The Internet is littered with poorly written fan fiction and a fair smattering of fan films too. Most of it ranges from total trash to plain rubbish, concocted by teenagers struggling to come up with an original idea of their own.

While it may give these budding writers an opportunity to explore their literary capabilities, it’s not going to get them any work. Or is it? In the ensuing decades since comic book staples such as Spider-Man or Superman were first created most of the stories and artwork have been created by fans.

Then there is the brilliance that is ROBOT CHICKEN STAR WARS, again coming from hardcore fans. Marvel and DC heroes, along with STAR WARS and STAR TREK have more or less become contemporary mythology, but with restrictive IP and copyright restrictions and an army of litigious lawyers ready to enforce them.

However, sometimes there are fans with exceptional talent and the right professional connections that can create works of such quality that they attract a lot of attention (Stephen Moffat – Dr Who, Sherlock), and not just from the lawyers. Sandy Collora was one of those, an artist and production designer who worked with the legendary Stan Winston.

One day, he and his friends got together to make the ultimate fan film, BATMAN: DEAD END; a refreshingly dark take on caped crusader, after Joel Schumacher killed off the franchise with the camp BATMAN AND ROBIN, that paid respect to Frank Miller’s vision of the Dark Knight and pre-empted Christopher Nolan by several years.

The short became a massive viral hit, before marketing companies hijacked the phrase, YouTube was a household word or there was widespread broadband. Now the director has made his first feature film that is filled with the same high production values, but with less rain and darkness.

HUNTER PREY (which had its UK premiere at SCI-FI-LONDON in May) is basically a chase movie (the clues in the title). A handful of hooded commandos, who look like they just graduated from the Boba Fett Academy of Bounty Hunting, crash land on a desolate planet.

Their alien prisoner escapes and starts killing them, but the soldiers are under strict instructions to bring him back alive. As they wait for the rescue ship to arrive the remaining commandos give chase until there is only one left to face-off against the alien prisoner, whose mission is to destroy the commandos home planet.

The film initially plays with our preconceptions of identity, but the reveal comes fairly early on in the film. Once this is done, the film concentrates on the conflict between the hunter and the prey, although who is who is never clearly defined. This is a good thing, in terms of making a statement about what defines humanity.

Thankfully, the message is and dialogue is secondary to the visuals, which are the films strong point. This is clearly a low-budget movie utilising a desert location and small cast, but it is elevated by its production values courtesy of Collora’s design and some strong cinematography (shot on REDs).

The story itself feels a bit slight for a feature film, but tightened up to an hour it would be a great episode of a TV series. There is plenty of back-story going on, and it has open ending that feels like it needs to continue, and TV is definitely the place for low-budget sci-fi to explore the big ideas they have.

The DVD special features include a making-of and director commentaries that weren't available on the review disc

HUNTER PREY is released on DVD on 6 September through Kaleidoscope Home Entertainment and available from Play and all good retailers.

We have five copies of the DVD to give away, courtesy of Kaleidoscope. Click below to enter the competition, which closes on September 14, 2010.