Considered the stimulus for the now-unique brand of Australian outback horror, the long figured lost movie Wake in Fright (1971) reemerges in a new 35mm print courtesy of the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia. While traveling to Sydney for a holiday with his girlfriend, reluctant schoolteacher John Grant (Gary Bond) stops for a night in the small mining community of Bundanyabba, or “the Yabba.” After losing all his money in a penny-tossing competition, he falls victim to the town’s “aggressive hospitality,” effectively stranding him there. A trio of local good ‘ol boys, who enjoy drinking, brawlin’, and kangaroo hunting, look after Grant. The new friends feature a young, bombastic Jack Thompson, in one of his earliest movie roles, and the always reliable Donald Pleasence as a sex-obsessed doctor. Grant’s vacation quickly descends into madness as alcohol, debauchery, and even cruelty consume him. Living up to its reputation, the excellent Wake in Fright deftly outlines how quickly a man can lose his identity and reason.
With the aide of homicide cop Pete (Ron Perlman), crime scene photographer Aiden (the likeable Josh Lawson) haunts the streets of Detroit, looking for images. Immersion within the darkness of society leads the downtrodden Aiden to experience perverse revenge fantasies. Despite his behavior, Aiden stumbles into an affair with his neighbor, the relationship rebounding Virginia (Emma Lung). Aiden attempts to hold on to his tenuous relationship even while his fantasies slide over into reality. First time feature director Charles de Lauzirika expertly manages the interplay between the real and not real by crashing the fourth world and crafting creative tonal shifts. The script (by de Lauzirika from a story by Robert Lawton) interjects clever humor within the fast paced tale. A Walter Mitty tale by way of Chuck Palahniuk, Crave promises a creative, entertaining thriller.
Directors Jason Lapeyre and Robert Wilson propel the childhood game of war to its logical extremes and beyond in the seemingly preposterous but amazingly good I Declare War. A group of 13 year olds congregate to play war in the woods. Fueled by their imaginations, they transform sticks into guns and water balloons into grenades to engage in combat. A tactical genius, PK wins every contest. Perhaps his only weakness are his feelings for his best friend Kwon. Wanting to torture him for information and to trap the legendary leader, the ruthless General Skinner kidnaps Kwon. The neophyte commander underestimates the lengths that PK will do to rescue his friend. The diverse cast includes a priest, a bully and a mysterious girl. Lapeyre (who also penned the screenplay) and Wilson deliver a magnificent and sincere portrait of war intertwined with teenage angst and fantasies.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, started here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
After killing his wife, businessman Kyung-Min seeks out his school friend Jong-Suk, who ghostwrites autobiographies. The two men reminisce about Chul-Yi, their old class classmate, who fought back against the bullies and briefly became the King of the Pigs. The first South Korean animated film to be screened at Cannes, the powerful The King of Pigs expertly employs surreal moments and an engaging mystery among a magnificent script to relate the sublime tale. Produced for only a reported $150,000, it proves once again that quality animation can be had for little money.
The semi-autobiographical Hail stars former convict Daniel P. Jones. Just released from a Melbourne jail, Danny moves back in with his girlfriend Leanne(Jones’s real life partner Leanne Campbell), as though nothing changed. He has trouble re-establishing himself in society. Danny’s years in prison and the things that got him there took an emotional and psychological toll. When Leanne accidentally dies, Danny descends completely into the darker side of his reality. The well-written, compelling film makes effective use of the faux-reality style. Jones’s excellent performance further enhances the film.
The slick, stylish, and self-indulgent Vanishing Waves squanders its immense potential. Lukas, who helped to develop the technology that allow thoughts to be transferred digitally from one person to another, agrees to participate in the human trials. Unbeknownst to him, he is connected to a comatose woman. At first, all Lukas experiences only feelings and geometric shapes, but then things expand at an unexpected pace. He soon is immersed in a full realized vision, complete with the personality of the other test subject. The pair fall in love. Not wanting to end the trials, Lukas keeps the full details of his visits. Additionally, he begins showing real world changes in his personality. The mind sequences are beautifully handled with a dream-like quality. Sadly, that fails to save the overly-long, sleepy Vanishing Waves, which may have been served as a Twilight Zone epsiode.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, started here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
After a botched jewelry heist and accused of killing one of his partners, Cordero (Ryan Robbins) awakes from a coma, chained to a hospital bed. Stern policewoman Jane (Zoie Palmer) stands guard over him in an isolated ward in an otherwise overflow floor. Violent, vindictive crime kingpin Louis Holland (William MacDonald) arrives with two other thugs to find the jewels and punish Cordero. Alone and trapped, Jane plays a dangerous and bloody game of cat and mouse with the desperate thieves. The simple story offers few graphic scenes, maximizing their effect. Director Jason Lapeyre crafts a tense, claustrophobic action thriller in the riveting Cold Blooded.
