I asked my student how he spent this weekend.
He told me that it saw the film The Velocipastor.
I thought I heard him wrong, but no, The Velocipastor is a real film. Rated 56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. A tight running time of just 75 minutes and made for a budget of $35,000.
The plot follows pastor Doug Jones who becomes infected by a Chinese artifact, resulting in him turning into a velociraptor when he becomes angry. The movie includes dismemberment, a sex worker with a heart of gold, and a ninja strike team.
My student did not enjoy the film. Sadly, he and his family purchased it via a streaming service.
Happily, the film is also streaming for free on Peacock, so after hearing about it, I watched it myself.
How could I not?
Admittedly, I watched the entire film in about 20 minutes, skimming through much of it and stopping only on scenes that looked interesting.
I’d like to say that the 2o minutes was the perfect length of time to dedicate to this film, but that is surprisingly not true.
Ten minutes would’ve probably been more appropriate.
Two things about The Velocipastor that fascinated me:
- The difference between the promise of the movie poster and the actual appearance of the velocipastor in the film is striking. I understand the desire to overpromise audiences in order to put butts in seats, but this might be one of the greatest examples of overpromising that I’ve ever seen. Look at the photos below and judge for yourself.
- Which came first: The title or the concept for the film? Did writer, producer, and director Brendan Steere first think of the idea for the movie then find the perfect name, or did the name “Velocipastor” come to him first, resulting in the formulation of character and plot to match title?
I went looking for an answer and found it in a Forbes article on Steere and his film.
Steere said, “Way back in 2010, I was trying to type ‘Velociraptor’ into my phone, and it autocorrected to Veloci Pastor. I was in film school at the time, at the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, and I was like, ‘That sounds like a movie to me!”
Isn’t that great? Steere started with the title, then he wrapped a movie around it.
In my new book, Someday Is Today – available for preorder (in case you haven’t heard) – I write about idea generation and the importance of staying alert to all avenues for creation. You simply never know where the next great idea might be found.
Brendan Steere found an idea for a film via auto correct on his phone. He spelled a word incorrectly, and the end result was a movie.
For the record, The Velocipastor has become a cult hit, earning more than enough money to warrant a sequel. It’s an awful movie, but in the minds of many, it’s an awful movie that is also hilarious for its awfulness.
I may not have enjoyed the movie, but many do. Enough that the film has turned a considerable profit. Enough that it’s streaming on Peacock and Amazon Prime and available for purchase on many other platforms. It’s grabbed enough of the zeitgeist that Forbes is interviewing Steere about the film and his sequel is already in production.
Good for Brendan Steere. He made something ridiculous and campy that people love.
Oddly, The Velocipastor has brought joy to the world. What more could a creative person want?
