Prompted by the fact that the world feels increasingly unkind and unsafe, filmmakers Philip Gelatt and Morgan Galen King felt the urge to escape into worlds of fantasy. The way in which they did this was by creating an ultra-violent, hand-rotoscoped epic fantasy film inspired by the cult classic works of animators Ralph Bakshi and Frank Franzetta. And their social distancing of sorts is paying off in droves, with the film’s rights having been snagged by Yellow Veil ahead of its World Premiere at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.
Boasting an immense ensemble cast including Richard E. Grant, Lucy Lawless, Patton Oswalt, Betty Gabriel and Joe Mangianello, The Spine of Night takes place in a world ripe with magic and intrigue. When an ambitious young man steals forbidden knowledge from a sacred plant, ages of suffering is unleashed onto mankind. As his power grows over the years, heroes from different eras and cultures are forced to fight back; among them a daring tomb-robber, star-crossed lovers, a maniacal necromancer, winged assassins, and an undying guardian.
SCREAM sat down with both Gelatt and Galen King who discussed the persistent fascistic undercurrent to much of popular mythmaking and how their decision to engage in this subject matter couldn’t have been more apropos in the light of ensued in the seven years since they first put pen to paper.
Words: Howard Gorman
