The Horror Show
Where The Dead Go To Die
by Jimmy ScreamerClauz
Animated films are often affiliated with children. Obviously fans of darker, more violent, anime are well aware that animated film can be very much adult. But, in the end, the format will always be associated with Disney films and quick-cash kiddie flicks that parents are dragged to (often while wondering how many nips of Beam they can sneak into their Diet Pepsi). This is a shame, however, because animation can be used to open doors for the horror genre that could otherwise never be opened. There have been other animated horror films but none have taken the level of depravity using the medium quite the way that “Where the Dead Go To Die” does.
“Where the Dead Go To Die” tells multiple stories about the very odd lives of a handful of characters, all living in the same suburban neighborhood. The one through-line is a dog named Labby. Labby can talk, something that is just accepted by our characters. He has a hand in most of the happenings throughout the course of the movie and often comes across as untrustworthy. The film is split up into chapters. The first is entitled “Tainted Milk”. This little slice concerns Tommy, a young boy who lives with his two miserable parents. It is made very clear that neither of them are happy with being his parents and he spends a lot of time keeping to himself. He is friends with Labby, who informs him that the fetus currently growing in his mother is actually the Anti-Christ and something must be done about it. I won't give away too much but things get very crazy and become soaked with violence and other atrocities. Some turns are obvious, others are not. The stories interweave so Tommy makes more appearances, but this is the basis of his story. My main complaint about “Tainted Milk” is the voice acting of Tommy. He sounds funny. Like, really funny. He sounds like someone who hates children doing an impression of one while trying to make them sound as stupid as possible. This has a negative effect on this section of the film because things are played so seriously. Tommy is faced with really heavy events. He's a normal boy faced with VERY unusual circumstances that deal with his parents; the only people he has. It's hard to connect with what's going on when his voice so so distractingly dumb. There is some left-field bestiality thrown in the mix, though, which kind of saves things.
The next chapter is called “Liquid Memories” and here is where things get trippy. The stuff with Tommy gets a little psychedelic at times but for the most part is easy enough to follow. “Liquid Memories”, however, takes the train straight into craziness. The concept is actually pretty neat. It follows a troubled man who informs the viewer of something he has discovered. It turns out (at least according to the narrator) that there is a gland in the back of a person's head where memories are kept. When a person dies it is released and he has discovered a way to extract it and inject himself. By doing so he is able to edit his own memories. He uses this to “Forget death” so that he can remember “What we've forgotten”. I don't quite follow the logic, but it's fine. The opening is very atmospheric and the narration works really well. This story is the one that anyone expecting a straight-forward type of film is going to have the most trouble with. It is here that we are introduced to “The Shadow People.” They are strange dark Cyclops creatures who “Come through the walls” and encourage him to get more memories. Sometimes their arrival causes glitches that allow their world and the narrator's to collide and this leads to unbridled insanity. Once this part is made clear the segment veers into an acid nightmare that is, quite frankly, impossible to explain. You don't really follow it as much as experience it. But, for what it's worth, it's a really fun ride.
The final segment (although plenty else happens) is called “The Masks That The Monsters Wear.” This is the most notorious part of the movie and is the best example of utilizing animation to get away with more uneasy material. This story concerns another young boy named Ralph. Ralph has a dead conjoined fetus on his face. Everyone is uncomfortable with his disfigurement and so he wears a large black mask to cover the entirety of his head. Just like with Tommy, Ralph's family life isn't very stable and he too befriends the sinister Labby. Ralph has a crush on a young girl around his age who lives nearby and Labby convinces him to go see her. It is here that we learn how this little girl has the worst home life of them all. She lives with an abusive, alcohol-fueled animal of a father who forces her to star in his “home movies.” I won't get too in detail on that, but it's the kind of movies that are very illegal and are a flat-out crime against humanity. This damages the poor girl, leaving her emotionally weak and frightened. Ralph officially befriends her and tries desperately to take her away from everything. This story is the most developed and has some legitimately touching (albeit sick) moments. Although Ralph is voiced by the same actor as Tommy, the voice acting with Ralph is quite good and you really grow to feel for him. Labby talks to Ralph and eggs him on throughout the story and his narration is oddly insightful. Things get really crazy here as well, but less-so than with the previous chapter. It tries to use the “Shadow Men” to tie everything together but there's no real concrete connection.
The biggest problem with “Where the Dead Go To Die” is the knowledge of what it could have been. Don't get me wrong, no one can really tell a director what he should have done with his vision, but I just feel that so much more could have been done with it. Some of it is budgetary and not necessarily the director's fault. The animation style is very cheap. Most horror fans are familiar with low-budget films, but when you add the extra element of it being animated, it can be distracting. It looks like it was done with a computer program that was never intended to be used for features. This makes the overall film hard to connect with, but not completely. There are moments that genuinely hit the mark emotionally, but not as many as there could have been. There are some horror veterans doing voice acting (Trent Haaga and Linnea Quigley for example) and the voice of “Labby' is quite impressive. He's just the right amount of creepy while still seeming like the character really cares about what's going on.
The weird stuff can get a little frustrating at times. If it was just a full-on fever dream like the “Vomit Gore Trilogy”, it would be easier to just take it for what it was and enjoy. But this one teases us with little nuggets of actual storytelling only to jet off into lunacy and randomness. This can get tiring after a while and I can't help but think that the film would be better served re-focused. The synopsis on the back of the box doesn't lie but only illustrates the more grounded story points, making the film sound more coherent than it actually is. I really would have preferred if it had come off more as a straight anthology film and less artsy. It comes off as pretentious at times, I'm not going to lie. But it's a fun journey and has some really impressive moments to its credit.
Fans of the movie will note that by being animated, the project can push the boundaries of what is usually allowed. This is mainly true about the final segment in regards to the child porn-ring subplot. There are some genuinely unsettling moments there that would be very hard to get away with in a live action piece. However, for most of it, the animation style makes it hard to take a lot of the more “shocking” stuff seriously. The depravity will never have the same impact as an “August Underground” or “A Serbian Film” where you see real flesh and blood people going through torment. I'm all for it being animated but, especially with the cheap style, hardened gore-hounds will have a hard time being taken aback by its content. There's plenty to enjoy, though: eye-gouging, deformity, fetus mutilation…all that good stuff. It's certainly unique and worth a watch.
Given the countless carbon-copies of recycled formulas we horror fanatics are usually treated to, this film is downright refreshing at times. Many people won't like it and I don't just mean that in the “for die-hard horror fans only” sense. Many seasoned members of the horror community will hate it because it's just so damn weird. It can be downright annoying at times, but, if you stick with it, there is a lot to love. I absolutely recommend this film for anyone looking for something a little different while still being supremely messed up. Just heed my warnings about its style. And it's not an easy view. After all, this is the place where the dead go to die.
PJ Griffin, HMS
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