At first, it feels like a slightly black, but still innocent enough, surrealist comedy, but it soon declines into total, terrifying darkness that ends on a fittingly somber note. "Ruka" is one of the most influential and intelligent stop motion films ever made as it contains a powerful message that is expressed in an engaging and bizarre manner. It contains a different sort of "horror"...a type of horror rooted in both fantasy and reality, a type of horror that is layered by symbolism, meaning, and freaky animation. The visuals are vibrant in a semi-subtle way, the entire mood clearly influenced the great Jan Svankmajer, and thank God it did because this is the sort of atmospheric I crave when I view a film like this!
"Ruka" may be odd and it may not be the type of film you show your friends for a good laugh, but it is still a vital piece of animation history and quite possibly one of the greatest and scariest movies ever made.
"Ruka" may be odd and it may not be the type of film you show your friends for a good laugh, but it is still a vital piece of animation history and quite possibly one of the greatest and scariest movies ever made.