Watching The Wolf House is a strange, singular experience, but film history is full of surreal animation. So we’ve put together a watchlist featuring films that influenced The Wolf House for you to check out after seeing the film.

Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña’s feat of animation and political filmmaking, The Wolf House (2018), was shot entirely at art galleries and museums, allowing patrons to witness the creation of this surrealist masterpiece. The anti-colonialist allegory is fully realized by the young directors through its unique blend of artistic mediums.

(Learn more about the filmmakers’ process in this free Q&A hosted by the film’s distributor, KimStim.)

The film is loaded with influences—the visceral paintings of Francis Bacon, David Lynch’s early work, and the meticulous, unsettling stop motion art of Jan Švankmajer and The Brothers Quay. To help navigate this strange cinematic landscape, we’ve put together a watchlist of four films you can rent from Facets.

(1) Alice

Directed by Jan Švankmajer, Czechoslovakia, 86 mins.

Švankmajer’s take on Lewis Carrol’s source text might seem dark compared to the glossy Disney version, but it embodies the surreal horror that lies beneath the surface in most beloved fairy tales. The titular character’s iconic shape shifting is enhanced by Švankmajer’s skillful medium jumps and chilling use of taxidermy animals to represent the sentient characters.

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Further Viewing

Reanimation of dead or inanimate objects is a tactic Švankmajer perfected that The Wolf House embodies not only visually, but thematically as well. Check out his short films Jabberwocky (1971) and Dimensions of Dialogue (1983) for more of his experimental stop-motion and hear his bold thoughts on surrealism.

(2) Street of Crocodiles

Directed by The Brothers Quay, USA, 21 mins.

The Brothers Quay made a name for themselves with their meticulous sets, gothic themes, and masterful cinematography. At first blending live action and stop-motion, a man releases a stringed up puppet to explore the dark and desolate rooms that surround him. The decrepit sets convey a mysterious emptiness that can be seen in The Wolf House.

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Further Viewing

Like many experimental animators, the Brothers Quay have lent their cinematic skills to other media. Check out the music video they produced for Michigan experimental rock outfit His Name is Alive, the “art break” they developed for MTV, and listen to them discuss influences in their Criterion Closet visit.

(3) The Alphabet

Directed by David Lynch, USA, 4 mins.

Spawned from a dream his niece had, The Alphabet (1968) exists in the dream space Lynch’s other work explores. A blend of two-dimensional animation painted on walls with live action horror elements in a way that visibly influenced Lynch’s future work and The Wolf House.

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Further Viewing

Although Lynch has mostly moved away from animation, his early work and more recent digital ventures are worth seeking out for any completionist. Six Men Getting Sick (6 Times) (1967) and The Grandmother (1970) both see the horror in the human body and use animation to convey it. Watch The Pig Walks (2002) for an uncanny companion piece to The Wolf House.

(4) The Missing Picture

Directed by Rithy Panh, Cambodia & France, 92 mins.

Rithy Panh’s quest to create the missing images during the period when the Khmer Rouge ruled over Cambodia between 1975 and 1979 skillfully combines animation with the existing archival news footage from the time. Its political message is the one that most closely mirrors the goal of The Wolf House—to bring light to a period of history that has been under-reported in the global narrative.

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Further Viewing

For more political animation, check out Todd Haynes notorious and previously banned biopic, Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story (1988) (we have an extremely rare VHS copy for rent as well) and Persepolis (2007), the Oscar-nominated coming-of-age story about a girl who is forced to uproot her life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.

#WatchFromHome: While Facets’ cinemas are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic, you can still watch newly released independent and international films like The Wolf House at Facets Virtual Cinema. View upcoming screenings

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