Chicago – Though graphic novels may read like great movie storyboards, they often fail to translate into compelling cinema. From “Sin City” to “Watchmen,” filmmakers have tried replicating graphic art with a reverence more suffocating than exhilarating. Images that reverberated with power on the page become coldly calculated on the big screen. No matter how tightly structured a film may be, it must give viewers the illusion of spontaneity. And there’s nothing more tiresome than a horror film in which all the scares feel telegraphed.
DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0
That’s the interesting challenge facing “Fear(s) of the Dark,” a compilation of short subjects from six of today’s most celebrated graphic artists. As an animation exercise, the film is consistently fascinating. Each artist’s approach to the cinematic medium is as distinctive as their trademark visual styles. Though their films are wildly different from each other, they all grapple with...
DVD Rating: 3.0/5.0
That’s the interesting challenge facing “Fear(s) of the Dark,” a compilation of short subjects from six of today’s most celebrated graphic artists. As an animation exercise, the film is consistently fascinating. Each artist’s approach to the cinematic medium is as distinctive as their trademark visual styles. Though their films are wildly different from each other, they all grapple with...
- 11/2/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The French omnibus horror film "Fear(s) in the Dark" comes off a bit as a cataract of gimmicks -- fully animated, using comic artists with distinctive styles, no color allowed (well, a little red to pepper up the black and white palette) and focused on phobias and anxieties. Omnibus films, with which we are suddenly surrounded (Paris this, New York that), are gimmicks themselves, not much like anthologies, because you can't roam at will. Their viewing experiences are predicated on variety instead of consistency, and the often fizzling impact of clumped shorts, each more or less the total sum, which is too often shruggable itself.
But "Fear(s)" is a hypnotic cocktail, and its key liquor may be Frenchness -- some of the materials folded in have no sensible conclusion (the fear of "Tales from the Crypt" moralism is unavoidable), and some aren't stories at all. Some stand entire and alone,...
But "Fear(s)" is a hypnotic cocktail, and its key liquor may be Frenchness -- some of the materials folded in have no sensible conclusion (the fear of "Tales from the Crypt" moralism is unavoidable), and some aren't stories at all. Some stand entire and alone,...
- 10/27/2009
- by Michael Atkinson
- ifc.com
In this incarnation of our Videolog column (which began in 1982 with VHS and Betamax and later laserdisc), Starlog posts information weekly regarding selected genre titles being released (or re-released) now on DVD and Blu-ray. Prices listed are Msrp, though any clickable links lead to Amazon where the savings can be significant.
DVD Releases for October 27, 2009
Adult Swim In A Box (Turner, $69.98): This set includes six full seasons of Adult Swim’s most popular series: Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Two, Space Ghost: Season Three, Moral Oral: Season One, Robot Chicken: Season Two, Metalocalypse: Season One and Sealab 2021: Season Two. Five never-before-released pilots are also included.
The Asphyx (Hen’s Tooth, $19.95): The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes’ Robert Stephens stars as Sir Hugo Cunningham, a 19th-Century amateur scientist and dabbler in psychic phenomena. His experiments in the new art of photography lead him...
DVD Releases for October 27, 2009
Adult Swim In A Box (Turner, $69.98): This set includes six full seasons of Adult Swim’s most popular series: Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Volume Two, Space Ghost: Season Three, Moral Oral: Season One, Robot Chicken: Season Two, Metalocalypse: Season One and Sealab 2021: Season Two. Five never-before-released pilots are also included.
The Asphyx (Hen’s Tooth, $19.95): The Private Life Of Sherlock Holmes’ Robert Stephens stars as Sir Hugo Cunningham, a 19th-Century amateur scientist and dabbler in psychic phenomena. His experiments in the new art of photography lead him...
- 10/27/2009
- by no-reply@starlog.com (Allan Dart)
- Starlog
Brought to us by the celebrated French graphic house and studio Prima Linea, Fear(s) of the Dark is an omnibus anthology of horror themed animation from some of the industry’s premier graphic designers, artists, and comic book creators. Five self-contained stories spliced together and tied off by a recurring monologue, Fear(s) of the Dark challenged six creative minds to animate the rhythm of the fears in the harsh extremities of black and white and the tonal subtleties that lay in between.
Opening the picture is a charcoal horror from the mind of Blutch (a.k.a. Christian Hincker) where we witness the nighttime stroll of a gaunt 18th century aristocrat and his pack of slavering Hellhounds. Each encounter with a peasant sees a dog break free and devour the helpless individual, until finally the gentlemen finds himself alone, face to face with the final hound.
Charles Burns's...
Opening the picture is a charcoal horror from the mind of Blutch (a.k.a. Christian Hincker) where we witness the nighttime stroll of a gaunt 18th century aristocrat and his pack of slavering Hellhounds. Each encounter with a peasant sees a dog break free and devour the helpless individual, until finally the gentlemen finds himself alone, face to face with the final hound.
Charles Burns's...
- 10/26/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- JustPressPlay.net
Fear(S) Of The Dark, and animated horror anthology with a segment by director Marie Caillou, arrives on DVD (Finally!) on October 27, 2009 from IFC Films.
Fear(s) of the Dark brings together some of the world’s leading graphic artists and cartoonists – Blutch (Christian Hincker), Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Richard McGuire, Pierre di Sciullo and Lorenzo Mattotti – who breathe life into their nightmares, utilizing stark light and the pitch black of shadows. Their intertwined stories make up an unprecedented film where phobias, disgust and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense. Creepy, kinky, sometimes funny and always scary, these films – ranging from the story of a girl forced to relive her nightmarish past, to a haunted house tale in which the striking of a match is enough to make you jump out of your seat - will challenge any home viewer to watch alone in the dark.
