Fear [s] Of The Dark

I really liked this movie.

Fear[s] Of The Dark is an animated anthology of horror tales from the most well-known graphic novelists and animators in Europe. It's gotten a lot of buzz in the film festival circuit, and it's all well deserved. FotD is a gorgeous film, absolute eye candy, and the film's minimalist take on the genre is really cool.

Sure, there's a bunch of weird arty stuff in here. The wraparound narrative is a woman listing her fears, both large and small, as asymmetric black and white patterns dance across the screen. It's actually pretty cool, but it's not going to appeal to people who like their horror performed in a straightforward manner.

The stories themselves are all familiar to the long-time horror fan: madness, possession, ghosts, the knife in the dark. The stories are sparse and are more of a showcase for seeing what the artists can do with old tropes. It works well. Even the weakest narrative, a story of a man recalling his childhood among a rural area full of monsters, is still a pleasure to watch.

The best segment, far and away, is the tale of the man stumbling around in the dark house as something sinister stalks him. The story is told completely without dialogue and the play of darkness and silence makes this easily one of the creepiest horror stories I've ever seen. Get a little taste of it here:





So, yeah, go check this one out. It's something new, something different, and it's lovely.