Mad God (2022)
Written & Directed by Phil Tippett

Some of you may not have heard about Mad God before, which is understandable. Even though its creator, Phil Tippett, has worked on big-name franchises like Star Wars and RoboCop, Mad God was a Stop Motion animated passion project that Tippett worked on for 30 years, a true labor of love that left a lot of weird horror fans, like me, waiting as patiently as we could for it to finally be released. It’s here. And it’s everything I hoped for and more!

Story Light, That’s For The Best.

The story of Mad God is pretty easy to explain, a mysterious figure only referred to as The Assassin travels through Hell on a secret mission, beholding all the horrors and wonders that lie beneath. There is of course more to the story but I don’t want to give it away, and it would be missing the point to even try to explain it. Mad God isn’t a traditional movie with exposition and rapid plot development, but more of the journey itself being the story, as there is almost no dialogue to be found.

I Want Nothing To Distract From These Amazing Visuals!

That lack of dialogue isn’t a problem, as the visuals and score tell the story without any need for words. I’m surprised I managed to make it this long without talking about the visuals, which are nothing short of spectacular. Every shot, every frame, every concept is so beautifully and disgustingly realized that it brings a tear to my eye even remembering how much I love the look of this film. I’ve always had a love for stop motion animation, and this is top tier animation utilized in incredibly clever ways. I love the look and feel of all the creatures, all the setpieces, all the oozing gooey grossness that is so lovingly rendered. If there was no attempt at telling any kind of story, Mad God would be worth watching for the visuals alone, but the larger-than-life visuals perfectly complement Mad God’s story.

And The Best Score In A Long Damn Time.

Along with the visuals, Mad God has an incredible score. Not just, oh the music is good, but the score acts almost like a narrator, perfectly reflecting the emotional tone of each scene without getting overbearing, and capturing a very specific feeling that I noticed immediately, a pervasive sense of wonder. If you haven’t seen Mad God, you may be curious how a film with visuals I’ve described as disgusting and gross could be filled with wonder, and that’s the most clever part of it! Even though everything you see is vile and awful and cruel, you can’t look away, your eyes remain glued to the screen as your mind feasts on the delightfully deranged beasts and devils conjured up by an artist creating something for the love of art with a singular vision behind it. And this music, curious, moody, and sometimes even playful, understands the adventure and surprise that goes along with this trip.

Alright, Alright, I’ll Critique Something Now.

At this point, you may accuse me of gushing and not being critical. Fine. There is one thing I didn’t like about Mad God. During an otherwise great sequence, there is an overlong bit of a baby loudly crying, which I found grating and unpleasant, not in a fun way but in a distracting way. BUT, to be fair, this makes sense in the context of the movie, I just really really can’t handle that specific noise. And honestly, that’s the only real criticism I can level here. Some people may not enjoy Mad God because it’s more avant-garde than a lot of other horror movies. Some people may be skeeved out by all the bizarre visuals. That’s okay. But those things make it great.

Now That That’s Out Of The Way, See This Movie!

Mad God isn’t for everyone, and that’s a good thing. Tippett’s clear vision, excessive passion, and tireless work have created an instant classic that I guarantee is going to be shown in film schools very soon. I tried to keep this as spoiler-free as I possibly could, just because experiencing everything yourself is so important for this, but in a few days when people have had the chance to watch this, I’ll put up a more detailed review going into the storyline and specific scenes as a separate post. Seriously though, just go to Shudder and see this, because I guarantee you won’t have seen anything else like it.