Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

The Spine of Night 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Heavy Metal Mayhem.

Reviewed by Randy Miller III February 2, 2022

Morgan Galen King's The Spine of Night is a new rotoscoped fantasy film that immediately brings to mind 1980s cult classics like Heavy Metal and Fire and Ice, not to mention more traditional era-specific fare such as Rankin/Bass' The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Conan, and even He-Man. It should come as no surprise, then, that these productions were formative favorites of the director, whose lifelong dreams of producing his own rotoscoped work came to fruition with a few short films in the early 2010s. The Spine of Night is a natural extension of those seeds. While its narrative isn't all that engaging in spots and the art style is as crude as it is charming, the ridiculous level of violence on display here will certainly appeal to hardcore gore-hounds. (If that doesn't work, there's lots of nudity too.)

Co-directed and co-written with Philip Gelatt, King's film concerns a handful of characters whose lives are greatly affected -- and usually shortened -- by a mysterious blue plant known as "The Bloom" that grants its bearer god-like powers. The first is Tzod (Lucy Lawless), a fierce and almost fully nude priestess who, after meeting "The Guardian" (Richard E. Grant), frames the story with her own tale of loss. After her people are slain by the barbarian Mongrel (Joe Manganiello), she's taken to the lecherous Lord Pyrantin (Patton Oswalt); Tzod attacks and horrifically scars him and is thrown in prison along with a scholar known as Ghal-Sur (Jordan Douglas Smith), and her jungle home of Bastahl is burned to the ground. After their sudden escape, she's betrayed by the scholar, left to die, and Tzod's scarf of petals from "The Bloom" is stolen from around her neck. While the ownership of this treasure doesn't pinball as The Spine of Night guides us through several eras and scenarios, it attempts to show how The Bloom's power corrupts but may also restore balance to the broken world. In other words, nothing too out-of-bounds for fantasy entertainment.

The Spine of Night's rotoscoped animation stays faithful to format roots, running at 12 frames per second and with a fluid style of movement that feels surreal and almost dreamlike in its appearance. (This can negatively impact some of the action which feels rather slow, like fighting underwater or, well, in a dream.) The character designs are crude but charming; not especially attractive in most cases, but they stand out against the frequently jaw-dropping backgrounds which show a much greater level of detail. The film's main weakness, however, just might be its biggest selling point: the brutal violence, which is so casually exaggerated that's almost numbing after the first 30 minutes. (In contrast, the mostly non-sexual nudity at least feels natural given the subject matter, but may scare off a few Puritans.) One thing's for sure, though: it was unusually hard to get safe-for-work screenshots this time around. Voice acting is also a little hit-or-miss: Lawless is an inspired choice and an obvious standout, but some of the supporting/background characters feel out of place and the recording quality doesn't always match their environments very well.

I've got a feeling that there's more worthwhile middle ground between this film and something that could truly propel the genre forward rather than being more of a reverent throwback. Even so, The Spine of Night is still impressive from a purely technical standpoint and those who like their fantasy fare completely unfiltered will likely be more captivated by its charms. RLJ Entertainment has gone all-out for this film's domestic home video debut, offering not only a stand-alone Blu-ray but this 4K/Blu-ray combo pack that arrives with standard Steelbook packaging.

Surprisingly, both editions are much more similar than expected. Read on for more.

The Spine of Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The Spine of Night's 2160p, SDR transfer isn't a botched effort... it's just virtually identical to its 1080p counterpart. That's not exactly a surprise since this rotoscoped production, with its largely ultra-flat character designs, doesn't require a lot of horsepower to run at full speed. The bit rate usually hovers right around 35-40Mbps and rarely peaks above 45 (barely above Blu-ray numbers) but still impresses with razor-sharp edges, no obvious compression issues such as banding or artifacts, and well-saturated colors that run the gamut from dull and muted to vivid, electric hues. Blacks run nice and deep, while slight amounts of noise and grain add small amounts of texture. While I'm not sure if The Spine of Night is a true 4K project or an upscale, only those with extremely large displays will likely see much of a difference here. Would an HDR pass have set this further apart? Most likely. But while it clearly offers no substantial "upgrades" in any department -- because honestly, The Spine of Night probably wasn't a necessary candidate for the higher-resolution format -- this is still a solid visual presentation overall regardless of the disc chosen.

