Fear(s) of the Dark Review (Film, 2008) The Archives
Fear(s) of the Dark is a French animated anthology horror film from 2007. Six graphic designers/illustrators were invited to participate. The challenge was to represent their fears in short horror films. They more than delivered.
The six artists are Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. They all have very different art styles that really add to the beauty and terror of Fear(s) of the Dark. The film is almost entirely done in black and white (Blutch and Marie Caillou sneak in a little color among the shades of grey), yet every segment has an incredibly different look.
Blutch and Pierre di Sciullo provide the two framing narratives for the anthology. Blutch’s is a very disturbing story done in chalk pastel/pastel pencil. A man is walking his four vicious dogs through the quiet countryside. One by one, he releases the leashes to attack innocent citizens. Blutch sets the extremity of the anthology in focus when the first victim is a young child screaming for help as he flees for the hills. Even within this framing story, there is a tremendous variety in the subject and style of the art. It’s really quite remarkable.
Pierre di Sciullo’s framing short is unlike anything I’ve ever seen before in horror. He animates brilliant black and white patterns–largely pop art style, some like a Rorschach Test–as a female narrator discusses her fears about herself and her role in society. Frankly, I found this the scariest set of segments in the entire film because they are so wildly unpredictable. Repeated patterns of politics, feminism, and self-image permeate the meandering fears of a modern woman living in a constant state of uncontrollably anxiety.
The other four shorts are presented in full between Blutch and Pierre di Sciullo’s entries. Charles Burns works in black and white computer animation to focus on an introvert trying to enter the world. As a child, the lead character caught a strange bug in the woods. The bug managed to escape and the lead is convinced it’s still living in his bed frame. When the lead goes to college, he takes the bed with him and, by chance, manages to find a girlfriend. Infatuation leads to obsession as the girlfriend suddenly refuses to stay away no matter what. It’s a disturbing little tale that goes in an unexpected direction.
Marie Caillou presents this manga-style (not anime, but like the printed black and white manga panels with traditional acetate screentone sheets for texture) nightmare as her short. A young school girl in Japan is tormented by a recurring nightmare of being bullied in school. Her treatment for the nightmares is even worse: the hospital uses anesthesia to force her to sleep and finish the nightmare. If that’s not disturbing enough for you, each dose of anesthesia makes the nightmare linger longer with images of the hospital overtaking the images of her nightmares. Essentially, Marie Caillou’s segment proves that no one is safe in this anthology, no matter how adorable the art may be.
Lorenzo Mattotti does a traditional black and white animation in graphite pencil. A young boy plays with a another child while his mom prays at church everyday. The other child tells strange stories about monsters living near the town that start to seem believable when people begin to disappear. The story in this one is quite predictable, but it’s told with such style and nuance that you’ll be drawn into it anyway.
Richard McGuire does digital pen and ink to tell a haunted house story. A man happens upon an abandoned mansion during a snowstorm. He enters for protection only to be faced with more horrors than he could ever imagine. The images are traditional–strange ghosts, floating objects, unexplained shadows and noises–but the execution is novel. The story is told in isolated scenes of black and white objects/movement and it’s up to you to figure out what actually happens. When it clicks, you’ll be terrified.
Fear(s) of the Dark is as beautiful as it is terrifying. The constantly shifting visual styles prevent fatigue even as the stories begin to overlap on themes and subjects just a bit too much. It’s a novelty with a lot more substance and visual variety than you might imagine from a black and white animated horror anthology.
Fear(s) of the Dark is available to Rent or Purchase through Apple. You can also access it with subscriptions to IFC Films or AMC on Amazon.
