THE SPINE OF NIGHT HOW TO

Although some of the backgrounds are quite flat, directors Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King know how to deliver something dazzling when occasion calls for it, and use the contrast to differentiate physical and spiritual realms. The film has a relaxed rather than exploitative attitude to nudity, and it’s nice to see a round-bellied, muscular woman in her fifties represented honestly like this without being mocked or belittled. The rotoscoped characters also work very well.

In among the familiar fantasy tropes there’s some genuinely good world building here, and the universe has a sense of depth throughout. The real action begins when they are both screwed over by scheming necromancer Mongrel (Joe Manganiello), who not only wants to take over the world but has a plan in mind for achieving it – until the flower itself begins to drive him mad, and what began as a simple desire for power becomes a genocidal crusade of destruction. Lucy Lawless is in her element as Tzod, a swamp witch queen who uses it to perform hallucinatory rituals for her tribe, giving them a deeper understanding of the universe and its capricious gods, but its power is coveted by Lord Pyrantin (Patton Oswalt), who has an army at his disposal and megalomaniacal ambitions. The Spine Of Night isn’t altogether successful in capitalising on this, but its combination of nostalgic visual style, gory violence and elaborate fantasy narrative is likely to win it a cult following nonetheless.Īt the centre of it all is a blue flower. For a certain type of film fan, the idea of a cast which includes Lucy Lawless, Larry Fessenden and Richard E Grant will exert an instant, magnetic appeal. One of the great things about animation is that it can make stars young again and enable a production to pull together a dream cast across generations without having to worry about how they fit together in terms of age.

The spine of night