Our Best Look Yet at Mad God Reveals a Special Effects Wizard’s Thrilling Passion Project

Our Best Look Yet at Mad God Reveals a Special Effects Wizard’s Thrilling Passion Project

We’ve been eagerly awaiting more glimpses of Mad God, Tippett Studios founder Phil Tippett’s stop-motion animated film, a near-mythical project given it took the creator and his team 30 years to complete. A new trailer has arrived ahead of the film’s Shudder debut, and it is freaky. In a good way.

Mad God is written, directed, and produced by the Oscar and Emmy-winning Tippett, a pioneer in the fields of special effects and stop-motion animation (a field he was inspired to enter by the great Ray Harryhausen); his credits include RoboCop, Starship Troopers, Jurassic Park, and the original Star Wars trilogy. But it’s clear Mad God is a work carved from a special place in his highly creative imagination. Here’s a full synopsis, courtesy of Shudder: “Mad God is an experimental animated film set in a world of monsters, mad scientists, and war pigs. A corroded diving bell descends amidst a ruined city, settling down upon an ominous fortress guarded by zombie-like sentries. The Assassin emerges to explore a labyrinth of bizarre, desolate landscapes inhabited by freakish denizens. Through unexpected twists and turns, he experiences an evolution beyond his wildest comprehension. A labour of love that has taken 30 years to complete, Mad God combines live-action and stop-motion, miniature sets and other innovative techniques to bring Tippett’s wholly unique and grotesquely beautiful vision to life.”

Mad God has enjoyed a fruitful festival run (winning prizes at the Fantasia International Festival, the Sitges Film Festival, and the Trieste Science+Fiction Festival; it also screened at the Locarno Film Festival, the Edinburgh International Film Festival, the Fantasia International Film Festival, the Oldenburg International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, and Beyond Fest) — but before long the fiends at home can behold its delights: it arrives June 16 on Shudder.

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Editor’s Note: Release dates within this article are based in the U.S., but will be updated with local Australian dates as soon as we know more.