A Disturbance in the Force
As Star Wars fans bicker amongst themselves over the myriad of series coming out, what was good for the franchise and what is not, there is one thing that we nearly unanimously agree on: The Star Wars Holiday Special is spectacularly un-good. Created between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, it was an ill-fated attempt to keep Star Wars relevant to the social conscious. Following the format of the popular variety shows of the late 70s, the special only aired once and was quickly locked away. Oh, it’s out there still, serving as a reminder that Star Wars could always be worse. Directors Jeremy Coon and Steve Kozak’s documentary follows up with many of those involved with the production to answer the question, “Just what the hell was that?”. A must for Star Wars fans. - Andrew
My Animal
If Fantasia were only home to one of the world's best film festival experiences, that would be enough, but when you add in the Frontieres Market, it takes it to a whole new level. Frontieres has long been a fundamental part of the genre film ecosystem, and it's always cool when a film that began its journey at the market comes full circle to the festival. Such is the case with Jacqueline Castel's queer coming of age story, My Animal, which pitched at the 2019 market and had its world premiere earlier this year at Sundance. I can't wait to see it!
-J Hurtado
Satan Wants You
Aficionados of the 1980s global occult hysteria, later branded as the Satanic Panic, will already know that patient zero was a young woman from rural Canada named Michelle Smith. As documented in the now discredited, lurid tell-all book, Michelle Remembers, authored by her therapist, Lawrence Pazder, its questionable recovered-memory technique was used to pull unconscious recall of satanic ritual abuses to Smith as a young child. The book became a global best seller. It incited the paranoia that satanists were hiding behind every corner in the cities and suburbs of America and beyond. Not unlike the QAnon theories of today, all it takes is a spark and a culture of fear to see this kind of thing get way out of hand.
Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams have assembled a superlative mix of archival footage, interviews with many of the key players (including family members of both Pazder and Smith), as well as a locally involved police officer, a retired FBI “Mind Hunter,” Satanic Panic investigative journalists, and an articulate member of Anton LaVey’s still-running, surprisingly erudite Church of Satan.
Accompanying the film with be an extended Q&A with the filmmakers, hosted by Spectacular Optical publisher and Satanic Panic: Pop Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s editor Kier-La Janisse. [Full disclosure: I am one of the contributors to that book]. - Kurt
Larry Kent Retrospective and Artist Talk
I have long been friends with octogenarian filmmaker Larry Kent, having many meals and fiery chats on street-side patios around Montreal. The man has opinions and is a feisty raconteur. Many of his films, spanning nearly six decades (!) including the still above from Sweet Substitute, can be found reviewed here on Screen Anarchy. As Canada’s first underground feature filmmaker, Larry has been a provocateur and pioneer for decades on the Canadian film scene, working across the country from British Colombia to Quebec. He is not nearly as well-known as he should be, given the scope and breadth of his work.
Fantasia has been trying to correct this for years. This year, the festival is giving Kent the first Canadian Trailblazer Award. The festival is showing a number of his films, featuring recent 4K restorations of The Bitter Ash (1963), Sweet Substitute (1964), and When Tomorrow Dies (1965), along with a rare 35mm print of Yesterday (1981) and a special screening of She Who Must Burn (2015).
There will also be an extended artist talk, moderated by writer and professor David Douglas, creator of the Pioneers in Independent Canadian Cinema Project. - Kurt
Blackout
I am fascinated by the monster that has to stick to a schedule, the werewolf who only appears on the full moon, the sense of impending doom or anxiety before the transformation. Charley Barrett is such a werewolf who sets out on a series of personal missions to complete before the next full moon and his transformation. Barrett sets out to expose a corrupt and ruthless developer, reconcile with a former lover, and potentially save the life of a migrant worker who has been framed for murders done by Barrett in his werewolf state. Larry Fessenden remains one of the true bastions of independent filmmaking in the U.S. with the freedom to create projects that reflect his personal convictions. With only himself looking over his own shoulders, it is an envious position of creative freedom. - Andrew
Deep Sea
In the style of Chinese ink wash painting, from director Tian Xiaopeng (Monkey King: Hero Is Back), this big-budget CGI feature is bold, baroque and colourful. Exploring the sadness and loneliness of the ocean through the eyes of a young girl who was abandoned by her parents, and looking for some way to heal, this is a little more emotionally ambitious than your average CGI spectacle; certainly it is aiming for the heights of Studio Ghibli's Spirited Away. - Kurt
Lovely, Dark, And Deep
Teresa Sutherland's directorial debut -- she wrote the eerie prairie ghost story, The Wind -- promises a psychological, implacable bit of eco horror. At the very least, the primordial fear of being lost in the woods at night, as a rookie park ranger gets in way over her head, is relatable, and perhaps ripe for a reinvention with new voices. - Kurt
Late Night with The Devil
David Dastmalchian is ready for his close up! The legendary character actor takes the lead in The Cairnes Brothers' Late Night With the Devil, a found-footage journey exposing the final night of a talk show that went horribly wrong. I caught the film earlier this year at SXSW and absolutely adored it; it never tips its hand and you never know where it is going from one moment to the next. Dastmalchian really puts on a show as a TV host slowly losing not only control of his guests, but losing his grip on reality as the supernatural events he's attempting to debunk prove to be all too real. Don't miss this!
-J Hurtado
Sand Land
Adapted from Akira Toriyama's manga, this demon-infested, post-apocalyptic animated adventure arrives just in time to blend Mad Max shenanigans into stylized Japanese animation. Self described as "The adventure of a demon who stays up late and doesn't brush his teeth," it looks like a helluvalotta fun. - Kurt
