Director and writer Zach Passero spent eight years bringing this movie to life. It’s the story of Dug, Mel and Fatt, who all go on a camping trip to Jerusalem National Park with Dug’s brother Wyatt and his girlfriend Mary. Then they meet the Night Child, a bug creature that they’d already been warned about. But no, of course they didn’t listen. Now, they’re set to either be devoured by the Night Child or murdered by the townsfolk who seem straight out of The Devil’s Rain!

Between this and Attack of the Demons, I’ve been surprised twice now by animated horror films that end up outdoing their live action counterparts. This feels like the kind of movie that you’d rent along with The Gate, House II, TerrorVision and Critters.

Passero edited Old Man, one of my favorite movies of the last few years, as well as Jug Face and All Cheerleaders Die. Somehow he did all that and also raised two kids with his wife and creative partner, Hannah Passero. There are some recognizable voices, too. The convenience store girl is Angela Bettis, who played May, the sheriff is Sean Bridgers, who was in The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot and Walter is Ellar Coltrane, who was Mason in Richard Linkater’s Boyhood.

If you love 80s VHS-era horror or the kind of animation that Liquid Television had before computer animation, this is for you.

You can learn more at the official website and Facebook page for the movie.

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