Stopmotion (UK, 2024)

I knew little about Stopmotion beforehand, but selected it because it had an interesting concept and it had appeared on a few lists of the best horror of the year. Stop motion animation can be creepy as hell, and while I’ve seen it used in plenty of films, I can’t recall watching a horror movie about it before. And that was enough to sell me.

Stopmotion is currently streaming on Shudder in the UK.

Synopsis

Ella is a professional stop motion animator, but her domineering mother is a legend in the medium. When her mother develops arthritis, however, Ella must become her hands. Even after her mother has a stroke, Ella works to complete her mother’s film.

All this changes, however, when Ella’s boyfriend finds an new workspace for her in a block of flats undergoing renovation. A little girl from a neighbouring flat takes an interest in Ella’s work and starts giving her ideas for a new film, and new ways to make it.

As Ella experiments with using meat and animal remains to fashion her puppets, the little girl gives her darker and darker ideas for the story. Soon, Ella is struggling to tell the difference between her film and real life. This is not going to end well.

General Thoughts

I had a bad feeling early on that Stopmotion was building up to some big, climactic revelation about the little girl’s identity, and I was relieved when it tipped its hand relatively quickly. It’s an obvious twist, but I liked that Robert Morgan trusted the audience enough not to treat it as any great surprise. If only more films handled such twists this well.

Similarly, the opening scenes with Ella and her bully of a mother could easily have outstayed their welcome. A lesser film might have milked them for extra drama, but here we get just enough to establish Ella’s character and to set her own story into motion.

Verdict

A couple of things save Stopmotion from being just another film about a descent into madness. The first and most obvious one is the stop motion animation itself. Ella’s puppets become steadily more monstrous as the film goes on, and the snippets we get from her animations feel like they’ve been plucked from nightmares. This is often a gorgeous film to look at, even when what we’re seeing is grotesque.

The film’s other salvation is its willingness to go to extremes. This is a surprisingly bloody, violent affair, and I guarantee some scenes will have you squirming. I was not prepared for Ella’s solution to the problem of her meat puppets drying out.

Apart from these points, the story is a pretty familiar one of an artist losing herself in her work with tragic consequences. Ella’s madness is a sympathetic one, however, especially for anyone who has worked in a creative industry. She struggles to express her own ideas, especially when those with power over her see her as a commodity or even outright steal her work. It’s enough to drive anyone to atrocity.

I can’t see Stopmotion making my top three this month, but it is still a damn good film. It’s definitely worth your time if you enjoy the more artistic end of horror cinema. Or just creepy dolls. That would be enough.

The October Horror Movie Challenge

Please do join in and share your own thoughts with us about this or any other films as the month goes on. You can usually find us on Twitter, BlueSky, Reddit, Discord, or lurking in the dark corners of your home.

If you would like to play along at home, my provisional selections are:

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair (USA, 2021)
Tales That Witness Madness (UK, 1973)
When Evil Lurks (Argentina, 2023)
Under Paris (France, 2024)
In a Violent Nature (Canada, 2024)
Torso (Italy, 1973)
Titane (France, 2021)
Rorschach (USA, 2015)
The Coffee Table (Spain, 2024)
Dr Caligari (USA, 1989)
Bit (USA, 2020)
The Guard From Underground (Japan, 1992)
Oddity (Ireland, 2024)
Speak No Evil (Denmark/Netherlands, 2022)
Butcher, Baker, Nightmare Maker (USA, 1982)
Grave Torture (Indonesia, 2024)
Bedlam (USA, 1946)
The Innsmouth School For Girls (USA, 2023)
Daddy’s Head (UK, 2024)
All You Need Is Death (Ireland, 2024)
Eight Eyes (USA/Serbia, 2021)
Poor Things (Ireland/UK/USA, 2023)
Seven Deaths in the Cat’s Eye (Italy, 1973)
Longlegs (USA, 2024)
Night of Fear (Australia, 1973)
Stopmotion (UK, 2024)
Terrifier (USA, 2016)
Azrael (USA, 2024)
Faust (Germany, 1926)
Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky (Hong Kong, 1991)
I Saw the TV Glow (USA, 2024)

A Final Note

If you have been enticed here by these posts, please do look around at some of our other film reviews. We also have a podcast, called The Good Friends of Jackson Elias, which occasionally covers horror films. If this appeals, you might want to check out some of the following episodes.