A troubled couple takes in a stray cat hoping to rebuild their marriage only to have the pregnant animal spawn evil monsters in Moggy Creatures, an upcoming horror film from Scott Frazelle.

When did your journey on the film begin?

I decided to pursue it as a full feature in December 2013.  I commissioned Julian Ledger, a fantastic sculptor and creature creator, to come up with a design that matched the physical attributes necessary for the story I wanted to tell, and he just ran with it.  He came up with designs very quickly, and got an initial sculpt done just as fast.  Once I had that, it really spurred the creativity and I found myself working on it a lot while working for other projects.

Do you remember how it all came to be?

I had written and published a short story in 2010, just keeping the creative juices going, about a litter of kittens that mutate and become monsters.  The story stuck with me as I continued working on commercials and films, building highly specialized mechanical props.  At one point I realized that between my writing, my time in around the camera, and the return of demand for high quality Practical FX in feature films, I had all the elements right in front of me to make a good horror film.  Plus, I knew a lot of seasoned, creative people to fill in the gaps, and they were all quite ready to make an ambitious horror project a reality.

What initially interested you about it?

I was looking at pictures of hairless cats on the internet, and seeing just how freaky they are, and I thought to myself “if people can tolerate that kind of visual change but still think of them as pets, how much more could change?”  Could they get bigger?  More aggressive?  Be dangerous around all other animals or people?  And what would that do to the people that insisted they’re still just cats?

How did you pitch the cast?

The cast is a combination of actors I knew of that had perfect qualities for the roles, and great new finds.  Michael Moon, Sadie Katz, Joshua Bermudez and Joette Marie all brought just the right amount of something to their roles in the filming of the trailer/proof-of-concept reels, and I hope they are available when the time comes to move forward with the feature.

What elements of the story can you relate to?

The elements wonder, of pure curiosity for the unknown or perhaps unbelievable.  People naturally want to let their minds wander just a bit into the mysterious, or stretch their understanding of what’s real into imagination.  And, I think we can all relate to loss of loved ones, and a feeling that there are forces beyond our control affecting our lives.

How would you describe the tone of the movie?

Heavy.  Dark.  This isn’t going to be a campy or comedic film, this movie is intended to be a bit of slow burn that builds to an explosion.  I want the monsters to be the culmination of some very real elements of human existence twisted into something perverse.

Do you think the horror genre is in a healthy place right now?

Horror is in a solid place right now, for sure.  Movies like Saw, and Paranormal Activity whet the corporate whistle for quality writing combined with low budgets because they made great returns.  This opened the door for more titles and in my opinion, the indie filmmakers are responding.  Some claim the genre is saturated, but every time I start to share that opinion, I find a great indie horror with a new take or new delivery, some directors showing some real skills by refusing to follow mundane tropes.  And the audience is growing, because horror has gone mainstream with American Horror Story, Penny Dreadful, and Stranger Things all making their presence known.

What next for Moggy Creatures?

Crowdfunding this coming January 2017.  Based on the response we’ve gotten from the trailer, I’m confident we can raise a large enough percentage of the budget to get the project up and running, and find an appropriate investor and/or producing partner.  I expect to be in production in April of 2017, working towards a release date of Halloween.  Anyone interested in following the developments can sign up for the newsletter at moggycreatures.com.