I was first introduced to Sandy Collora at a local comic book/horror sic fi show called Frank and Sons.. This was back in 2003 I believe, give or take a year or two. A short, well polished film titled Batman Dead End was making its rounds and generating quite a bit of hype. This was prior to Batman Begins’ release. It was a pretty well known fact that the hacks-I mean…the producers at Warner Brothers were struggling to revamp the Dark Knight and here comes this guy, not well known to the film community but definitely knowing the material and he self funds this amazing short. You had Predators, Aliens, a faithful looking Batman and the best Joker I had seen to date. Had I been an exec at WB I would’ve wanted this guy to helm the Batman reset (calling what it was, a reset).

Fast forward to 2015 when to my delight not only has a documentary surfaced on Batman: Dead End (which is a must see) but also that Mr. Collora is once again putting together a, at the time, ambitious feature length film starring a shark hunter creature called a Tiburonera and he took to Kickstarter, this time, to raise the necessary capital. Being a fan of the 50’s Creature from the Black Lagoon and really feeling this to be a homage, of sorts, to an era long forgotten, I jumped on to help fund.

Well, unfortunately there weren’t enough like-minded people to successfully fund so Sandy, rather than give up on the creature he had poured so much heart and soul into, decided to adjust his project to a short film…thus reducing the cost to make exponentially. 2nd time was a charm for soon enough the project was on its way to see the light of day.

So now the finished product is out. I have watched multiple times on two TVs, two different sound systems, on my iMac, on tablets, on Blu Ray. I am so thankful that Sandy is not a quitter and that he persevered to get this bad boy made for its nearly 20 minutes of sheer cinematic monster movie bliss. The only thing I don’t like about it is seeing the credit roll so soon. But Shallow Water has really left me craving more. I want to see more of the Tiburonera, learn more about them; where they come from, what they’re all about. Knowing Sandy’s tenacity I’m hopeful it will.

Forgive me if my review is brief, but it’s rather difficult to give a in-depth, spoiler free review of a 19 minute film. I will speak of it on a technical note first. Technically it’s gorgeous. Colors are vibrant, textures are well layered and sound is rich. I have always been a fan of ‘man in a suit’ monsters over CGI and it is refreshing to see that I am not alone. Practical effects is quickly becoming a niche art form instead of the norm, but not everyone is subscribing to that school of thought and for that I am grateful.

Essentially Shallow Water pretty much throws you in to a scene that just as easily could’ve been placed towards the middle to end of a feature length version of itself. With the main character, expertly played by Lisa Roumain, coming to the realization that she is being hunted by something and must outwit and outmaneuver whatever it is that is pursuing her to survive. Or perhaps she just stumbled into something she shouldn’t have; it came be taken different ways and that’s one of the reasons it works so well. There is no dialog and no real narrative other than what you are visually assaulted with. You’re in the thick of it just like Diane is…you’re pretty much fucked. As she discovers the gory (excellent practical gore effects) remains of what were perhaps her colleagues she quickly has to kick into survival mode. You feel her anxiety, her panic and ultimately…well, I won’t give it away.

The creatures themselves are astonishing to look at. You can tell the shark hunters were designed by someone gifted and passionate about getting them to look exactly as envisioned.

In closing, I really hope that we see more of Sandy’s aquatic monsters someday. This was an ambitious undertaking by an ambitious artist and it works, plain and simple. Check it out, you won’t regret it. And support these projects for that is the only way they stand a chance in an industry quickly becoming vacant of creativity and spirit.

– O.G.A.