Peur(s) du Noir (Fear(s) of the Dark) (2007)

74% of critics liked it
(65 reviews)
57% of users liked it
(2,346 ratings)

Six of the world's most talented graphic artists and animators come together to breathe vivid life into their greatest nightmares in this animated horror omnibus featuring the work of Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. Inspired by the… More Six of the world's most talented graphic artists and animators come together to breathe vivid life into their greatest nightmares in this animated horror omnibus featuring the work of Blutch, Charles Burns, Marie Caillou, Pierre di Sciullo, Lorenzo Mattotti, and Richard McGuire. Inspired by the creeping shadows that lurk in the darkest depths of each artist's psyche, this monochromatic meditation on the things that make us wake up screaming aims to recreate the atmosphere and mood of an actual nightmare. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 22 min.
Directed By: Marie Calliou
Written By: Blutch, Charles Burns, Pierre Di Sciullo, Jerry Kramsky, Richard N. McGuire
Genres: Horror, Animation, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Oct 21, 2007 Wide
On DVD: May 12, 2009
Studio: IFC

Critic Reviews

Jason Anderson, Toronto Star
This French-made chiller proves just how scary a pitch-black theatre can be.
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer
Brilliantly creepy.
Reyhan Harmanci, San Francisco Chronicle
Fear(s) of the Dark is a feast for the eyes, even if it doesn't always get the pulse racing.
, Boston Globe
The black-and-white images are so cutting edge, you could bleed.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Sinister and beautiful.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Despite the title and the ads, this is not really a horror movie but more of a demonstration of the skills of the animators. The segments are like calling cards. Younger horror movie fans will not much identify with it.
Kelly Vance, East Bay Express
Graphic art and comics fans will appreciate its high-art wrinkle, but it's pretty tame stuff conceptionally.
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews
An ambitious failure...
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid
There are some chilling sequences here, and it's nice to see a fresh approach to the horror genre, but the movie doesn't really dig its nails in very far.
Kam Williams, Sly Fox
An arresting array of chilling images worthwhile for the scary visual effects alone.
Bill Gibron, PopMatters
Fear(s) of the Dark should put to rest once and for all any qualms about mixing animation with angst.
Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze
Most chilling is the voiceover by Guillaume Depardieu, who in a real life horror that casts a shadow of its own over this production, just died suddenly and tragically. He's a withdrawn young student, the plaything of a pet insect reborn as a horny coed.
Liz Braun, Jam! Movies
Fear(s) of the Dark is an unusual little confection, bound to be interesting to most viewers and downright riveting to artists and illustrators.
Rob Thomas, Capital Times (Madison, WI)
The influences shown by its group of American and European artists are Edgar Allan Poe and Alfred Hitchcock rather than George A. Romero and Stephen King, getting chills not out of what we're shown, but what we imagine lurks in the darkness of the gorgeou
Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com
Because of its omnibus format, the quality and the creepiness vary from segment-to-segment.
Loey Lockerby, Kansas City Star
They all visualize the fears that haunt our dreams, but only McGuire brings them to full, unnerving life.
Sarah Boslaugh, Playback:stl
The fear inspired by these stories is more akin to dread, a slow, creeping suspicion that something is not quite right ...
Andy Klein, Los Angeles CityBeat
All except di Sciullo's are beautifully drawn, in a variety of distinct styles.
Ron Wilkinson, Monsters and Critics
Although this is a commendable study in the future of animation it is not accessible enough to be entertaining. Undoubtedly better films are yet to come from this group.
Tricia Olszewski, Washington City Paper
Rarely goosebump-inducing and often rather dull...but you'll become entranced by the animation.

Read all 20 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Saskia D

You should definitely give it a try if you're into short stories, animated movies, and like the Animatrix (which is also a collection of short animations with a shared theme). The last animation is my favorite.
Luke B

Fear(s) of the Dark isn't the horror film I was hoping for. It's creepy, twisted and dark, but is also distant. It's really a portfolio of work collected by a number of talented animators. Each of the individual tales has a dreamlike quality, allowing the films to avoid… More
Fear(s) of the Dark isn't the horror film I was hoping for. It's creepy, twisted and dark, but is also distant. It's really a portfolio of work collected by a number of talented animators. Each of the individual tales has a dreamlike quality, allowing the films to avoid any responsibility they may have to tell a story. The artistic skills on display can't be challenged in anyway, but so much more could have been achieved with the expansion of just one story. Certainly worth a look for some imaginative imagery.
Emily A

I'm the first to admit that I'm both a sucker for short animation and for short horror anthologies. This strange black and white French film combines the best of both worlds. The stories varied in quality, my favorite being the last one about the man taking refuge in a… More
I'm the first to admit that I'm both a sucker for short animation and for short horror anthologies. This strange black and white French film combines the best of both worlds. The stories varied in quality, my favorite being the last one about the man taking refuge in a darkened house. One of my favorite things about this film was how different each animated vignette looked, and each director made a short film that looked absolutely beautiful. I found the interludes of Nicole Garcia talking about her neuroses a little extraneous and tiresome, but it was really interesting to see what each director did with thier palette of black and white. I loved the character design of the Japanese story about the girl and the samuria ghost, and I liked the movement in the insect nightmare. The last short film was my favorite though, because it really embodied the title the best. The sparse light added so much to the mood, and made it seem especially alarming when it would illuminate something the main character couldn't see. What a work of art. I wish animation and horror overlapped much more often.
Sam C

Definitely an interesting animation style and a pretty cool atmosphere is created, but it will leave you in the dark (no pun intended) about what the whole point was.