When you were a kid, what were you afraid of? Maybe you didn’t like the dark. Perhaps you heard things in the white noise of ventilation systems or buzzing fans – voices, murmurs, things that felt like they were there, and maybe you’d convince yourself they really were. But in the flash of incandescent bulbs, they’re gone. It’s only natural. At one point in time, humans had to keep their eyes and ears alert for whatever monstrosities hid under the veil of night. What happens, then, when we find horror in what was originally a pleasant memory?
Skinamarink is an upcoming film that represents the exponential popularity of “analog horror” – a subgenre deeply rooted in nostalgia, preying on our fears of the unexplainable through cryptic text and hard-to-decipher visuals underneath the distortion of analog media. It’s an incredibly specific niche of horror that targets an equally particular group of people: those who grew up with the very same analog media that the subgenre embodies. It exploded in popularity in recent years, and with Skinamarink releasing sometime next year, here’s what to expect from the analog horror.
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What Is Skinamarink?
Skinamarink marks director Kyle Edward Ball’s feature debut, having made several short films prior to the film with a similar style. His most recent short, Heck, premiered in 2020 at the Videoscream International Film Festival, with praise for the short’s minimalist style, chilling atmosphere, and upsetting message. Skinamarink looks to be a deeper exploration of the filmmaking techniques utilized in Heck, no doubt enhanced with a larger budget and bigger scope.
The trailer alone is sure to alarm those unfamiliar with the analog horror genre. Instead of orchestral stingers, we get the looping, mechanical phrase “in this house,” accompanied by incomprehensible whispering. Instead of dramatic close-ups of screaming faces, we see corrupted footage, inanimate objects, and singular light sources spreading out in the darkness. The only two people in the trailer are a pair of children wandering around a house with no doors, windows, or means of escape. The trailer abruptly ends with the screams of children and the buzzing of electricity after what felt like eons of uncomfortable ambiance.
If you had no idea what you witnessed, you’re not alone – Skinamarink is part of an experimental subgenre that encompasses a specific set of filmmaking techniques. This subgenre is called analog horror.
What Is Analog Horror?
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Analog horror is a subgenre of found-footage horror, focusing more on the specific use of analog media with an occasional focus on minimalism. The “analog” of analog horror typically comes with distorted, low-fidelity footage that frequently masks the details of what you see on screen. It’s a way to force the audience to use their imagination, tricking their senses into thinking something may actually be hidden in the shadows. Music is rarely found, often serving as background noise before things start to get a little unnerving. You’ll often hear the silent whirring of tape reels instead.
Text, while optional, also serves to create an unsettling atmosphere, whether it’s to communicate with the audience directly or to reflect an otherworldly presence in the recording equipment.
Examples of Analog Horror
Arguably, the earliest example of analog horror comes from Local 58, a web series created by cartoonist Kris Staub. It’s a series of shorts based around the television network Local 58, where each short encompasses a different piece of programming interrupted by upsetting phenomena. For example, the “Contingency” short is a spine-tingling look at what a national contingency plan would be should “the worst come to pass,” with patriotic music playing over instructions for the audience to commit mass suicide with whatever means are available. The shorts became prominent in the late 2010s, serving as direct inspirations for future analog horror series.
More recently, The Mandela Catalogue has drawn significant attention for its analog horror elements in combination with traditional found footage. The series focuses on the concept of “alternates,” a form of otherworldly being that has been hunting humanity since time immemorial. The series is primarily filmed in black and white, with multiple VHS tape recordings that make up individual volumes of the series. These tapes detail people’s encounters with alternates, instructional videos of how to avoid alternates, and tidbits that build greater lore surrounding the world. Little is directly explained to the viewer, forcing them to stitch together facts and ideas in order to form a cohesive idea of what exactly they’re dealing with.
What Can We Expect From Skinamarink?
Based on Skinamarink’s trailer and previous works by Ball, we can expect Skinamarink to be analog horror at its finest. A deeply-chilling experience that demands the audience’s full attention. Horror fans can expect something unique from Skinamarink, which will undoubtedly inspire future filmmakers to expand their horizons.
Skinamarink has been officially acquired by Shudder, per Variety. The film will receive a limited theatrical run starting on January 13th, 2023, with a premiere on Shudder later that year.
