Editorials

‘9’ – Revisiting the Stitchpunk Horrors of 2009’s Animated Movie

Published

11 months ago

June 12, 2023

For the longest time, animation has been hindered by a misguided notion that animated movies are meant for kids. Sure, there have always been popular outliers like the infamous Fritz the Cat and 1981’s Heavy Metal, but it was only recently that animation began to be legitimized by the industry at large (even if that’s mostly due to a handful of auteurs like Guillermo del Toro publicly defending animation as a medium instead of a genre).

Unfortunately, this means that plenty of edgier animated projects ended up slipping through the cracks over the years, with general audiences usually favoring family-oriented entertainment over experimental stories dealing with more mature themes. One such project is Shane Acker’s underrated 2009 thriller 9, a post-apocalyptic adventure that deserved more attention and pushed its PG-13 rating to the absolute limit.

Originally an Oscar-nominated short film that Acker developed while studying at UCLA, the first version of 9 caught the attention of both Tim Burton and Russian producer Timur Bekmambetov, who were enthralled with the film’s unique setting and design. This unlikely duo of Hollywood titans would then give Acker the chance to expand his 11-minute short into a feature-length project that would replace the eerie silence of its source material with a celebrity voice cast.

A few years of hard work later led to the release of Focus Features’ 9, a dark animated film that follows the youngest of a group of living ragdolls (Elijah Wood) as he embarks on an epic journey through a post-apocalyptic wasteland overrun by mechanical abominations. Along the way, the inquisitive doll slowly uncovers the horrible secret behind the current state of this ruined world and the alchemical origin of his fellow “Stitchpunks.”

It will probably come as no surprise that this strange little film wasn’t the resounding success that Burton and Bekmambetov were hoping for, with 9 only barely raking in a profit at the box office while also garnering a mixed reaction from critics. At the time, reviewers complained that the movie’s shallow narrative didn’t quite match its evocative visuals while also unfavorably comparing it to other dark animated classics.

In fact, the flick ended up being overshadowed by another Focus Features production that came out that very same year, which was Henry Sellick’s beloved adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s Coraline.

SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?

Looking back on the film 14 years later, it’s pretty clear that the cheap 3D animation hasn’t aged all that well, with muddied textures and simple rigging that often look more like a contemporary videogame than a big budget animated film – and that’s not even mentioning the less-than stellar script that doesn’t quite live up to the lofty ambitions of the film’s premise.

However, the sheer artistry behind the picture continues to stand out in spite of all these flaws, and the benefit of hindsight allows us to appreciate 9 even more due to the fact that we haven’t really seen anything in animation that feels remotely like this movie since it first came out. Admittedly, almost all of these unique qualities are limited to the film’s visuals, but that doesn’t make them any less impressive.

In fact, the consistently gorgeous designs and moody atmosphere make this a perfect hangout movie, and I’d argue that it can be even more enjoyable as an engaging piece of background entertainment than as a proper narrative experience. I mean, the Danny Elfman score on its own is already worth the price of admission, and Acker makes the most of his celebrity ensemble by giving nearly every character a distinct personality to go along with their high-profile voice talent (which ranges from Crispin Glover to Jennifer Connelly).

That’s why I think it’s a huge shame that this ended up being the director’s only feature-length production, as I would have loved to see what other bizarre animated worlds Acker could have come up with had this film been successful – especially if his future projects could have secured a larger budget.

WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?

9 is certainly darker and grittier than your average 3D animated film, featuring some disturbing imagery and touching on several adult themes, but it’s still not quite a proper horror film. Despite its grim setting, the movie focuses on a traditionally fantastical adventure as this rag-tag group of hand-stitched misfits is forced to work together in order to overcome the dark forces that have taken over the earth.

That being said, the film boasts a menagerie of bio-mechanical horrors that wouldn’t feel out of place in an Army of Frankenstein sequel, with plenty of terrifying chase sequences even a number of brutal death scenes that are likely to shock younger audiences who are only used to Disney-style action. 9 also refuses to shy away from the horrors of fascism, with the Third-Reich-inspired dictatorship that resulted in the apocalypse suggesting that this was a terrifying world long before the machines took over and began exterminating human beings.

Of course, it’s the aforementioned mood that really sells the picture for me, with the gloomy environments and curious art direction making the entire movie feel like a memory from a fleeting nightmare, complete with cybernetic monsters decorated with skulls and a surreal combination of science and magic.

The film would probably have stood the test of time better had it been a stop-motion endeavor like Acker had originally intended (though that would likely have resulted in even bigger losses for the studio) and I wish that the script had been more thoroughly polished before the producers settled on a final draft, but I still think that 9 is an inspired example of apocalyptic fiction and might even work as a piece of gateway horror for younger viewers.

There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.

Luiz H. C.

Born Brazilian, raised Canadian, Luiz is a writer and Film student that spends most of his time watching movies and subsequently complaining about them.

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Editorials

11 Years Later: The Horrific Cycles of Violence in ‘Only God Forgives’ Starring Ryan Gosling

Published

19 hours ago

April 29, 2024

Luiz H. C.

