FEAR(S) OF THE DARK
RUSTY ALLEYWAYS AND VAPOROUS GHOSTS PAINTED BY THE MASTERS OF DREAD.
Rare is the child that will happily kiss goodnight to his parents and head upstairs to bed alone in the dark, too young to reach the light switch as he goes. “No need to come and check on me,” he bleats. “I’ll be fine.” Grown men bristle when the lights go out; women shriek; kids freak. There’s no denying it, human beings just don’t get on too well with the dark. Fear(s) of the Dark, a new animated feature, brings together some of Europe’s leading artists in different disciplines to explore humanity’s frosty relationship with the dark.
The film is executively produced by Guillermo del Toro but his creative involvement ends there. Art directed by Etienne Robial, five distinct stories (one appearing recurrently), each created by a different artist, are pieced together to form a creepy whole that, underpinned by what promises to be a similarly brooding soundtrack from Laurent Perez del Mar (check an interview in the latest issue of Little White Lies), threatens to seep deep into our collective subconscious when it’s released in the UK in October. Find out more here or check the trailer below.
Returning home from a mate's house was, for me, always the epitome of our fears for the shadows.
First a nonchalant strut, quickly followed by an imagination of what lurks behind you. A couple of turns of the head to prove your mind is simply playing tricks on you...
...before you know it, you're doing your best Jesse Owens impression "taking the curve" into your cul-de-sac with profound athleticism.
Great times.