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"I RECOGNISE TERROR AS THE FINEST EMOTION AND SO I WILL TRY TO TERRORISE THE READER. BUT IF I CANNOT TERRIFY, I WILL TRY TO HORRIFY, AND IF I CANNOT HORRIFY, I'LL GO FOR THE GROSS-OUT. I'M NOT PROUD." --- STEPHEN KING ::::::::::::: Spoilers for plot points and resolutions can occur within my movie reviews with or without warning. Read at your own risk.

Peur(s) du Noir (Fear(s) of the Dark)

June 9th 2008 05:58
Fear(s) of the Dark movie poster
The monochromatic animated adult tales in the anthology feature Fear(s) of the Dark playing in the 55th Sydney Film Festival are some of the most inspired work I’ve seen in a long time. Numerous international animator/directors create their own stylistic nightmare realm, which are separated by simple, but striking geometric moving patterns which work as interludes between the stories.

Fear(s) of the Dark
The introductory tale created by Blutch is less a story and more an extended dialogue-free vignette which is broken up over the course of the whole movie. It features a creepy skeletal aristocrat walking his huge ferocious hounds across a landscape and through villages where each hound takes turns savaging some poor victim.

Fear(s) of the Dark
The second story from RAW magazine contributor Charles Burns is about a young wallflower of a man, Eric, whom strikes lucky with a pretty girl, Laura. Eric’s secret passion is his love of insects, but he gets much, much more than he bargained for when preying Laura's copulating edge begins to consume all his energy and his life.

Fear(s) of the Dark
With the dual context of a hospital nightmare the next tale from Marie Caillou and Romain Slocombe describes a Japanese girl who is bullied at school, and subsequently becomes possessed by the local village’s samurai ghost.

Fear(s) of the Dark
Then there’s the chilling story of the rural village and its surrounding marshes where people have been disappearing. A narrator describes how a strange man speaks of a beast descending from the clouds. Then he also vanishes.

Fear(s) of the Dark
In the last story, sans dialogue, a man in a dark and lonely house is visited upon by the spectre of a woman in a floral dress. He tries in vain to shoo her away, but ends up trapped in a closet where no one can hear his cries for help.

Fear(s) of the Dark
Richard McGuire’s moving patterns between the stories have a different voice-over, each one relating their fears, all of which are some kind of sociological phobia.

Fear(s) of the Dark
Fear(s) of the Dark melds beauty and melancholy, nightmare and an uneasy tranquility, all in equal measure. Grotesque images rub up against sketches of expressionist minimalism. It’s easily the best use of black and white in a world of overwise saturated colour. But there is one moment of chromatic indulgence which features in the Japanese tale … Blood, of course.

The directorial use of light and shadow is exceptional, as is the haunting, resonant European tone. It’s Twilight Zone in the twilight Euro zone; deeply, sublimely atmospheric, this is definitely one anthology of quietly surreal tales from the tenebrous side not to be missed.
Fear(s) of the Dark

Fear(s) of the Dark screening times at Sydney Film Festival:
Sunday 15 June 7:45pm - Dendy Opera Quays
Friday 20 June 9:30pm - Dendy Opera Quays

Here's the theatrical trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews
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5 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Damo

June 9th 2008 06:55
Bryn
You are kickin some good goals lately.

I want see this for sure.
I like my toons.
I like them a lot.

Comment by Cibbuano

June 9th 2008 22:46


Hunt Famous
Orble Post of the Day
Fat Cult
Techbreak
woah!

I saw this on the schedule and thought I'd give it a miss, but those images and your descriptions are enticing.

The wolf!

Comment by Bryn

June 10th 2008 01:56


Horrorphile
Damo, muchos gracias!! I'll aim to keep bendin' it like Beckham ...

Cibby, yeah, I'm keen to see it again on the big screen ...

Comment by anderson

June 10th 2008 15:38
adorei o site.

Comment by Bryn

June 11th 2008 00:53


Horrorphile
anderson ... er ... does that mean you really like my blog??

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