Director Phillipe Lefebvre’s flawed Paris By Night follows a pair of vice cops through the seamy Paris nightlife. Each night, a different colleague chauffeurs the suave chain-smoking, hard-drinking Captain Simon Weiss (the mesmerizing Roschdy Zem) on his rounds. In exchange for cash and other favors, he makes sure the Paris club scene runs smoothly. Tonight, 28 year old Sergeant Laurence Deray joins Weiss as things don’t run as smoothly as usual. On top of that, internal affairs is investigating Weiss and his activities. While beautifully shot and well-written with interesting scenes and, Paris By Night cannot overcome the flaw that no corrupt cop as careful as Weiss would allow for a different driver each night.
Borrowing (good) elements from I Know What You Did Last Summer, Tower Block thrills with a quick paced, tension-fueled story. On the top floor of a block scheduled for demolition, two thugs beat a 15 year old boy to death. None of the tenants will help the police with the investigation and the killers go unpunished. With only the top floor tenants remaining, three months later on a Friday morning, someone starts killing the them with a high powered rifle. The survivors soon discover that their floor is riddled with booby traps and they cannot escape. Thus begins a weekend of terror. Smartly reliant on stereotypical shorthand for the characters, the James Moran script wisely focuses on the plot and action. Director Ronnie Thompson makes effective use of the locale for his taut thriller.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, started here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
Director Eron Sheean’s first feature, Errors of the Human Body recalls the over-indulgent science fiction of the 1970s with dull, over-used trippy sequences, a fairly standard thriller script, and a seemingly never-ending conclusion. In this oft told tale of genetic manipulation gone wrong, brilliant American geneticist Dr. Geoff Burton (Michael Eklund) accepts a job in Germany when his obsessive search for a cure to the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son destroys his career and his marriage. Once there, Burton re-unites with a former student/lover (Karoline Herfurth) and quickly immerses himself in a conspiracy of lies and deception. Even the excellent acting of Eklund and Herfurth fail to overcome Sheean’s stereotypical script. Though an arduous task to get there, the ultimate conclusion is satisfying and shocking. Course by then, who cares?
Santiago Fernandez works a dead end job as a club DJ, owned by the brutal Argentinian gangster Che Longana. He spends most of his days playing video games and dreaming of an exciting life of crime and gun fights. When Fernandez overhears a secret meeting between Longana and his henchmen, he gets the chance to live his dreams. In order to save his own life, Fernandez must hunt down Machine Gun Woman, a lethal leatherclad assassin. In an interesting piece of metafiction, Chilean director Ernesto Díaz Espinoza framed his deliciously entertaining fourth exploitation feature as a hyper-violent video game. The sexy titular character lights up the screen with explosive and bloody action and Longana delivers the expected cruelty. As with all films of this particular genre, communal theater viewing enhances the experience. Just leave your brain at the door.
The big budget, much hyped Looper delivers some quality popcorn entertainment though failing on the intellectual and thriller promise of its trailers. In 2072, gangs use the illegal practice of sending those they wish to eliminate back 30 years. In the past, assassins (loopers) kill the victims without prejudice. Looper Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) recognizes his new kill as his future self (Bruce Willis), allowing him to escape. Now Joe is hunted in both the present and future for failing the assassination. The potentially exciting elements feel rehashed from other far superior action movies. The science fictional elements, as often the case with time travel, succumbs to paradoxical occurrences. Though Gordon-Levitt does his best with make up and acting skill to portray a younger Willis, the physical differences between the actors crushes elements of believability. Flaws and all, Looper ultimately achieves above-average film fun.
