Reviews of Fear(s) of the Dark
Displaying all 2 reviews
hlkneedler
16Nov09
This is a fantastic animated series of horror stories by different directors. I’d never before thought I could find animation so terrifying, one wouldn’t think it had such potential for thrills. All the various sections have been conceived together to function as a whole; this isn’t a collection of shorts. I would love to find out where the initial idea for this program came from, it might be from Celluloid Dreams themselves, and I’m also tempted to think it was conceived to support the final chapter, which is stellar. The film begins first with a small chapter in a larger piece that intercuts the other sections. It’s a beautifully rendered smudgy animation about a nobleman with four ferocious dogs, as he walks the countryside, they one by one break off his chains and commit various escalating atrocities to the nobleman’s delight. A fun dark tale. It has the feel of a dangerous old children’s tale like Roald Dahl or German fairytales. Next is a chapter by the brilliant artist Charles Burns. Using his signature style and themes the story is a tale of infection, mutation, sexuality and a shy male protagonist. Burns’ greatest strength is in his character design and he’s created a beauty here with great physical and psychological design. The Next story is a beautiful shift in style to an almost computer slick animation concerning a young Japanese girl who moves to a new house which is rumored to be haunted by a dead samurai. Brilliant original hallucinatory images give this an otherworld feeling; as soon as you feel grounded again this film knocks you off your feet. After this interlaced story begins to wrap around the chapters, this one being a purely abstract geometrical animation, which is accompanied by a voiceover monologue about modern liberal guilt and fears, universal yet under vocalized. This is a brilliant addition to a series on fears; it’s so different, so unexpected and deeply terrifying in a wholly different way. The next chapter is another tale of a young child discovering horrors in areas around a rural life. This one is a bit more light fun and also has great character designs. The writing is not as striking as the chiaroscuro animation style. The final chapter in this series is the tale of a man who seeks shelter in an old house during a snowstorm. Here the use of only white and black really becomes a virtuoso performance. The use and effect of lighting in this film proves that no computer lighting effect will have the same impact as strong writing and creative use of animation’s forced perspectives. This final note is also the scariest piece in the whole, not just the most formally dazzling
Lucas Granero
25Jun09
Es curioso como, de la nada, se fue gestando algo que ya podriamos considerar movimiento en cuanto al cine de animación que se impone como la alternativa mas radical a la hegemonía del 3D. Tanto “Persépolis” como “Fears Of Dark” son peliculas que están en las antípodas de toda esa animación megaindustrializada, megatrabajada, megaproducida, pero que sin duda se manifiesta como mas viva, original y divertida. Partiendo desde un estilo puramente artesanal de la construcción animada, “Fears Of Dark” es un film colectivo que nuclea a lo mejor de la creación animada contempóranea. Cuatro cortos, entonces, unidos por una temática en torno a la oscuridad, a lo mutante, a la mente enferma, envenenada. Cuatro episodios donde se mezclan distintos tipos de animación, donde la la heterogeniedad de estilos hace la marca de esta pequeñna joya.
En si, los cuatro cortos tienen algo interesante, pero yo destaco el de Charles Burns, un preferido personal. No solo la animación (con su estilo tan marcado, tan copiado) es impresionante, sino que tambien es el que mejor deja claro la idea de la pelicula. El episodio de Burns bucea en la oscuridad que surge desde el deseo, desde la necesidad mismo de sentirse querido, aceptado, cuando en realidad se sabe que uno no pertenece a esto. Que uno es, justamente un bicho. Las consecuencias que ese deseo trae, son, nefastas. Pero asi es la oscuridad: indefinida, extraña como nuestra mente, como nuestras acciones, tan incomprendidas. La negrura hipnotiza, se nos pega. Se nos transforma en nuestra compañera mas aliada, la que siempre esta. Y que, siempre esta ahi, en la amenza, dispuesta a atacar como esos perros salvajes, destrozandonos por completo.
- Currently 3.0/5 Stars.