In OM Rider, Takeshi Murata deftly weaves the aesthetics of retro-noir, video games, and Italian giallo film into a cinematic exercise in cool, narrative minimalism and distilled rebellion. In a vast desert bathed in neon hues, a misfit lycanthrope blasts syncopated techno rhythms into the night. Meanwhile, an old man sits at a large, round table in a void-like space, rigidly sipping coffee and rolling snake-eyed dice as the faint sound of the werewolf's pulsating, phantasmic synth grows louder. Hopping on his motorcycle and ripping a bowl, the werewolf tears full speed ahead over forbidding terrain while his hoary counterpart becomes increasingly anxious...

At once opaque and thrilling, OM Rider expands upon Murata's previous 3D character-based animation and references to horror cinema, benefiting from the integral collaboration of longtime composer Robert Beatty, here joined by musicians Devin Flynn and C. Spencer Yeh.

Hair Police '01-'02, C. Spencer Yeh

2004, 29:29, color, sound