I didn’t know what to expect when I sat down to watch Mad God, the new animated feature from Phil Tibbet. Whose special effects work ranges from Robocop to Jurassic Park to Twilight to even the original Star Wars trilogy.
Yet once I had finished it I needed to sit down for a moment. This is one of the strangest and yet most visually enthralling animations I have seen in a very long time. But it should be noted that it is not for the eyes of young audiences. I’m approaching 25 and even I was disturbed by some of the set-pieces.
Martyrs Lane – Edinburgh International Film Festival Review
Created over an astonishing thirty years, Mad God is about as nightmarish as you can imagine. After a literally fiery opening, we meet a voiceless protagonist who evades what appears to be a wartime era to descend into the Earth. He passes the skeletons and dirt of times forgotten and enters the very underworld itself. From there we bear witness to the hellish creatures, contraptions and cruelty that only the realms of darkness could treat us to.
There isn’t much of a narrative to Mad God, or at least I couldn’t make one out. Much like masterpieces of horror such as Argento’s Suspiria, it seems more interested in creating a feeling than a story. That feeling is the relentless fear, disgust and dread that only a place like hell could give us.
In fact, this may be an example of oversaturation within a film. The visuals and atmosphere are undeniably impressive, but there is so much disturbing imagery and gruesome concepts that the viewer becomes numb to it after a while. This may have been the point of the film in fairness, but it did make the experience somewhat repetitive at times.
Nevertheless, the level of craft is so gargantuan that it is easy to forgive this. The set-pieces and evil scenes are as creative and creepy as the next. The colours are mesmerising and the designs of the frightening creatures that roam the film killing and mutilating anything in their path are extraordinary.
Even the claymation that makes up the majority of the film’s presentation has a deliberate clunkiness reminiscent of the skeletons from Jason & the Argonauts. It added an extra degree of toe-curling spookiness to what we were watching, and that’s not even mentioning how awe-inspiringly expressive and immersive the animation already is to begin with.
What Mad God lacks in narrative it makes up for in worldbuilding. As the protagonist wanders from one horrific scene to the next, there is an underlying sense of connection to everything we are watching. Each creature builds off from the previous, and each realm of barbarity we explore seems part of a grander whole.
Absolute Denial – Edinburgh International Film Festival Review
From there one can potentially derive philosophical musings on madness, terror, corruption, and the cyclical nature of them all. Even if these things are not immediately apparent, there is still the spectacular animation and visuals to fall back onto.
Mad God explores some compelling areas of discussion, and will probably work wonders for those who get on board with what it is trying to say. I can certainly appreciate it. I just wish the film had a bit more than just its visuals to back this up. But when your visuals are this incredible, it’s hard to deny the film’s merits. If nothing else, Mad God certainly lives up to its title.
