The Sandman is an animated short film (nine minutes) from 1991, directed by Paul Berry.
It is a horror take on the legend of The Sandman, and specifically, it is an adaptation of German short story "The Sandman". A little boy is put to bed by his mother, his bed being in the most logical place for a child's bedroom: the top room of a high tower. As the boy lies in bed he sees a horrifying, ghastly face. That face turns out to be that of The Sandman, who in this version is a bird-like creature with a huge pointy nose and chin. The Sandman materializes in the boy's room, and the boy suffers a terrible fate.
Tropes:
- Animated Adaptation: Of 1816 German short story "The Sandman".
- Bizarrchitecture: This animated short was obviously heavily influenced by German Expressionism and specifically by The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Just like in that film, there are hardly any right angles anywhere, and most everything, including the stairs to the boy's room, the door, and the boy's window, is crazily tilted and irregular.
- Cuckoo Clock Gag: In keeping with the dark, Gothic Horror vibe of the short, the cuckoo that pops out of the clock is actually not a cuckoo, but a robed figure with a skull face, resembling the Grim Reaper, who rings a creepy tolling bell.
- Downer Ending: The little boy loses his eyes to the Sandman, and it's revealed that dozens, if not hundreds of children have suffered the same fate.
- Eye Scream: The Sandman rips out the boy's eyes.
- For Doom the Bell Tolls: The doom-laden bell in the clock sets a foreboding mood. The closing credits, after the ending in which the Sandman rips out the boy's eyes, are set to the same ominous tolling bell.
- The Sandman: Yup. This version is not the happy version that gives nice dreams, but a scary monster who is revealed to pluck the eyes of children, which it takes back to the Moon to feed to its chicks.
- Silence Is Golden: No dialogue in the short.
- The Stinger: After the credits roll the boy wanders out into the black void space. Then he is revealed to be one in a crowd of eyeless children.
- Stop Motion: Stop-motion animation used in the short.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: The Sandman, a scary bird-like creature that lives on the Moon but can materialize from thin air in a boy's room, has yellow eyes.
- Vertigo Effect: The dolly zoom is simulated in the shot where the boy is approaching the door to his room.
- Weird Moon: The Moon in the sky has the typical shape where the crescent reaches 3/4 around, but just to make it odder, the outline of the crescent is jagged and angular. The short eventually reveals that the Moon is filled with spiky crystals, which form the Sandman's nest.
