Thursday, October 17, 2013

Monster Mania Day 14: Jan Svankmajer's "Down To The Cellar" (1983)

Written by Stu Cooper



Growing up I was always a fan of stop motion animation. Whether it was Pee-Wee's Playhouse, Wallace and Gromit, or Gumby. I loved that kind of stuff. Even as an adult I watch Robot Chicken frequently and love the work there do there. Who can forget Nightmare Before Christmas? That is a stop motion masterpiece. But before any of those existed and before computers were even used in the industry, there was Jan Svankmajer. Svankmajer was a surrealist filmmaker who started making short films in the late 60's. I was unfamiliar with his work until I saw a film he did called "Dimensions of Dialogue" and I was blown away. It's anarchy through stop motion. That's the only way I can think to put it. It's made clear by the end of that film that Svankmajer is a very talented artist and film maker. After that one I viewed a short called "Down to the Cellar" which is about a little girl going down to the cellar of a creepy old building and witnessing some...unusual things. Check it out for yourself. It has a nice subtle horror vibe to it, so that's why I chose it for one of the Monster Mania entries. Enjoy!

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