A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city, and the Assassin emerges from it to explore a labyrinth of bizarre landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens.
After 30 Years of labor, Phil Tippett, the visual effects supervisor behind “Jurassic Park,” “Robocop,” and more, has finally released his stop-motion animated epic “Mad God.” Throughout the 90-plus minutes, Tippett blends various animation, miniatures, and physical actors with astonishing technique. Its aesthetic feels like a retro horror that one would find late at night on TNT’s “Monstervision” with Joe Bob Briggs.
Tippett’s bonkers screenplay is wordless, full of action, and centered on a man known only as The Assassin. The Assassin lumbers through the nightmarish post-apocalyptic wasteland clad in armor resembling a coal miner. As he stands in a rusted diving bell that ventures further into a twisted metallic maze, he sees monstrous creatures controlling faceless workers.
Using a map that looks like it was made from human skin, The Assassin heads to his destination carrying a large satchel of dynamite. Just as the timer on the explosives is about to go off, he is taken prisoner. Tippett and his crew throw in a remarkably crafted scene of torture: a crowd in a dank theater watches as the hulking man is subjected to grotesque abuse by being hacked apart by butchers. The stakes are raised as the timer hugging the detonator continues ticking as The Assassin waits for salvation or death.
While “Mad God” does not follow a typical narrative, its structure is compelling and concise, with imagery from post-nuclear to Greek mythology and back to prehistoric creatures, truly making it one of the most conceptual features this year.
Premieres on Shudder Thursday, June 16th
