Some of the best horror exposes the darker side of humanity. From masked serial killers to murderous hillbillies, they show us our more primitive nature. The violent side of us that shows that we are all at heart still animals.
This is shown in the age-restricted NSFW animated short film “Animals” by Tue Sanggaard. It is now streaming on Alter’s YouTube channel, and you can also watch it at the end of this article. It might inspire you to submit to the next Killer Shorts Horror Short Screenplay Competition.
The Plot
It’s a normal uneventful day for the people taking the train. But then some of them try to get off, but the door won’t open. It eventually gets to the point where somebody pulls the emergency brake just to get off, but the lever breaks off in her hand. The train car erupts into chaos, and then the people aboard start acting against their human nature, all culminating in what appears to be their reality breaking down.
Public Transportation Is A Nightmare
While this short can be interpreted as an artsy surrealist short due to the character’s bizarre actions, as well as, the weird and ambiguous ending. But it could also be easily seen as a Lovecraft-style nightmare. Some unknown force visited this train car that trapped the passengers in, made them go mad, and transported them to another world. The fact that we never find out what happened only adds to this and opens the possibility that it was something that human minds could not even comprehend.
But at its core, it’s a movie about how we are at our very core, as the title suggests, animals. Even at the beginning, before anybody finds out that they are trapped, this is seen with them refusing to give to a homeless man who had just worked hard to put on a show for them. And by the end, we see that nature comes out in an extreme form that people wouldn’t normally resort to unless under the influence of whatever otherworldly terror has taken hold of them.
And it’s an interesting, bizarre look at this side of human nature. While it’s not particularly scary, it is a very well-made acid trip of an animated short. It is told entirely through visuals, with the only dialogue coming from an automated announcement, that is in another language and has no subtitles. While it will definitely confuse viewers, it’s unlikely that they will find it boring.
Conclusion
“Animals” is another reminder of our true nature. It’s an artsy Lovecraftian cartoon that may be too much for certain viewers, but its undeniable craziness will probably win over its target audience.
Watch it below.
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