Batman: Dead End is a fan film made by Sandy Collora that premiered July 19, 2003 at the San Diego Comic Con, and on the internet shortly thereafter.
The film, made for a reported $30,000 and actually shot on film, stars Clark Bartram as the Batman, who is chasing down an escaped Joker, played by Andrew Koenig. In a surprise move, popular science fiction franchise characters (Predators and Aliens) enter the fray and force a showdown. The Batman character had previously fought both races in a series of comic books from Dark Horse Comics, and the film draws some of its imagery from those comics.
Film director and comic book writer Kevin Smith called it "possibly the truest, best Batman movie ever made." , and comic book artist Alex Ross praised it as "Batman the way I've always wanted to see him." . Collora has stated in interviews that the film was made as a demonstration reel to attract attention to his directing skills, and as such, succeeded in its goal.
Collora filmed a similar project, 2004's World's Finest, with much of the same cast and crew.
Fan Films Quarterly listed Batman: Dead End as one of the 10 most pivotal moments in fan film history in its Summer 2006 issue.
Filmed in four days.
The film is dedicated to Theodore T. Tams Jr. and Ruth Tams Fuguen, producer Simon Tams's father and sister. They both died in December 2003. Sandy Collora's mother Jo died the following summer.
