Book Worm
The opening night film looks to be a fun romp around New Zealand, with the kind of big heart, big set-piece, parenting adventure along the lines of Hunt For The Wilderpeople. Curator, producer, director Ant Timpson reunites with Elijah Wood, albeit this absentee parent/child story steers away from the R rated creep fest of Come To Daddy, aiming for more of an Amblin' Entertainment inflected family-pleasing vibe. - Kurt
4PM
A couple who have just moved out to the county side are passively terrorized by a man who shows up at their door at exactly 4pm for a social call, every day, lasting precisely 2 hours.
Social awkwardness, confusion, mystery, and suspense steep together in what sounds like a Hong Sang-Soo plot by way of The ‘Burbs sardine-eating sequence.
4pm is loosely based a Belgian novel, “The Stranger Next Door.” South Korean director Jay Song (A Friend In Need) keeps the cast to a tight three-hander, including Oldboy’s Oh Dal-soo, and Project Wolf Hunting’s Jang Young-nam. - Kurt
Infinite Summer
A new head-trip from the unusual mind of Estonian director Miguel Llansó, Infinite Summer is an effects heavy genre mash of science fiction, online dating, the wellness industry, and mystery thriller. As with his is previous films Crumbs and Jesus Shows You The Way To The Highway weird and experimental special effects and very unpredictable narrative are par for the course. - Kurt
Cuckoo
For his sophomore film, following up Fantasia breakout Luz, German wunderkind Tilman Singer has been given a significantly larger budget, 35mm film stock, and a sprawling German Alps resort location. The production design here is off the charts.
Cuckoo amplifies and expounds on everything promised from his debut, and packs a very game cast including Hunter Shaefer, Dan Stevens, Marton Csokas, Jessica Henwick and a welcome return from Luz's Jan Bluthardt. Drop in a compelling creature, and a surreal sense of humour, and this is one of a surprising crop of horror films released in 2024 - which thus far has been a very strong year for the genre. - Kurt
Cockfighter Book Launch and Screening
Gritty cinematic poet Monte Hellman made a downbeat drama centring on the world of Cockfighting in 1974 for Roger Corman’s New Line Pictures. Shot for under $400,000, and starring Warren Oats and Harry Dead Stanton, Cockfighter was ignored at the time, and one of the few movies Corman ever lost money on.
Like much, if not all, of Hellman’s work, a cult following has built over the years, not the least of which belongs curator, filmmaker, and author, Kier-La Janisse. Her House of Psychotic Women is without hyperbole, one of great books on film of the last 20 years. Recently she directed of the omnibus documentary on Folk Horror, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched, as well as overseeing many omnibus releases from Severin Films.
Her book on the film, Cockfight has been in the making for half a decade, and is being launched during Fantasia with a special screening of Cockfighter. If copies are available on a table outside the screening, you owe it to yourself to buy a copy. - Kurt
Her Horror Legacy A Discussion on Women Directing Horror Movies
Along with the huge number of incredible films, Fantasia also offers numerous panel discussion and events, and this year's panel on women in the horror movie director's chair is one such event that I'm really looking forward to.
Hosted by Heidi Honneycutt and featuring Yfke Van Berckelaer, Sapna Moti Bhavnani, Heather Buckley, Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair, Kier-La Janisse, Kristina Klebe, (our own) Izzy Lee, Maude Michaud, Toby Poser, Elizabeth E. Schuch, Lucía Forner Segarra, Jenn Wexler and Anouk Whissell, this promises to be a robust discussions of the challenges and victories of creating horror stories that everyone should see.
The panel takes place on Saturday, July 27th with free admission to all. - Josh
Darkest Miriam
In the many years of attending Fantasia, I have always tried to guess what film, on the surface that least, feels like a programming outlier in the festival's line-up. I try to see it with an audience in the J.A. De Seve cinema, where it inevitably plays. This has yielded wonderful benefits, from The Broken Circle Breakdown, to My Small Land, to Microhabitat.
This year, the film that hits the mark mark feels to be Darkest Miriam.
