I was the Assistant Director of Shadow Creature and played the Mayor's goon, and did all the water stunts. The cast came from Toronto, Ontario and Buffalo, New York. The movie was originally cast in Toronto. There are fine performances by some of Buffalo's finest stage actors whose names appear in the film credits. I wrote the scene where I knock the guy-in-the-wheel chairs hat off his head. It was originally supposed to be a blind man whose dog I bite for barking at my character. The dog, Daisy Potter became terrified of me when I was in character during filming. She bolted in terror and consequently her scene went to the cutting room floor and the blindman became a man in the wheelchair. No animal or handicapped person was injured during filming of this sceen. The man in the wheel chair was a founding member of the band, Ten Thousand Maniacs. The scene as I originally had written it had the goon bitting the dog and then grabbing a vase of water from a flower deliveryman and then drinking the water. I wanted the Earl of Bud to play that part. Then another man walks down the street and my character tears his shirt off and uses the shirt as a napkin. I wanted Buffalo Mayor Masiello to play that part. The Mayor didn't want to do the part. All of that scene descibed unfortunately got cut. The scene progresses to the goon walking into the pizza parlour. The newspaper delivery person who kicks the goon near the end of the scene is my neice Lyndsey Kron. The music in the film was done by the band, Them Jazzbeards. The music was absolutely wonderful in this film. That is one of the things that few people comment on. But they should. The music added perfect effect to the scenes throughout the film. Them Jazzbeards created a terrific score for our film. The music is presently being used on WKBW Television for the show, "Offbeat Cinema." Shadow Creature should be shown on that show. All the water stunts were performed by me. When you see the creature swimming in the Erie Canal or going off the dock into the water that's me with my wetsuit on. The water was in the upper thirties the day we shot it.
For more work by Magilla Schaus see the film, "Tainted." I also have a large body of my surf photography in the book, "Surfing The Great Lakes."
For more work by Magilla Schaus see the film, "Tainted." I also have a large body of my surf photography in the book, "Surfing The Great Lakes."