Sandy Collora's Shallow Water

I was introduced to Sandy Collora’s film work with his fairly legendary Batman fan film Batman: Dead End. In this short film, Batman chases The Joker across a rainy cityscape only to come face-to-toothy-vagina-face with the Predator. It is original, entertaining and stylish.

The murderous snapping turtle lizard the city needs.

Jumping ahead a few years, I stumbled on his first full length feature, Hunter Prey. It’s a desert-bound chase flick with a group of alien bounty hunters chasing a human through an otherworldly wasteland.

When I heard he was starting a Kickstarter for a horror film about killer fishmen, called Shallow Water, I was onboard, because killer fishmen.

Better than Godzilla, because he can touch the top of his own head.

Then I saw the creature. Dubbed the Tiburonera, it’s kind of a Creature from the Black Lagoon meets an alligator snapping turtle. I, of course, instantly loved it.

The film couldn’t reach the budget for a feature, so Collora shot a very cool, atmospheric short as a sort of proof-of-concept for a feature to show executives that there is a call for this kind of throwback creature feature, and he released it on Youtube this week.

Hang on...You got a little booger hanging down...

The film follows an unnamed heroine who is hunted by the creature in a Mexican jungle. She stumbles on a few of the victims of the Tiburonera. She hides in a shack, wounding the beast with a shotgun. Seeing her chance to escape, she makes a b-line for the boat, running headlong into the Tiburonera’s whole damn tribe. Riveting stuff.

So...Is there a Mister Unnamed Heroine?

I am personally sharing this film on all of my social media to raise awareness for Mr. Collora’s work. I have no connection to the director or anyone else involved; I am simply a lover of monster movies and independent cinema.

also, feeding these things costs a lot of cheddar.

Give it a watch. If you like it and want to see more, share the shit out of it. Also, check Kickstarter in a few weeks, as he will be producing action figures of the awesome beast. I cannot wait for that.

- Jake