The Horror Fatale

This year at the Sundance Film Festival, the animated film, Peur(s) du noir, translated, Fear(s) Of The Dark, premiered. This film is set to be released in limited release October 24th.

Here are the deathtails: Different black-and-white animation techniques tell several scary stories. There’s a story of a teenage boy who meets the wrong girl. Another tale deals with a small community where people disappear and are never seen again. Then there’s the narrative of a little Japanese girl who suffers from horrible nightmares followed by a tale where a man doesn’t get the rest he hoped for in an old not-so-abandoned house. These stories are connected by the story about a man with a devilish smile and four enormous dogs from hell and by a woman’s monologue about her fears.

I’m not sure how I feel about this. Can you make a truly scary animated film? For instant I really liked, Monster House, not because it was scary and not solely because I had an excuse to wear 3-D glasses. Well, maybe just a little. But, although it was a well crafted story, because it was so visually pleasing it was not the least bit horror-like. I don’t know what do you guys think?