In the series finale of “Stranger Things,” Jonathan Byers (Charlie Heaton) ends up being a student at New York University in pursuit of a filmmaking career, and he tells his pals that he’s working on an “anti-capitalist cannibal movie” titled The Consumer. Were creators Matt and Ross Duffer hinting at an in-universe spinoff movie down the road? Actually, the brothers were referencing a cannibal short film they already made together nearly 20 years prior!
The Duffer Brothers got their start directing a couple short films before they got around to creating the pop culture phenomenon that became “Stranger Things,” and one of those shorts was indeed a cannibal horror movie. It wasn’t titled The Consumer, however, but rather Eater.
Eater was co-directed by Matt and Ross Duffer during their time at California’s Dodge College, not unlike Jonathan Byers making a cannibal movie of his own while off at college!
Written and directed by the Duffer Brothers back in 2007, Eater was based on the same-titled short story by Peter Crowther. In the 18-minute short, “A rookie cop (Emanuel Borria) works the night shift at a police station with a cannibal prisoner on the loose.”
You can watch the suspenseful cannibal short below for a peek inside the minds of the Duffer Brothers when they were getting their start, just about 10 years prior to “Stranger Things”!
It’s interesting to note that Eater star Emanuel Borria reunited with the Duffer Brothers for “Stranger Things 5,” playing the character Sergeant Luis Ramirez in three of its episodes.
It’s also interesting to note that Peter Crowther’s short story was adapted by Stuart Gordon just one year after Eater was made by the Duffer Brothers. It was an episode of the NBC horror anthology “Fear Itself,” which was a spiritual successor to “Masters of Horror.”