The feature film debut of directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker relates the improbable and utterly charming origins of the real life “Acoustic Space Aliens.” With a comet on a collision curse with their planet, Hondo sends General Trius (Nils d’Aulaire) to find a new planet for them to inhabit. Landing on Earth somewhere near Brooklyn, General Trius discovers music chooses to forgo his mission to eliminate the indigenous peoples. He takes the name Bill, starts a family, and a one-man bluegrass act. The Hondorians send a bumbling fool named Kevin (Jay Klaitz) to assassinate General Trius. Bill subdues Kevin with music and the two form a band called Future Folk. The Hondorians, still intent on their plans, create havoc for the duo. The enjoyable bluegrass music, complete with catchy lyrics, permeate the lighthearted, fun movie. The History of Future Folk surprises with fun and wit, a cult classic in the making.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
Directed by frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu, the World War II action film Cold Steel delivers plenty of stylized action and amazing gun play. After rescuing the Anglo (either American or British. It’s never clear) pilot John from an explosive plane crash, hunter Mu (Peter Ho) learns the proper ways to shoot. He soon gets to test these new skills. After a confrontation with rude Chinese soldiers in tea house, Mu is arrested. When Japanese snipers attack the military vehicle transporting Mu, he grabs a downed soldier’s gun and demonstrates an impressive display of his sharp shooting skills. Mu is quickly drafted in an elite sharpshooters squad, who routinely engage in dangerous missions. While interesting and entertaining, the overwrought, stereotypical Cold Steel offers a predictable and somewhat forgettable production.
Reportedly based on actual events, the Spanish Unit 7 recalls the best of The Shield and 1970s American crime thrillers. In 1987, Seville prepares for the 1992 World Expo with plans to flush the streets of drugs and prostitution. The four man Unit 7 leads the charge. Up-and-comer Angel (Mario Casa) joins the crew of veterans that includes the hyper-violent, religious zealot Rafeal (Antonio De La Torre), the bigoted Miguel (José Manuel Poga), and the hypocrite Matthew (Joaquín Núñez). The quarter clean up the downtown with a zealous brutality that garners them celebrity. Along the way they succumb to corruption and vice. During the five year span of the movie, the characters evolve with Angel changing from a naif to challenge for leadership of the group. Though stereotypes abound including the dirty cops with hearts of gold, the caring prostitute who distributes heroin, gun battles, and even a car chase, director Alberto Rodriguez crafts a quality addition to the sub-genre.
A taut thriller featuring exemplary performances from Barry Atsma and Susan Visser, Taped begins with the simple concept of marriage in trouble. Leaving their daughter at home in the Netherlands, Johan and Saar journey to Argentina in hopes of recapturing the lost magic from their romantic honeymoon. In the 21st century mode, the couple video record their discussions, fights, and confessions. While waiting for a bus, they accidentally record a police officer brutally assassinating a captured perp. The cop sees Johan and Saar and the chase is on.
While the Dutch filmstarts slowly, director Diederik van Rooijen ratchets up the exquisite tension leading to a surprising and clever solution. The emotionally charged Taped, already optioned for an American remake, delivers not just one of the best movies at the Festival, but perhaps the finest action movie of the year.
A mediocre carbon copy of a Donald Westlake caper novel, the Dutch Plan C provides lots of typical dirty cop moments intertwined with far too few humorous scenes. Detective Ronald Plasmeyer’s(the amiable Ruben Van Der Meer) gambling habit lands him in serious debt with Chinese gangsters. His first plan (A), poker, only aggravates the problem. For Plan B, Plasmeyer concocts a strategy to steal a poker tournament’s money. Problem is he is no better at hiring henchman than playing poker. That leaves Plan C. While not a terrible movie, everything in Plan C falls short, feeling like retreads of far superior, similar entertainments.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
Surreal and psychedelic, Shunichiro Miki’s dreamlike The Warped Forest flounders in a tedium of absurdity. A series of quasi-interrelated tales form the film’s flimsy backbone: A young girl, armed with a penis-rifle, tracks down the elusive Pinky-Panky; a giant-sized girl works in a Very Small Shop; the local brothel with furry, nipple sucking creature; an escaped wood nymph struggles with love. Miki displays an unsettling fascination with belly buttons and crotch play. Largely a collection of bizarre images and scenes, The Warped Forest plays like a charmless, live action Miyazaki film.
