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A star-studded creature feature that wowed audiences at FrightFest’s 25th anniversary event is finally getting released for the public to enjoy.
The Invisible Raptor, starring Lord Of The Rings and The Goonies icon Sean Astin and It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia’s Sandy Martin, never actually shows you the titular monster.
As the title suggests, the film follows a raptor invisible to the naked eye. An experiment gone wrong that escapes the scientific facility it was raised in to wreak havoc on the sleepy town of Spielburgh County.
It’s up to washed-up paleontologist Dr Grant Walker (Mike Capes) and his loner security guard co-worker Denny Danielson (David Shackelford) to track down the apex predator following the disappearance of Elliot Kintner (Luke Speakman), a regular at Dr Walker and Denny’s dinosaur-themed attraction Dino World.
The unique horror comedy previously appeared at FrightFest Glasgow, earning itself an impressive 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes with critics praising the film for its ability to ’embrace its silliness’ and its ‘genuinely entertaining gore.’
It now sits at a still impressive 71% after its festival run, and for those intrigued by the unique premise, The Invisible Raptor will be available for digital download in the UK from September 8.
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Apple TV, Amazon Prime Video, YouTube Movies, and Rakuten will all have the movie available for viewers in the UK.
Speaking to Metro.co.uk, lead star Mike Capes and writer Johnny Wickham explained the complexities of creating a creature feature with no visible creature.
‘We were like, well, this will be a breeze. We don’t even have the Raptor,’ Wickham said. ‘We don’t even have to show the Raptor. But it turns out you’re making an Invisible Man movie.
‘You have to be very aware of the Raptor’s presence in the scene. So you’re doing floor effects, moving the banisters, and knocking trash cans over.
‘As an actor, too, you had to act as if a raptor was there. We didn’t have a stand-in for the raptor. We didn’t have like a green screen, so we’re just pantomiming everything.’
Capes shared details about one particular scene, which sees Dr Walker, his sweetheart Amber (Caitlin McHugh), and Denny subdue the raptor.
‘We had got a huge favour from an incredible VFX artist, a guy named Dorian Cleavenger, who had a bunch of great suggestions, and really helped us finish the movie.
‘One scene that we had written was a nod to Jurassic Park, where Dr Alan Grant (played by Sam Neill) lies on the Triceratops, which is breathing underneath him. So we wanted this scene where I would lie on the invisible raptor when it’s sedated.
‘We were trying to think of different ways without having a harness with a bunch of wires and cables that we would have to take out. I was at Mike Hermosa’s (director) house, and I was brainstorming the scene, and I looked at his couch, and he had just enough space under his couch to wedge my feet.
‘I asked him to sit on the edge of the couch, bearing weight on it. And so I was able to have my feet held by the couch and lean my body way out so it looked like I was floating.’
However, there was one problem – the scene in question was set in a deserted street. So the crew had to get creative.
‘I talked to my Gaffer and I said, “Is there a way we can bear some weight in this street?”. And he actually bolted some straps into the concrete in the middle, and then these straps went up around my boots.’
The duo spoke about the star-studded cast they got on board, and how they wrote the hilarious character of Henrietta McCluckskey based on Sandy Martin, with no other actor in mind.
‘You know, a lot of the actors were friends. Sandy Martin knew Mike (Hermosa) very well. She did a movie with him before, so Sandy was on board from the get-go,’ Capes shared.
‘We wrote Henrietta McCluckskey for Sandy; there was never anyone else in mind. Her demeanour and personality meant she was just completely in that character. She was the person the whole time.
‘She’s as fun off-screen as she is on-screen. Everything out of her mouth is funny to me. I laugh at everything. She was a great sport. I mean, she was down to do anything.’
Wickham added: ‘Sean Astin, it was pure luck. I feel like that was one of those universe gifts. We didn’t know who we were going to get.
‘He was everything you would want him to be on set. He was amazing, giving suggestions like this was his movie too. He was having a blast with us. It was so much fun.
‘He also knew from his experience acting since he was a kid what was going to make it on camera. He knew the moves to make, and after certain scenes, he’d say, “That’s going to make it into the trailer.” And it did.’
‘We got Richard Riehle, Larry Hankin, all these character actors you’ve seen in legendary films,’ Capes continued.
‘We also had Dante Basco reprise his role as Rufio in the police station. If you blink, you miss it, but he comes through. He’s just such a great guy, and he really loves the characters he played, so he dressed up as Rufio for us and did a little bit in the police station.’
The Invisible Raptor will be available for digital download on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube Movies, and Rakuten from September 8
A version of this story was published on August 23, 2024
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