Not to be confused with the ITV dino drama, Michael Katleman’s Primeval is the fact-inspired story of a crocodile (dubbed ‘Gustave’) stalking human prey in war-torn Burundi. Katlemen revealed more about his unusual creature feature…

Why did you decide to make a creature feature?

It's an arena that has always intrigued me. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't fun to create your own beast - his mannerisms, his look and how he attacks. It's fun to play with people’s psychological fears. In a sick way, I was excited to come up with the different ways this beast could instil fear and rip people to shreds.

What were the biggest challenges in making your first feature film?

To be honest, I wouldn't look at it as a ‘challenge’. It was more like an opportunity. It was liberating to do a project that had a beginning, middle and an end, as opposed to a television series, where you really have to be concerned about the long-term story arcs of characters.

The locations were incredibly difficult to shoot, because we were out in nature reserves. For one instance, I walked into a temporary bathroom setup, to find a spitting cobra staring right at me. That I hadn't seen in Los Angeles! Another time, in our catering tent, we had four rhinos come up who were very curious what we were doing there.

How difficult was it to film the underwater scenes?

Water is always extremely difficult to film in. We always had the water tested to make sure there weren't any parasites in it. We went to great lengths to find waterways without crocodiles in them.

Unfortunately, there were snakes in the water, but everyone avoided getting bitten. The complex night sequences were shot in a tank on a stage in Cape Town. That actually proved to be MORE dangerous. In the sequence where the hut goes down, part of the roof went flying into a cameraman, and knocked him into the tank, and he almost died.

Why did you decide to add the political background to Gustave's story?

I thought it was a nice balance between the political drama and the predator in the water. The intent was to make it so there was nowhere for our group to hide - if they went to the water, the croc would get them, and if they were on land, they would have the warlords after them.

How did you come across the legend of this killer crocodile?

I was first introduced to this story by a National Geographic Documentary called ‘The Killer Croc’. Our film is loosely based on the documentary, which is about a group of reporters that set out to catch Gustave and relocate him to a safer place where he could live out his life and hopefully stop killing people.

Is the real Gustave still alive?

Legend has it that Gustave is still alive. He is rumoured to be anywhere from 20 to 26 feet.

How did you create the FX for Gustave?

We set out to do about half the crocodile as an animatronic and the rest of the shots with CGI. Unfortunately, the animatronic was moving too slowly in the water, and didn't look as real as we had hoped. So, in the 11th hour, we switched gears, and decided to go with a 100 percent CGI crocodile.

What about the crocodile sound effects?

We started with a crocodile, and it really wasn't scary enough. So, we put some elephant into it. And then we started playing with samples that our composer, John Frizzell, had. It's a combination of crocodile, elephant, lion and Frizzell.

Was the crocodile design based on the real Gustave?

Our jumping off place was the real Gustave. He had lots of bullet holes and machete scars from when people over the last 80 years have tried to kill him. From there, we set out to make him leaner, meaner and more stealthy.

The real Gustave is very large and lumbering, and it is believed that the reason he has killed so many people is because he has realised how slow they are in comparison to the wild animals around him.

How much truth is in the movie and how much is invented?

It's easier to say what the truth is - which is that Gustave is out there, living in Burundi. He is said to have killed over 300 people. A crew DID set out to capture him, and failed. That is about where the truth ends in our story.

Were you aware of the similar croc-project Rogue that was also filmed in 2007?

Yes. That was what motivated us to shoot the film and post it as fast as possible. We felt that if we could beat Rogue to the punch, we could have better success. Unfortunately, in doing so, I think we compromised some elements that I wouldn't have had I more time. I would also have liked to generate more public awareness of the film prior to release.

What other creature features inspired you?

Jaws was a huge inspiration, I am a big fan of that film. Actually, watching the documentary of how Jaws was made was also a big inspiration. I'm also a big fan of the Japanese monster movies as well. Big cockroaches, big ants, anything big is cool to me.

What project are you working on next?

I am actually doing a show called Big Shots for ABC, starring Dylan McDermott, Michael Vartan, Christopher Titus and Josh Malina.

Would you consider making a sequel to Primeval?

No, I think I've had my fill of crocodile movies.

If you were ever to make another movie about a real life predator, what animal would you choose?

A film producer…

Primeval is released on DVD (region 2) on 3 March 2008.