Emmy Award-winning visual effects designer and director Ernest D. Farino is looking to bring to life the classic John Stanley horror comic story The Monster of Dread End. First published in Dell Comics’ Ghost Stories #1 in 1962, it is the creepy tale of a neighborhood that has been abandoned after a series of mysterious deaths where the victims are found crushed to death. A teenage boy returns to the neighborhood years after his sister’s death and discovers a frightful monster lurking in the sewers. Farino is launching a Kickstarter campaign to raise the funds to develop the screenplay and prepare a teaser trailer so as to be able to secure full funding from investors for a feature-length film based on the classic comic. Here is the campaign’s pitch video:
Farino has already lined up an impressive cast and crew for the teaser trailer. Probably the most exciting additions to the production team are the legendary Chiodo Brothers, who will be responsible for the stop-motion animation of the monster. The Chiodo’s are known for their exemplary work on such classics as Monsters (1988), Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (1985) (the infamous Large Marge sequence), and Killer Klowns from Outer Space (1988). The plan is to use traditional stop-motion techniques and enhance them digitally, e.g. adding blurs and better composting. Farino, himself, has a long career in visual effects and is a fan of Ray Harryhausen, even going so far as to produce a three-volume hardcover book set about Harryhausen and his work. Combining his expertise with that of the Chiodo Brothers should be enough to get old-school monster fans excited about this project.
There a quite a few cool perks available for supporters of the campaign. One of the coolest is a limited edition maquette of the claw monster. Other rewards include an authorized sequel comic, Endless Dread, by storyboard artist Pete Von Sholly, production artwork, and signed cast and crew photos. Be sure to head on over to their Kickstarter campaign and show your love and support for classic horror comics and old-school monster movies.
