9...Not The District.

Once again...Cins is posting about a film that isn't really a horror film on a horror blog. I do strange things...for I am a strange person.

I really wanted to give a shout out for the movie 9.

I know what you're thinking. "Huh, 9 is an animated movie. Yeah its PG-13 but its still probably family fun fare that they're only advertising as serious and action-packed". At least that's what I was thinking when I saw the advertisements. Don't get me wrong. I'm a huge animation buff. In fact, Stac and I met in a Disney's Hercules chat room if that tells you anything about my love. But most main stream fantasy based animated features that claim to be for the older crowd tend to only include the word damn and have more fart jokes and a G rated film (*cough* Shrek *cough*). And while Pixar has made some extremely sophisticated films like Wall-E, The Incredibles, and Up, they are still very geared toward the younger set. Once again, nothing against family friendly since I loved all those movies. But when it came to 9, I expected the same deal. A few talking animals and possible fart jokes.

Boy I was wrong.

Dead wrong.

And I was never more pleased to be wrong.

I won't really go into the story of 9 because its very simple. Simple enough that people think its really thin. But I never thought of it as thin myself. It was shrouded in mystery through the beginning and only gave you teaspoons of information which keeps the audience intrigued. Not all the questions are answered in the film but that didn't bother me. I liked the mystery. It really worked. Also, its a fable and a cautionary tale. The story and characters are presented in a very broad archetypal manner and I believe it truly works that way, even more so when you find out how those little critters were created. The dialog is a little on the cheesy side but it didn't take you out of the moment and I felt worked for that fable feel.

The star of the movie was its breath taking visuals. The whole post-apocalyptic steampunk-esque world and its stitched together characters were so unique and beautiful that I had trouble blinking through the film, afraid I might miss something. Even if you're not a fan of the story, the visuals alone are worth the price of admission and the action sequences were terrifying and exciting (especially the "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" scene...go see it to understand what I mean).

Regardless of 9 not being a horror film, it does have some pure unadulterated scares in it and for a brief moment or two, this movie does dip into a horror realm. Therefore I felt it worth mentioning. 9 went there. I mean it. When other animated movies would just refer lightly to the death of the human race, 9 decides to push it a little further by adding some corpses. Also, a few of the violent scenes, while not graphic, were really jarring. It never pulled its punches one bit. If you have children under the age of 10, please think twice before bringing them to this film. This is "Watership Down" territory here when it comes to traumatising films for kiddies. And I heard quite a few little youngsters in the theater screech in terror how they wanted to leave during the beginning of the movie.

Plus, it had this thing.

And this thing is HORRIFYING.

Its a baby faced snake/spider thing that I'm sure is fueled off my fear when on the screen. I had a nightmare about this damn thing! I'm an adult. I can't even imagine how I would have reacted to this nightmare fuel at the tender age of 8.

Overall, I have fallen in love with this movie. It really proves what you can do in the medium of animation and that you do not always need a chatty raccoon or a farting unicorn for an animated film to work. 9 was advertised as a serious movie and that's what you get. A bleak view of our demise but a hopeful view of our rebirth. In my book, its up there with other wonderful post apocalyptic films like Mad Max and Dawn of the Dead. I really hope it finds its audience.

I HIGHLY recommend this movie.