A Spoiler-Free Synopsis
It’s Halloween in Cavell, Illinois, and four of the most uniquely suited but ridiculously unfocused individuals realize they are at the epicenter of a savage alien invasion. Led by a majestic alpha predator known as Lord Ganark, a randy swarm of savage critters driven by insatiable hunger and unquenchable thirst descends from the heavens to devour all they encounter.
Behind the Scenes: Interview with Director Jason D. Morris
SPOILER WARNING!!! This interview contains a few mild-to-major spoilers. If you want to experience the film without knowing anything about it, please watch it first! The interview offers a detailed look at how this marvelous adventure came into existence. It also details how the cast and crew triumphed over the challenges they faced when bringing this hilarious story to life.
From Idea to Script
Where did the idea for ‘The Space Rodent’ come from? How much did the story change when Robert Carrera began working on it with you?
The original idea was mine, and I even wrote a very, very rough script. But to make this work, we had to split duties. While I worked on preproduction, Rob overhauled the script. Early on, we were going to co-direct — which I had never done before — but we eventually put that idea to bed. Rob ended up playing Mac (which he was perfect for), and I stayed on as director.
The script is very different but also very similar. It’s like the layout, the backbone. The two friends and the overall concept are still intact, but it became much funnier and more chaotic once Rob got a hold of it. He did a fantastic job.
Did you have veto power over any changes you didn’t like?
Part of the deal was he takes over the script, and I give feedback from a producer’s standpoint, plus a wishlist from a director’s standpoint. Then he can take that information and toss what he doesn’t agree with, and keep anything he thinks works. A few things I liked got lost in that process, but the script is far better because of it, too. And I sprung a lot of things on them the day of, so I was still able to fit some of my ideas in there — maybe in a different form, but some of them are still there.
I think the biggest change is that, in my first draft, I had no idea what their “makeshift weapons” should be. So I think I had Mac [one of the four protagonists] running around with a rubber chicken throughout the entire movie as a sort of placeholder. Thinking back on that now… I’d pay to see that version.
The writing was very tight. Several things that happened early on were crucial to the third act. Did Robert figure all of that out, or did everyone help with those details?
Robert did most of the work, laying the groundwork, so to speak. But I did make some logical choices that I really needed to put in there, like the UV lights. That led to the added “black light Christmas party” flashback and linked up to the end cage match.
The ending also originally had a foreshadowing scene that was cut because we were running out of time on set. There was a big sequence where Skyler and Amanda [the female leads, played by Shelby Broadnax and Leah Bernard] get away from Sam [a character who was more than a little sus] and steal his van. When they’re driving off, I was going to have a girl tied up in the back of his van — because Sam really was a creep — and then a rodent gets in and attacks her. That would’ve been the moment they discovered the UV light kills them. But I had to think quickly and adjust that stuff when it started becoming clear we weren’t going to have time to shoot that sequence. It would’ve been a really funny action beat, though.
One thing I should mention: this movie was made fast. Very fast. I think the script was completed in two weeks, barring some minor rewrites. And with that kind of speed, some things are going to fall through. You hope you catch them all, and we did try.
So yeah, in the script, I think it was just flashlights that ended up killing the aliens, but I came up with the UV light idea and planted that early with the girls in the kitchen. Then it led to sunlight killing the big guy in the cage — which was in the script — but the UV lights really solidified the “why.”
Dean’s book [about aliens] was another thing. Initially, it wasn’t as prominent in the movie, so I made sure to fit in a few more moments, like when Skyler mentions that Dean left her an extra copy in her car, and then she throws it out the window. Of course, Dean’s book is prophetic to the film, and that was something Rob had in there — the final line of the script is the title of the book — so I just wanted to make sure it played like the elixir no one wanted, if that makes sense.
So Many Easter Eggs!
There are a lot of fun little details to pay attention to in this movie. For instance, the muffled phone voices give a nod to a certain animated group of kids. How did that come about?
Ah, the Peanuts — yeah, I love that too. Some people get it; others don’t understand it, and that’s one of the things I love about the movie. Mac and Dean are not the adults in this movie, so the script had Dean talking back to the girls. I think something happened, and we didn’t capture the lines we needed, so I came up with this Peanuts “wonk-wonk-wonk” sound for Dean and Mac as a sort of reverse Charlie Brown idea.
What were some of your favorite Easter eggs or references that fans might miss if they don’t watch several times?
I spent a lot of time putting little pieces of myself in the film — things I love, but also things that relate to the movie. There are a bunch of homages and references throughout that I’m certain most people won’t catch or care about, but it’s what really makes this thing funny to me.
If you see The Greatest American Hero on Dean’s wall, there’s a reason for that which goes beyond the fact that aliens gave him the suit. Being an editor, one of my heroes is Chris Willingham [Millennium, The X-Files, 24, Final Destination 3], and one of his first editing jobs was working on that show, so it was a way to play into the story we were telling, but also a way for me to celebrate things that make me who I am.
