Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du Noir DVD Review
Fear(s) of the Dark / Peur(s) du Noir DVD Review
(s)ublime (s)cary (s)ketches
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You don't normally think of the French as being cutesy, but here you have it with a cheeky title for the otherwise dour and humorless animated anthology, Fear(s) of the Dark.
Various animators contribute to the visuals on several stories, while Colonial period-set charcoal interstitials from gifted graphic artist Blutch feature an arrogant and atrocious aristocrat unleashing his hounds on unsuspecting victims. The emotionless, cold, calculating cruelty of this wordless man juxtaposed with the slavering, howling eagerness of his demonized dogs is striking.
The movie starts off with the best tale: Charles Burns' take on vampiric, shape-shifting inspects that vaguely resemble a ghastly yet sexy cross between a preying mantis and Angelina Jolie. Compelling, creepy… just wrong! There's also an expressive haunted house exploration, a J-horror inspired story about an innocent little girl trapped inside a drug-forced nightmare by a diabolical doc, and a mini monster movie involving a mysterious, nocturnal body-snatcher.
I admit I am predisposed to not liking animated movies. So that's why it's odd the amazing artwork is actually what kept me watching Fear(s) of the Dark and obliges me to go ahead and recommend the DVD. The artwork is hauntingly gorgeous — all black and white, sketchy, wiggly, jumpy, fluid, shadowy — but aside from the first one, the stories themselves are not especially compelling.
With elements of every ingrained icon from Edvard Munch to Bridget Riley, the compendium really comes life by rooting the visuals into things we already have buried in our subconscious while sneakily introducing us to some modern-day artists we may not know. (Now you do: They're Blutch, Pierre Di Sciullo, Charles Burns, Marie Calliou, Richard McGuire, and Lorenzo Mattotti.)
Although the vignettes are only barely connected by threads and pencil-lines tied loosely together by themes involving the loss of oneself, there is a very strong sense of tone. It's a dark, relentless, and gripping grimoire — but you might smile at the bitter, narrated ironic observations put forth during the abstract op-art inspired wraparounds done by Di Sciullo — and that is quite refreshing in and of itself.
Pretty much everything about Fear(s) of the Dark sets it apart from all the other horror DVD releases this fall. It's that original. But… would I want to see it again? Probably not.
DVD Features Include: Exhibition Tour; Creator Biographies; Featurettes; Charles Burns; At The Witchery; Making Of Fear(s) Of The Dark; French MySpace Contest Entries; Extended Module by Pierre Di Sciullo; Stills Gallery; Trailer.
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Reviewed by Staci Layne Wilson