An unflinching insight into the contemporary German Neo-Nazi movement, Combat Girls follows Marisa and Svenja, two young women at two very different stages of their involvement within the illicit movement. The twenty year old Marisa, portrayed by the brilliant Alina Levshin, sports Nazi-era tattoos and hates anything not white German. Only fifteen, Svenja (Jella Haase) sneaks out to smoke cigarettes and when puppying after the 20 year old family gardener, becomes embroiled with the group. Director/screenwriter David Wnendt masterfully relates Svenja’s indoctrination and Marisa growing disillusionment. Wnendt’s attention to detail astounds from the tattoos to style of address. He even commissioned composer Johannes Repka to create faux Neo-Nazi punk music specifically for the film. Engaging and disturbing, Combat Girls delivers a must-see movie, one that will be discussed and analyzed for years to come.
Amoral gynecologist Dr. Danko Babić’s (Rene Bitorajac) sociopathic tendencies leads him down some dark and harrowing paths. He routinely does drugs, works for gangsters, avoids corruption charges, and hits on women. Director Branko Schmidt aided by Bitorajac’s masterful performance steers Babić through the harrowing Croatian underworld, some surprising plot twists, and a jarring conclusion. Enjoy the disturbing Vegetarian Cannibal but expect to need a bath afterwards.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
Despite its interesting concept, the first directorial effort from Brandon Cronenberg, son of the legendary David, disappoints. Syd March (Caleb Landry Jones) works for a clinic that injects fans with diseases of their favorite stars. Syd contracts a fatal designer virus that kills megastar Hannah Geist (Sarah Gadon). In order to survive, Syd must discover its origins. Emotionally cold, the film features stark scenes punctuated with bright red blood and occasional action. Jones, almost always clad in white, successfully blends his bland character into the similar background. Though this exploration of the cult of celebrity toys with some interesting concepts, the film fails to shed new insights (or really any) on the fascination. While delivering some disturbing and even memorable imagery, Antiviral falls far short of its lofty promise.
The compelling Final Member introduces Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson and his Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s collection lacks one thing: a human penis. Meeting the “legal limit” requirement, two men offer to help: 95-year-old Páll Arason, a legendary Icelandic explorer and philanderer who wants his well-traveled member preserved after his death; and Tom, an eccentric American who dubs his manhood “Elmo” and is eager to donate while he is still around to view it. Co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zack Math treat the potentially humorous subject with class and style. The compelling documentary delivers with intriguing sub-stories, fascinating information, and a tension-filled race to be the first human phallus in museum.
Seventeen years since his disastrous big screen appearance, the iconic Judge Dredd returns in the surprisingly good Dredd 3D. This time the movie features a modest budget and focuses on the characters rather than a big name superstar. Karl Urban masterfully portrays the dour. helmet-headed Dredd, successfully submerging himself in the role. Olivia Kirdby excels as the rookie Judge Anderson. Though the film displays some noticable flaws, the smartly simple Alex Garland script keeps the action and the story moving. Essentially a buddy film with elements of Training Day, Robocop, and Die Hard tossed in, Dredd 3D delivers a quality actioneer.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin on September 20. During the course of the eight day festival, I’m blogging about my cinema experiences.
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin tomorrow! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.
South Korea’s very first animated film to screen at Cannes, THE KING OF PIGS is a time-tripping, soul-shattering mystery about the scars that make us, and the secrets we bleed to keep. Kyung-Min has just killed his wife, but it didn’t make him feel any better. His business is failing and he can’t stop thinking about his middle school days, back when he was one of the lowly, bullied “pigs”, the rock-bottom caste of the social animal kingdom, at the mercy of the popular “dogs”. His old school friend, Jong-Suk, agrees to meet, and each man tells the other polite lies about his wrecked life. But both of them have one thing on their minds: Chul-Yi, their old class comrade, the quiet, deadly boy in the hoodie who fought back against the bullies and became, for one blazing moment in time, The King of Pigs. “Be my friends,” he offered, “and you will never cry.”
THE KING OF PIGS animation style evokes memories of the great Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA), sinuous yet rippling with organic textures that mimic the flesh and failings of real, flawed human beings, with every tear, bruise and knuckle to the face meticulously rendered. One thing the film never allows us is too much room to breathe: these kids are suffering, and so must the audience. Every moment is tripwired, every scene is a time bomb. In keeping with the film’s thematic resonance, the adult and child Jong-Suk are voiced, respectively, by Yang Ik-June and Kim Kkobbi, the stars of NYAFF 2009’s harrowing, BREATHLESS.
