When I sat down to watch One Night in the City at the electric cinema, I really didn’t know what to expect.  The Flatpack film festival had thrown me a cocktail of films of so far with a diverse range of genres and mediums. The only thing I knew about this film was it promised to be a “stop-motion-animated feature-length black comedy horror film.”

Jan Balej’s Czech horror is comprised of a series of intertwining shorts narratives which all takes place within the same finite world (much akin to the structure of films such as “Sin City” and “Pulp Fiction.”)

The film is set in Prague’s dimly lit streets, with dilapidated buildings and a creepy aura reminiscent of Tim Burton’s work–or actually more like its darker, twisted step-cousin.

During the film, you encounter a variety of misshapen low-lifes, eccentrics, freaks and mutants. I found that their demented appearance repulsed me in a manner common to horror; such as the ghost-like dog killer who lures in a puppy in order to cremate it alive and a hold a funeral service for it (or at least that is the first morbid impression). Yet when we spend more time with him, we see him dress-up as the crying family (in a hilarious dress), take photos, and sing hymns at the make-believe funeral service; only to realise he is merely a dog lover who means no harm, and is in actual fact in love with the pup’s owner.

The film explored the city’s folk, from a violinist busker so desperate to play well that he tears his own ear off, a tree man that shares a strong friendship to a fish to lonely man searching for love in all the wrong places. As the film introduced me to the city’s folk it had me fear them, only to laugh with them and ultimately understand and empathise with them; impressively it does this without using any discernible words throughout the film, only grunts and grumbles.

The film is a comedy, one of the funniest dark comedies I’ve seen in a long time. The humour is definitely fit for an adult audience, the cocaine snorter who also snorts ants, the hopeless romantic who’s so lonely that he hires escorts because he has no friends to show his art to. But although the humour is adult in nature, it manages somehow to remain heartfelt and even sweet at times.

The highlight for me was the drunkards who discover a genie who grants them their wildest desire, sending them on a giant tea-cup ride with oversized cigarettes, beer, shots, food and pornography.

This film, like many others I’ve had the good fortune of witnessing at the Flatpack Film festival manages to exceed my expectations. It seems these diligent festival curators of esoteric taste have managed  to unearth a library of underrated cinematic gems.

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For more info on the festival, visit: “Flatpack Film Festival” official website.

“One Night In The City” official website.