Thursday, July 19th, marks the kick-off of Montreal’s nearly month long (22 days to be exact) annual Fantasia Film Festival, which showcases unknown, not-so-unknown, and even a bit of well-known movie talent from around the world. Fantasia allows fans of all movie genres the chance to see amazing flicks from indie filmmakers that they might not have otherwise been able to catch.
The list of genres that can be found at the Fantasia Film Festival run the gamut from action/adventure to western and everything in between. As a horror hound, I will solely be focusing on that particular genre, but for a full list of movies and their schedules, make sure you check out www.fantasiafest.com.
Hundreds of movies are submitted and screened each year, and of those hundreds there are 42 listed under Horror this year. It is almost humanly (not to mention financially) impossible for everyone to check out every movie screened, and it is for this reason, my darling fiends, that I’ve taken the time to gaze into my magical crystal skull and give to you my predictions and suggestions of what to see, and what to steer clear off. Come journey with me through the misty fog of my crystal skull, my lovelies, and see what we will see.
Most Anticipated
The Tall Man (2012)
Canada/USA, English
Runtime: 100 Minutes
Directed by: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Jessica Biel, Jodelle Ferland, Stephen McHattie, William B. Davis
Playing: July 19th, 7 p.m. at J.A. De Seve Theatre & August 1st, 1 p.m., J.A. De Seve Theatre
Cold Rock, a small town in Washington, is in the midst of a debilitating mystery, as one-by-one, the town’s children are disappearing and are never heard from again. There is absolutely nothing to link the cases together, and without much to go on, a young, widowed nurse (Jessica Biel) is determined to save her town. Urban Legend tells of a “Tall Man” who steals children right out of the air. Is The Tall Man the one behind all the missing children in Cold Rock? Will Jessica Biel be able to save the day? Will The Tall Man actually live up to all the hype? Here’s hoping!
Screening with: Cure (9 minutes) directed by Nickolas Lacelle
Most Overlooked
Memory of the Dead (2012)
Argentina, Spanish with English subtitles
Runtime: 100 minutes
Directed by: Valentin Javier Dimont
Starring: Lola Berthet, Horacio Acosta, Raquel Albeniz, Jimena Anganuzzi
Playing: July 23rd, 7:15 p.m., J.A. De Seve Theatre
Almost two months after her husband dies, Alicia invites his friends to her house for a reading of a letter he’d written to them all prior to his death. What they don’t know, however, is that Alicia has something completely different in mind. She plans to sacrifice them all to dark powers to bring her love back to life. Openly nodding to The Evil Dead II, Memory of the Dead is going to be a little bit funny, a lot-a-bit creepy, and a ride you’re not going to want to miss, but probably will.
Screening with: 88:88 (13 minutes) directed by Joey Ciccoline.
Biggest Disappointment
Zombie Ass (2011)
Japan, Japanese with English subtitles
Runtime: 85 minutes
Directed by: Noboru Iguchi
Staring: Asana Mamoru, Arisa Nakamura, Tenkaro Kishi, Kentaro Shimazu, Asami
Playing: July 21st, 11:55 p.m., Concordia Hall Theatre
I’m not even sure how to go about attempting to describe this movie. I’ll throw this out there though, and allow you all to make your own opinions: This flick is subtitled Toilet of the Dead. For serious. I’m a giant fan of foreign horror, and, most notably, Japanese horror. I’m also a huge bad-horror movie lover. However, a movie that would make any 13-year-old boy wet his pants with the amount of fart and poop jokes included therein, is sadly, not a movie for me.
For a description, I’ll take an excerpt from the Fantasia website:
“Soon enough, the big-ass, starving tapeworm thingies are turning people into flesh-hungry, brownish zombies. A motley crew of walking stereotypes goes camping in a minivan, when they get attacked by one of these farting flesh-eaters, of course. [T]hey barricade themselves inside a nearby house and try to survive this nasty outbreak with a vast array of weapons. And don’t worry, there are enough turds, diarrhea, and projectile vomit to please even the most rabid BAD TASTE aficionados. Yes, it’s that crazy. Flatulent damsels versus fecal zombies? Just wait till you see the maggot-queen! Crap-tastic!”
I even actually LOVE Bad Taste, but really now? Just no. Skip this one, folks.
Most Surprising
Excision (2012)
USA, English
Runtime: 81 minutes
Directed by: Richard Bates Jr.
Starring: AnnaLynne McCord, Traci Lords, Ariel Winter, Roger Bart, Malcolm McDowell
Playing: August 4th, 9:35 p.m., Concordia Hall Theatre
The love-child of Heathers and May, Excision gives us a different kind of glimpse into the life of a teenage girl. Brilliant high schooler Pauline is not only faced with the terror that comes with being an awkward misfit in a world full of jocks and cheerleaders, but to add insult to injury, she also has to deal with an overbearing mother, a father too meek to take notice, and a sister, her only saving grace (aptly named Grace), who’s dying of Cystic Fibrosis, who’s only chance of survival is a lung transplant. Luckily, Pauline is an aspiring surgeon, with no qualms about going to extreme lengths to save her sister.
Most Original Idea
Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal (2012)
Canada/Denmark, English
Runtime: 83 minutes
Directed by: Boris Rodriguez
Starring: Thure Lindhardt, Georgina Reilly, Dylan Smith, Alain Goulem, Stephen McHattie
Playing: August 4th, 4:25 p.m., Concordia Hall Theatre
Adding an as yet unseen twist on the typical zombie story, Eddie pits a small town somnambulant cannibal with Lars Olafssen, a creatively blocked Dutch painter who’s artistc genius is revitalized with every dead body he finds. The buckets of money Lars is making on his newest paintings are going to the school where he teaches, to keep its doors open, and its staff employed, so it’s not all that wrong to allow Eddie to continue on his little late-night eating sprees, is it? Wouldn’t the good cancel out the bad?
Creepiest Movie
The Cat (2011)
South Korea, Korean with English subtitles
Runtime: 106 minutes
Directed by: Byeon Seung-wook
Starring: Park Min-young, Kim Dong-Wook, Kim Yo-ran
Playing: August 8th, 9:30 p.m., Concordia Hall Theatre
WARNING: Though there were no actual animals injured during the making of this movie, there are depictions of injured animals, so if you’re squeamish in that regard, I advise against seeing this flick. OK, so now that that’s out of the way, The Cat is a paranormal ghost story replete with child ghosts (the creepiest kind!), animals that foreshadow death, and lots of folklore awesomeness.
So-yeun, an animal lover and pet groomer, brings home a beautiful Persian cat, after the cat’s owner dies under mysterious circumstances. Soon after, So-yeun is visited by a ghost child who is, in someway, attached to the cat, even after death. As the bodies begin to pile up, each found near a cat, So-yeun is determined to find out what has caused her life to spiral into horror.
Screening with: The Creature (13 minutes) directed by Malene Choi Jensen
More Fantasia 2012 predictions and suggestions after the jump…