Inspired by his own experiences in middle school, director Yeun Sang-Ho also drew upon recurring dreams to tell his dual-narrative story about the cycles of abuse and the bullied who become the bullies. THE KING OF PIGS is a meditation on the impotence and violence in the world of young adults, and the cancer of memory. In Yeun’s dark vision, Korea today is bound by an invisible web of resentment, classism, and persecution from birth to death, where souls are trapped by their hidden sins. The only way to break free is to face the ugly truth about where we’ve been and where we’re going. (NYAFF)
It has been done so many times now that it has become cliché, eyes simply rolling and glazing over when the ‘Based on a true story’ tag scrolls across the screen to add gravity to the latest Hollywood concocted tale of demonic possession. But THE EXORCIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY really is the true story, a detailed and nuanced documentary of highly specialized priests – real life Vatican-approved exorcists – and the people who seek out their services.
Filmmaker Fredrik Horn Akselsen has been granted a remarkable degree of access to tell this story, presenting information and first hand experiences in a steady, even hand that leaves the audience free to draw their own conclusions. He meets with believers in the phenomenon as well as skeptics, both inside and outside of the church. But mostly he tells his story through two people.
First, there is Father Jose Antonio Fortea, a Roman Catholic priest based in Madrid. Father Fortea first rose to prominence as the author of Summa Daemoniaca, a treatise on the history of demonology throughout Catholic history including, yes, a manual of Catholic rites of exorcism. Father Fortea has become known around the world as an expert on the topic, traveling to speak about demonology around the world and – as one of a small group of Catholic priests approved by the Vatican to perform exorcisms – he very definitely practices what he preaches.
And then there is Constanza – an articulate, university educated Colombian woman who sincerely believes she is demon possessed and is seeking out the help of Fortea or any other priest who may free her of her affliction.
Akselsen tells these stories with a minimum of fuss and bother, choosing to let the day to day life of the men who live out this very unusual vocation be the story rather than attempting to embellish for shock value. It makes for fascinating viewing. (Todd Brown)
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying…
And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)
Santos Trinidad (José Coronado) is a dirty cop with a violent streak and a serious thirst for rum and Coke. During a drunken binge, he murders three people in a bar. A witness escapes from the building before Santos can catch him. While Santos sets out to kill the witness and cover up his crimes, a judge and the police conduct a investigation into the murders. Santos’ hunt for the witness and the parallel police investigation slowly converge to reveal a massive criminal conspiracy that no one involved could have ever anticipated.
Enrique Urbizu’s NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) is a briskly paced thriller that deftly juggles intertwining plot lines with surprising and explosive results. The film swept the 2012 Goya Awards—the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars—with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound. The accolades are well deserved because NO REST FOR THE WICKED is amongst the strongest thrillers to emerge from Spain—or anywhere else—in the past few years. The film’s secret weapon is José Coronado, who delivers an award-winning performance as a completely despicable cop. Focusing a film on such an unlikeable character is a risky move, but Coronado handles the role with menacing precision. An American remake of the film is already in the works—Sylvester Stallone has expressed serious interest—so now is the time to get ahead of the curve and experience the power of the original NO REST FOR THE WICKED. (Rodney Perkins)
Danny (Daniel P. Jones) is released from a Melbourne jail and immediately returns home to his girlfriend Leanne (Jone’s real life partner Leanne Campbell). Though his relationship with Leanne picks right back up where it left off, Danny’s attempts to reintegrate into society are met with resistance at every step of the way. Haunted by the mental and emotional demons of prison and the lifestyle that put him there, he soon resorts to the familiar crutches of alcohol and outbursts of anger to alleviate tension. Danny is able to maintain some amount of control until things begin to fall off the rails, triggered by a visit from Leanne’s heroin dealing friend Anthony.
HAIL is a startling and brutal hybrid film, a semi-autobiographical pastiche of events from Jones’ life and from those of his acquaintances in the criminal world he used to inhabit. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson worked with Jones to piece together a narrative from his memories and cast Jones, Campbell and other real life characters to create HAIL. The result is a gripping experimental film full of a palpable reality. The narrative is as free-flowing and surreal as it is straightforward with scenes of intense grit inter-cut with those of arresting artistic beauty all coupled with an inventive and unforgettable score. It all works thanks to stunning performances from everyone, especially Jones who has spent his entire life preparing for this role.
