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.
Review of Big Meat Eater
