Dead in Tombstone

Dead in Tombstone is a 2013 direct-to-video action Western directed by Roel Reiné and produced by Universal 1440 Entertainment. It stars Danny Trejo as an outlaw who bargains with the Devil, played by Mickey Rourke, to return from the dead for revenge, alongside Anthony Michael Hall and Dina Meyer.

A period Western that opens a door onto Hell pulls in two very different toolsets. On one side is invisible work: erasing modern intrusions from location plates, widening frontier streets with set extensions and matte painting, and building gunfights out of muzzle flashes, powder smoke and squib enhancement. On the other is the supernatural register — fire, ember and smoke simulation, digital makeup, and the sort of transformation effects that have to sell a man walking back out of the grave. Rotoscoping and compositing bind the two halves into one photographic world. Terminal FX operates across that whole spread of disciplines, and its visual effects and animation on Dead in Tombstone belong to the studio’s film, television and commercial portfolio.