Another example: Mac and his red hoodie and white shirt. Yes, that’s Elliott from E.T. But again, it’s not just because it’s an alien movie; it’s also because it was the first film I ever saw in the theater. So yeah, a lot of things no one will really care about, but I hope it makes the film a little deeper than the surface material, and gives it a little more rewatchability, because there’s a lot in there.
By far my favorite is a more in-your-face homage, and it was something from my original script and the basis of Mac’s name. I wanted his character to be like MacGyver in the sense that he’s kind of good with his hands, building something out of nothing, so I named him Mac. The montage sequence where they’re gathering courage and weapons, with Mac in the MacGyver wig and Swiss Army knife, is just silly, ridiculous fun that I had to put in. It wasn’t really in the script anymore, and at one point that kind of pissed me off, so it forced me to find a way to get it back in there — and I did.
On the day of shooting that sequence, I sprung the wig on Rob and told him I wanted him to wear it. Most often he didn’t quite get my humor, but he would go with it anyway and do his best. In the end, I got what I wanted, and it worked out better than just a MacGyver throwaway line referencing his name.
Rob was always down for doing those silly things, even if he was unsure about the end result. We always had this agreement that if we could shoot it now, let’s do it, and if it doesn’t work, we can always cut it later.
Casting, Chemistry, & Dialogue
I didn’t see a credit for casting director. Were you guys all friends before the shoot?
Yeah, the core group of us have known each other for years and have worked on projects together off and on. We’ll always be friends — we’re too old now not to be!
However, there was a large portion of people who worked on this film from out of town, and I have to give a shout-out to Morgan Mamilton-Lee, who was my AD, for bringing them all in. He was a very important piece in uniting the crew for this film.
Casting was another beast. Originally, I had planned to cast it, but once we made the decision that only I would direct, and Rob would write (and play Mac), then we started looking at how close-knit we could make this. The only sort of outside role was going to be Dean, until David [Minard], who was going to work sound on the film, showed me a short film he wrote, directed, and acted in. It hit me that he would be perfect to play Dean.
I was really nervous to bring it up with him, and I don’t think anyone else saw it when I pitched it, but the more I thought about it, the more sure I became. Eventually, I talked to Dave about it, and I think he might have been a little stunned that someone wanted him to act. But he agreed, and the rest is history, as they say. And man, was he perfect.
How much of the dialogue was improvised?
We did get all of the dialogue from the script, but there’s also a ton of improv. I love letting the actors have fun and do their thing. I had a very specific set of rules: the first take, we do the script. Once we have at least one or two good takes, then we improv and have fun with it.
Rob, David, and I were friends already — we all work in film — so the camaraderie was there, but on an absolutely amplified level. They knew the assignment, and they really knew how to tap into the idea of those characters.
Rob and David had excellent chemistry. It was like Abbott and Costello… Or maybe Bill and Ted (because neither one fully played the straight man).
Yes, just like Abbott and Costello, and absolutely Bill and Ted. We even had a Bill and Ted reference in there. And isn’t that the brilliance of Bill and Ted? No straight man. It’s so good when it’s done well.
Was there a lot of dialogue that didn’t make the final cut?
There’s a lot of cutting-room-floor dialogue, but also a lot that made it in. There were a ton of hard choices during editing. Sometimes I made vanity choices, like keeping the Nine Inch Nails/Johnny Cash joke [watch for it during the trick-or-treating scene], and other times I thought, “No one is going to get this, I gotta cut it.” Even if it’s funny to me, sometimes you have to pick and choose what might work best for the audience. Like the NIN joke. It’s only going to play to a very specific audience, and I knew that going in, but that’s just another little piece of me in there. And thankfully, Rob and David were so game to do this stuff and pull it off.
Behind the Scenes: Special Effects & Other Challenges
Your work history features an impressive amount of skills, from writing and directing to special effects and editing. Was there anything new to you on this movie?
With The Space Rodent, there were a lot of firsts for me. It was my 10th or 11th film, but it was my first comedy feature… and that was scary. I know comedy is subjective, and now I know MY comedy is even more subjective. One of the major things I talked to the cast about was improv. I wanted to get that lived-in sort of feel from the characters, so the more they leaned into themselves and the more comfortable they became, the more hilarious nonsense they would say. Sometimes I would just let the camera roll and get lost in the antics.
I’d also never had to deal with puppets and practical effects in this way before. The puppets presented a unique challenge in that you’re limited in how you can shoot them, and that usually means keeping them mostly obscured. That can also be a blessing, because you’re kind of hiding the seams.
