BATMAN: DEAD END Director Sandy Collora Launches New Kickstarter for SHALLOW WATER
Sandy Collora, the man behind Batman: Dead End, one of the greatest fan films ever made, is developing an awesome-sounding new short film project called "Shallow Water." The movie is described as a “gritty, intense short film, introducing a new and terrifying aquatic creature.” This will be the first short in a retro horror/sci-fi anthology feature film that he will be developing over the next couple of years, and he's started a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the project.
I’m a huge fan of anthology films, and this sounds like it will be amazing! This is the kind of stuff I love to see get made, and with the level of talent that’s behind it, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s going to deliver something incredible! Below you'll find a synopsis and more information on the project:
An innocent adventure: a fishing trip to a remote and mythical fishing hole goes awry and becomes a terrifying predicament that keeps getting worse. Nestled deep in the Sea of Cortez is a tiny island you won't find on any map. Six fishermen scour the Baja peninsula to find this magical place, but when they finally reach their destination, they encounter some sea life that they did not expect. This puts them all at odds and it quickly becomes every man for himself. Which will prevail, Mother Nature or Human Nature?
Collora tried to Kickstart "Shallow Water" as a full-length feature film before. Unfortunately, he didn’t meet his goal. That’s ok, though, because he’s not giving up, and he’s restructured the project into something that could be even better. Collora offers a little back story of how this new version of the project came together.
“After months of thinking about how to relaunch this campaign and get this movie made, it was fellow artist and friend Mike Hill, who nailed the idea home for me. Many had suggested doing this film as a short, in the hopes of a producer or studio seeing it and perhaps wanting to fund the entire film, which does actually happen from time to time, but in my mind, I was over making short films, felt I'd made enough and wanted to move forward. At that time, making more shorts was a step backwards to me…”
But then Mike continued-- "You've written so many scripts, Sandy. You have all these designs around your studio from these films that you haven't been able to make yet. If you make shorts of just a few of them, you can make an anthology. There's your feature, mate..."
“So, I got to thinking-- The two things I'm most know for, are a short film and a series of creature design books. Ya know what, he's right. It makes perfect sense…”
I’ve had the privilege of visiting Collora’s studio in the past, and that place is full of stuff that just had me completely geeking out. The guy has created so many incredible and unique creatures, and the thought of seeing some of them come to life is freakin’ exciting! He goes on to talk about how Heavy Metal Magazine influenced this new project, explaining:
"Heavy Metal magazine and the subsequent animated anthology film, were VERY influential and inspirational to me as an artist in my younger years. Using that format as a model, it's my goal over the next year and half, to create separate campaigns for each different short film, raising the funds to create my own anthology feature over time, as opposed to trying to raise all the money at once for a singular feature film."
The filmmaker talks about some of the other things that inspired Shallow Water and the other films that will be included in the anthology, saying:
"This project combines so many things that I'm passionate about: classic horror, borne of mood and suspense; a memorable iconic creature; and the ocean environment. Shallow Water is a perfect storm of sorts, allowing me to combine my love of all these things into one film.
"Many horror films today rely on gimmicks. Found footage, shaky camera nonsense and of course, the whole "Is it real?" thing. The original masters of horror; F.W. Murnau, James Whale and Tod Browning, never needed those things and paved the way for Hitchcock, Kubrick and others who created true horror through mood and suspense. The 70's and 80's exploded with a whole new crop of scary, iconic horror films like "The Exorcist", "ALIEN", "Halloween", "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "Predator". That was 30-40 years ago! Where did films like that go? Why has the horror genre taken such a turn? I'm going to make films that are gritty, real, moody and suspenseful, with new, original creatures. Throwbacks. No shaky cam, no gimmicks..."
Collora is very passionate about this project, and I can’t wait to see his vision brought to life. To help fund the project on Kickstarter, click here! Let's help make this movie a reality! Below you'll find a video of the filmmaker explaining the project as well as a poster that he released.