It follows the romantic and working life of a Toronto public librarian, who starts to find notes in the books she re-shelves. Directed by Naomi Jaye, the film is based on Martha Baillie’s novel "The Incident Report" and executive produced by Charlie Kaufmann. I have high hopes for this one, particularly after its successful Tribeca bow in June. - Kurt
Steppenwolf
Due to have its North American premiere at Fantasia, we were struck by the first image of a young woman holding a bloody hammer up to a man with a bandaged nose.
Then we remembered that we had seen director Adilkhan Yerzhanov's A Dark, Dark Man and Atbai's Fight back in 2019 and they were two of hardest films we watched that year.
On top of that the festival described their new action thriller as a Kazhak Mad Max by way of John Ford. That is a mix that we cannot wait to see. - Mack
Tatsumi
A gritty and violent Yakuza revenge-drama from Hiroshi Shôji. According to the Fantasia catalogue: "His cinematic portrayal of gang life paints a grim and realistic portrait of suffering and cruelty." Oddly, I find that compelling in a feel-good rom-com kind of way. Either way, I expect to be surprised. The film stars Godzilla Minus One's Yûya Endô, who plays a fisherman who moonlights as a body disposal man for the local gang. - Kurt
Wake Up
Canadian filmmaking trio RKSS are back at Fantasia with their latest adrenaline rocket, Wake Up. A group of twenty-something environmental activists plan to vandalize an Ikea-like superstore in protest of the damage being done to the rainforests. Unfortunately for them, the night guard on duty is a bit of a lunatic and an aficionado of "primitive hunting". Forget Tom and Jerry, this is more like Itchy and Scratchy - hyper-violent, mean, and you never know who is going to get it next. Big fun with a crowd, don't miss it! - Josh
Dead Dead Full Dead
You know I had to show out for the Indian genre film community. Debutante director Pratul Gaikwad goes hard with Dead Dead Full Dead, a comedic metaphysical mystery with more twists and turns than you'll know what to do with. When Era (Swastika Mukherjee) is found dead in her apartment, it's up to two not-very-good cops to solve the case. However, the more we learn about the crime, the less we know. It's kind of like Clue, but with more supernatural interference. It's a big bunch of fun and a great show piece for a first time filmmaker. - Josh
Frankie Freako
There is very little that excites me more than the promise of a new film from Steven Kostanski. From his work with Canadian cinema terrorists Astron-6, to his fruitful solo directing career that includes amazing stuff like The Void and Psycho Goreman, Kostanski has carved a special little place in my heart, and his new film sounds like another that was made just for me. Fellow Astron-6 conspiracists Conor Sweeney and Adam Brooks co-star in a film about a square who gets his life turned upside down when goofy monsters take over his house while his wife is away. Then: Shenanigrams! Sign me up! - Josh
Baby Assassins Nice Days
Chisato and Mahiro are back! Director Sakamoto Yugo brings back the unlikeliest assassin duo since Lone Wolf & Cub in the third entry of this wildly entertaining action franchise. Our teen protagonists are nearing the end of their childhood, and the assassins guild is asking them to grow up a little and take on a job that may be a bit out of their league. There will be conflicts both within and without, and there will be tender moments (probably), but most of all there will be crazy fun action. I can't wait to see this one! - Josh
HEAVENS: The Boy and His Robot
11 years in the making, this effects heavy science fiction feature is the first its kind --at this scale-- from Singapore.
In the Gundam tradition, it follows Kai, who dreams of joining the military's elite Mecha Corps, and builds a close relationship with his mecha while struggling to pass the academy's tests, while an interplanetary war for resources rages on forever in the background. - Kurt
Chainsaws Were Singing
An Estonian fantasy slasher musical? This is why we go to genre festivals! Writer/Director/Editor/Composer brings a ten year project to fruition with this balls out DIY passion project. I'll be honest, when I read the logline I was sold. I think I've read enough to know that this film is going to be something special. - Josh
Scared Shitless
A plumber and a germaphobe do battle with a tentacled creature. A Canadian horror-comedy from director Vivieno Caldinelli, whose short film Portal To Hell!!!, which played Fantasia in 2015, and had the unusual mix of H.P. Lovecraft, Roddy Piper, and maintenance work.
