigfoot. We watched a lot of 70’s Bigfoot films, horror films, documentaries, mockumentaries and also immersed ourselves in Bigfoot folklore.".

Dennis also did a lot of research on animal behavior to add a realism and authenticity to what otherwise would be a two-dimensional monster caricature.

The result is that this will be the Bigfoot film we wanted to see since we were kids sitting around watching Leonard Nimoy and wondering if he needed corrective surgery to fix the points on his ears. "

Once the film making duo felt that they had researched enough to make a believable Bigfoot, they moved on to pin-pointing just what they wanted the basis of their film to be.

Meyer adds, "The film is kind of a mixture of a 1930’s jungle adventure, a 1980’s slasher movie, and a 1970’s Bigfoot documentary. The films that have influenced us on this project come from all different eras and genres, but early on Dennis and I focused on Jaws as the type of movie we wanted to emulate. Our prior horror efforts, including Consumed are dark, grim tales, which we enjoy, but didn't feel that tone was what we wanted in a Bigfoot film. We agreed that Jaws had a good balance or horror, comedy, and adventure which we are attempting to capture. "

Not wanting to pour too much money into their first effort, the Meyer brothers discovered an innovative, yet effective, way to shoot a quality HD film, on a shoe-string budget.

Last fall, armed with a Panasonic DMC-GH1 camera, which is actually a still photography camera that shoots HD video, and a relatively unknown cast, the pair took to the woods near Lebanon, Ohio to begin filming.

Harsh winter conditions forced the filming to halt, but the Meyer brothers are gearing up at present to complete work on the production later this spring.

If all goes according to plan, "The Legend of Grassman" will be ready for the film festival circuit by September. After that the Meyers will be looking for a distribution deal.

Hopefully "The Legend of Grassman" will be successful enough to pave the way for the film makers 'dream' project, the 19th century vampire film, "Consumed".

From what I have seen from the film, it should do just that.

Here are two trailers for "The Legend of Grassman" plus a bundle of shots from the location filming: