A new monster movie called Bloodspawn is now nearing the end of its festival run before its general release, and it is certainly a film which should be on your radar.
Set in the United States during the early 1800s, Bloodspawn focuses on a squadron of soldiers who are transporting a Native American prisoner across the rugged Appalachian wilderness, so that he can be executed for a string of murders. Before reaching their destination, the soldiers find themselves being attacked by a huge flying monster known as an Uktena, which originated from Native American mythology. The film stars R. Keith Harris, Roger Willie, Raw Leiba, Sara Romanello, and horror legend Bill Oberst Jr., who has also appeared in dozens of other notable independent films over the past several years.
The monster in Bloodspawn was created using extensive puppetry techniques and digital compositing, and you will also be relieved to hear that no AI was used whatsoever in order to animate it. Needless to say, every frame in which the Uktena appears was painstakingly created by hand. The film also features a gigantic amount of extravagant blood and gore, since the Uktena frequently kills anyone it comes into contact with. Most of the kills were brilliantly imaginative and over-the-top, and Bloodspawn could easily be one of the goriest monster movies of the past several years.
Bloodspawn was directed by Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan, who also both provided the screenplay. Throughout the following interview, the pair provided a detailed analysis of the production of the film, and they included some very interesting details of how they brought the Utena to life. Although Bloodspawn does not yet have a confirmed general release date, those of you who are looking forward to seeing it can probably expect it to arrive on your screens before the end of this year.
David Gelmini: Can you provide an overview of what Bloodspawn is about and how you came up with the premise? Specifically, why did you want to showcase a monster from Native American mythology?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: Bloodspawn’s star, the monster, is based on the Cherokee legend of the Uktena, the “keen-eyed,” which is the Cherokee’s own version of the giant winged serpent monster that shows up in numerous other Indigenous cultures’ mythologies throughout North and South America. (Side note: The 1982 film “Q: The Winged Serpent” was based on Quetzalcoatl, the Aztecs’ specific version).
From the early stages of development, before writing the script, we knew we wanted to do a creature feature, but we wanted a monster that stood out and was different or had not been overly used or depicted. We started combing through ancient Native American legends and mythologies and came across Uktena from the Cherokee. It was really interesting to us, especially since we are based in Northern Virginia, very close to the Appalachian Mountains (original lands of the Cherokee, Shawnee, Algonquian, and other tribes), and Rotan grew up in North Carolina, not far from the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation. There have been a few mentions in TV shows and short films through the years, but to our knowledge there has never been a feature film based on the Uktena mythological beast as thoroughly and authentically-based as depicted in Bloodspawn.
Besides the monster legend of Uktena, we also went to great strides to be as authentic and true to the Cherokee culture as possible by hiring a Cherokee language consultant, Ginny Byrd Pittman, to translate certain lines in the script to the authentic Cherokee language, Tsalagi, and then to teach the two actors in the film portraying the Cherokee characters (Leiba and Willie) how to correctly pronounce and speak those lines, through several online Zoom meetings during pre-production. Pittman was found through the Cherokee Film Commission based in Oklahoma.
Bloodspawn takes place in the late 1830s, during the final days of the infamous “Trail of Tears” or Indian Removal Act that drove all Native tribes off their ancestral lands in the Southeastern United States and forced them to march West to reservations, many dying along the way. Bloodspawn opens with a small platoon of US soldiers tasked with the job of rounding up the last Cherokee hold-outs as they lead a prisoner in chains through the wilderness, on their way back to their fort where he will likely hang. Little do they know their cruel actions, coinciding with a once-every-two-centuries giant blood moon, have unleashed an ancient curse— the Uktena— upon the land.
David Gelmini: How did you design the Uktena?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: After having our concept artist Brian Hardison draw different designs of the Uktena based on various descriptions found online about the original legend, we came to a decision on how we wanted it to look for the film and then commissioned a very talented puppet maker in Mexico, Luis Orozco Perez, to build the rod and cable puppets.
Luis built two puppets: A full body puppet from head to tail, about 32” in length, taking 3 people to operate, and then a larger puppet just the upper torso and head, with no wings or arms. We ended up using the full-body puppet for almost everything, probably 99% of the shots, just for continuity reasons.
In addition, Peter Gerner, a talented special effects and make-up artist out of Pennsylvania whom Rotan had previously worked with on other films, built a tail glove puppet and an arm and claw glove puppet that were used whenever the tail or claw of the creature were swinging at people in the movie, or bursting through the roof of the cabin.
David Gelmini: Can you explain how the Uktena was brought to life onscreen?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: All of the puppetry shots for Bloodspawn were filmed about six months after principal photography wrapped. To accomplish the puppet filming, Campbell had to transform his home garage into a fully functional green screen studio. This shoot took place over the course of just six intense days—spread across two weekends.
The first shots tackled were close-ups of the monster’s tail and talons. These were all of the slashing and swiping shots without the full Uktena in frame. These shots were performed using glove puppets worn and operated by effects artist Peter Gerner. The rest of the creature effects featured the full Uktena puppets, built by Luis Orozco Perez and operated by a three-person team: Rotan, along with executive producers Boyd Hegarty and Elyse Steiner. Campbell stepped in for camera operation and direction.
To pull this off smoothly, Campbell and Rotan meticulously crafted a shot list and an aggressive production schedule. Using that, they cut and collected reference clips from the edited feature—each one containing full or partial appearances of the Uktena. These references helped guide the puppetry work and ensured each of the over 170 shots were captured.
One of the biggest challenges? Helping the puppeteers visualize how their movements would look on screen. Campbell engineered a clever system for real-time visual feedback using live chroma key compositing—just like weather forecasters use. The team wore full-body green suits and performed against a green screen backdrop, allowing them to see how the puppet would appear once dropped into the final scene.
On top of the puppetry, the team also built custom green screen environments and miniature set pieces to help with compositing and to sell the illusion.
David Gelmini: And can you also talk about the brilliantly outrageous digital gore effects?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: From the very start, the filmmakers leaned into digital gore to help immerse audiences in the gooey, grindhouse vibe of classic ’80s creature features.
We feel that using digital blood effects is a smart move for small and budget-conscious filmmakers who want to move quickly and still deliver fun and satisfying visual moments. Traditional blood effects (squibs, tubing, messy cleanup) take time to set up, shoot, and reset. If something goes wrong—like the blood not hitting the right spot—you’ve got to clean the actor, the costume, the set, and start over. That’s time you just don’t have on a tight shooting schedule.
That said, we also wanted to provide the audience with some practical effects to blend with the digital gore effects to bring them further into the film’s light-hearted campy feel. One of the standout practical moments is where a severed hand flies through the air and crashes back to Earth – totally derailing the heroes’ plan. We knew that this bit just had to be done in-camera—no digital shortcut was going to match the absurd charm of a flying prop hand.
Then there’s another shot in Act 1 where the Uktena bites a soldier in half – leaving the soldier’s top half intact as it lands to the ground. That moment was built using a blend of techniques: Campbell and Associate Producer, Craig Budde, started with practical gelatin entrails, shot on set to get that base-line squishy texture. This was used, primarily as a reference, for the next pass where they used a green screen set and real-time playback of the original footage to overlay a more photo-realistic version of the entrails prop. The effect was finalized by compositing in digital effects to bring it to life!
David Gelmini: Was it a challenge to uphold the 1830s American setting? The props and costumes all looked authentic for the time.
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: Anytime you do a period piece it is extremely challenging, especially on a low budget. If you notice, there were no horses in the film. That was very intentional! Having previously made an equestrian-themed movie (Rotan), I learned first-hand how difficult it is to work with horses, and I swore I’d never go down that road again.
To work around that limitation, we included a line early in the script where a soldier explains that their prisoner, Yonagadoga, had killed all their horses—forcing the soldiers to travel on foot. It gave us a logical reason within the story to avoid using horses altogether.
We were lucky to have Denise Schumaker handle costume design and wardrobe. She truly understands the unique challenges of low-budget indie productions, for both stage and screen. Denise did extensive research on the clothing and uniforms of the time period and then worked absolute magic to make it happen for Bloodspawn.
Although most of the film takes place outdoors, we had two main interior locations: a cabin outpost and a barn. Fortunately, we found authentic local structures and were granted permission to shoot there. The cabin store, for instance, is actually an old historic schoolhouse in Bluemont, VA.
Our Art Director Kat Thorpe, and the art department consisted of several friends and former co-workers of ours, helped us procure all the props and set dressings- antiques, reproductions, furniture- to stock the old cabin to look like a general store outpost of the 1830s. Given what little we had to work with, we think they pulled off something really special!
David Gelmini: Could you also give an overview of the cast, and how they came onboard?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: Rotan has a long history of working on productions with R. Keith Harris who portrayed Corporal Tuttle in Bloodspawn. Harris had previously starred in Rotan’s two Pirate Kids movies and Lost Stallions: The Journey Home alongside Mickey Rooney. Harris has also had major supporting roles in feature films and TV series such as AMC’s The Walking Dead, Hulu’s Dopesick, A Walk in the Woods with Robert Redford, and Junebug with Amy Adams, just to name a few.
Also appearing in Rotan’s previous film Lost Stallions: The Journey Home was Roger Willie, who played the role of Hawk in Bloodspawn. Willie, a Navajo actor and artist, is best known for his major supporting role as Charlie Whitehorse alongside Nicolas Cage and Christian Slater in John Woo’s 2002 World War II blockbuster Windtalkers.
Raw Leiba, an athlete, model and actor best known for portraying the brutal character Wolf Skull in Bone Tomahawk with Kurt Russell, was discovered through the filmmaking website Slated to play the role of Yonagadoga (Standing Bear in English).
Also contacted through Slated was indie horror legend Bill Oberst Jr. who came onboard as the racist plantation owner Augustus Shackleford. Oberst’s credits include the recent award-winning horror film A Stranger in the Woods, Kill Craft, Painkiller, Take This Lollipop, Rob Zombie’s 3 From Hell, and many, many more. He is probably the most recognizable “name” in Bloodspawn. When reaching out to distributors there was not a single one that did not know Oberst’s name and body of work.
The remaining main cast members— Eboh Ajeroh playing Eli, Sara Romanello playing the Widow Clare, and Evanna Parker as her young daughter, Sally— were all talented newcomers who auditioned for their parts.
David Gelmini: Was it a challenge to shoot the spectacular action sequences?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: From the beginning, we aimed to create a fast-paced, action-packed film, which meant packing in a bold number of stunt-heavy scenes. Of course, that ambition came with its share of challenges.
One of the biggest hurdles was the limited natural light. Since most of the film was shot on outdoor locations, we constantly had to adapt to shifting lighting conditions and early sunsets—no small feat on an aggressive nine-day shooting schedule.
Our budget also required us to get scrappy and innovative. Several scenes called for actors to be lifted into the air to simulate intense interactions with the Uktena. Instead of elaborate rigs, we turned to Bloodspawn actor, drone operator, and professional problem-solver, Eboh Ajeroh. Wearing a full green suit, Eboh physically lifted actors in front of our portable outdoor green screen setups— a low-tech but highly effective solution. Filmmaker, Derek Campbell, joked with the crew telling them that this is the exact method that Marvel Studios uses for its action/VFX scenes.
We were also incredibly fortunate to have a wildly talented cast and crew who brought their creativity to every step of the process. Actor Raw Leiba lent his deep experience in stunts and fight choreography to help craft the tone of the film’s brutal massacre sequence. Campbell recalls how fun it was to collaborate with Raw, especially as they brainstormed inventive (and gruesome) ways for Yonagadoga to dispatch every unfortunate soldier who crossed his path.
David Gelmini: And can you also describe the spectacular animated sequence which delves into the history of the Uktena?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: The filmmakers recognized this sequence as their best opportunity to introduce the legend of the Uktena and set the tone for Bloodspawn’s intense, high-stakes battle with the mythical creature.
Interestingly, this was actually the very first completed scene in the film and was created before a single frame of principal photography was shot. Artist Brian Hardison brought the script to life through a series of striking illustrations. From there, Associate Producer Craig Budde stepped in, animating each of the illustrations and syncing them seamlessly with the voiceover track, narrated by actor Roger Willie (Hawk).
After this, we collaborated with digital artist, Andrii Kostiuk, to apply animated illustrations to the walls of a 3D cave environment. Kostiuk and Campbell pulled several late-night sessions, meticulously crafting the cave’s look and feel, refining lighting, textures, and camera movements to make sure the audience could immerse themselves in the storytelling.
David Gelmini: What do you ultimately hope that fans of monster movies will take away from Bloodspawn?
Derek S. Campbell and David Rotan: We hope the audience will appreciate the respect of attention to detail and authenticity we gave to the Cherokee history and culture surrounding the legend of Uktena, while also just having a plain ol’ fun time with a good old fashion “popcorn” monster movie like we grew up watching in the 1980s and ‘90s, in more simplistic times before the rise of CGI, when special effects took a lot more effort, originality, and manual labor.
We hope that audiences will enjoy the ride with a few thrills, chills, and yes, a few laughs, too, as they embrace the nostalgia and the camp. It’s a fun flick, for sure!
