Papa est mort

I watched Dad's Dead at this year's ICA's One Dot Zero festival and thought it was amazing. It was billed as a `uk hybrid masterpiece', at first I thought it was overblown title but after watching realised it's totally unique. It was mind-blowing. It blends the art house with a hard-hitting story in a way I've never seen before.

Ian Hart narrates with real tension. It deals with his memories of his best friend Johnno, who is a socio-path. Johnno torments and attacks anything he doesn't understand. Traits which we are all capable of. It's a difficult film to explain, it feels like the viewer is being attacked and forced to take part in terrible events. A bit like Man Bites Dog. My favourite bit is the Peter and Jane book sequence which reminds me of being a kid. There was a lot of sadness there too, especially with the blind man section which is really disturbing.

The best thing is the title which gives you totally the wrong idea of what it's all about. Don't want to give it away! It's a work of intelligence, which is well worth watching.

Reminded me very strongly of the worst aspect of childhood when I grew up in north London. Whatever school/whatever I found myself in I always found characters similar to Johnno-not as extreme-but that heart of mischevousness which could flip very quickly to viciousness.

I guess I am not alone in this. The film plays out a tale that is compusive viewing, though doubtlessly twisted.

The dialogue is deadpan and the animation pulls you in with its urban icons bluring in and around the characters.

Worth watching - others have panned this as too grim, but I am certain that you will know a real life johnno. More interesting are those that will recognise themselves in johnno...

Our narrator looks fondly back at his childhood in Liverpool and the antics of his best friend Johnno. Well known for being a showman and a keen one for joking and the like, Johnno starts to change for the worse after he announced that his father has died.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this film. I had seen it was an animation on the website and had assumed it would be an arty thing made by a newly graduated student - don't know why I assumed that, but I did. Happily this film was much better than that and when it finished it was very powerful despite the odd flaw. The plot is disturbing with the speed with which things go from childhood memory to something much darker. The reasons for the change are layered into the fabric well and only the end is a little unclear.

The animation is well used and very clever. A lot of the film is real action with animation used effectively at different points - in it's own right or to animate the digitally shot action. In some cases this is funny, in others it lets us see the monster inside each character and in others it is surprisingly violent and indicative of a mind that is being lost and surrounded by evil thoughts. I'm not a big animation fan but it worked very well here.

I struggled to place the voice the whole way through and was surprised to see it was Ian Hart. However he does really well with the voice over and really brought his character to life. The support cast are good and the lad who played Johnno really did a good job to bring the menace out of him.

Overall this took me by surprise. It is well written so as to allow the plot to build quickly and with force and was very cleverly directed. The animation is a mix of styles and is very cleverly used to portray different things - from a Betty Boop style vision on an ice-cream van to a `Peter and Jane' book to illustrate nice thoughts. The combination of all these things make it well worth a look.

Executed with style and skill, 'Dad's Dead' is an exceptionally written short film. Think of it as a roller-coaster ride into a dark mind. While the visuals are stunning thanks to the solid combination of live action and animation. The animated sequences also vary in style and this is fascinating to look at as the entire film feels like a hypnotic experience. It's positively astonishing how Chris Shepherd manages to say so much in such a small amount of time. Ian Hart narrates at a speedy tempo but he certainly grabs the viewer's attention and guides them like a successful hypnotherapist. The main theme, as the title suggests, is very dark but there is plenty of dark humour that brings a balance without being intrusive or taking away from the intensity of the atmosphere. 'Dad's Dead' is an exhilarating experience...albeit short lasting but very effective.

Saw Dad's Dead on Channel 4's Outside season and thought it was amazing. I've never seen a film which conveys what it's like to be a teenager so well. Ian Hart's troubled narrator really struck a chord with me. His character is attacked and forced to do terrible things against his will by a bully called Johnno. It was like my school days all over again. It gave me the creeps. Scary stuff! I've never seen a film quite like it before. Hope Channel 4 repeat it!