Traditionally, movie theater walkouts are usually associated with the horror genre, with infamous cases ranging from 1973’s The Exorcist (particularly during the crucifix masturbation scene) and even Lars Von Trier’s controversial serial killer memoir, The House That Jack Built.

That being said, there are exceptions to this rule, as some movies manage to terrorize audiences into leaving the theater regardless of genre. One memorable example of this is Nicolas Winding Refn’s 2013 revenge thriller Only God Forgives, a film so brutal and inaccessible that quite a few critics ended up treating it like a snuff film from hell back when it was first released. However, I’ve come to learn that horror fans have a knack for seeing beyond the blood and guts when judging the value of a story, and that’s why I’d like to make a case for Winding’s near-impenetrable experiment as an excellent horror-adjacent experience.

Refn originally came up with the idea for Only God Forgives immediately after completing 2009’s Valhalla Rising and becoming confused by feelings of anger and existential dread during his wife’s second pregnancy. It was during this time that he found himself imagining a literal fistfight with God, with this concept leading him to envision a fairy-tale western set in the far east that would deal with some of the same primal emotions present in his Viking revenge story.

It was actually Ryan Gosling who convinced the director to tackle the more commercially viable Drive first, as he wanted to cement his partnership with the filmmaker in a more traditional movie before tackling a deeply strange project. This would pay off during the production of Only God Forgives, as the filmmaking duo was forced to use their notoriety to scrounge up money at a Thai film festival when local authorities began demanding bribes in order to allow shooting to continue.

In the finished film, Gosling plays Julian, an American ex-pat running a Muay-Thai boxing club alongside his sociopathic brother Billy (Tom Burke). When Billy gets himself killed after sexually assaulting and murdering a teenager, Julian is tasked by his disturbed mother (Kristin Scott Thomas) with tracking down those responsible for the death of her first-born child. What follows is a surreal dive into the seedy underbelly of Bangkok as the cycle of revenge escalates and violence leads to even more violence.

SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?

There’s no right or wrong way to engage with art, but there are some films that clearly require more effort from the audience side in order to be effective. And while you can’t blame cinemagoers for just wanting to enjoy some passive entertainment, I think it’s always worth trying to meet a work of art on its own terms before judging it.

Despite being a huge fan of Drive, I avoided Only God Forgives for a long time because of its poor critical reception and excessively esoteric presentation. It was only years later that I gave the flick a chance when a friend of mine described the experience as “David Lynch on cocaine.” It was then that I realized that nearly everything critics had complained about in the film are precisely what made it so interesting.

If you can stomach the deliberate pacing, you’ll likely be fascinated by this stylish nightmare about morally questionable people becoming trapped in a needless cycle of violence and retaliation. Not only is the photography impeccable, turning the rain-slicked streets of Bangkok into a neo-noir playground, but the bizarre characters and performances also help to make this an undeniably memorable movie. And while Gosling deserves praise as the unhinged Julian, I’d argue that Vithaya Pansringarm steals the show here as “The Angel of Vengeance,” even if his untranslated dialogue is likely to be unintelligible for most viewers.

However, I think the lack of subtitles ends up enhancing the mood here (even though some editions of the film ended up including them against the director’s wishes), adding to the feeling that Julian is a stranger in a strange land while also allowing viewers to project their own motivations onto some of the “antagonists.”

And while Only God Forgives is frequently accused of burying its narrative underneath a pile of artsy excess, I think the heart of the film is rather straightforward despite its obtuse presentation. I mean, the moral here is basically “revenge isn’t fun,” which I think is made clear by the horrific use of violence (though we’ll discuss that further in the next section).

To be clear, I’m still not sure whether or not I enjoyed this movie, I just know that I’m glad I watched it.

AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?

There are two different kinds of gore effects. One of them is meant to entertain viewers with exaggerated wounds and excessive blood as you admire the craftsmanship behind the filmmaking. The other kind is simply a tool meant to simulate what actually happens when you injure a human body. Like I mentioned before, Only God Forgives isn’t trying to be “fun,” so you can guess what kind gore is in this one…

From realistic maimings to brutal fist fights that feel more painful than thrilling, the “action” label on this flick seems downright questionable when the majority of the experience has you wincing at genuinely scary acts of grisly violence. I mean, the story begins with an unmotivated rampage through the streets of late-night Bangkok and ends with the implication of even more pointless violence, so it’s pretty clear that you’re not really meant to root for an “action hero” here.

I can’t even say that the deaths resemble those from slasher flicks because the movie never attempts to sensationalize these horrific acts, with Refn preferring to depict them as straightforward consequences of violent people going through the motions – which is somehow even scarier than if this had just been yet another hyper-violent revenge movie.

Not only that, but the characters’ overall lack of moral principles makes this story even more disturbing, with the main antagonist being the closest thing to a decent person among the main cast despite also being a brutal vigilante.

Only God Forgives doesn’t care if you like it or not (and actually takes measures to make sure that the viewing experience is often unpleasant), but if you’re willing to step up to this cinematic challenge and engage with the narrative and visuals on their own terms, I think you’ll find an unforgettable nightmare waiting for you on the other side.