I was always trying to push my limits — and the cast and crew’s. I was much less confident making this film since it was my first comedy, so I really dug in and would surprise everyone with things I wanted to do, like the pregnancy and the alien-penis stuff, so many things. It was a regular occurrence for me to get interesting looks from the cast and crew on set when I would present something. Not that I hadn’t planned it. I just wouldn’t give anyone the full picture until the day of. It really helped with genuine reactions and sometimes helped get people in the comedic mood… or sometimes it was a straight-up “what the f*ck is happening here?”
First impressions are so important. This film starts with some slick graphics. It let us know right away that the people who made this movie took it seriously. How did you accomplish those opening graphics and the atmospheric beginning sequence on another planet?
It’s funny. That sequence, and the whole “aliens on their planet” stuff, none of that was in the script. I always had this playing in the back of my head: I wanted to do a Critters-esque intro. I’m a big fan of those films, and from day one, they were a heavy influence on this film. So my co-producer, my wife, Shoni, and I went out to a cave and shot the intro stuff, just the two of us, and I think it turned out great.
But to answer your question, the space sequences are a combination of After Effects work and stock animation elements. I did all of the effects in the film myself, and that was always the intention with this project. I really wanted a rough-around-the-edges indie vibe. I have a few friends who probably would’ve knocked the FX work out of the park, but because of the style of film we were making, the charm (I think) really comes from the cheesy feel.
Before Rob had even finished the script, I’d already cut a teaser trailer. A lot of those opening elements — such as the space stuff — came from that teaser. It was sort of a pitch-deck thing, but really it was just for the cast and crew to get excited about doing the film.
Who made the creatures?
I think I get asked this question the most — and I think I let people down the most when I answer it. Most of it was off-the-shelf stuff that was modified. Not mass-produced stuff, but something sculpted and sold special-order, and then I made my adjustments to it. For instance, the large creature is a Bigfoot costume — that’s probably no secret — but he needed to look like a werewolf, so I painted it, changed the head, and did some re-furring in places.
The small creature was a little more difficult. We came close to actually using a more rat-looking creature, but I really wanted to play on this idea that these are obviously some sort of werewolf-aliens and look nothing like a rodent, but these two guys are so inept that I wanted that gag to be a through-line in the film.
What challenges did you face in bringing these “werewolf-aliens” to life?
The biggest challenge with the small one was the red eyes. I wired up a simple LED light with an on/off switch and a nine-volt battery, and it was taped inside the head. The challenge was that the head was fairly small after the modifications, so whoever was puppeteering the creature would inevitably end up yanking a wire out. There were several times when it took a bit to rewire things, and even a few scenes where it was just so ravaged we had to move ahead without the red eyes.
How many creatures did you need to make?
We only had one hero creature for each. Our budget was just too small, and those creatures took up about a third of it. So if you feel like you’re seeing more than one in a scene, it’s just creative shooting and editing. I was always in a sort of panic mode that something would go wrong, but in all honesty, creature troubles were very limited.
Were there any other challenges that you had to overcome to complete this film?
Oh boy… to answer a question like that, I could fill a book, but it would just sound like nihilistic masochism. I think back sometimes, and I’m talking to myself like, “Why would I do this to myself?” But I wouldn’t do anything else; I absolutely love making movies.
I’ve found that the biggest challenges in filmmaking are usually people. It takes a village, as they say. When you have a team of creative people and they all have opinions, personalities, ideas, and individual ways they work, it can get really challenging to (A) keep your vision as a director from getting lost, and (B) try to satisfy everyone’s creative needs. It’s that old adage about not being able to please all the people all the time — you really, really want to, but also, you really, really want to make the movie you set out to make. And sometimes it’s just not in the cards.
For instance, this movie was supposed to take place at night. Obviously, it does not. So, right after pre-lighting the location for the night shoots, I got word from my co-producers that they want to do day-for-night instead. They wanted to try to save time and money and mitigate the challenges of night shooting, which, granted, there are many. I was very against it. Not only because I spent an entire day pre-lighting this giant exterior location, but also because I knew the look would suffer. However, at some point you have to make compromises, so in the end you get this strange sort of night-not-night, weird-colored film that ends up adding to the charm of things… at least that’s what I tell myself.
Another big challenge with this film was the very tiny interior location. I think the ceilings were just barely over six feet high, so lighting was a real challenge. The boom mic was a challenge. Camera setups were difficult — not only to have room to try to be creative but also for me and Pamela [Kennemore], my DP, to stop stepping on each other’s literal toes. And there was no air conditioning. We had like 15 people running around at any given time, so the environment quickly became an enemy.
Takeaways, Final Words, & What’s Next
Were there any moments that happened on set that will stick with you throughout life?
I think the real moments that will stick with me are the people. You kind of forget the details more and more each day, but when you make a film, you can become close to people in really different ways, really quickly. I made a lot of new friends on this movie, and a few of them worked on the next one too, so that’s really the most important takeaway for me.
