Watch the trailer for the lost-in-limbo stop-motion movie Junk Head
I stumbled across the trailer for Takahide Hori’s stop-motion post-apocalyptic short-film-turned-feature Junk Head a long while back and dropped it into the “share some day” folder. Today, I took a dip in said folder and the trailer piqued my interest again, so here it is. Junk Head was originally a half-hour long short film from Hori that he spent four years putting together, and while a feature film has been adapted from the short, it’s unclear if we’ll ever get to see it. Junk Head the feature-length movie made the film festival rounds last year (here’s a review from Fantastic Fest and another from the Fantasia International Film Festival), but no word has been heard as to whether it will see a home video release or if we’ll get to watch it online anytime soon.
In the meantime, the trailer for Junk Head is definitely worth the watch, and I’ll also include the 30-minute short film the feature is adapted from below. Here’s the trailer:
I’m getting a vibe that’s somewhere between Shane Acker’s 9 (which was also a feature-length adaptation of his original short) and an old TOOL video. Apparently the tone carries through the feature, which could be both haunting and fantastic. Germain Lussier (reviewing for i09; linked above) seemed to enjoy the aesthetic as well as the ride as a whole:
Every creature, person and thing feels like it has a huge backstory, but Hori never forces any of that down our throats. There are some clues dropped here and there, but really, the feeling becomes that the ride is more important than the destination.
That is until Junk Head gets to its destination, and Hori rewards us with a finale action set piece that is, frankly, unfathomable. Using stop-motion animation, he’s crafted an absolutely awesome action sequence. Like the Matrix with monsters. It’s a sequence that’s not only exciting, but filled with thematic material to chew on.
From the trailer above and the short film below, I’m sold and would love to dive into the feature as soon as I can get my hands on it. If the trailer is all you’ve seen, definitely give the Junk Head short film a watch. Here it is:
What do you think? Is it right up your alley or a bit too strange for your taste? I kind of love Junk Head, so it’s a shame the director’s follow-up prequel Bubble Head didn’t reach its Kickstarter funding goal. That said, given how committed Hori was to bringing Junk Head to life, I doubt not getting Kickstarter funded is going to stop him from moving forward with Bubble Head. Here’s hoping both the feature-length Junk Head and Bubble Head see the light of day sometime soon!