The timeless tale of Dante Aligheri’s The Divine Comedy, particularly its first chapter, Inferno, about the adventures of a man’s decent into the nine stages of Hell to save the soul of his beloved may seem like an unlikely choice for a video game, but Electronic Arts have used the property and have staged a massive campaign to promote it with some interesting tactics. Like they did last year with the hugely successful Dead Space, they made an animated film to coincide with the release of the game. Entitled Dead Space: Downfall, the film was well received and sold well. Dante’s Inferno: An Animated Epic goes a different route, retelling the same story in each of its stages that on its own, serves as a well produced, bloody epic that will draw people to the game, but hopefully to its original poem as well.
The animated film tells the complete tale of Dante, a 14th Century warrior who returns home only to see his entire family viciously murdered and his beloved Beatrice a prisoner at the hands of Satan. To ensure Dante’s safe return, Beatrice made a deal with Lucifer who in turn has imprisoned her soul. With the help of a ghostly guide named Virgil, Dante descends into Hell and goes into each of the stages to find her while Lucifer mentally tortures Beatrice with her innermost demons on display.
The film’s animation were done, all by varying crews, from top Anime designers to Disney animators, and the work here is top notch. With each level drawn by different animators, the levels of Hell each have their own unique look. As Dante ascends in each level, he is reminded a moment in his life where that section of Hell paralleled in his own life, bringing his own haunted past on display. What’s good is that it still feels like one complete film, not 10 short films. Although the battles with the demons are sparse (probably done to get people to get the game), there are some standout moments. The “Violence” section is the best, where Dante’s biggest atrocity in life during his time fighting for the Crusades has come back to haunt him in an extremely profound way. The overall look of Hell is drawn splendidly. There is a lot of blood and nudity (and I mean A LOT of blood) and visually, some of the monsters are truly terrifying. This is purely for adults only.
The script is very loyal to the original story with some violent touches, so its not hard to mess it up. The flashbacks in both Dante and Beatrice’s lives show that neither are the most heroic and its grey overtones in them virtually show that everyone is flawed. It’s not a simple good versus evil tale which is kind of refreshing.
The voice acting is very good, with Graham MacTavish providing the gruff voice of Dante and Peter Jessop doing fine work in a monotone voice as the ghost Virgil. Mark Hamill once again shows why he’s amongst the best in this field with a great performance voicing Dante’s father Alighiero. Also good is Vanessa Branch as the voice of the tortured Beatrice. Finally, Steve Blum’s Lucifer is terrifying at times, particularly since the character is animated mainly in fogs and shadows.
The Blu Ray’s chapters are divided in the levels of Hell, which gives it the feel of many short films however it’s best to view in one setting (and at 88 minutes long, it flies by). The only other extras are some animatics in putting the film together and a trailer for the EA game (which does look spectacular). The film’s credits show which animation team did which moments and they are too many to mention here, but ll did a great job.
The whole point of the animated film is to get young males to buy the game, and as stated before on its own it is a very well done film, but the fact that the action is simplified for the sake of promoting the game is a drawback. It’s more of an action adventure film than a horror but there are some terrifying images that will scare younger audiences. It is what it is, an animated epic, and if you are a fan of anime or adult animated films in general, than this is worth viewing.
– Alan G. Richter
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
