The Backwater Gospel

I must start out by saying, this is one of the best films I have ever seen, and it is also one of the shortest films I have ever seen. The animation is disturbing in its own way, creating a life-like mixture of zombie, wood and human that completely work for this film, being a perfect fit for the story and setting, which is a small, isolated, "Bible Belt" like town, completely run by a Lord fearing minister, who is almost as creepy as the Undertaker, the unspoken terror that controls the town of Backwater. The basic story, omen of death, is not new, but the way it is fleshed out, and tied in with religion is excellent, creating another layer of fear to go over the existing one. I cannot stress how important appearance is to this film, however, as the animation styles, as well as the Undertaker's "normality" (until you get to the shadow) is one of the major selling points for me. However, you should be warned, that this film does not shy away from intense amounts of violence and gore, to the point of where I cringed while watching, however, this should not keep you from watching the best film that I have seen all year, and it could absolutely win against any full length film that it is put up against.

The first words of this animated short are " The shadow of the undertaker creeps across your floor . Go lock up all your children and paint blood upon your door " which led me to mishear the lyrics for a second and think the undertaker may be the pope in disguise . After all is does state in the Bible I think that " no child's behind is left " or something like that and indeed immediately after this lyric we're shown a hell and damnation preacher

THE BACKWATER GOSPEL is an animated short featuring religion as its target but I didn't feel this subtext was developed strongly enough . Instead everything is down to the imagery of the animation which is suitably ugly as the townsfolk are portrayed as being inhuman ghouls blindly following the preacher in a frontier town . It does have a dark sense of humour but I felt the story needed to be a little bit stronger

This short film sees us in a town in the old west where the populace is in the hands of a fire and brimstone preacher who speaks out against the one bad apple in the town – a busker who refuses to attend services and sings out against the preacher. When the feared Undertaker arrives in town, the masses fear that he is there for one of them, however the preacher convinces them that they must take action into their own hands to avoid God's wrath.

There is a commentary in here somewhere about religion and, as Theo says, it does tend to get lost in the film's much stronger qualities and in the end it becomes a very far second behind everything else. The role of religion in the events of this film are undeniable, as is the hypocrisy of that same religion but away from that it is the animation and dark tone that will stay with you. The animation is dark and ugly, but in a very good way. The town is a horror show, the people are the same and the atmosphere changes within the church, the people and the whole scene as the film goes on. It is suitable macabre and very well done by the students that made it. The violent conclusion is stylishly done to be attractive visually whilst also horrible to see. The music that plays at the start and end I didn't care for but otherwise it is hard to fault the design and delivery of the short.

I would have liked more of the comment to have come out but as it is the short was stylish, very well animated and full of atmosphere to make for a really good horror animation.

The style of animation used here is very effective and has a gritty, rough quality. I must say that overall, I am really impressed. With a running time of nine minutes, there is quite a bit being set up and established. The story sucks viewers in, and the set up is eerie. The undertaker, or death, visits a small town and sparks a mass panic that spirals into a dark commentary on religion and other ways that people attempt to explain or escape death. From the beginning all the way through to the end, the short had me hooked. The characters experience a lot both physically and spiritually, which is difficult to achieve in a full length feature not to mention nine minutes. The grim ending, in particular, is creepy and unsettling. Having viewed many films, I haven't felt this unnerved since watching the 2008 vampire film "Let the Right One In." This is smart, entertaining, gripping, and also horrific. Don't hesitate to check this one out for yourself.

a dark animation, well made, about fear, sin and escape. a kind of sketch about guilt and need to escape from it. ironic, cruel, it use impressive images and ignore to give profound nuances to story. but, sure, it is only a short animation film. and that excuse it. the gloomy atmosphere, the cruelty who has not the religion as source but need to escape from your fear is in admirable manner presented. it is a good film and that fact defines it. slices of Expressionism, the West small town and the force of manipulation, the expectation and the war between priest and singer, the truth as massacre in final are good points of a special work who is , in few senses, a great parable.