Poster by Geof Darrow

Fantastic Fest Day Two was full of potential and missed opportunities.

A very odd film, Creeping Garden chronicles the history of the science behind slime mold and the people who obsessive on the strange creatures. Beautifully shot and at times intriguing (especially the origins of devices first used to record stop motion), the film, much like the mold, will move much too slowly for some. But for fans of the bizarre entities, that are not technically plants, animals, or lichen, Creeping Garden serves as the definitive film on the subject.

With Man From Reno, director Dave Boyle (White On Rice, Surrogate Valentine) delivers a flawed, yet beautiful modern crime noir. Escaping the rigors of her fame, bestselling Japanese crime novelist and celebrity Ashi (Ayako Fujitani) flees to San Francisco. While there, she stumbles upon a real life murder mystery. With the aide of an aging rural sheriff (veteran character actor Pepe Serna), Ashi attempts to unravel the plot.

The screenplay by Boyle, Joel Clarke, and Micheal Lerman mar the potentially clever film, full of the requisite secrets and curves. The ease in which the clues present themselves—for example, an obvious bundle of incriminating evidence just left on the floor of a missing man’s room; the sheriff uncovering an important, obvious clue, which beggars the question of why no one else discovered it—detract from the tale’s intriguing and impressive shocks and surprises.

Despite these failings, the riveting Man From Reno ultimately manages to entertain, largely due to the charismatic Fujitani and cinematographer Richard Wong’s magnificent use of the Northern California locales.

The ambitious first film from David Yarovesky, The Hive stumbles. After being exposed to a mysterious virus, Adam (Gabriel Basso) wakes with no idea why he’s locked in a room with cryptic notes scrawled on the walls, doors bolted shut, and a dead friend. He attempts to piece together the events through the scattered memory fragments, some his and some not.

Despite some creative story telling structures and interesting plot devices, the intriguing old school science fiction concept fails to deliver on its promise. Sadly, Yarovesky currently lacks the ability to pull off the complex story. Basso’s deficit of talent further weakens the tale. The obviously talented, young Yarovesky is a director to keep an eye on.