If there’s a strictly coherent plot to Mad God, it’s not interesting in explaining it. Which is fair enough – the movie wants more to be a blistering explosion of stop-motion imagery designed to make your skin crawl. Whether that’s enough to watch for just shy of ninety minutes will be up to you… and your tolerance for splattering, dripping, gory excess.

This is a celebration – an oozing celebration – of the fine art of stop-motion animation. In it’s goopiest, creepiest, most dreadful, and disgusting of forms.

Tim Burton only wishes he had an imagination this gothic and dark. And I worry for Phil Tippet – the FX genius who’s been working on this film since the 80s – because any man who spent that much time in this gory hellscape is someone who might need help. Assuming this film didn’t work out those demons for him.

The movie is largely stop-motion (with a handful of live action sequences) that follows an “assassin” (as he’s credited) as he descends into hell? purgatory? a slime and muck infested pit of insanity? The last warzone of the last war ever fought? And he sees and experiences a lot of disturbing and gory things. Creatures and frayed souls looking to die.

This movie is gross. And imaginative. And it must have been a hell of a thing to create. But mainly it’s really disgusting. And the man who made it would shake my hand for saying so. This is only for people who simply want to appreciate the art of stop motion animation and who love, love, love dripping, seeping, leaking, shitting blood splattered madness.

I appreciated it… not so sure I enjoyed it. But I wasn’t bored either… sometimes I was rapt with fascination, sometimes shrinking in disgust, and other times my mind wandered. I was mesmerized by the ending as it lost track of even the fraction of reality it once had and simply goes surreal.

Not for everyone.

That’s for damn sure.

Score: 75