Big Meat Eater

I was able to attend the invitation-only midnight world premiere of this at the Van East Theatre. Several of the cast members were in attendance, but I was unable to spot Big Miller, who played the title character. He was based in Alberta, but used to come to Vancouver to sing on local telethons.It was originally to be called THE BUTCHER OF BURQUITLAM, which is what the town it took place in was called in the film. The area where the two British Columbia cities of Burnaby and Coquitlam meet is sometimes referred to as "Burquitlam." In reality,however, BIG MEAT EATER was shot in and around the town of White Rock. The music was provided by a variety of local artists, including UJ3RK5 (pronounced U-JERKS)who were a bizarre "art band" active in the Vancouver punk/new wave scene at the time. I wish I could remember more about the movie itself. It had to do with a butcher who hires a big,possibly homicidal guy to be his assistant. Some space aliens(portrayed by a pair of deliberately obvious toy robots)are attracted to the shop because the left over meat, which the butcher disposes of in acid, makes an ideal fuel for their space craft. They refer to the substance as "balonium." A friend of mine worked in a local animation studio creating subtitles for the aliens' dialogue. As I recall, the film was low-budget, goofy and cheerful. It looked like the folks involved were having fun.

Aliens locate a rare radioactive element under the butcher shop in a quirky Canadian town being stalked by a mysterious, fez-wearing, singing, murderous meat-cutter of unusual size. The film is a Canadian entry into 'internationally bad' genre: camp films angling for cult status that were usually marked by poor special effects, amateur acting, excessiveness, and meta-humour - all deliberate. Since the intention is to subvert most of the criteria by which films are judged, all that remains is whether the move is a witty/clever satire ('Big Meat Eater' is not) and/or whether it's entertaining/enjoyable (personal taste). 'Big Meat Eater' has a couple of interesting song and dance numbers, and blues-musician Clarence 'Big' Miller is amusing in the title role; otherwise, it's a silly time-waster that will only appeal to fans of the genre (of which I am not).

Well, its a weird one. And I don't mean weird like Crispin Glover. I'm talking presidential pig mask, live-action Thomas Hart Benton painting, astronaut dairy farmer weird, people.... Anyway, this flick comes from the outer ring of the 80's, and was probably originally conceived as a stage production, in the vein of "Little Shop of Horrors." Of course, weird is a good thing, and I can't say I had a bad time here, but I left "Big Meat Eater" on a bit of a confused note, not really absorbent of what I just witnessed. There really is some nut-ragious stuff in this one, like a 500lb B.B. King look-alike in a shriner outfit, Boy George vampire vocalist, and enough meat-related gore to show up H.G. Lewis. Throw in Ed Wood-style flying saucers, wind-up toy aliens, and 4-5 pretty righteous musical numbers, and you are gravitationally close. The story involves a Rivers Cuomo look-alike, who is commissioned to head up some sort of citizen's committee, after the town's mayor is killed and then resurrected via alien possession. Meanwhile, a scientist and his father work to construct the town's futuristic sewage treatment facility, which is secretly destined to be the launchpad for the aliens' invasion. Add into the mix some Croatian fortune tellers, Troma-flavored camp, and an intergalactic Oldsmobile, and you've got the fixins for a B-movie headscratcher that really defies description. Recommend some irradiated, lobster-clawed dwarfs, eagle-eyed bongwielder princess, and bathtub absynthe with this one. ---|--- Reviews by Flak Magnet

I saw this movie at Staines ABC cinema (I don't think it's there any more) about 1985-1986. It was a late night double-bill, with 'Videodrome' being the main feature. I remember the movie being quite bizzare, and pretty funny. Still remember Abdulla's song with the raw meat, and the part of the butcher's opening song 'Meat to please you, Pleased to meet you!'. Clever. Videodrome seemed quite mild in comparison!

Utterly, utterly indescribable...but I'll try anyway.

Okay...a friendly butcher in a small town discovers that the meat he is discarding in his basement has turned into the super-energetic element Baloney-ium.

The mayor of the small town fires Abdullah, the stoker for the city hall furnace. Abdullah gets angry and kills the mayor. He hides the body in the butcher's shop.

A youthful inventor builds a spaceship out of his car, but needs an energy source.

Aliens descend from the skies and turn the mayor into their undead slave. He breaks free from the butcher shop and acquires a prosthetic limb - an egg beater hand.

The town is celebrating their centennial. The undead mayor hires the butcher to design a "Town of the Future" pavillion (actually an alien landing site) and gets the father of the youthful inventor to build it.

Abdullah is hired as the butcher's assistant and starts serving up the town's residents and dogs.

The youthful inventor is changed into mutant and later poses as his fortune-teller grandmother to...I give up.

And so on. Big Meat Eater is actually quite funny...lots of singing and dancing numbers, horrible production values, the cheapest aliens of all time, and a climatic space battle at the end.

Hardcore jazz fans may recognize Abdullah as "Big" Miller, the Alberta jazz-man. Seeing him on film, it's very easy to see where he got his nickname. He's one of the largest men I've ever seen who could still walk around.

The only real criticisms I have of it is that it tries too hard in spots...sometimes it becomes a little too much of a self-conscious spoof. Also, the sound quality is poor at times. Abdullah is often inaudible, as is the inventor's sister.

This movie...well, it's a hidden gem to say the least. I know of only two other people who have seen it. Once in a very rare while it will be shown on late-night Canadian TV. I have it on tape, if anyone's interested in getting a copy.