We at Fantastic Fest certainly do love our crime dramas but HAIL is certain to defy attendees’ expectations of what a film of its kind can be. Like other ultra-realistic films coming out of Australia, HAIL will take you uncomfortably close to the mind and misdeeds of people who have actually lived the kind of lives most of us only see in movies. (Brian Kelley)
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin tomorrow! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.
Alicia is devastated by the death of her beloved husband, Jorge. Not surprised, but devastated nonetheless. Not surprised because Jorge, a practitioner of the occult with remarkable powers, foresaw his own death and warned his beloved wife ahead of time. Warned her and left her with instructions on how to bring him back. And Alicia intends to follow those instructions to the letter.
And so, just a few days after Jorge’s death, Alicia has gathered their closest friends in their home to undertake the rite Jorge laid out for them. A rite that she tells her friends will send their love shining out like a beacon through the afterlife, a shining beacon to guide Jorge home. Yes, there will be difficulties. All involved may find themselves visited by the spirits of their own dead. But – and this is important – as long as all involved stay inside the house they will be perfectly safe. Nothing can harm them there.
Alicia is lying, of course, the ritual and its risks not exactly as she has presented them to her guests. And it quickly becomes clear that not everyone will survive until the morning.
A compelling fusion of visual bravado and reckless energy, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO announces the arrival of a major new talent in Argentina’s Valentin Javier Diment. Blending the DIY bravado and grotesque sense of humor of an EVIL DEAD II era Sam Raimi with the baroque sensibilities of classic giallo, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO is simply astounding in its ambitions and even moreso in its ability to accomplish those ambitions on a tiny budget. Diment is clearly some sort of gonzo genius and this the film that he packed all of his loves and obsessions into as though afraid he’ll never get the chance again. (Todd Brown)
Sandy (Olivia Croicchia) is a high school freshman. She is a self- described loser, an outcast. She is infatuated with a high school senior named Ashley (Madison Riley). Sandy convinces her dad (Corin Nemec) to let Ashley stay over while he is out of town. Ashley takes up the offer on the condition that they secretly hold a party at the house. As the party dies down, Ashley’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Backus) shows up. After a series of disastrous events, he ends up dead and the two girls have to clean up the mess.
BESTIES is the featured debut of writer-director Rebecca Perry Cutter and delivers a smart, clever twist on a familiar coming-of-age thriller formula. The film differentiates itself from the pack by rooting its story in the strange relationship between the two main characters. Ashley is manipulative and self-absorbed. On the other hand, Sandy is a confused naif. She knows that Ashley is manipulating her, but a mixture of admiration and sexual desire keeps her engaged. The film smartly plays off this dynamic to create an atmosphere of awkward tension and suspense. Cutter also injects issues of class into the mix, thus adding an additional layer of subtext to an already loaded scenario. (Rodney Perkins)
Charged with the theft of a bag of precious diamonds and the murder of his partner in crime, Cordero is comatose and chained to a hospital bed on an isolated and otherwise empty overflow floor. Officer Jane is the stern, by-the-book policewoman guarding Cordero’s room when he wakes from his coma and immediately claims he was framed in the killing of his partner. The two quickly establish a playful rapport, which is broken when Cordero makes his first escape attempt. His efforts to slip away prove to be the least of Officer Jane’s worries as violent, no-nonsense crime kingpin Louis Holland arrives at the hospital looking for the jewels. Officer Jane finds herself trapped on an empty hospital floor guarding her prisoner and trying to find a way out while Holland is quick to prove he intends to maintain the upper hand.
