The Backwater Gospel (2011) User Reviews

I loved it.

[poolandrews · 8/10 · 15 April 2012]

The Backwater Gospel is set in the small desert God fearing town of Backwater where a sinister Undertaker rides his bike, whenever the Undertaker appears it always means someone is about to die. The fanatical Minister (Lucien Dodge) tries to turn the townsfolk against the local Tramp (Zebulon Whatley) who refuses to worship God as the rest of the town do, then suddenly the Undertaker rides into town & sits in the center. The locals are terrified, who's next? Who has the Undertaker come for? In an apocalyptic massacre the residents are determined to make sure it's not them that the Undertaker has come for...

This short nine minute computer animated Danish production was directed by Bo Mathorne & in my eye's is an extraordinary piece of work that I must admit I loved watching, so much so that after I had watched it for the first time I watched it again immediately afterwards, from the story to the animation I though this was brilliant from start to finish. The script has grim humour to it, it touches religious fanaticism, the mob mentality, ones extreme self preservation instincts & has a nice twist ending too in which leaves the Undertaker with his work cut out! The script tells the simple tale effectively enough with lots of neat little memorable moments to emphasise certain points, definitely well worth watching if you can find a coy.

The other reason that I liked The Backwater Gospel so much is it's unique & amazing visual style, a sort of 3D rough looking comic book animation that just looks fabulous with striking character design & a wonderfully angular look which are superbly animated. The final massacre is brilliant too as the gory violence is set against a thunder storm in yet again a visually arresting contrast of colours from the silhouettes of the people to their gleaming white eyes & teeth. I am sure a lot of time was spent on the look & animation here as it really is superb stuff.

The Backwater Gospel is a wonderful nine minute animation with a brilliant visual style that is unique yet amazing to watch. It has a neat little story with a few morals thrown in & some nice gore as well, I can't really recommend it enough. In fact there is only one thing about The Backwater Gospel I didn't like... it only lasted for nine minutes.

Come for the art, stay for the short

[d-snake1 · 8/10 · 11 October 2019]

This short is worth its time, even if just for the animation style alone.

The Backwater Gospel is a cutting horror-satire pointed at organized religion and the hypocrisy which often lies within. In a town full of 'religious' folk, there's one who isn't. The attempt to exercise that lone individual from their happy, peaceful town leads directly to the consequence the town was hoping to avoid the most.

The animation is top-notch, there's lots of gore, lots of symbolism, and even a catchy folk song. This short is really only lacking in duration, but that's part of what makes it such a powerful piece.

Give this one a gander when you get the chance.

The Undertaker is coming

[Rectangular_businessman · 8/10 · 22 June 2023]

A dark fantasy western which serves an allegorical tale of the dangers of fanaticism (Not only the religious kind, despite the heavy religious imagery used here) and how blindly following the crowd can lead to barbarism.

It has a very gritty animation style, with all the characters having a creepy, frankly grotesque appearance, almost if all the characters were walking corpses (Very apt, considering the overall tone of the story and especially the grim conclusion)

In addition to that, the plot is quite somber, with the tramp being the only likeable character, and the only one who provides some humor to a pretty sinister story: Once he dies, things quickly go downhill for everyone, and absolutely no one is spared.

Pretty somber, but also quite well done. And with some nice songs.

Horrifyingly Amazing

[acornx97 · 10/10 · 7 March 2012]

I must start out by saying, this is one of the best films I have ever seen, and it is also one of the shortest films I have ever seen. The animation is disturbing in its own way, creating a life-like mixture of zombie, wood and human that completely work for this film, being a perfect fit for the story and setting, which is a small, isolated, "Bible Belt" like town, completely run by a Lord fearing minister, who is almost as creepy as the Undertaker, the unspoken terror that controls the town of Backwater. The basic story, omen of death, is not new, but the way it is fleshed out, and tied in with religion is excellent, creating another layer of fear to go over the existing one. I cannot stress how important appearance is to this film, however, as the animation styles, as well as the Undertaker's "normality" (until you get to the shadow) is one of the major selling points for me. However, you should be warned, that this film does not shy away from intense amounts of violence and gore, to the point of where I cringed while watching, however, this should not keep you from watching the best film that I have seen all year, and it could absolutely win against any full length film that it is put up against.

Absolutely Brilliant

[jesusdude799 · 10/10 · 11 October 2011]

The style of animation used here is very effective and has a gritty, rough quality. I must say that overall, I am really impressed. With a running time of nine minutes, there is quite a bit being set up and established. The story sucks viewers in, and the set up is eerie. The undertaker, or death, visits a small town and sparks a mass panic that spirals into a dark commentary on religion and other ways that people attempt to explain or escape death. From the beginning all the way through to the end, the short had me hooked. The characters experience a lot both physically and spiritually, which is difficult to achieve in a full length feature not to mention nine minutes. The grim ending, in particular, is creepy and unsettling. Having viewed many films, I haven't felt this unnerved since watching the 2008 vampire film "Let the Right One In." This is smart, entertaining, gripping, and also horrific. Don't hesitate to check this one out for yourself.

Needed A Stronger Subtext

[Theo Robertson · 6/10 · 7 July 2013]

The first words of this animated short are " The shadow of the undertaker creeps across your floor . Go lock up all your children and paint blood upon your door " which led me to mishear the lyrics for a second and think the undertaker may be the pope in disguise . After all is does state in the Bible I think that " no child's behind is left " or something like that and indeed immediately after this lyric we're shown a hell and damnation preacher

THE BACKWATER GOSPEL is an animated short featuring religion as its target but I didn't feel this subtext was developed strongly enough . Instead everything is down to the imagery of the animation which is suitably ugly as the townsfolk are portrayed as being inhuman ghouls blindly following the preacher in a frontier town . It does have a dark sense of humour but I felt the story needed to be a little bit stronger

Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord!!! An utterly fantastic and unforgettable short.