Scared Shitlessfeatures creature design by practical wunderkind Steve Kostanski (Psycho Goreman, Manborg, and that memorable kill from In A Violent Nature), a supporting role from Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney. I expect more toilet tomfoolery than should be packed into a single feature - Kurt
Dark Match
Set in the 1980s, a smalltime wrestling outfit takes a well-paying gig in a backwoods town, only to learn that the community is run by a cult leader. Lowell Dean, of Wolf Cop (and its sequel) fame, writes and directs this genre mash of action, horror and turnbuckle. - Kurt
Vulcanizadora
A delayed, tangential sequel of sorts to director Joel Potrykus’s 2014 film Buzzard, this metal-heavy, low budget 16mm feature sees two men wandering the woods to complete some sort of mysterious pact. It promises to be one of the most grim and challenging films at this year's Fantasia.
As Olga Artemyeva wrote in her review of the film, when it debut at Tribeca, Vulcanizadora is, “filled with human beings who are profoundly lonely and outcast, all wrapped in a cover of a dark comedy bordering on existential horror.” You have been warned. - Kurt
Parvulos
This is not just out of interest for Isaac Ezban’s new film, one of many that we have covered over the years - from early intellectually driven genre pieces, to more conventional-leaning fare, as of late.
This is a film made by a friend, by a family member of La Familia Morbido, someone that I have known personally for several years. And, just so we are being transparent here, it is more than just general interest. I am here to support a friend.
Does that mean I am watching it with gafas teñidas de rosa? Yes, and no. I am sure Isaac trusts me to be fair to his films. What we're witnessing is Isaac inch closer and closer to emulating the influence of the Mexican grandmaster Del Toro, a filmmaker we know he admires (as does any filmmaker with at least one eyeball, and a heart).
Mexican genre cinema does have a history of portraying children enduring horrible situations with Ezban dipping his toe into the talent pool with his last film Evil Eye and appearing to go further towards the deep end with this latest tale. - Mack
Lantern Blade
It’s time to get on board the Chinese wuxia stop-motion train. Having been inspired by a previous crowdfunding campaign and martial arts short from another Asian hotspot we’ve come to learn that martial arts animation in China is a bit of a big deal, which is why we’re excited to check out the three episodes that make up Ziqi Zhu’s Lantern Blade. On top of that we also discovered that this series will also contain Lovecraftian horror elements as well? Sold! - Mack
Black Eyed Susan
Folks, I think this one is going to leave a mark. It’ll leave a mark on me mentally, spiritually, emotionally, perhaps even physically. We have been told to expect an opening volley of strange brutality in Scooter McCrae's sex tech sci-fi horror (their first film in twenty-one years), and that the film on whole is 'not for the faint of heart'.
Derek has been hired to test the limits of Susan, a high tech BDSM sex doll created by a tech startup. He is encouraged to test the limits of her technology and his desires in a tale of frightening eroticism.
We may never want to have sex again. But hey, it features a soundtrack from Italian composer Fabio Frizzi (The Beyond). That'll make it easer to watch, surely. - Mack
In Our Blood
It is always interesting to watch a documentarian's transition into narrative film. Who better to convey the human experience than someone who has been capturing it in it's rawest form? Take that ability and dunk it into a story about addiction, loss and reconciliation. Place it in a town with a history of missing people.
Take all your filmmaking experience, and put that skill set to work into the subgenre of found footage - the nearest cousin of documentary filmmaking - and we have Pedro Kos' narrative feature debut In Our Blood. We have been promised a sad and scary slow-burn nightmare. This might call for an early night after we catch the World Premiere on the last day of July. - Mack
100 Yards
I'm in need a good old, classic-style martial arts flick. 100 Yards from Haofeng Xu (The Hidden Sword, The Sword Identity) looks like it is going to scratch that itch.
A tale of a son of a master and the master's prized student fighting over control of their martial arts school is highlighted by amazing martial arts action, beautiful production design, and gorgeous cinematography. Don't believe me? Go find the trailer. Super psyched about this one. - Mack
