Being a big comic fan I typically eat up any chance to see my favorite heroes from my childhood brought to life. While there have been numerous variations of Batman brought to life over the years none were as original and cool as the 2003 fan film Batman: Dead End. Now a documentary focusing on the making of the film and career of director Sandy Collora is bringing the story of it to life.

 

Behind the Mask: The Batman Dead End Story follows the story of director Sandy Collora who in the winter of 2003, along with some of his friends set out to make a low-budget short film for his demo reel.  What they wound up doing, however, was making one of the most elaborate, most watched, most talked about and most controversial short fan-directed films ever made: "Batman: Dead End." If you have never seen Dead End then you are truly missing out, but hearing the story of its evolution and behind the scenes production makes it all the better. There is so much more to this film than you might have ever thought including the cast that almost was that would have been awesome to see in action here.

 

While the main focus is of course the making of the film the bigger story here is the story of Sandy Collora and his awesome career in film and TV make-up effects. This man is so extremely talented it is amazing that he is not bigger than he is, but I applaud him for sticking to doing what he loves and making what he wants. He is easily one of the most talented out there in the industry and continues to bless the industry with his talents. There was a great insight to another passion project he has poured his soul into that may never see the light of day which would be as travesty as it looks amazing and I for one hope we see it in the near future.

 

Behind the Mask: The Batman Dead End Story is available on DVD and Digital HD Platforms Including iTunes and Amazon, the "Behind-the-Scenes" Documentary Features Interviews with Collora, Comic Book Legend Neal Adams and Industry Luminaries Sean Clark, Shawn Reevs and Jordu Schell.