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MOVIE INFO
Director:
Philip Gelatt, Morgan Galen King
Cast:
Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Richard E. Grant
Screenplay:
Philip Gelatt, Morgan Galen King

Synopsis:
An immortal tyrant rules over a magical realm while various parties attempt to remove him.
MPAA:
Rated NR.

DISC DETAILS
Presentation:
Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
Audio:
English DTS-HD MA 5.1
Subtitles:
English
Spanish
French
Closed-captioned
Supplements Subtitles:
None

Runtime: 94 min.
Price: $35.97
Release Date: 2/1/2022

Bonus:
• “The Making of The Spine of Night” Featurette
• Two Short Films
• Previews
• Blu-ray Copy


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RELATED REVIEWS


The Spine of Night [4K UHD] (2021)

Reviewed by Colin Jacobson (February 8, 2022)

Most films under the Shudder imprint offer live-action horror stories. For something different from Shudder, 2021’s The Spine of Night provides an animated fantasy tale.

Forces controlled by cruel Lord Pyrantin (voiced by Patton Oswalt) attack the peaceful swamp dwellers of Bastal. In the process, they capture lead sorceress Tzod (Lucy Lawless).

Before long, Tzod manages to escape. Once free, however, she faces betrayal from a supposed ally (Jordan Douglas Smith) and this leads to an eons-long battle between good and evil.

At the start, I noted that animated fantasy differs from the Shudder template, but no one should go into Spine with thoughts that they’ll find kid-oriented fare. The film uses its format for violence and nudity that would clearly get it an “R” if it underwent the MPAA rating process.

Unfortunately, the filmmakers substitute this graphic content for engaging characters and/or story-telling. A messy melange of cliché fantasy, bloody content and weak production values, Spine becomes a barely watchable drag.

Rather than focus on the negative, perhaps I should discuss what goes right with Spine.

Hmm.

Huh.

Can I get back to you on that?

Guess not. Actually, Spine comes with fairly well-rendered backgrounds – at least in a relative sense. No one will view the backdrop art as amazing, but compared to the rest of the project, this material dazzles.

Because those behind Spine made it as a shoestring-budget labor of love, I really do hate to come down hard on it. However, Shudder asks potential viewers to pay real money to own this disc, so the filmmakers don’t just get an “A for effort” when they want $30 for the product.

In no way does Spine vaguely resemble a professional animated film, mainly because it comes with shockingly ugly character art. Honestly, the various roles look like a marginally talented 12-year-old drew them.

Catty as that may sound, it really proves true. Nothing about the character art ever looks like an adult did it, and this leaves Spine as far below standards expected of a commercial animated release.

A rotoscoped affair, the movement of the animation seems decent, but given the nature of that technique, motion feels surprisingly awkward. Granted, the clumsy drawings damage everything else about the project and it becomes tough to rate the animation objectively, but these elements still fail to rise above what I might expect from a home-made project such as Spine.

If Spine mustered a smart, involving narrative, I would object to the animation/art issues less. Unfortunately, the film does nothing more than offer an anthology of cliché characters and ideas, none of which feel fresh or creative.

Despite the story’s era-spanning scope, the various segments don’t link well, and they just feel contrived and stale. We get stilted, awkward dialogue and plot points they never add up to more than excuses for graphic content.

At its core, Spine thinks it gives us a deep, far-reaching philosophical narrative. Instead, it just doles out pseudo-profundity that displays little insight or impact.

Given the amateur nature of the production, Spine features a cast with some actual known actors. In addition to Lawless and Oswalt, we find performances from Richard E. Grant, Joe Mangianello and a few othee recognizable “names”.

How did these folks wind up here? I would assume that when the studio acquired the flick, they ponied up the dough to bring in a few famous folks and add to its sales appeal. The “making of” program on this disc doesn’t discuss these actors, so I find myself left with this speculation.

Despite the talent of those performers, they do nothing to elevate their stiff, thin roles. All overact in a manner that matches the cheesy art.

Again, I kind of hate to wax so negative about a movie made by a small group of people on a low budget, and if Spine came as part of a student film festival, I would go easier on it. But as a movie we’re intended to accept as a professional, studio release, I can’t judge it as anything other than an amateurish flop.


The Disc Grades: Picture A-/ Audio B/ Bonus C

The Spine of Night appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.78:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. Despite the crude nature of the animated characters, the picture looked very good.

Sharpness was excellent. At all times, the movie exhibited virtually flawless definition, without a hint of softness on display.

No signs of jaggies or moiré effects materialized, and edge enhancement didn’t appear. I also failed to discern any print flaws in this clear presentation.

With a palette that leaned toward blues, yellows, rusty browns and reds, Spine offered positive hues. The colors were well-rendered and appropriate at all times.

Blacks were deep and tight, while shadows appeared smooth and well-defined. This was a fine image, even with less than attractive art.

While not as strong, the film’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 worked well for the movie. The soundfield tended to focus on the front speakers, though the rear channels kicked to life at times.

These occurred mostly during the occasional action scenes, as we got good movement for the material on display. Otherwise, the music showed nice stereo dimensionality, and the track gave us a positive sense of place and involvement.

Audio quality was fine. Speech seemed concise and crisp, while music offered good range and clarity.

Effects were also accurate and full, as they represented different elements well. I thought the track lacked the scope to be more than a “B”, but it seemed more than adequate for the story.

How did the 4K UHD compare to the Blu-ray version? Both came with identical soundtracks.

As for visuals, the 4K might’ve looked a sliver better defined than the Blu-ray. However, because the 4K lacked HDR, it demonstrated marginal improvements at best. The two really seemed very similar, so don’t expect an upgrade from the 4K.

The Making of I>The Spine of Night runs 29 minutes, 49 seconds and provides comments from director/writer/animator Morgan Galen King, wife Megan Fuller, writer/director/producer Philip Gelatt, producer Jean Rattle, animator Alex King, composer Peter Scartabello, and actors Nina Lisandrello, Jordan Douglas Smith, Malcolm Mills, and Sydney Matthews.

“Making” looks at the film’s roots and development, cast and performances, sets and animation, music and sound design, and other movie recommendations. Though not as complete an overview as I might like from a fairly long program, “Making” nonetheless offers some good insights.

Two Short Films from King appear as well: 2011’s Mongrel (2:50) and 2013’s Exordium (8:01). Both offer the same kind of violent fantasy seen in Spine, though Exordium offers the more obvious connection to the feature film.

Neither short offers much entertainment value. Still, both act as intriguing additions to the disc since we see earlier work from the Spine filmmakers.

The disc opens with ads for PG: Psycho-Goreman, Archenemy and Mandy. No trailer for Spine appears here.

A second disc provides a Blu-ray copy of Spine. It features the same extras as the 4K.

An attempt at an epic fantasy anthology, The Spine of Night fails in most conceivable ways. From the ugly art to the clumsy animation to the stiff acting to the hackneyed script, nothing here works. The 4K UHD brings excellent visuals as well as positive audio and a smattering of bonus materials. This ends up as a cheap, dull animated fantasy.

To rate this film, visit the prior review of SPINE OF NIGHT

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