Movie Review: The Spine Of Night

 

Editor's note- This is the first of what we hope to be an ongoing series of text reviews covering many works of media (movies, albums, books, etc.) that we may never otherwise cover in detail on TRAPPO. Both hosts had a long discussion and agreed that regular text reviews here on the blog would be a good compromise considering the many, many worthy subjects that will inevitably fall through the cracks as we continue to produce TRAPPO, so this will allow us to discuss the works that don't get covered on the podcast for one reason or another. Yes, I said "discuss", and I'll get back to that after the review's conclusion. 

For now, allow me to introduce to you a new contributor to the blog, although if you're a regular listener you've already heard his prose on two previous episodes, since he's sent a few emails our way in the past. This first review for the blog has been written by friend of TRAPPO "Archbishop" Mack, he of The International Brotherhood Of The Humble Slug. So sit back and enjoy this review of 2021's The Spine Of Night.-Dustin

The Spine Of Night is an adult animated film written & directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, an ultra-violent labor of love by the two novice filmmakers, clearly inspired by the works of Ralph Bakshi (Fire & Ice, Wizards) and 1981's cult classic anthology Heavy Metal. There are frequent depictions of unflinching violence and plentiful, if more matter-of-fact than titillating, nudity in this ambitious, centuries-spanning tale of a brutal world where men and women seem doomed to continue a cycle of violence that has seemingly been passed down to them by the very gods themselves, careless and cruel deities that would rather wield their immense power to slaughter each other across the stars than build anything lasting or meaningful, and this propensity for wanton destructiveness seems to be all too present in their mortal descendants. 

It is a world where bloodshed and malice are the dominant way of life and hope is in woefully short supply. A world where a lone witch (voiced by Lucy Lawless), her own tribe, once a small oasis of peace and tranquility long since destroyed by a petty ruler with delusions of grandeur, scales a snowy mountain peak to seek the power of the last surviving Bloom, a legendary flower germinated from blazing seeds that fell from the sky eons in the past, to right a grievous wrong and perhaps in the process ignite a small spark of hope to light the way to a better path for those who might follow in her wake. At the peak, the witch is met by the Guardian, an undead figure tasked with protecting the Bloom from those who would wield its power to do great harm. The witch and the Guardian speak, and she tells him stories of the continued degeneration of the world below in the centuries since he last walked among mortals, how darker and more sinister forces than mere men have risen to conquer all they encounter, and she tells him of the fool's hope of a plan she has to put a stop to it...

That's the general story of The Spine Of Night, which is essentially an anthology film, although each story is inter-connected in that they each serve as a piece of a larger puzzle as they illustrate the rise of an immortal power fueled by some inscrutable force that seeks only to consume and control, and the simple folks who find themselves standing in the way of this great evil throughout time, each playing a small part in a much greater game, whether they're ever aware of this or not. I'm being deliberately vague for two reasons: I don't want to give away too much of the film's plot, and the film itself is often rather hazy (at times, perhaps, frustratingly so) with the particulars of its own story. Major settings and characters are at times introduced, only to be left behind, seemingly forgotten as the narrative keeps moving inexorably forward to its explosive endgame, and in the process the viewer may be left with the sense that they never really learned a whole lot about the world of The Spine Of Night or the numerous characters that live and die upon its face. I've had discussions with friends who've seen the movie and couldn't even remember the name of the lead character, the aforementioned swamp witch who serves as the story's primary guide and narrator, for example (it's Tzod, by the way, if anyone's interested).

 

I would counter on that front that the names of these characters don't really matter in the grand scheme of things, as they serve more as archetypes than fully-realized individuals. That is, of course, understandably frustrating to a certain kind of viewer, but there are others who aren't really bothered by this kind of storytelling style, and I would argue that this is a deliberate act on the part of the film's writer/directors. The characters, such as they are, remain deliberately nebulous as a form of shorthand, allowing engaged viewers the opportunity to absorb the simple traits that define them and essentially fill in the blanks with their own imaginations. It's a common trope used by video game designers who create protagonists with precious little backstory and only the barest of personalities to allow the players to more completely inhabit these characters as they control them on their journeys. 

This trope is, by and large, less successful in movies because while passively watching a movie we're not spending dozens of hours micro-managing these characters like in an RPG (Dragon Age: Origins, anyone?) but how much time do we spend on the backstories of characters such as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road? We learn what we need to learn and then we're left to fill in the blank spaces ourselves. At least until director George Miller's unnecessary prequel is released in a few years. My point being that if the film is made well enough, we don't really question the potential lack of rich depth in the characters that populate the film's world. Of course, your mileage may vary, but this was almost never a problem for me in The Spine Of Night, although I freely admit there were moments where I was left wondering what exactly the film was trying to accomplish and found no real answers. 

My biggest example of this comes around the story's halfway point, where we are introduced to a new character who very quickly becomes a formidable villain, seemingly unstoppable and tearing through well-trained warriors like tissue paper. This character, blessed with tremendous power and reveling in their newfound glory, is unceremoniously dispatched in such a manner that it felt as though the writer/directors had painted themselves into a corner with this cool new antagonist and couldn't figure out anything to do with them and just sort of erased them from the story because they no longer fit into the narrative the pair were constructing. It's a bizarre choice all around, and in my opinion, the film's only major blunder of note.

