Spine of Night is coming to Shudder on March 24, and is promising a rotoscoped throwback animated fantasy adventure that — beware — is an ultra-violent tale.
The film is described as being an epic fantasy tale about the history of a land that never was, which begins when an ambitious young man steals forbidden knowledge from a sacred plant. He falls to its darker temptations and in so doing, unleashes ages of suffering onto mankind. As his power grows over the years, it falls to people of different ilk and culture to attempt to stop him. Among those who stand against him are a daring tomb-robber, star-crossed lovers, a maniacal necromancer, winged assassins, and an undying guardian.
The voice cast includes Richard E. Grant (Can You Forgtive Me, Loki), Lucy Lawless (Xena, Warrior Princess; Futurama, Battlestar Galactica), Patton Oswalt (Ratatouille, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.), Betty Gabriel (Get Out) and Joe Manganiello (True Blood).
Serving as writers and directors of the film are Phillip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King. Gelatt wrote a number of scripts for the Netflix series Love, Death & Robots, while serving as director of the horror films The Bleeding House and They Remain. As for King, while he's worked as an animator for quite some time, he hasn't directed a film before.
Spine of Night is actually in release at this point on digital, but its streaming home will be on Shudder beginning March 24.