Slayer 'Playing with Dolls' Graphic Novel Trailer Available Here

When Slayer releases the deluxe edition of its forthcoming album, World Painted Blood, on November 3, the package will include a 20-minute DVD entitled Playing with Dolls, a horrifyingly gruesome video-graphic novel directed by Metalocalypse director and Slayer fan Mark Brooks.

Inspired by the songs on World Painted Blood - in particular, Jeff Hanneman's "Playing with Dolls" from which the horror short takes its title - the film blends elements of animation and still-photography into a visual style similar to that of a graphic novel. The soundtrack for the Playing with Dolls short features clips from all 11 of the songs on World Painted Blood; in addition, the music bed for Episode #7 is taken from "Atrocity Vendor," a new song that is not on the album.

"It's not live action and it's not animated," Brooks explains. "It's a weird hybrid of the two, and I haven't seen a lot of things done this way."

No mere music video, Playing with Dolls is a stark, 12-part nightmare that breathes corrupt life into Slayer's latest syllabus of stalkers, psychopaths and serial killers, merging their aberrant psyches into the supremely focused desire of a single, merciless malcontent. A methodical distillation of one man's lethal frenzy, the film follows the gruesome outbursts of a nameless protagonist. He is not an indiscriminate murder junkie, but rather a highly creative snuff-artist with a deeply personal sense of purpose - a man for whom murder is the only conceivable way forward. With a black heart hardened by tragedy, he chooses his victims carefully. His methods are as grisly and varied as they are poetic.

View the Playing with Dolls trailer:

"It's a little weirder than your regular blood n' guts type thing," Brooks says of the storyline, "which I think is a reflection of Slayer's music."

But make no mistake: There will be blood, and plenty of it. As the real-life boyfriend of one of the film's "victims" told Brooks after a private screening, "I almost threw up while I watching that. And I think that's a compliment."

Slayer.net

Thank you for reading 5 articles this month**

Join now for unlimited access

US pricing $3.99 per month or $39.00 per year

UK pricing £2.99 per month or £29.00 per year 

Europe pricing €3.49 per month or €34.00 per year

*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription

Join now for unlimited access

Prices from £2.99/$3.99/€3.49

Guitar World Editors

Since 1980, Guitar World has brought guitarists the best in-depth interviews with great players, along with exclusive lessons, informative gear reviews and insightful columns that help guitarists grow and excel on their instrument. Whether you want to learn the techniques employed by your guitar heroes, read about their latest projects or simply need to know which guitar is the right one to buy, Guitar World is your guide.