Films for Halloween
About the playlist
BOO!
We put together a collection of 10 NFB films to spook you out for Halloween. Break out the candy and enjoy... though you may want to keep the lights on.
Happy Halloween!
Selected films
The Wanderer
- This animation short is an adaptation of Michel Tremblay's short story "The Devil and the Mushroom." A tale of supernatural power, greed and violence, it involves a sinister stranger who single-handedly transforms a quiet village into the scene of a phantasmagoric nightmare.
- by George Ungar ,
- 1988,
- 11 min 18 s
The Apprentice
- In this animated short from Richard Condie (The Big Snit), an old fool meets a young fool at a crossroads in the 14th century. The old fool stays behind while the young fool skips blindly down the wrong road. The old fool must then teach his young apprentice about the ...
- by Richard Condie ,
- 1991,
- 9 min
Madame Tutli-Putli
- This stop-motion animated film takes viewers on an exhilarating existential journey into the fully imagined, tactile world of Madame Tutli-Putli. As she travels alone on the night train, weighed down with all her earthly possessions and the ghosts of her past, she faces both the kindness and menace of strangers ...
- by Chris Lavis ,
- Maciek Szczerbowski ,
- 2007,
- 17 min 15 s
The ErlKing
- This animated short is a visual representation of Goethe's poem, The ErlKing that uses sand-on-glass animation set to the music of Franz Schubert. The moving images, resembling woodcuts, capture the haunting, nightmarish quality of the tale of the ErlKing who steals and kills a little boy.
- by Ben Zelkowicz ,
- 2002,
- 5 min 2 s
Subservience
- In this animated short, bourgeois selfishness and the passivity of its servants take centre stage as a puppet show presents the tragicomedy of a society in its death throes.
- by Patrick Bouchard ,
- 2007,
- 8 min 9 s
The Brainwashers
- In this animated short, two chimney sweepers clear all the memories from their victim's brain in a quest to determine what goes on in a man's head. A chilling film filled with fearsome puppets inhabiting a world of strange objects.
- by Patrick Bouchard ,
- 2002,
- 12 min 1 s
Drux Flux
- Part figurative, part abstract, Drux Flux is an animated short comprised of fast-flowing images showing modern people crushed by industry. Inspired by One-Dimensional Man, by philosopher Herbert Marcuse, the filmmaker deconstructs industrial scenes and their terrifying geometry to show the inhumanity of progress.
- by Theodore Ushev ,
- 2008,
- 4 min 47 s
Batmilk
- In this animated short from the Hothouse 5 series, an oafish ghoul and his soft exposed brain are met with ruin when the brain is unexpectedly killed. Through paralyzed, the ghoul attains a fresh brain and is fed with new life.
- by Brandon Blommaert ,
- 2009,
- 1 min 44 s
Hunger
- In this animated short, director Peter Foldès depicts one man’s descent into greed and gluttony. Rapidly dissolving and ever-evolving images create a contrast between abundance and want. One of the first films to use computer animation, this satire serves as a cautionary tale against self-indulgence in a world still ...
- by Peter Foldès ,
- 1973,
- 11 min 22 s
Afterlife
- This animated short film attempts to answer the eternal questions, What is dying? and How does it feel? Based on recent studies, case histories and some of the ancient myths, the afterlife state is portrayed as an awesome but methodical working-out of all the individual's past experiences. Film without ...
- by Ishu Patel ,
- 1978,
- 7 min 12 s
Land of the Heads
- This animated short tells the tale of a vampire forced go out every night to separate children from their heads. The reason? His vain wife wants to replace her wrinkled head with one that is young and pretty. What a horror! Especially since the lady of the house is never ...
- by Claude Barras ,
- Cédric Louis ,
- 2009,
- 6 min 8 s
From Far Away
- This short animation tells the story of Saoussan, a young girl struggling to adjust to life in Canada after being uprooted from her wartorn homeland. She has come to seek a quieter and safer life, although memories of war and death linger, memories that are awakened when the children at ...
- by Shira Avni ,
- Serene El-haj Daoud ,
- 2000,
- 6 min 39 s