Director Jason Lapeyre (who comes to Fantastic Fest with this and another film, I DECLARE WAR) squeezes every bit of excitement out of a setup that’s limited in scope but not in cleverness. Combining crime, thriller and some occasional humor elements, COLD BLOODED moves at an incredible pace and is smattered with some seriously violent moments proving that no character can ever be considered safe. Holland is a formidable baddie, a brash hulk of a man who’s unflinchingly evil when anyone stands in his way. Officer Jane is a refreshingly well-rounded female lead character, a woman intent on doing what is right and just, regardless of the cost to her own well being. As the two collide, COLD BLOODED shows how much fun a movie with just a handful of characters in a single location can really be. (Brian Kelley)
Phillipe Lefebvre’s PARIS BY NIGHT is a sleek French cop thriller that follows a pair of vice cops as they patrol the Parisian club scene over the course of a single evening. Simon Weiss (Roschdy Zem from SLEEPLESS NIGHT and POINT BLANK) plays a suave chain-smoking, hard-drinking cop with the brigade mondaine. Wiess’ job is to make sure the Parisian night clubs operate legally, but his methods of enforcing the law are unorthodox. In exchange for cash and crime tips, he doles out favors to numerous club owners, including his friend Tony Garcia (Samuel Le Bihan from BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and FRONTIER(S)). Each night, a different colleague chauffeurs Weiss around Paris. On this particular evening, Sergeant Laurence Deray joins Weiss as his driver. A seemingly normal shift evolves into a long night of beat downs and shake downs.
PARIS BY NIGHT provides a behind-the-scenes look at the seductive and dangerous world of the Parisian club scene. The film is based on the experiences of co-writer Phillipe Asard, who worked with the Paris vice squad for fifteen years. In fact, PARIS BY NIGHT was shot entirely in the same clubs that Asard once worked as a cop. In the film, Weiss and Deray are constantly in motion, weaving in and out of tight-knit network of bars, brothels, and dives. Each stop on the beat introduces the audience to a motley array of characters, ranging from mobsters and drug dealers to hookers and drag queens. Over time, the seemingly routine trips reveal become parts of a puzzle that suggests that Weiss is involved in something far elaborate simple graft and bribery. PARIS BY NIGHT is an intoxicating ride through a seductive world of booze, drugs, and sleaze. (Rodney Perkins)
Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world, starts here in Austin in just two days! Over the next several days, I’m previewing the movies I plan on seeing and blogging about over the course of the week long festival.
Li Xianje is a video game-loving slacker, who coasts through life at his own pace, thanks to a rare condition known as Temporal Dilation Disorder. TDD causes time to pass more slowly than for everybody else – minutes feel like days, a day like an entire lifetime. It proves a lonely existence until he meets the beautiful Wang Qian, who shares his affliction. However, when a tragic car accident snatches her away, Li will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the woman he loves. Perhaps a mysterious video game is the answer – a game rumoured to hold the secret to time travel. If he can beat the game, he might just be able to save Wang Qian.
Adapted from a hit animated short that appeared online in 2009, director Li Yang teams up with TV ad man Frant Gwo to expand his unique, frenetic vision into a feature-length blend of live action, hand drawn animation, epic CGI landscapes, crude cut-outs and East-meets-West pop culture iconography. Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts legend Jackie Chan, stars as bewildered, heart-broken “Devotion Lee”, who must become the kind of ass-kicking name-taking hero he’s only experienced in video games, if he is to succeed in his mission.
The result is a wholly unique and exhilarating experience, a gorgeous visual odyssey packed with comedy and adventure, that remains, at its core, a beautifully touching quest for love played out with the unabashed romanticism only Asian Cinema can get away with. At a time when China is spewing out nothing but nationalistic period dramas and crass consumerist rom-coms, LEE’S ADVENTURE proves fantasy, sci-fi and imagination are still alive and kicking in the Mainland. (James Marsh)
While it is very tempting to refer to Eron Sheean’s ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY as a sci-fi thriller, that would simply not be accurate. Because while it is very much a fictional story that revolves around science, the science in this film – shot on location at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – is all as real as can be. Call it a scientific thriller, if you will, with all of the science grounded in reality.
THE DIVIDE screenwriter Sheean makes his feature directing debut following a string of acclaimed shorts with ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, the story of geneticist Dr Geoff Burton obsessively struggling to find a cure for the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son years before. Though brilliant, his obsessions and often unorthodox working methods have left Burton’s career in a shambles, forcing him to relocate to Germany to continue his work.
It seems a promising move at first, a well equipped lab with a sympathetic administration and a former student in a key position, but Burton is soon swept up into a web of deceit and jealousy when he discovers that his former student may have found the solution he has searched for – and another researcher may be stealing it.
