For Tom Devlin, filmmaking was never a straight line. It was a long apprenticeship built out of latex, blood, and late nights, years spent learning the craft from the inside out before ever stepping fully behind the camera. Long before directing his own features, Devlin was shaping monsters by hand, watching other filmmakers succeed and fail in real time, and absorbing lessons that couldn’t be taught in a classroom. That experience didn’t just prepare him for directing. It defined how he approaches it.
“trying to make my way in Hollywood making monsters I landed an internship at WM creations.”
Devlin began his career in special makeup effects in the early 2000s, leaving his hometown of East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, and heading west with one clear goal: to make monsters. That journey landed him an internship at WM Creations, where he worked under legendary effects artist Matthew Mungle. Surrounded by mentors, he learned the discipline, patience, and problem-solving required to survive in practical effects.
In 2002, Devlin launched his own company, 1313fx, specializing in creature work and gore for direct-to-video horror films. After relocating to Boulder City, Nevada around 2015, he continued working steadily as an effects artist, but a shift was coming. In 2021, he stepped fully into directing. Today, he’s finishing his ninth feature film.
One of Devlin’s biggest inspirations was effects artist-turned-director John Carl Buechler, whose career bridged creature design and filmmaking with titles like Friday the 13th Part VII, Troll, and Ghoulies Go to College. Seeing that crossover made the path feel possible.
“I remember thinking, ‘I think I made it. I think I’m doing what I was meant to do.”
There were many “pinch-me” moments along the way, but one stood out early. In 2005, Devlin handled the makeup effects for Ed Gein: The Butcher of Plainfield, a Lionsgate release starring Kane Hodder, Michael Berryman, and Priscilla Barnes. The film went direct-to-video and became the number one rental at Blockbuster for three straight months.
Still, it wasn’t until 2021, when he directed Teddy Told Me To, that Devlin felt he had truly found his place as a filmmaker. That realization didn’t arrive suddenly. It came after more than two decades of learning on set, watching other directors navigate triumphs and mistakes.
Devlin’s tastes are rooted in the films that shaped him. He’s drawn to monster movies with big rubber creatures and classic slashers, the kind of films that defined his youth. The movies he revisits most often include Friday the 13th Part IV, The Monster Squad, and Pumpkinhead.
“I love all films. I am not genre specific”
As for guilty pleasures, Devlin doesn’t draw hard lines between genres. One film he loves that often surprises people is Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie. He’s also candid about believing his own film After Dark is criminally underappreciated, a situation he attributes to a lack of proper marketing.
“It’s not super fun all the time, but it can be, just depends on how you look at it”
Filmmaking, Devlin says, isn’t something most people are prepared for. The hours are brutal. The problems are constant. And the work isn’t always fun. But it’s all he’s ever done as an adult, making movies for others or for himself so it’s all he knows.
One lesson stands above all others: everything starts with the script. Devlin admits he’s tried to work around that truth, but there’s no shortcut. A solid script with a proper page count is the foundation of any decent film. Improv and problem-solving can help, but they can’t replace the work on the page.
The advice that stuck with him most came from mentor filmmaker Mike Feifer, who asked a deceptively simple question: do you want the perfect take, or will you accept good enough? Chase perfection too long, and the film may never get finished. Gather enough “good enough” takes, and you can build something great.
If given the chance to remake or continue any franchise, Devlin doesn’t hesitate. Leprechaun. He has an idea that connects every film in the series, including the more divisive Hood entries, and believes it could unify the franchise in a meaningful way.
“The most rewarding part of this project is all the wonderful people I got to work with“
Devlin’s latest feature, Bloody Bluff, is a period horror film centered on the disappearance of two sisters in forbidden hills where no one has ever returned alive. Inspired by his love of “monster in the woods” stories and the tone of 1883, the film pits its characters against a Sasquatch in a historical setting.
What’s been most rewarding, Devlin says, is the people. Longtime collaborators from the Plan 10 family, including Steve Hansen, Robbie Walker, and Ashley Ballou, alongside McKenzie Westmore, whom he previously worked with on Face Off. Newcomers Laetyn Lawrence, AJ Fucillo, and Greg Dow also brought fresh energy to the project.
Bloody Bluff is expected to stream on Tubi and receive a Blu-ray release, available through Plan 10 Pictures’ website and at Tom Devlin’s Monster Museum.
Follow & Explore More from Tom Devlin
To keep up with Tom Devlin’s latest films, creature work, and behind-the-scenes projects, follow and support him across his official platforms:
Websites
Plan10Pictures.com
TomDevlinsMonsterMuseum.com
Social Media
Facebook: facebook.com/tomdevlinsmonstermuseum
Instagram: instagram.com/tomdevlinsmonstermuseum
TikTok: tiktok.com/@tomdevlinsmonstermuseum
YouTube: youtube.com/@MonsterMuseumNetwork
