“From Inside” DVD (director: John Bergin)

Superb apocalyptic animation

Written, produced, animated, and directed by John Bergin (of the industrial band Trust Obey and creator of the soundtrack to “The Crow” graphic novel), “From Inside” is an imaginative and contemplative journey through a futuristic post-apocalyptic landscape from the point of view of a tragically alone pregnant woman whilst traveling via train. Her ruminations waver from sad and regretful to strong and driven. It’s a harrowing journey, to be sure

The animation is unique, stylish, and gritty, while the script is immersive and interesting. Bergin’s stark artwork is fittingly dark and uniquely drawn, rather than a full-on CGI style. I applaud this effort, as it makes the film that much more original and personal.

As well, there’s an appropriately dark electronic industrial soundtrack by Gary Numan and Ade Fenton that brings mood, atmosphere, and tension to the visuals. It’s never intrusive or even so noticeable, which only lends to the starkness of the film.

This is an excellent piece of dark animation for the apocalyptic-minded, and one I’d be keen to watch again. If that’s not an endorsement, I don’t know what is.

From Inside site

Lakeshore Records

"Where The Dead Go To Die" DVD (director: Jimmy ScreamerClauz)

Films don't get much more antagonistic, confrontational, or outright damaged than this wildly hallucinogenic celebration of blood, sex, gore, murder, blasphemy, bestiality, satanism, and insanity. Put simply, "Where The Dead Go To Die" is an LSD nightmare of epic proportions. Created using XBox Kinect's motion capture, this primitively animated feature-length film lacks humanity, but instead dives in as a catalog of horrific and depraved imagery. The supposed story is foggy and unnecessary, and serves as little more than an excuse to parade out the extreme visuals. A vicious and unrelenting assault, and definitely not one for the squeamish. Unforgettable. (Unearthed Films via MVD Visual)

"Dolla Morte" (director: Bill Zebub)

Dolls in distress. Like "Team America" but with a more sadistic impulse, this 70-minute film from 2006 takes pleasure in slaughtering sacred cows at every breath. Using only dolls, toys, and simple animations, "Dolla Morte" tells a convoluted tale involving serial-rapists, the living dead, Hitler, the Pope, George Bush, Bin Laden, "great white power" sharks, werewolves, conspiracy theories, Jesus, and more. In an attempt to shock and offend, this one goes too far, with no redeeming value whatsoever. The jokes are bad, the story uninteresting/nonexistent, and my interest waned quickly. This one's like one of the less-successful "Adult Swim" skits that gets swiftly forgotten (and justifiably so). I say "Dolla Morte" is a juvenile, unnecessary, and tedious exercise in cheap shock. For fook's sake, do yourself a favor and steer very, very clear of this one. (Wild Eye Releasingvia MVD Visual)

"Rock & Rule" (dir: Clive A. Smith)

This feature-length, 1983 Canadian animated rock obscurity is tailor-made for fans of stuff like 'Heavy Metal', Ralph Bakshi's innovative films ('Fritz The Cat', 'American Pop', 'Lord Of The Rings', 'Cool World'), or even Peter Chung's much later 'Aeon Flux' TV shorts. It's the tale of a young rock band who find their lovely co-vocalist (Angel) abducted by an evil rock star (a vaguely Bowie-esque chap named Mok) in order to summon a gigantic demon. Yeah, so that sounds a bit iffy, but stay with it - it's fantasy!
Needless to say, Mok's advances towards the imprisoned Angel are met with resistance, especially from aspiring star and co-singer Omar, who has a romantic interest in Angel himself. With music from Blondie's Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick, and Iggy Pop (not to mention Earth, Wind, & Fire), this epic sci-fi rock fantasy tale is interesting and fun, and definitely aimed at adults (the club scene in particular is, well, full of gigantic jiggling breasts). Some segments (the musical interludes) are quite psychedelic, and I'd bet there were more than a few teens who got stoned to watch this way back when...Fine work, and I should add that the soundtrack (in remastered 5.1) is incredible - sounds flew all over the room! Nice touch.