Let’s get this straight, right from the off: The Spine of Night knocks it out of the park on all levels. Within the first moments, it grabs you by the [insert appropriate anatomical feature] and does not let go, instead tightening and tightening throughout its taut runtime.
Set in that pseudo-medieval hinterland of many a fantasy fable, The Spine of Night is a treatise on the confusion between the thirst for knowledge, the lust for power, and the conflagration of both. Perhaps Uncle Ben had seen an advance copy of the movie before uttering that famous epitaph. To say any more of the plot would yield spoilers, so we reiterate, just watch it.
That aforementioned lean runtime (about an hour and a half) is judged perfectly, leaving no fat on the bone, but plenty of gristle on the screen. The voice cast are phenomenal, nay, perhaps the best assemblage of voices but to animation in years – the headliners do what they do best, but it is perhaps the myriad other characters that populate the background that really cements them in the world they inhabit.
The backdrops are glorious, at times almost photo-realistic and the animation shines no brighter than when flinging viscera in the eyes of the viewer. Huge props go to Abigail Savage as the movie’s sound designer, few films have left us this queasy on the efforts of the sound team alone, each bone crunch and limb pull hitting the sickly-sweet spot.
The Spine of Night may well be the best animated adult fantasy we have seen in years. ‘Must-see’ is all too often bandied about these days, but in this instance, it’s crack on the money. Oh, yeah, did we mention, you really ought to see this?
The Spine of Night is available on Shudder from March 24th.