An icily precise thriller anchored by a subtle, nuanced performance from Michael Eklund (THE DIVIDE, THE DAY), with support from indie faves Karoline Herfurth (PERFUME, WE ARE THE NIGHT) and Tomas Lemarquis (NOI THE ALBINO), ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY offers up a surprisingly human take on science, a story ultimately more concerned with its characters than the tools they wield. It is a refreshing, yet challenging approach. (Todd Brown)
Santiago Fernandez is an aimless young man content with spending hours on the couch playing Grand Theft Auto and fantasizing about an exciting life of crime and gun fights. By night he DJs at a club owned by ruthless Argentinian kingpin Che Longana. One evening, Santiago finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall as Longana holds a secret meeting to make known his offer of $300 million pesos for the head of Machine Gun Woman, an ex-girlfriend turned hitwoman who has it out for him. When he is discovered eavesdropping on the conversation, Santiago’s only choice to avoid being executed is to lie, claim he knows Machine Gun Woman and offer to bring her in. When he is given 24 hours to make good on his claim, Santiago’s life turns into a violent video game of its own complete with missions, guns, sexy women and brutal violence.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF MACHINE GUN WOMAN is that latest film from Chile’s Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, a man who is no stranger to Fantastic Fest. His first three features (KILTRO, MIRAGEMAN and MANDRILL) have blown audiences away in years past and he also has a segment in this year’s THE ABCS OF DEATH. In a departure from his string of Marko Zaror actioners, Espinoza has crafted an incredibly entertaining exploitation film all centered around a beautiful Chilean goddess clad in small swaths of leather and, of course, machine guns. As Santiago tracks down the killer, he is thrust into a strange criminal underworld that frequently erupts in unexpected violence and when he comes face-to-face with her, all bets are off. Espinoza keeps BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN fast and fun from sexy start to explosive finish. (Brian Kelley)
Chances are you’ve come across one in your lifetime. Your neighbor may be one. Your co-worker may be one. There could even be one in your family. Sometimes they operate alone and sometimes they involve their loved ones. The moment they wait for is over in what seems like the blink of an eye but there can be months of planning, designing and building leading up to a night of terror.
These people are home haunters.
The idyllic East Coast town of Fairhaven, MA is the home of several home haunters, individuals who are obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles every Halloween. THE AMERICAN SCREAM follows three of them – a perfectionist IT professional whose wife and children help out with varying levels of enthusiasm, a friend inspired to create his own haunt, and a father and son duo- as they prepare for the big day. Their passion is immediately apparent and their methods are varied with some opting for obsessive attention to detail and others more concerned with overall effect. The common link between them all is an artistic genius bred from the love of scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors.
Director Michael Stephenson (BEST WORST MOVIE) has crafted another extraordinarily entertaining and heartwarming documentary with THE AMERICAN SCREAM. Despite bumps along the way in the days leading up to Halloween, the payoff captured is something truly special. In the end all the mishaps, slips, spills, scrapes and creative differences don’t matter. What really matters is the sense of pride a home haunter feels by bringing together his or her community to experience the product of months of hard work. That and the look of frozen terror on the faces of men, women and children alike. (Brian Kelley)
When a comet threatens to destroy their planet, the citizens of Hondo send General Trius (Nils d’Aulaire) to find a new planet on which they can live. After landing on Earth somewhere near Brooklyn, General Trius chooses to ignore his mission to eliminate the indigenous peoples after wandering into a megastore and hearing music for the first time. He assumes the name Bill and starts a family and one-man bluegrass act.
His peaceful life is disrupted when the Hondorians send a representative- a bumbling fool named Kevin (Jay Klaitz)- to Earth to assassinate General Trius and clear the way for an invasion. Bill finds it easy to subdue Kevin with music and the two form a band called Future Folk that becomes popular in New York bars. The problem is, though, the Hondorians have no intention of calling off their plan to eliminate mankind.
THE HISTORY FUTURE FOLK, the feature debut of directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, is the impossibly charming and clever origin story of the real life “Acoustic Space Aliens” who have been perfecting their act for more than 6 years in the New York City area. For all of its sci-fi elements, at the heart of the film is the immediately lovable personality of Future Folk, whose songs are enormously catchy and lyrics are full of the wit on which the movie the built. The deep love d’Aulaire and Klaitz have for music is apparent in every scene and while watching their musical performances in the film one starts to believe that two guys with a banjo and a guitar (along with some fancy red spacesuits) really could save the world through sheer charisma. (Brian Kelley)
