N-Spiration:

The Spine of Night

About the Film

Written and directed by Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King, two obscure but not unknown screenwriters, animators, and Frank Frazetta enthusiasts, The Spine of Night is the full-length sequel to a short film, Exordium, written and rotoscoped by King and made publicly available on his YouTube channel. Gelatt - having seen Exordium - saw also potential: approaching King to spark a collaboration in homage to greats of the genre and of the medium. A work of passion - The Spine of Night is truly a letter of devotion to the world of sword and sorcery cinema: strung along on a shoe-string budget and the aspirations of its creators over the course of seven long years, resulting in the production of a true classic of novel independent cinema: one which, if engadget is to be believed, almost wasn't - as a software update caused the only machine on which the final film had been put together to fail in recognizing its video drivers.

Starring some surprisingly heavy hitters - including recognizable names Lucy Lawless, Joe Manganiello, and Richard Grant - as voice actors in its leading roles, The Spine of Night is an adept modernization and simultaneous shameless homage to the pulp fantasy of the golden age running through the '70s and '80s - one which is relentless in its adherence to the spirit of the genre, but seamlessly finds a way to make itself feel new, feel fresh - taking a shot to the tastes of 2021 and entirely knocking it out of the park.

The Spine of Night is a sprawling epic - a river, meandering, yet relentless and strong as it flows from its springs to the sea - one which any aspiring Dungeon Master would not want to forgo.

Be Aware

First and foremost:

I didn't say it - Google said it.

On Amazon, it's rated "18+" and on IMDB, it's listed as "not rated" - but before learning anything else about this movie - be aware: it is not family friendly. There is not that much profanity, as I recall - but there is pervasive, graphic violence throughout; abundant, persistent nudity - inclusive, masculine and feminine; and a fair dose of what I would consider body horror. While - to be fair - nudity and violence are hallmarks of many classic sword & sorcery films: The Spine of Night turns it up to 11: if you are of more delicate sensibilities about either of those two tones, you may want to strongly consider whether or not you want to experience this movie.

What's to Like

Holy rotoscoping, Batman!

While the quality of the rotoscope, itself, might not be on par with 70's classics a la Don Bluth or Ralph Bakshi, it is still easily on par or above A-tier pieces like A Scanner Darkly in terms of its color and presentation. Further - the fluid motion and the particular character of the technique give The Spine of Night an acute nostalgia and feel: one evocative of an earlier era of animation. Further - no expense was spared on the backdrops: meaning that the characters breathe and move against a stunning and dynamic backdrop - wildfires, snowfall, smoke and mist - or against a dynamic and colorful firmament. The film is beautiful - even if the watcher does not have the same affinity and affection for rotoscope as this particular reviewer - and the artwork, coupled with the design and variation of the world-building, will inspire even the most no-photo-blue, official-product exclusivist.

Which brings up a second point - world-building and scale.

The film begins in a somewhat localized scale, with a single warlord and party or a single tribal unit, and then builds upwards - into guilds and organizations - into armies conquering cities and empires at war. The story is contiguous, but not entirely congruous: flowing through generation upon generation, chronicling a span of ages rather than a span of years. Why is that OSR? Simply - the main character is the campaign, itself. Yes - there are driving characters: these would be our player characters - but the game continues - the movie, in this context, continues - with or without them: time presses on, the world evolves, some characters come, some characters go, and the world continues turning: itself untroubled by the fate of its temporary inhabitants. Outside of the gaming language - too - the film does a good job of illustrating a cosmology, its impact and its evolution in a human social environment: hinting at the beyond, interpreting the beyond - in a refreshing way: something that could be adapted to a campaign world as multiple approaches to a similar core belief rooted in forgotten truth.

