It’s that time again for my sojourn to Fantastic Fest, the annual Alamo Drafthouse week long love letter to horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. This year’s festival runs from Sept 24-October 1, here in Austin at the South Lamar location.

As in year’s past, I begin my coverage with a multi-part/day preview.

 

Fantastic Fest Preview Day Six

 

The Similars

In October of 1968, something unbelievable happened to a group of people stuck in a small bus station five hours outside Mexico City. The first person we meet is Martin. Martin may be stuck in a rut, but at least it’s a calm, familiar rut. He’s waiting out his last days until retirement from his job as the clerk at the bus station. Ulises has bigger problems. His wife is giving birth in a hospital in Mexico City and he’s stuck at Martin’s station. The buses are delayed because of the weather and the old pay phone can’t seem to hold a connection. Ulises dejectedly takes a seat and finally notices the elderly woman nodding off in the back corner of the station. But then the very pregnant Irene blows in like a storm. She manages to use the phone to call a taxi. But when she goes to the bathroom, she discovers another person in the station, an odd young lady named Rosa working as a bathroom attendant. Our last three people arrive soon after in a taxi. There’s the young medical student, a concerned mother and her sick son. With all the players present and accounted for, the game is set.

Director Isaac Ezban returns to Fantastic Fest with his second feature, following last year’s THE INCIDENT. Ezban has deftly avoided the sophomore slump with this well crafted tale of mystery. Driven by an over-the-top score and keen practical effects, the film feels like a pulp novel come to life. Combining equal parts telenovela and lost Twilight Zone episodes, THE SIMILARS is an intriguing, tongue-in-cheek puzzle. (Luke Mullen)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9tktR7OuqM

 

Remake, Remix, Rip-Off

Proving that you don’t need to go all the way down under to discover celluloid madness, REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF presents the story of Yesilcam, home of the Turkish film industry, which has created more than 7000 films in its hundred year history.

Operating under a very loose copyright law, Turkish producers and directors remade hundreds (if not thousands) of European, American and Indian movies using nothing but limited resources and a lot of heart. If they couldn’t recreate it, they’d steal whatever they needed directly, adapting stories to fit the tastes of local audiences.

With turnarounds as fast as three days and nary a thought for safety, directors threw stuntmen off rooftops, created epic fights, and made low-budget versions of superheroes out of duct tape, bailing wire and pantyhose. All was acceptable as long as the shot was in the can.

REMAKE, REMIX, RIP-OFF is the most comprehensive documentary ever made on a madcap time within this madcap industry. Featuring interviews with major Turkish stars, directors, stuntmen and more, the stories have to be seen to be believed. imagine HEART OF DARKNESS turned up to 1000 and you’re nowhere even close to the experience of seeing the films and the story of what happened behind the scenes.

Meet the sedan-driving Turkish Spiderman, who, over the Atlantic, became the most evil villain you’ve ever met, with a penchant for putting ladies’ faces into motorboat blades. Experience the epic being that is Cuneyt Arkin, star of over 700 Turkish genre movies whose take on STAR WARS still remains the most enigmatically insane piece of filmmaking ever. Find out exactly how Captain America ended up teaming up with the most famous luchador from South America. And more. Much, much more.

Sit back, relax and lose yourself in the insanity. Once the curtain comes down, you’ll never look at cinema the same way again. (Evrim Ersoy)

 

Gridlocked

David Hendrix (Dominic Purcell) has got it all under control. Highly trained, highly competent, a complete and total badass, there’s nothing he can’t handle. Whether you throw a strung out junkie or a mercenary packing fully-automatic heat at him, Hendrix can take it all on without blinking an eye. At least that’s what he thinks… until he meets Brody Walker (Cody Hackman).

A hard partying star whose career is more TMZ than the multiplex these days, Walker has one chance left to straighten himself out if he wants to avoid living in a cell. As a sort of wake-up call following his latest run-in with the law, Walker is assigned an extended ride-along with the force. Call it a chance to see his potential future, if you like. To Hendrix – saddled with the unwanted and thoroughly unhelpful tagalong – it’s nothing but a pain in the ass. But when everything goes to hell, the unlikely duo will have only each other to rely on.
Writer-director Allan Ungar (TAPPED OUT) delivers a blast from the past with sophomore feature GRIDLOCKED, offering up the sort of guns blazing, odd couple buddy action film that drove audiences to the multiplexes throughout the ‘90s but has been seldom seen since. Boasting a slate of genre favorites in the cast – Danny Glover, Stephen Lang, Vinnie Jones, Trish Stratus and Saul Rubinek – GRIDLOCKED may not have the sort of budgetary backing the classics of the genre had, but it makes up for that with ambition, style, and a huge amount of charisma both behind and in front of the camera. Looking for a flick that understands the pleasures inherent in fully-automatic weapons and people being punched in the face? This is that movie. (Todd Brown)

 

Too Late

Private detective Sampson needs to find a missing stripper by the name of Dorothy. Throughout his journey into the underbelly of L.A., he will encounter past loves, depressed housewives, angry mothers and retired dancers. With each encounter, he’ll discover connections never imagined possible, all reinforcing that it may be “too late.”