[Foreverisacastironmess123 · 10/10 · 30 July 2014]

I do declare honey-pie! The followers of a tainted church of a dead desert town are condemned to die one and all for the sins of a single twisted zealot preacher-man and their doom is heralded by the arrival of a mysterious stranger who appears in the town square and whom brings with him their judgement - and the judgement is Death. And then horrendous violence and chaos erupts as the desperate, terror-maddened townspeople try to avoid damnation and save themselves by slaughtering each other in one mother of a demented free-for-all! And for me the chilling message of the ending rings loud and clear, as the man who was always quite obviously Death himself reveals his true nature as his shade is briefly given raven-winged form in perfect clarity, and he silently begins the task of measuring each and every one of their mangled corpses for their final rest... And he never actually harms one of them, merely stands by and watches impassively as they do all the grisly work for him, and destroy each other with their own insane superstitious fears. The striking similarities between this extremely dark and claustrophobic short and society and 'sweet' humanity in general are rather disturbing. The Backwater Gospel is certainly one unusual, brutal, morbid and uncompromising animation that is kind of unpleasant, but the sheer grimy artistry of it was so incredibly distinctive that I couldn't look away. It's unusual because the beautiful and all-pervading Gothic style of the animation is mostly completely still imagery with the bulk of the story being told through the narration of the priest and the unfortunate singing tramp that arouses his wrath. And it seemed to me that it took place in some sort of backwater of purgatory, or a nightmare world of grim washed-out colours and tight crooked spaces, and the bizarre jagged designs of the characters made them look like monsters rather than human beings. And although every last second of this horrific work is visually absorbing and atmospheric, the animation that I loved the most was that of the climactic carnage of the big massacre, which I found so damn dynamic and powerful with the driving rain and the lightning, and it was really clever how all the violence and butchery was graphic yet kind of more suggested than actually scene, as it all happens in shadows and silhouetted figures. And none of the blood was red, it was all black - black as the corruption infesting their immortal forsaken souls!!! I think it's an enthralling piece of fine animation that leaves you wanting more, but also perhaps pondering a little on the themes of humanity fear and faith, and how one or the other can reduce men to the level of soulless beasts, and how before we blindly place our trust in a higher power, we should beware of those who would abuse and manipulate that power of belief for their own ends and personal gain, and lead us on a disastrous path of no return. Just beautifully done, a magnificently macabre work of pure dark art, loved it! So don't fear the Reaper as it's really pointless to, and let us always remember that, as we sow, so shall we reap...

dark

[Vincentiu · 12 September 2014]

a dark animation, well made, about fear, sin and escape. a kind of sketch about guilt and need to escape from it. ironic, cruel, it use impressive images and ignore to give profound nuances to story. but, sure, it is only a short animation film. and that excuse it. the gloomy atmosphere, the cruelty who has not the religion as source but need to escape from your fear is in admirable manner presented. it is a good film and that fact defines it. slices of Expressionism, the West small town and the force of manipulation, the expectation and the war between priest and singer, the truth as massacre in final are good points of a special work who is , in few senses, a great parable.

When the Man comes around

[nikitalinivenko · 7/10 · 3 November 2019]

The local undertaker comes to a rusty, creaky backwater hamlet. What follows is fear and loathing culminating in a bloodbath, all efficiently packed into a 10 minute animation. There's an allegory there I'm sure, but regardless of what it is or whether you pick up on it, it's a fun little piece of entertainment that you can come back to fairly often. The characters are suitably garish, the animation is quite good, and the shadow of the undertaker looms large over the story and adds a cool, Gothic touch. A pretty damn good cartoon.

Overrated

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 28 July 2016]

"The Backwater Gospel" is a Danish English-language animated short film from five years ago and it runs for 9.5 minutes. The director is Bo Mathorne and I cannot say I know any of the voice actors in here. It is a mix of horror and western with some drama too. I think the first half of this movie was okay, but it got worse quickly then. I also liked the theme song. It's an award-winning little movie, which I cannot really understand as it does deliver little memorable value beyond the animation perhaps and the atmosphere. The Undertaker did look indeed fairly creepy, so I can understand why everybody was scared of him. i cannot understand the rating this film has on IMDb and this film here did not get me curious about further works from Mathorne. Thumbs down from me, not a failure, but also not a good watch in its entirety.

Low on comment, high on dark horror and really well animated

[bob the moo · 22 February 2014]

This short film sees us in a town in the old west where the populace is in the hands of a fire and brimstone preacher who speaks out against the one bad apple in the town – a busker who refuses to attend services and sings out against the preacher. When the feared Undertaker arrives in town, the masses fear that he is there for one of them, however the preacher convinces them that they must take action into their own hands to avoid God's wrath.

There is a commentary in here somewhere about religion and, as Theo says, it does tend to get lost in the film's much stronger qualities and in the end it becomes a very far second behind everything else. The role of religion in the events of this film are undeniable, as is the hypocrisy of that same religion but away from that it is the animation and dark tone that will stay with you. The animation is dark and ugly, but in a very good way. The town is a horror show, the people are the same and the atmosphere changes within the church, the people and the whole scene as the film goes on. It is suitable macabre and very well done by the students that made it. The violent conclusion is stylishly done to be attractive visually whilst also horrible to see. The music that plays at the start and end I didn't care for but otherwise it is hard to fault the design and delivery of the short.

I would have liked more of the comment to have come out but as it is the short was stylish, very well animated and full of atmosphere to make for a really good horror animation.