Tony Wash poses with two "Scotchworthy Girls."

Tony Wash has taken his passion for the horror movie genre and run with it, already writing, directing and producing one full-length feature movie, with several others in the works. His goal, he says, is to be considered a modern-day Wes Craven or John Carpenter by being recognized as one of the new generation of directors in the genre.

When Wash arrived on the Monmouth College campus in 1998, he was an avid fan of horror movies, but his career plan was to be a medical illustrator. After learning that his route to that profession might be more complicated than he originally thought, he heeded the advice of his girlfriend at the time, who told him, "Tony, if you don’t go after your dream, you’ll never be happy."

That dream was to make the type of films he had always enjoyed watching, and he began structuring his Monmouth College education as best as he could to prepare. Wash double majored in communication and art, with a concentration in media production. Particularly helpful to him, he said, were late-night editing sessions on the third floor of Wallace Hall, the marketing connections he made as music director of WMCR and individual instruction from the late Chuck Feldman, who taught in the CATA department.

Off-campus work experiences also prepared him well, as he spent a spring break and a portion of the summer interning with the Illinois Film Office, which was assisting with the production of the 2002 film "Road to Perdition." The Depression-era crime syndicate drama was filmed in the Chicago area, and Wash recalls being "five feet from Tom Hanks half the time."

Wash stockpiled ideas during his MC days, coming up with horror scenes that revolved around McMichael Residence Hall and the Haldeman-Thiessen Science Center, as well as a work called "Dead Air," which featured a girl who works at a college radio station who sees ghosts. In fact, Wash is even interested in returning to campus to shoot scenes in those locations for his upcoming productions.

After graduation, Wash said an experience with the Mike Lansu-directed movie "Boo!" was "more or less my film school." But he again began to drift away from his passion before deciding in 2004 to attend Tom Savini’s School of Special Effects Makeup in Pennsylvania.

"If I don’t do this now, I may never do this," he said of his mindset prior to enrolling in the 16-month program.

Although Wash certainly learned his share of the art side of designing special effects, he realized quickly that there was a much smaller pool of students interested in directing than there were in design. He focused on that aspect of the business and also used the school to network in the horror industry, a practice that is key to Wash’s current and future success with Scotchworthy Productions, Inc. He co-founded the St. Charles, Ill.-based company in 2005 and currently serves as its president.

"We’ll be somewhat of a Midwestern special effects and independent film production company," said Wash, when asked to look five years into the future. "We’ll have a dozen to two dozen special effects credits by then and the company will have developed a decent name for itself in the horror genre."

Wash also hopes that his personal projects have advanced by that time. His movie "It’s My Party and I’ll Die If I Want To," which was shot on a very modest $15,000 budget, is already completed, and he plans to have his second film, "Sweet Dreams," done by that time, with a budget as much as 10 times greater. Dee Wallace Stone, who starred in "E.T.," is one actress he hopes to attract to the project, and others include horror genre regulars such as Tony Todd and Scout Taylor-Compton.

A film with the working title "Contained" is also being developed, as is the sequel to his first movie, which is titled "You Would Die 2 If It Happened to You."

The DVD of "It’s My Party" includes a "choose your own adventure version of the movie, offering viewers the unique ability to determine the main character’s decision during the movie.

"There are multiple different endings you can lead her down and the viewer will no longer be able to scream, ‘Why didn’t she run out the front door when she had the chance!?,’" said Wash, "because now the viewer can choose that option if they want."

One reviewer said that the movie "is so far below the radar right now it doesn’t have an entry on IMBD." However, the writer added, "(‘It’s My Party’) is one of the most ambitious and downright fun gorefests I’ve seen in a while. If this one doesn’t find a distributor soon, it will be a travesty."

Another fan of the movie is MC junior Alissa Diffenderfer, who interned with Scotchworthy this semester.

"He did amazing work with what he had," she said.

Diffenderfer, a double major in communications and public relations, met Wash while they were both working at a restaurant in her hometown of South Elgin.

She said, "The horror industry is huge right now, especially with college kids and teenagers. (Our generation likes) not just well-done movies but the ones that make us laugh. We’ll crack up laughing at how bad it is."

Wash likened the intensity of horror movie fans to the devotion of Trekkies and said that loyalty makes it "the right genre to break in (to filmmaking) with."

Though a mixture of humor and horror is often the desired effect, Wash wants his films to be appreciated because they’re good, not bad, and because they feature "the same magic and entertainment found in movies from the 1970s and ’80s."

According to another reviewer, he’s on his way.

"(‘It’s My Party’) is a no-budget feature shot on a shoestring and a dream. In the end, it doesn’t matter, though, because they managed to turn that shoestring into an engaging and fun little flick that is a nice homage and a genre standout of its own. You’ll laugh, you’ll cringe, you’ll have a good time."

Yes, the dream is alive for filmmaker Tony Wash. It may not be long before he’s presenting his nightmare images at a theater near you.