Variety #2

Animated Short Films

This time around I’m chatting about short films. One or two are horror-adjacent, but mostly they’re just unique and strange! Most of them are animations I came across in my college years, but a few are relatively new to me.

Anyway, the important thing is that I’m excited to share this list with you guys. Some of these are a genuinely fascinating watch.

Let’s begin with Au Lapin Agile. From what I understand GOBELINS are big in the animated short film scene, and it’s easy to see why. For me, this is a standout of theirs. The story is simple - a barfight breaks out over art. That’s it. The novelty is, each blow renders the combatants in a different artstyle. It’s absolutely beautiful to watch - bursting with colour. It is a seriously impressive piece of work.

To follow this, a gothier pick, The Backwater Gospel. I believe this is a student film, which makes it all the cooler in my book. It follows the arrival of Death in a small American town, and the brutal violence that ensues after it has lingered there for days. A mean-spirited, inspired, and vicious short with some fantastic visuals, this is sure to stick in your brain.