Fear(s) of the Dark

Fear(s) of the Dark
Directed by	Blutch Charles Burns Marie Caillou Pierre di Sciullo Lorenzo Mattotti Richard McGuire
Produced by	Valérie Schermann Christophe Jankovic
Written by	Jerry Kramsky Michel Pirus Romain Slocombe Blutch Charles Burns Pierre di Sciullo
Starring	Aure Atika Guillaume Depardieu Louisa Pili François Creton Christian Hecq Arthur H
Narrated by	Nicole Garcia
Distributed by	Diaphana Films
Release dates	21 October 2007 (2007-10-21) (Rome Film Festival) 13 February 2008 (2008-02-13) (France)
Running time	85 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Fear(s) of the Dark (French: Peur(s) du noir) is a 2007 French black-and-white animated horror anthology film on the subject of fear written and directed by several notable comic book creators and graphic designers. It premiered at the 2007 Roma Film Festival and released in France in February 2008.

Plot

Throughout the film, the disembodied voice of a woman is heard; she express her fears through a monologue, making confessions from trivial anxiety, grotesque nightmares, to crippling sadness.

1. The first story is a traditional animation written and directed by Blutch. It focuses on a sinister old man and his four vicious dogs, whom he restrains on leashes, as they trek through the countryside; one by one, the man releases each dog on a victim.
2. The second story is a three-dimensional computer animation written and directed by Charles Burns. It focuses on an intelligent introvert, who has an immense interest in insects. In his adolescence, he captures a mysterious human-shaped beetle; it escapes, and yet the boy seems haunted by it. Come maturity, the boy becomes infatuated with a promiscuous woman; he invites her to his house one night, whereupon she seems to develop an obsession with him after waking up with a deep gash on her arm the next morning.
3. The third story is a two-dimensional anime animation written by Romain Slocombe and directed by Marie Caillou. It focuses on a meek girl living in rural Japan who is receiving clinical treatment for nightmares, her doctor being a scientist who sedates her to experience these nightmares again. In her nightmares, she is bullied by her sadistic classmates, and is also haunted by the ghost of a samurai. All the Japanese characters unlike real Japanese have colored eyes.
4. The fourth story is a traditional animation directed by Lorenzo Mattotti. It focuses on a young boy living in rural France. Having lost his uncle in a poaching trip, the boy confides in his friend, a mysterious orphan, who claims that the uncle could have been "mauled" by a beast from the sky. The friend disappears later on, and a professional ranger is hired to hunt down the alleged beast. A massive crocodile from the swamps is killed and displayed in the church, but the boy is haunted by shadows of his orphan friend.
5. The fifth story is directed by Richard McGuire. The intervals are two-dimensional computer animations written and directed by Pierre di Sciullo. The story focuses on a burly mustached man finding refuge against a blizzard in a pitch-black abandoned house. As he settles in, paranoia and dark forces begin to creep in around the man's fear. He uncovers a photo album of a woman, possibly the mistress of the house, who seemed to have a tendency to "cut" people out of her life.

External links

• Peur(s) du noir at Prima Linéa Productions (English)
• Fear(s) of the Dark at Metrodome Releasing (United Kingdom)
• Fear(s) of the Dark at IFC Films (United States)
• Fear(s) of the Dark at Madman Entertainment (Australia)
• Interview with Charles Burns at Cinefantastique
• Fear(s) of the Dark at AllMovie
• Fear(s) of the Dark at IMDb
• Fear(s) of the Dark at Metacritic
• Fear(s) of the Dark at Box Office Mojo
• Fear(s) of the Dark at Rotten Tomatoes
• Review at Horror Movies