Throughout this change in scale, as well, the quintessential element of OSR gameplay is present - the dungeon crawl! Two in particular come to immediate recollection: the first of which being more traditional - with an acolyte of a temple devoted to knowledge delving in the deeps to retrieve forgotten books. In any other genre, this would pass for Magic-User behavior! Further - deeper into the film - the world building takes a turn and displays its capacity for the gonzo, introducing a city under siege in which Mad Max bird-men (or, warriors clad in bird-like Dark Sun bondage wings) stow away on an airship, which they then must commandeer before descending on the palace of an evil wizard-priest: whose defeat (if they can manage it) might save their city! Trudging through the airship, eliminating potential threats and eliminating the chance of capture or identification, and then charging into the sanctum of the enemy? It doesn't get more pulp fantasy than that! 

Finally, to touch on the magic in the world - there exists, through the progression of the movie, a sort of progression of the ages. We go from a primitive iron age to what appears high medieval - then into a technological, almost diesel-punk renaissance: but the consistent theme throughout is a strange blue garland - called somewhat cryptically "The Bloom." A taste of this bloom can work wonders - having grown from the corpse of a chthonic god - and one who knows how to use it can wield wonderful (or terrible) power. The magic system is thus varied and flavorful - some effects being subtle, others being flashy and obvious: some appearing to change the flesh, to warp the corporeal to suit the whim of the spirit so recently confined to its skin-cage; at other times, summoning back the shades and corpses of the dead and damned. This balance fits with the theme of an uncaring universe - it becomes to the user what the user is within himself - and the visual effects to support it are nothing short of iconic.

Where to Watch

The Spine of Night is available for digital rental or purchase on Prime Video - where I watched it. I was afterwards relieved that it was rentable - as I would not want my young children, impassioned by the likes of Thundarr and of Fire and Ice to mistakenly play this one as an analog! In addition, it is available on Apple TV as a rental or on AMC+ Shudder to stream under subscription: although a trial is available for those not keen on yet another recurring cost. 

Further, it is allegedly free to watch on Hoopla: which part of me wishes I had figured out before renting - but at the end of the day, I am glad to have supported this project. 

There is nothing like this film being made today - which is a loss for culture and something I would gladly spend the $3 or $4 pittance I did in to change.

An official listing of places and prices where the film can be viewed online is also provided by the production team on the official Spine of Night website.

In Conclusion

I desperately want to simply state that The Spine of Night is OSR-AF and leave it at that. You are truly missing out if you have not seen this movie. It is the bastard love child of Heavy Metal and Weird Tales left to marinate in distilled Brom. On top of the art direction and world building, however, it also contains several key elements of OSR game play - including dungeon exploration and mass combats - and intentionally includes the mentioned use case of "zooming in" to leverage the skirmish mechanics of the game to influence the wider outcomes of the campaign world. 

So - for the subjective qualities mentioned at first coupled with the objective OSR components present in the script and experience - I can unabashedly justify claiming The Spine of Night to indeed rate as 1: OSR-AF.

While having heard that Gary, himself, was a Jehovah's Witness - he might have shied away from this one due to the graphic, pervasive, and nonstop adult content, to be fair, I was never able to meet the man: so I have no idea what he would have liked or disliked anyway! With that caveat, however, I don't think I am out of place in saying The Spine of Night would be a welcome addition to any Appendix N: as its scope and scale, you can find a sequence that jives with your preferred tone, and in that sequences arising from that campaign in the future would easily be made richer by the inspiration this film provokes.

Thank you for reading - and delve on!

The Spine of Night, produced by Gorgonaut and Reno Productions and distributed by RLJE Films and Shudder in the United States, or by Yellow Veil Pictures internationally, and all imagery related thereto is property of RLJE Films. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons, and D&D and all imagery or references thereto related are property of Wizards of the Coast. Clerics Wear Ringmail makes no claim of ownership of any sort to any of the aforementioned media, texts, or images and includes references to or facsimiles of them for review purposes under US Code Title 17, Chapter 107: Fair Use. 

The slide-in of Gary... I got from a meme.