Monster Road (2004)

The Worst Film Ever

How sad is this?

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

Bruce Bickford is the godfather of clay animation. This film won multiple awards for multiple reasons. It is completely in-depth and goes straight to the core of Bickford's art. Monster Road brings Bickford's world right to you. As Frank Zappa's house animator, Bruce Bickford spent many painstaking hours of tedious work on his animation. Today, as an independent animator, he continues the same thing. Weather it be 3-D clay animation or 2 dimensional line animation, Bickford makes sure he gets it just right. What a horror show you say? Most people are too scared to pour their brains out through their fingers and make it visible for the whole world to see and very few have the talent and patience to create such a colorful landscape of images that will haunt you for the rest of your days. I appreciate Brett Ingrams efforts in documenting of this LEGENDARY artist.

I'm a fellow director and my film actually competed against this one. I missed the premiere at Slamdance, but felt compelled to see the film that, well... beat mine! I hadn't ever heard of Bruce Bickford, and am not much of a fan of animation, but the story was solid enough to keep my attention. It had a fitting pace that matched it's subject; slow but intense. The subject was interesting and his animation nothing less than AMAZING!!! Overall the film stayed in Bruce's world and was true to it's past, just the way history BIOS should be told. I'm glad this film is doing well, for it's independent in spirit and is inspiring for artists to keep doing what they love, despite the world outside them. Congrads Brett...

I was unfortunate enough to be exposed to this abomination at a film festival recently. I don't know who Bruce Bickford is, but somewhere, an asylum is missing an inmate. This guy's claymation art, while skillfully done and painstakingly detailed, is truly disturbing. The images are almost unbelievably violent and gory; little clay torture chambers, be-headings, disembowlings, and other atrocities are performed on the inhabitants of his claymation universe. God knows the stuff isn't suitable for kids, and even some adults would be turned off by the sheer enormity of his violent, surreal and grotesque work. On another level, the film is just plain, well, bad. A documentary is supposed to educate and inform; this film really does neither, and instead is a simple collection of "interviews" with Bickford in his home, expounding on matters metaphysical and real, all interspersed with snippets of his claymation films. I was left feeling that I knew little about Bruce Bickford, and didn't want to know more.

Animation fans take note: This doc about the life and work of legendary animator Bruce Bickford has it all. A triumph of the little guy, this documentary kicks a substantial number of asses. If you are someone with a sensible ass (and you know who you are), then this film will kick it! See it and find out for yourself! Don't be one of those dudes that gets impaled on the wheel of torture.