The Bloody Lady | The Wolf House

Widely considered one of Slovak animation’s crown jewels, the newly restored The Bloody Lady is an improbable and bewitching fusion of gothic horror and classic children’s animation, retelling a famous folktale that is often cited as the inspiration for Bram Stoker’s Dracula. With a clean, simple, animation style full of primary colors, the film tells the tale of Lady Báthory, who lives in a castle surrounded by Disneyesque wildlife. When she falls ill in a forest during a storm, Lady Báthory makes a deal with a handsome woodsman for her health. But when she returns to the castle her usually sunny disposition soon becomes murderous and vampiric! In Slovak with English subtitles. (77 mins., DCP) 

Goreometer: 1.5 / 4

No matter how many movies you’ve seen in your life, you’ve never seen anything like the Chilean stop-motion animation The Wolf House. The film is based on Colonia Dignidad, the post–World War II colony-turned-cult of German emigrants that interned and tortured Chilean dissidents. The Wolf House takes the form of an animated fairy tale produced by the leader of the cult to indoctrinate its followers. The film’s story follows Maria, a young woman who has escaped the colony and taken refuge in a home occupied solely by two pigs. Through indescribably inventive and surprising animation techniques, the house is a constantly shifting landscape of nightmares and astonishing visuals. In Spanish and German with English subtitles. (73 mins., DCP) 

Goreometer: 2 / 4
Genuinely disquieting aesthetics and overall tone. 

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IMAGE CAPTION
The Bloody Lady, courtesy of Arbelos Films. The Wolf House, courtesy KimStim.