The Spine of Night (2021).
The Stage.
An epic ancient saga about a rare blue flower born from the Gods called “The Bloom” that one man used it to become a frightening god amongst men, and those that attempt to stop him from destroying their world.
The Review.
This film is an epic that spans many timeframes. We start on Tzod, the high priestess of a bog called Bastal, as she makes her way to the top of a mountain adorned with a giant skull. Inside the skull is a single, glowing blue flower called Bloom and a guardian assigned to protect it. Instead of simply cutting her down with his steel, he listens to her reason for arriving, a tale that is both terrifying and exciting.
See, years ago, the Bloom was plentiful. Tzod was able to use it as a great source of power. She’s captured by the vain Lord Pyrantin, along with a scholar named Ghal-Sur. He sees the true abilities of the Bloom as Tzod first burns the Lord’s face off and then uses her power to blast out of the prison. Ghal-Sur’s greed gets the best of him, however, and he double crosses Tzod and takes the Bloom for himself.
The rest of the story illustrates Ghal-Sur’s rise to man-god - a ruthless son of a bitch who will stop at nothing to rule the world. This involves massacring anyone in his way - entire villages, decimated, his power only strengthened by the blood spilled. And blood…is…spilled. Heads and other extremities are chopped off, people are split in half, guts gush to the floor. Ghal-Sur’s attacks are swift and brutal. We run through a gamut of themes, including greed, ego, death, and the desire to leave things behind for the rest of mankind.
This is a rotoscoped animated film. The animation looks a lot more crude and less detailed than animation you’ll see from say, Disney, but it also feels a lot more lifelike. Movements look natural and facial expressions really match each syllable. It harkens back to Ralph Bakshi animated classics like Fire and Ice or the animated Lord of the Rings film from 1978. There’s something jarring about it but it’s beautiful. The colors used are gorgeous and the lack of warmth really makes the blood stand out while it’s spilled on screen. A flashback to the early days of the Gods looks really striking, with all of the figures cloaked in black against different colored backgrounds.
The End.
At only ninety-minutes, this is an easy film to recommend, especially if you’re into animation. The movie looks great and moves at a breakneck pace, packing a lot of lore into its runtime. If you’re squeamish with animation or nudity, you might want to shy away as there is a lot of it, but for the rest of you, this is a lot of fun.
