The Spine of Night Review

4 stars of hyper-violent blood soaked animation.

The Spine of Night is a 2021 adult animation written and directed by Philip Gelatt (Love, Death and Robots) and Morgan Galen King.

This ambitious and gory homage to the animated films of the eighties is a Shudder Exclusive, available to stream on Shudder.com and on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Platforms from 24th October 2022 courtesy of Acorn Media International.

“Oh daughter of man. The bloom is the last light of the Gods. Would you die to take it?”

Tzod (Lucy Lawless – Spartacus, Xena Warrior Princess) is making the grueling journey through a blizzard to reach the top of a mountain. Here sits the “Guardian” (Richard E. Grant – Withnail and I, Gosford Park), tasked with guarding “The Bloom”, a mysterious blue flower which contains great power as well as the secrets of the Universe.

Tzod is here to tell him of the events taking place in the world below while he sits atop his mountain. Once the Queen of a swamp, she was mercilessly taken from her home on the whim of the spoilt Lord Pyrantin (Patton Oswalt – Agents of Shield). She fights back using her “swamp magic”, using the Bloom.

This is witnessed by a visiting scholar Ghal-Sur (Jordan Douglas Smith) who  immediately realises he wants this power for himself. Thus, our bad guy is created. He steals the flower and disappears. As the film progresses, we see the opposition which he faces, including sensitive scholar Phae-Agura (Betty Gabriel – Beyond Skyline) and numerous other soldiers and armies.

“Love her? I’m going to spread her open and take what I want from her. She will know sorrow.”

The Spine of Night is a gloriously colourful homage to the classic rotoscoped animated films of the early eighties. Fans of the genre will inevitably compare it to Heavy Metal and this is by no means a bad thing. Of course, many years later the quality of the backgrounds is breathtaking, however, the lack of facial expressions and finesse of the foreground characters means a few missed opportunities in terms of emotional connection.

It is literally slathered in blood, melting bodies and skeletons as well as liberal amounts of magic and mysticism and is an absolutely epic adventure. There’s nudity aplenty too, but it is also a statement about the perils of absolute power. The story is quite muddled in places but overall it’s possible to allow yourself to get swept up in the action and just enjoy the ride.

Very entertaining with excellent voice acting and well worth a watch.

“Let me now tell you of moments of great dignity, as the armies of Ghal-Sur crossed the land.”

The Spine of Night is available to buy on DVD, Blu-ray and Digital Platforms from 24th October 2022 courtesy of Acorn Media International.