Dennis Hauck’s directorial debut is a technical marvel, a feature film shot on 35mm that tells its story in five uninterrupted takes. Hauck uses one reel for each sequence, resorting to no trick shots or edits, and then shows the reels in a non-sequential order to create a story that switches between the past, the present and the future while still making sense. It’s a brilliant device that captures the imagination from the first scene and does not let go until the credits roll.

The cast is led by John Hawkes as the disheveled but eternally cool Sampson who’s not only searching for the missing girl but also for repentance for his sins. He’s a character haunted by his own past, and as the picture moves along, his motivation becomes crystal clear. Veteran actors including Robert Forster and Jeff Fahey complete a strong cast which ground the noir dialogue in reality.

The real star of the film has to be the city in which it is set. Although L.A. has been home to countless noir films, TOO LATE feels like a fresh take on the genre. Whether bathed in glorious bright midday sunlight or lurking in the shadows of a seedy bar, the Los Angeles on screen is a varied beast. Instead of iconic spots in the heart of the city, these locations are on the peripheral borders. The hills, the disused lots and the small clubs on the outskirts all feel like “genuine article” Los Angeles.

TOO LATE is a brilliant and assured debut that will mesmerize all those who encounter it; a siren with a neo-noir heart bound to be remembered amongst the best of the genre. (Evrim Ersoy)

 

The Witch

Making movies is a collaborative process where — with a little luck — creatives share a single vision. When it works, it’s not unlike threading a needle. Robert Eggers’ THE WITCH is such a precise vision that it’s nearly equivalent to threading a hundred needles by throwing the thread through the needles’ eyes from five feet away.

THE WITCH isn’t just the best horror film of 2015; it could very well be the best film of 2015. Eggers and his team were dedicated to bringing historical accuracy to every aspect of the feature: the dialogue, costumes, props and the remarkable sets, and more. The entire production design — the film’s reported budget is shockingly only one million dollars — perfectly transports the audience to one of the creepiest time periods in American history.

Seventeenth century colonial New England actively believed in the supernatural. Both God and the Devil were real to almost everyone, and citizens could find evidence of both everywhere. Laypeople frequently resorted to superstitious rituals to save them from hunger and poverty. The leadership (conservative Puritan but secular men) were focused on maintaining authority and power, and had a very strict sense of justice. These specific ethics allowed lies, deceit, and jealousy to fester and permeate all aspects of society. Hope was reserved for only a select elite. This was a world without any shades of grey. It’s a glorious environment to make a horror film.

Eggers takes what he and his creative team built and fills it with superstition, paranoia and dread. As food runs out, the family unravels and the ultimate horror waiting in woods does just enough to give the family an opportunity to destroy themselves. This is the kind of filmmaking that deserves celebration.

And, I almost forgot. There are really creepy twins who play with a goat named Black Phillip. (James Shapiro)

 

The Glorious Works Of G. F. Zwaen

It’s the late 1990s and business is booming. Booming, at least, for everyone other than Gerard Zwaen. But this is how Zwaen wants it. This is how things should be. For Zwaen is a writer, and a true artist works for the art and not financial gain.

But being an artist was easier when the reviews were still positive. It was easier still before Zwaen’s wife threw him out of the house, forcing him to fend for himself. He could stay with his mistress, perhaps – an artist always has a mistress – but she doesn’t have the room. So while Zwaen may not yet be penniless and homeless, he certainly finds himself on the road to being so, and the “struggling artist” type is not nearly as appealing in middle age as it was in college.

And so Zwaen must do the only thing one can do when faced with the uncomfortable reality that one is a financial incompetent and completely unable to tend to one’s own needs: He must visit his accountant. Which would be far simpler if his accountant wasn’t lying dead on the floor, shot, possibly by one of the two other dead men laying strewn across the floor along with an assortment of weapons and a bag stuffed full of cash…

Dutch writer/director Max Porcelijn took home a pair of Next Wave Awards when he visited Fantastic Fest with debut effort PLAN C and he returns now with his sophomore piece, THE GLORIOUS WORKS OF GF ZWAEN, a film that once again showcases Porcelijn as a fiercely gifted writer and director with a distinct talent for genre-mashing, understated dark comedy. A spiritual successor to the Coen Brothers, Porcelijn again proves himself one of the most compelling young talents in Europe. (Todd Brown)