{"id":2757,"date":"2013-10-03T14:01:06","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T19:01:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=2757"},"modified":"2013-10-03T14:01:06","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T19:01:06","slug":"fantastic-fest-wrap-up-part-i","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2013\/10\/03\/fantastic-fest-wrap-up-part-i\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantastic Fest wrap up Part I"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As promised<\/a> here’s a wrap up of the movies I screened at Fantastic Fest 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Borgman<\/em><\/a><\/h1>\n

Borgman<\/em>, the subversive film by Alex van Warmerdam (The Last Days of Emma Blank<\/em>), opens oddly as a priest and two men armed with guns hunts for the\u00a0dirty, unshaven, and frail Camiel Borgman\u00a0who lives underground. He and two other similar men narrowly escape the attackers.<\/p>\n

From there things get weirder and more inexplicable as he befriends\u00a0Marina and Richard, eventually living in their house as the gardener. Borgman wields psychological and sexual power over Marina. Others of similar temperament join with him as the dead bodies start to pile up.<\/p>\n

The bloodless movie relies on subtlety and dark pervasive humor in a story riddled with fascinating ideas and concepts but little explanation. All characters save Borgman are very passive in their actions and reactions. Matter of fact, the moment characters begin to exhibit proactive traits, they are killed.<\/p>\n

Though\u00a0Borgman\u00a0<\/em>suffers from vagueness and lack of clear motivation,\u00a0van Warmerdam crafted an intriguing and compelling movie, fueled largely by the mysterious lead.<\/p>\n

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Cheap Thrills<\/em><\/a><\/h1>\n

Alongside the coverage here, I also wrote reviews about several of the movies for\u00a0The Horn<\/a> including\u00a0Cheap Thrills.<\/em>
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The directorial debut from director E.L. Katz, Cheap Thrills<\/em> delivers a nasty addition to the thriller genre in a fast paced, all-in-one night story.<\/p>\n

Married with a toddler, frustrated writer Craig’s (Pat Healy) life fractures after receiving an eviction notice and getting fired from his auto mechanic job. Rather than going home to face his wife, Craig decides to hang out in a bar with his old high school friend and ex-con Vince (Ethan Embry). While there, they meet a rich couple, Colin and Violet (David Koechner and Sara Paxton), celebrating her birthday. The quartet share drinks and shortly after Colin begins giving Craig and Vince money for completing certain tasks. At first simple things like who can finish their drink first or get a woman to slap them, but things quickly spiral out of control in escalating horrific and violent acts.<\/p>\n

The excellent acting buoys the tense thriller especially from Koechner, who perfectly underplays the sociopathic, Mephistophelesian Colin. The screenplay from David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga presents a surprising nuanced and disturbing view of misanthropy.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the rest of my review at The Horn<\/a>.<\/p>\n