This watchable American animation draws on Japanese anime, but it’s best to ignore the muddled plot and let the striking imagery wash over you
This animated feature is written and directed by Philip Gelatt, who previously made live-action horror pics They Remain and The Bleeding House, and Morgan Galen King; it is an American-made production but one indebted to the style and scope of classic Japanese anime, what with its fusion of 18-certificate worthy violence, steampunk fantasy elements and new age spiritualism. That all makes for a heady, fizzy mix that’s very watchable, probably even more so for viewers open to the use of chemical assistance. Still, there are passages where the narrative throughline gets rather muddled and you can only wonder where those characters with mechanical wings and plague doctor masks suddenly came from (or did you just fall asleep for a minute and imagine them?) It...
This animated feature is written and directed by Philip Gelatt, who previously made live-action horror pics They Remain and The Bleeding House, and Morgan Galen King; it is an American-made production but one indebted to the style and scope of classic Japanese anime, what with its fusion of 18-certificate worthy violence, steampunk fantasy elements and new age spiritualism. That all makes for a heady, fizzy mix that’s very watchable, probably even more so for viewers open to the use of chemical assistance. Still, there are passages where the narrative throughline gets rather muddled and you can only wonder where those characters with mechanical wings and plague doctor masks suddenly came from (or did you just fall asleep for a minute and imagine them?) It...
- 3/22/2022
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
, Morgan Galen King and Philip Gelatt’s “The Spine of Night” is nothing less than an orgiastic ode to Ralph Bakshi, Gerald Potterton, and the other god-kings of rotoscope animation whose adult cartoons glistened from behind the beaded doorways of America’s video stores like forbidden relics that would melt the faces of anyone who dared to gaze upon their taboo wonders. It’s nothing more than that, either, but there’s only so much you can ask of a movie in which Lucy Lawless voices a naked swamp witch who wears a human skull as a headdress and shouts things like “tremble before the immensity of the night!”
Even if “The Spine of Night” struggles to align its overarching story with the anthology-like shape that it takes, it’s still rare and rewarding to watch a film that makes so few bones about what it wants to be — all...
Even if “The Spine of Night” struggles to align its overarching story with the anthology-like shape that it takes, it’s still rare and rewarding to watch a film that makes so few bones about what it wants to be — all...
- 10/27/2021
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.