I’ve always been a sucker for stop-motion clay animation, or claymation, or just the stop-motion process every since the first time I saw Rankin and Bass’ Mad Monster Party? (1967). While all kids grew up watching and enjoy cartoons, myself included, there just seemed to be something special about claymation. Even in the early 90s, there was Will Vinton’s Claymation Comedy of Horrors, with Wilshire Pig and his friends meeting up with a variety of different monsters and creatures. Even the later day Wallace and Gromit shorts and movies, I’ve always loved them. When I realized just went into creating these, I knew it was done by a bunch of mad bastards because I simply couldn’t relate to how much time and patience it took to create them!

So when I get an email about a new short film from a guy named Adam Ciolfi, which is a 15-minute stop-motion animated short called Filth, I’m more than a little intrigued. Next thing I know, I’m down this stop-animated rabbit hole, watching it as well as some of his previous shorts, Broken (2014) and Hive (2016), not to mention a few behind-the-scenes videos of him building different sets and stuff.

Filth is a tale of revenge by someone that should have been dead. It’s a violent story, not necessarily horror, but one that I think horror fans will enjoy. As cool as it is, I have to say I am more impressed with the sets that Ciolfi has built. Honestly though, as much as I enjoyed Filth, his two earlier shorts impressed even more. Broken has a beautiful looking set design, with some incredible colors and imagery, all surrounding a very tragic story of love and lost, set in a very old fashion science fiction style. Hive tells the story of an age old question that has haunted intelligent life for centuries. It is also very tragic, but a damn powerful message that will leave you pondering life’s mysteries. Well, it did for me, at least!

So if you have a few minutes, check these out. I think that not only will you be entertained, I think you will also be impressed with Ciolfi and his work. You can follow him on Facebook HERE or his website HERE. You can watch all three of his shorts below, but if you enjoy them as much as I did, pass them on to your friends, as well as sending Adam a little note letting him know what you think.