Fear(s) of the Dark

Art Imitates Fear(s) of the Dark is an example of why I think there should be a sliding scale price for certain genres of movies/films, rather than the time of day you attend the showing.

This film is very creative, a little disturbing, a boon for the participating artists, and not at all worth $8.50.

The film is an animated feature of six shorts by illustrators and comic artists (Blutch, Marie Caillou, Pierre de Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire, and Charles Burns). The only guidelines the artists were given was that the film was to be in black and white and that the common theme was… fears of the dark.

What I found refreshing was the fact that the animation doesn’t resemble the countless Japanese cartoons that seem to dominate animation, nothing Pixarish or distorted exaggeration a la Simpson’s. (not that I have anything against any of these art forms) but it was lovely to see detailed book illustrations come to life in many of the segments.

For story content, my choice would be the piece by Charles Burns (of Philadelphia) about a geeky bug collector, who finally succeeds in capturing the attention of the female species (a pretty girl) only to witness her progressive, horrific transformation.

For over all story and creative illustration, my choice would be Richard McGuire’s silent piece of a guy who takes shelter in an abandoned house to get out of a snow storm. The house has no electricity, he is able to find a candle. This makes for the inspiration of the drawings, because only small portions of stark black and white images are depicted at a time. The mystery of the house is revealed so simply with such great effect. The ending predicament and sense of desolation is more chilling than the most wintry of winds.

Rating: Pretty Middle Toe