Who is The Space Rodent for?
This is for fans of ’80s creature features with that tinge of comedy, like Critters and Tremors. It’s a throwback, but it’s also unique in the way we play it. A lot of people say it’s the best type of movie to watch with friends, and I’d absolutely agree. If you like silly comedies like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, then I think you’re gonna like this.
Do you have a message for your fans?
Well, if you’re out there, keep watching! You’re the reason we can do this. Your support — no matter how small — makes a world of difference. There are a lot of choices these days when it comes to movies, so if you landed on our little film and you enjoyed it, scream it from the mountaintops. Word of mouth is the best gift.
Oh, and buying a copy helps too.
What’s coming next? Any news you’d like to share about upcoming projects?
Earlier this year, we wrapped on The Yellow Balloon. I think we tried to find the most absurd idea for a horror film — the least threatening device possible. The movie has been turned over to a distribution partner, Level33, and they say it will be released in the first quarter of 2027.
What’s the best way for fans to follow and support you?
The best way to support us is to purchase a film or sign up for our mailing list so we can stay in touch. Right now, The Space Rodent is being released by SRS Cinema, and they have a limited-edition Blu-ray that includes extras, such as English captions, commentary, trailer, and more while supplies last!
What Makes ‘The Space Rodent’ Such a Satisfying Watch?
The Space Rodent is an independent, low-budget horror comedy that was astutely written and produced to deliver the greatest storytelling impact with minimal financial resources. By focusing on a few key elements, the cast and crew took a wacky premise and nurtured it into a spirited creature feature. This was achieved through creating a surreal atmosphere, embracing the camp, and using practical effects.
Creating a Surreal Atmosphere
The challenges that Steven Spielberg faced when making Jaws are largely responsible for the film’s status as one of the greatest suspense movies of all time. Thanks to budgetary concerns, The Space Rodent benefited in a similar fashion. Originally intended to be filmed at night, the movie ended up using day-for-night shots for a number of technical and budgetary reasons. The result is a slightly unanchored film that drifts through a surreal world of perpetual twilight. The peculiar atmosphere mirrors the bizarre nature of the protagonists’ predicament.
Embracing the Camp
Identity is crucial in filmmaking. If the movie truly knows what it is, that turns every potential flaw into a deliberate and stylized choice. Unapologetic camp is the ingredient that gives The Space Rodent its charm. The film proudly embraces its lowbrow humor and thrift store gore, making it an absolute joy to watch.
Using Practical Effects
Even though it devoured one-third of the budget, using puppets and costumes instead of CGI for the creatures doubles down on the camp and atmosphere to augment The Space Rodent’s wonderful intention to entertain. The practical effects give a hearty tug on nostalgia while adding a quirkiness that enhances the overall independent appeal of this delightful madcap film.
The Charismatic Cast of ‘The Space Rodent’
The Complete (Human) List of Cast & Characters
Robert Carrera plays Mac, a personable goofball with employment motivation issues who always comes through for his friends.
David L. Minard plays Dean, the alien conspiracy enthusiast you want in your corner when an invasion takes place. He’s sharp, reluctantly brave, and fiercely protective of his DVD collection.
Shelby Broadnax plays Skylar, a confident, sharp-tongued leader who has a knack for quickly getting to the core of any problem.
Leah Bernard plays Amanda, the free-spirited girlfriend who pushes Mac to be better. She’s tough, independent, and admirably outspoken.
Ty Pennington plays The Crow, a relentless trick-or-treater with more tenacity than the “two dollars” kid from Better Off Dead. She’s rude, emo, and incredibly hard to kill.
Evan O’Hare plays Sam, the over-helpful good Samaritan who insists on protecting Skylar and Amanda when they are targeted by the creatures. Despite his professed altruism, Sam’s unabating obliging comes across as questionably sinister.
Why the Chemistry Works
The cast members of The Space Rodent have an extraordinary chemistry. It works because it’s dynamic. Mac and Dean share a special bond filled with inside jokes and reference points, but that shifts whenever Skylar and Amanda enter the room. There is an ever-fluctuating swirl of interactions that comes alive like volatile waves on a quantum particle field which keeps moments real and intriguing. Ultimately, the more absurd the situation gets, the more grounded and genuine the relationships between characters become. It’s a magic that goes beyond acting.
Should You Watch ‘The Space Rodent’?
Yes! The Space Rodent is everything you crave in a low-budget “friends versus an alien race of space werewolves” film. It’s a torrent of comforting inanaity filled with high stakes and frenetic incompetence. The writing is tight, the dialogue is loose, and some of the scenes are absolutely feral. The unhinged charm of the film’s swashbuckling bravado makes The Space Rodent a contender for a cult classic.
