via Den of Geek:

Coverage Ink Films’ Tanya Klein and Jim Cirile hit Indiegogo to crowdfund the first U.S.-made animated horror movie Malevolent, which they describe as “Saw meets Groundhog Day.”

“Making a hand-drawn animated movie is expensive,” the website explains. “We have been in production for a year, and we are about 7-8 months away from completion.”

Malevolent stars William Shatner, universally known as Captain James T. Kirk on Star Trek and globally recognized as Denny Crane on Boston Legal, along with Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Gotham, Firefly), Ray Wise (Twin Peaks, Robocop, Agent Carter), Bill Moseley (The Devil’s Rejects, Texas Chainsaw Massacre II) and Dani Lennon (FearNet/Machinima’s Bite Me). The film also features Florence Hartigan, Ben Siemon, Damien Haas, Tom Lommel, Mark Whitten, Bill Millsap, and Steve Geiger.

“Malevolent is about a young woman named Miriam DeKalb (Dani Lennon) who works for a non-profit which promotes global peace initiatives,” according to the official synopsis.

“When her billionaire sociopath father Cyrus (Ray Wise) learns he is dying, Cyrus calls Miriam and her three siblings together to “discuss his will.” However, what he actually has planned is to pronounce judgment on them all. They are, in his view, traitors, and he has grisly death traps planned for each of them.

“The wrinkle: a race of intergalactic gamblers, who wager on human conflicts as bloody sport, have chosen Miriam as their protagonist for this match. Thus the entire situation is being manipulated by the Gamemaster (Morena Baccarin,) who has the power to reverse time and reconfigure events as they play out. And so the playing field is constantly changing under Miriam’s feet — sometimes to her benefit, but usually, not. Through it all, The Overseer (William Shatner) calls the game.”

“Malevolent isn’t just a genre movie,” the website explains. “It has something to say, and plays with themes of hope vs. hopelessness, redemption, social commentary and above all, finding the power within to fight back, even when the deck is so ridiculously stacked against us. This is a message we feel strongly about.”

Malevolent is directed by Jason Axinn, who helmed Space Guys In Space and Starpocalypse. It is produced by Cindi Rice and Paige Barnett. The key artist is Carl Frank (Dungeons & Dragons series, Magic: The Gathering and Wizards of the Coast.)

Coverage Ink Films has produced geeky “little” short films like Showdown Of The Godz starring George Takei (Star Trek) and the multi-award-winning gritty superhero pilot Liberator, starring Lou Ferrigno (The Incredible Hulk) Peta Wilson (La Femme Nikita) Michael Dorn (Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Ed Asner (Up).