Fear(s) of the Dark brings together some of the world’s leading graphic artists and cartoonists – Blutch (Christian Hincker), Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Richard McGuire, Pierre di Sciullo and Lorenzo Mattotti – who breathe life into their nightmares, utilizing stark light and the pitch black of shadows. Their intertwined stories make up an unprecedented film where phobias, disgust and nightmares come to life and reveal Fear at its most naked and intense. Creepy, kinky, sometimes funny and always scary, these films – ranging from the story of a girl forced to relive her nightmarish past, to a haunted house tale in which the striking of a match is enough to make you jump out of your seat - will challenge any home viewer to watch alone in the dark.
- 10/5/2009
- by Superheidi
- Planet Fury
Fango heard from Lionsgate Home Entertainment regarding the final special features on its Monstrous Special Edition DVD of The Gate (pictured), coming October 6. We also got the scoop on the extras that will be seen on the IFC Films and Mpi Home Video disc release of Fear(S) Of The Dark, streeting Oct. 27.
The Gate, the 1987 box-office hit about three kids who discover a portal to hell in their back yard and unleash a bevy of stop-motion critters, will be accompanied by:
Audio commentary by director Tibor Takacs, writer Michael Nankin and special FX designer/supervisor Randall William Cook “From Hell: The Creatures & Demons of The Gate” featurette “The Gatekeepers with Tibor Takacs and Michael Nankin” featurette Original theatrical trailer
Fear(S) Of The Dark, an anthology of creepy black-and-white animated shorts (see our review here), will see its 1.85:1 transfer supplemented by:
Exhibition tour of Fear(S) Of...
The Gate, the 1987 box-office hit about three kids who discover a portal to hell in their back yard and unleash a bevy of stop-motion critters, will be accompanied by:
Audio commentary by director Tibor Takacs, writer Michael Nankin and special FX designer/supervisor Randall William Cook “From Hell: The Creatures & Demons of The Gate” featurette “The Gatekeepers with Tibor Takacs and Michael Nankin” featurette Original theatrical trailer
Fear(S) Of The Dark, an anthology of creepy black-and-white animated shorts (see our review here), will see its 1.85:1 transfer supplemented by:
Exhibition tour of Fear(S) Of...
- 8/31/2009
- by no-reply@fangoria.com (Michael Gingold)
- Fangoria
IFC has acquired the North American rights to the French animated film Fear(s) of the Dark.
Directed by Blutch (Christian Hincker), Marie Caillou, Pierre DiSciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire and Charles Burns, the black-and-white film presents the stylized interpretations of nightmares from six graphic artists and cartoonists.
Valerie Schermann and Chrisophe Jankovic of Prima Lenea Prods. produced the film, which will make its U.S. premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema on Saturday.
Dark, which currently has no release date, premiered at the Rome film festival and later screened at Sundance.
Directed by Blutch (Christian Hincker), Marie Caillou, Pierre DiSciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, Richard McGuire and Charles Burns, the black-and-white film presents the stylized interpretations of nightmares from six graphic artists and cartoonists.
Valerie Schermann and Chrisophe Jankovic of Prima Lenea Prods. produced the film, which will make its U.S. premiere at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Rendez-Vous with French Cinema on Saturday.
Dark, which currently has no release date, premiered at the Rome film festival and later screened at Sundance.
LONDON -- "Fear(s) of the Dark," a collaboration of graphic authors and comic artists, is the surprise addition to this year's RomeFilmFest, organizers said Thursday.
The movie will take out-of-competition slot in the Cinema 2007 section of the festival, which kicks off its second edition Oct. 18.
Organizers said the film, which has taken more than a year to make, involves work by such graphic authors and comic artists as Lorenzo Mattotti, Blutch and Charles Burns. It is produced by Valerie Schermann and Christophe Jankovic, the team behind the animated "U" and "Alice in the City".
"This year the RomeFilmFest offers an exceptional experience such as the integral presentation of the now-mythical 'Book of Dreams' by Federico Fellini," Cinema 2007 section chiefs Teresa Cavina and Giorgio Gosetti said.
"To this journey through the unconscious we are adding a highly original 'Book of Nightmares, ' uniting some of the most extraordinary 'pensmen' of contemporary drawing in a project rooted in the secret fears we all carry with us, from a child's fears of the dark to the adult who experiments with the thrills and chills of the night."
Co-directed by Blutch, Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Mattotti and Richard McGuire, "Fear(s)" is penned by Jerry Kramsky, Michel Pirus and Romain Slocombe and brought to the festival by Celluloid Dreams/Dreamachine.
The movie will take out-of-competition slot in the Cinema 2007 section of the festival, which kicks off its second edition Oct. 18.
Organizers said the film, which has taken more than a year to make, involves work by such graphic authors and comic artists as Lorenzo Mattotti, Blutch and Charles Burns. It is produced by Valerie Schermann and Christophe Jankovic, the team behind the animated "U" and "Alice in the City".
"This year the RomeFilmFest offers an exceptional experience such as the integral presentation of the now-mythical 'Book of Dreams' by Federico Fellini," Cinema 2007 section chiefs Teresa Cavina and Giorgio Gosetti said.
"To this journey through the unconscious we are adding a highly original 'Book of Nightmares, ' uniting some of the most extraordinary 'pensmen' of contemporary drawing in a project rooted in the secret fears we all carry with us, from a child's fears of the dark to the adult who experiments with the thrills and chills of the night."
Co-directed by Blutch, Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre Di Sciullo, Mattotti and Richard McGuire, "Fear(s)" is penned by Jerry Kramsky, Michel Pirus and Romain Slocombe and brought to the festival by Celluloid Dreams/Dreamachine.
- 10/12/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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