Greetings again from the darkness. The art of stop-motion consists of bringing hunks of clay to life and telling an interesting story. It's excruciatingly slow work requiring meticulous attention to detail. The first feature length film from animator-turned-writer/director Robert Morgan is co-written with Robin King, and pays homage to this distinct art form. Of course, since it's a horror film, it also makes good use of the adage ... an artist being consumed by their art.

Aisling Franciosa (so memorable in THE NIGHTINGALE, 2018) stars as Ella Blake, who is assisting her mother (Stella Gonet), a renowned stop-motion artist, with her "last film". Arthritis has seized mom's hands and so she barks orders at her daughter in frustration of her own limitations. Once out from under her mother's controlling ways, Ella finds her own space in an old apartment, where she begins to pursue her own vision. Soon she's visited by an odd and inquisitive little girl (Caolinn Springall), presumably from the neighborhood. The girl labels Ella's work "boring" and proceeds to tell her own story about Ashman, who haunts a girl in the forest over three nights. Ella is captivated, and we quickly recognize she is in the midst of a slow descent into madness ... unaware of who this little girl actually is.

Director Morgan first introduces us to Ella over the opening credits. The flashing lights in a nightclub play visual tricks, and Ella alternates between good and evil looks (think of the two-face syndrome in "Seinfeld"). This is an early clue about the film's path. Morgan also provides contrast between the stark working conditions of the studio (whether it's mom's basement or Ella's apartment) and the more lively and colorful clubs and parties where she hangs out with her boyfriend (Tom York). Adding to the film's visual treats are some unusual camera angles courtesy of cinematographer Leo Hinstin.

The final act features some extreme gore, so be prepared. It's rare for a film to feature raw meat, a dead fox, maggots, and mutilation, but few films have successfully blended the use of stop-action animation with live-action drama. Aisling Franciosa has the instincts to convincingly portray a troubled artist when the wires are crossed between reality and creativity. Getting creeped out is all part of the show.

Opens in theaters on February 23, 2024.

Special makeup and effects / creature designer Dan Martin has become must-see tv for me. He's behind the insanely captivating, haunting, juicy (?? Lol) stop motion creatures in this movie, as well as some of my favorite films of the last few years, The Banshees of Inisherin, Infinity Pool, A Wounded Fawn (!), and he's doing the creature work in Sony's upcoming film Tarot.

If you take out the stop motion work this movie is obviously just any other movie. Granted the acting is very great, but you find yourself absolutely salivating for more of the stop motion. It's so effing creepy. There's something so gripping and yucky about it. It reminded me of my first watch of Hereditary. It's really somethin'. *watches through fingers*

For fans of: Beau is Afraid, May, Tales from the Crypt.

I saw Stopmotion, starring Aisling Franciosi-The Last Voyage of the Demeter, Game of Thrones_tv; Tom York-Poldark_tv, Olympus_tv; Stella Gonet-Breeders_tv, Man Down_tv and Caoilinn Springall-Citadel_tv, The Midnight Sky.

This is a weird little movie. Aisling is a stopmotion animator, like her mother Stella. Stella is in bad health and has Aisling trying to help her finish her last stopmotion movie but doesn't have the patience she used to have with her daughter and it's stressing Aisling out. When Stella has to go into the hospital after having a stroke, Aisling gets help from a little girl in the apartment complex, Caoilinn, to work on the movie. But there is something strange about Caoilinn, who wants to turn the movie into a dark tale of horror. Tom is Aisling's boyfriend that tries to help Aisling but something is wrong with her-is she somehow under the influence of Caoilinn, who doesn't seem to be acting like a little girl? It gets pretty bloody near the end and somethings are not fully explained-or maybe it's just me-but the ending was strange.

It's rated R for violence, gore, language, drug use and sexual content-no nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 33 minutes.

It's not one that I would buy on DVD but if you like stopmotion, it would be alright to stream.