NOTE: These screenshots are sourced from the included Blu-ray, which is also available as its own standard release. For my (obviously very similar) thoughts on that disc and more screenshots, see my separate review.

UPDATE: 10/18/22: Please note that I have retroactively dropped half a point from my original video quality rating. Before the recent release of Koch Media's limited 4K Digibook edition, I was unaware that The Spine of Night's original aspect ratio was 1.85:1 and has been slightly cropped here.

The Spine of Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Similarly, The Spine of Night's DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio mix impresses with an overall scope and presence that suits the film's modestly epic ambitions. Sporadic battle scenes and surprise attacks impress with plenty of weight and well-placed surround activity that arrives in the form of discrete channel pans and a balanced atmosphere that typically aims for brutal, unexpected chaos. The pulsating original score, similar to the director's early short films, mixes traditional orchestral cues with electronic touches that reinforce its obvious 1980s influences. Dialogue is mostly clear, although a handful of minor supporting characters' lines occasionally sound tinny as if they were recorded in a small room; this briefly distracts but was clearly a source issue, so no harm, no foul. While a bit more refinement or a full-blown Atmos mix would have elevated this mix to even greater heights, it's still mighty impressive on its own terms.

Optional English (SDH), French, and Spanish subtitles are included during the main feature only.

The Spine of Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This two-disc release ships in Steelbook packaging (detailed below) with identical extras on both discs.

• The Making of "The Spine of Night" (29:49) - This featurette lightly the covers the film's long seven-year production, as well as writer/director/animator Morgan Galen King's lifelong fascinating with sword, sorcery, and horror fare including He-Man, Rankin/Bass' The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Heavy Metal, and Creepshow 2. He also speaks about other pursuits -- music, comics, and earlier animated efforts including Exordium and Mongrel, which are included as extras. Other participants include director/writer/producer Philip Gelatt, Morgan's wife Megan Fuller, and several actors in costume presumably during the rotoscoping process.

• Short Films - These two early animated films, directed by Morgan Galen King, are very similar in style to The Spine of Night with rotoscopted animation (much of it done by King himself over a period of several months), a strong Heavy Metal vibe, brutal violence, and even a few familiar characters. Although slightly rougher around the edges, they're impressive in their own right and well worth watching for fans of the main feature.

• "Exordium" (2013, 8:01) - Featuring very similar characters and story elements to The Spine of Night (which is advertised as this short film's sequel), Exordium tells the tale of a bearded man who brutally slays the keeper of a mysterious blue flower that grants him god-like powers.
• "Mongrel" (2012, 2:50) - King's first short, fully animated by him during a six-month period, follows "Mongrel" (The Spine of Night's barbarian) as he defies the orders of a violent ape king.

  NOTE: These two short films, as well as a few other animated odds and ends including a trailer for The Spine of Night, can also be viewed on Morgan Galen King's own YouTube channel.

• Steelbook Packaging - Standard issue on this 4K release, The Spine of Night features brooding poster-themed cover art dominated by deep blues with a mostly matte finish; a few glossy elements extend to the back cover... and are partially covered by quotes, unfortunately. The interior design features two electric yellow and orange skeletons, soon to be vaporized. Both discs sit on overlapping hubs and a promotional insert is included.

The Spine of Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Morgan Galen King's The Spine of Night is a reverent visual throwback to the age of Heavy Metal, Fire and Ice, and other genre cult classics. Fans of those films will be excited to have anything that keeps the rotoscope dream alive... which is probably good, since its story doesn't really carve out much new territory for the genre. But while there's room for narrative improvement, The Spine of Night is absolutely electric at times even if the sky-high level of blood and guts sometimes works against it. RLJ Entertainment's 4K disc doesn't advance on the included Blu-ray's presentation in any meaningful way... but at just $5 more than the stand-alone edition and with standard Steelbook packaging to boot, it's still worth the extra cash. Recommended, although newcomers should sample the director's work first.