To Your Last Death (2019)

To Your Last Death (2019) (see below for trailer and preview images)

Directed by Jason Axinn
Written by Jim Cirile and Tanya C. Klein
 
Voices for animation:
 
William Shatner 
Morena Baccarin
Ray Wise
Dani Lennon
Bill Moseley
 
Budget NO DATA                                Box Office NO DATA
 
IMDb 7.2/10               Rotten Tomatoes 64%            Metacritic NO DATA

This is an animated adult horror film that first premiered at the London FrightFest Film Festival on August 23, 2019.  It was then released on Video on Demand on March 17, 2020.
 
Before I get into my opinion, I MUST let you in on the general plot teaser on the box of the BluRay box.  

It reads as follows:
 
After emerging as the sole survivor in a deadly revenge game set up by her father to his children, Miriam receives an offer from a supernatural entity to go back in time and try again. Now, Miriam must survive both her father’s blood lust and the Gamemaster’s ever-changing rules to save her siblings as she relives the worst night of her life.
 
Sounds pretty crazy right?  So, here’s the set up…
 
Miriam gets called to her father’s place along with her siblings to have a discussion.  This discussion is about how he truly feels about them.  One he calls out for being a pill popper.  Another for being a failed musician that gets his kicks utilizing sexual asphyxiation.  He insults another for being gay even though he’s truly a genius for his father’s company.  And Miriam, he just loathes for speaking out publicly against him, telling of his atrocious behavior over the years.
 
So, Daddy has decided to get them all together and play his own little sick and twisted version of being Jigsaw, setting traps for his children and requiring things of them promising their freedom and redemption if said tasks are completed.
 
Miriam must not survive her father, but also this supernatural entity, the Gamemaster, who is a real bitch, and her penchant for changing the rules mid-game.  Though feeling set up for failure, Miriam will put forth all her effort to save herself, her siblings and win the game any way she can.  The question is, with all the ever-changing rules, will her effort be enough?
 
THE END
 
This was a fantastic animated film to watch.  I’m usually not a fan of animation but this particular film I couldn’t peel my eyes from. 
 
I was fascinated by the artwork and the detail.  It was like watching a comic book in motion.  The artwork wasn’t like normal animation art where they have individual frames done one at a time, each frame is photographed one at a time and then they are all run together to make an animated cartoon or film.  This film was as if the comic book art was lifted from the pages itself and put in motion.  So, it didn’t have that Saturday morning cartoon fluidity of movement but it was an incredible creative wonder to experience in its entirety.  Also, the artist (or artists) had a brilliant knowledgeable use of color that even further brought this would be graphic novel to life on screen.  The range of colors give so much life and dimension to the characters and the scenery that this truly is an actual film, animated or not.
 
It consists of the kind of fantastic revenge story that so many horror fans love.  It’s the battle between a rich and arrogant father and his disapproval and disappointment in his not-so-perfect children.  The story consists of a fairly natural dialogue complete with the kind of foul language that anyone in that situation would use, so it is believable and at times flippant and amusing.  The progression of the story is a great ride full of plenty of twists and turns to keep you interested, entertained and disturbed.  There’s plenty of blood, gore and violence for those of us who love that stuff and it’s done very well for animation.  The whole film was fast paced and stayed moving, making it so the 91-minute run time was nothing but a brief moment in time.
 
I would suggest any horror lover, especially horror comic book and graphic novel lovers, see this.  You won’t be disappointed.
 
RATINGS
5/5 Stars