"Stop-motion films are hard to make. Appreciate that mania today." by Suzette Smith 16. INCREMENTAL BREAKDOWN: Stop-motion films are hard to make. Appreciate that mania today. Alice Not all film directors love stop-motion animation, but the ones who do, love it intensely. You'll find the painstaking method snuck into plenty of films—the demon dogs in Ghostbusters (1984), the Jaguar Shark in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004). Full features, like Czech film director Jan Švankmajer's Alice (1988), are more rare, and even this cornerstone example of stop-motion fantasy and horror combines the movements of taxidermied animals and haunted dolls with the live-action curiosity—and unsettling lip close-ups—of young child actor Kristýna Kohoutová. Everyone seeking a well-rounded knowledge of cinema should see Alice at least once, and those interested in animation will benefit from multiple viewings. Like with comics or animated films, the point of using stop motion is to show what can't be conveyed through traditional theatrics.  Švankmajer was fired up by the idea that previous adaptations of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland hadn't understood the dream-like quality of Lewis Carrol's story. So his first feature unfolds with slippery, creepy logic and visual interpretations that are both non-representational and extremely right-on—the film's approach to the Caterpillar is particularly worth merit. This would be an excellent film to re-score before a live audience or have on in the background at parties, in bars, or anywhere that might benefit from its low-context, ultra-weird visuals. The Stranger is participating in Scarecrow Video’s Psychotronic Challenge all month long! Every October, Scarecrow puts together a list of cinematic themes and invites folks to follow along and watch a horror, sci-fi, or fantasy flick that meets the criteria. This year, Stranger staffers are joining the fun and we’re sharing our daily recommendations here on Slog! Read more about Scarecrow’s 2024 challenge—and get the watch list—here. And you can track our daily recommendations here! 💀