Close behind this, however, is the casting of comedian Patton Oswalt as the voice of Lord Pyrantin, the contemptible ruler of a not-terribly-impressive fiefdom on the edge of a swamp who wipes out Tzod's tribe and burns her home to the ground, setting the main narrative in motion. Oswalt plays the character entirely straight, but if you're at all familiar with the man's comedy it's very difficult to take his voice at all seriously in the role. That's not really anybody's fault but mine as a viewer, since I found I just couldn't divorce the character in this film from Oswalt's hyperbolic stage persona. But that's ultimately a minor issue, more of a nitpick, really. But we must understand that this is an animated film produced by an incredibly small team with limited resources, and having a name like Patton Oswalt's attached is guaranteed to attract more attention to the final product, and some people that would have otherwise ignored The Spine Of Night would surely now take a chance on this otherwise obscure animated movie, at least for curiosity's sake. 

Regarding the film in a larger sense, we must understand the economy of storytelling. What is the absolute bare minimum that can be displayed onscreen in order to fulfill the wishes of the filmmakers? Animation under any circumstances is an incredibly labor intensive endeavor, and using rotoscope techniques only compounds that difficulty (if you're unfamiliar with the process, here's an article that lays out the ins and outs of rotoscope animation in detail for your perusal-D). Given a greater budget and a larger team of skilled animators, I'm sure Gelatt and King would have gladly expanded their story, but they were never afforded those luxuries. No large studio was ever going to bankroll a project like The Spine Of Night. It was simply never in the cards. Adult animation, at least as far as the narrow-minded viewpoint of most western financiers is concerned, is a niche market at best, so why take a gamble on a project like this when there are surer bets to be made elsewhere? It's an unfortunate truth of the world we're living in that a movie like The Spine Of Night would never even be considered by a major studio for financing or distribution. Maybe in time that will change, but until then, we should consider ourselves lucky that passionate creative artists like Gelatt and King are pushing forward, undaunted by these truths and striving to bring their visions to life by whatever means necessary.

I found myself engrossed with the story being told by The Spine Of Night almost immediately, drawn into this epic tale of a world where gods are very real and they don't give a damn about their misbegotten sons and daughters, where petty men would sacrifice all to obtain the power of the gods themselves, and then use that power to cause unimaginable suffering, with only the actions of a handful of brave yet otherwise unremarkable souls standing between damnation and salvation for all. The greatest highlight for me is a psychedelic flashback telling the story of the gods that created the human race and how their creations eventually rebelled and slew their callous progenitors, spurred on by one tragic death and the leadership of one brave mortal whose bloody quest of vengeance changed the course of history. It's a genuinely remarkable and visually striking sequence that serves as the key to understanding the overall story told in The Spine Of Night, and it's very emotionally resonant, as well.

 

I could go on, but I don't want to spoil anything else for anybody who might be moved to watch The Spine Of Night after reading this review. And I would heartily recommend you watch the film yourselves and make up your own minds, despite what other, more negative reviews might attest. The rotoscope animation is more crude than any modern studio affair, but this movie was animated by a handful of dedicated individuals with a true passion for the craft and a shoestring budget over the course of years operating entirely outside any studio system. Even Richard Linklater, when he was directing his own rotoscope projects Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly had, despite his own essentially modest roots, vastly more money and resources than writer/directors Gelatt and King had at their disposal with The Spine Of Night. There is a palpable charm in every moment of this movie, and you can feel the passion everyone involved carried for this project, which was a true labor of love, and it's worth your time.

If you're a bit squeamish, I may suggest caution as there is no shortage of brutal, bloody violence throughout the film, with bodies dismembered, burned, stabbed and outright disintegrated with impunity. Directors Gelatt and King clearly wear their creative influences on their gore-soaked sleeves, and one may argue that the violence is at times gratuitous, to which they would likely enthusiastically agree. It's that type of movie, and either you're on board with it or you're not. Fair warning.

So if you don't mind casual nudity, graphic violence, and a heaping helping of nihilism in your animated fantasy, than The Spine Of Night is the movie you've been waiting for.

Blessings, Archbishop Mack  <--- Email!

(The Spine Of Night is available on demand, on 4K/Blu-Ray, and will stream on SHUDDER beginning March 24th.)

Thanks so much for reading Mack's review of The Spine Of Night. Now here's the fun part: you get to decide whether this film is inducted into the TRAPPO Essentials Can(n)on. You can cast your vote in the comments below. Do you think The Spine Of Night deserves a place in the Can(n)on? Do you think it's best left in the dustbin of history? Tell us your thoughts! 

Here are the rules: 

1) You must comment with a name. All anonymous comments will be deleted

2) Voting is open until March 10th at 11:59 PM Central Time

3) Please don't vote unless you've actually seen the film. We're using the honor system!

4) Although you can comment at length, please provide a definitive YES or NO vote at the conclusion of your comment

Thanks for sticking around, we can't wait to read your thoughts, and stay tuned, because this is just the beginning of a bigger, better TRAPPO experience!-D