The Spine Of Night: Review

31st March 2022

Tzod (Lucy Lawless), the fierce priestess of the great jungle swamp called Bastal has an unenviable task set ahead of her. Her task is to rid the world of the guardian of the last light of the gods who was ruled over her land for all eternity.

Believing to have found a way to get to that guardian, Tzod puts her trust in Lord Pyrantin (Patton Oswalt), but before it’s too late she is betrayed and sent to the underworld. It is there that she meets the guardian (Richard E. Grant).

Being trapped in his realm, Tzod has little else to do other than exchange stories of the world and listen to his tales of swords and sorcery until she figures out her next move. Luckily, they have time but the looming presence of evil seeps out of every story they tell.

The Spine of Night is an animated feature exclusive to Shudder which features a few famous names which may draw audiences in. Lawless is of course no stranger to the realms of fantasy and Grant lends the gravitas of his voice to the animation which makes anything his character says sound impressive. Oswalt, the most experienced voice actor also gives an impressive performance, but those familiar with his more family friendly work may be slightly distracted.

However, there is the issue of using these actors because there’s a certain expectation to include them as much as possible. Fans may be disappointed though as their involvement is merely to frame the events of the movie.

Fans of rotoscoped animated movies such as Heavy Metal and Ralph Bakshi’s The Lord of The Rings may delight in the revival of the animation technique. Although, it’s not for everyone and some may balk at the style if they are not as familiar.

It also seems that the aim of the movie is not only to revive the animation style, but to evoke a time in the Seventies and Eighties when these kinds of films were made. So, if you like your animation with boobs and buckets of blood all done in an uncanny valley then The Spine of Night may bring back good memories. Otherwise, it may be lost on you entirely.

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