Jason Gorber's Picks
Dark Places - French Director Gilles Paquet-Brenner reunites Mad Max: Fury Road co-stars Charlize Theron and Nicholas Hoult in this creepy thriller. Theron is the survivor of a cult massacre who then implicates a family member in the act. Decades on a group of amateur investigators try to set the record straight. With Chloë Grace Moretz and Christina Hendricks added to the mix, the film promises to be quite a showcase for some powerful performances. This studio pic may appeal as more mainstream fare, but as long as it's as good as it looks to be who cares if it's not simply genre esoterica - we're here for the films to be good, not simply picking berries off the beaten path!
The Docs - Fantasia isn't exactly ground zero for non-fiction filmmaking, but their programmers due a good job at highlighting films from other festvals that deserve to be seen by such an educated and enthusiastic audience. Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made is a particularly welcome addition, as is The Visit. I'll hopefully (and finally) get to catch (T)error, a flick about an FBI informant that takes a doc crew along on a sting. docs about Turkish Pop Cinema, a Karate master in The Real Miyagi and the schlock-rock doc I Am Thor round out the slate.
Roar - I screened this a few months back at CUFF in Calgary, and encourage one and all that are attending the fest on the first Friday to give this minor masterpiece a shot. I'm no fan of bad-for-bad-sake, but there's a majesty about the giant cats in Roar matched with an almost sociopathic lack of tact that makes this wonderful flick such a delight. It may be my favourite terrible film of all time, if only because scene-by-scene you're seeing something you've simply never witnessed before.
Cooties - I adored this film when it played back at Sundance 2014, yet directors Jonathan Milott and Cary Murnion have tweaked it further to make it even Cootie-er since then. Elijah Wood, Alison Pill, Rainn Wilson and Jorge Garcia make for a hell of a kids-vs-adults romp, a perfect blend of horror and comedy that's sure to please.
Bite - One of the Word Premieres at this year's fest, Chad Archibald's take on a Kafkaesque bridal mishap looks to be a bunch of silly yet also hopefully scary fun. Archibald's also producing Antisocial 2 that's bowing as another world prem, so he's got quite the showcase for his flicks in Montreal. We'll see if this slice of Canucksploitation serves up a piece that's tasty, or if we're in for a nasty treat instead.
Michelle "Izzy" Galgana's Picks
While it's folly to select just a few films out of a three-week festival to showcase, here are a few I'm looking forward to, among many.
Lady Psycho Killer from Nathan Oliver follows a budding co-ed serial killer who fends off some notable lecherous men, like Ron Jeremy, Malcom McDowell, Michael Madsen, and a Baldwin. I'm prepared for bloody camp with a sticky dose of John Waters influence.
She Who Must Burn is the latest from Larry Kent, a veteran Canadian filmmaker who has been watching the real-horror antics of some very fucked up religious groups in America. It seems that a woman who has opened up a clinic for women's health services in a small town has gotten on the wrong side of a fanatical cult, who thinks they should cleanse the woman... with fire.
They Look Like People (read Ben's review here) by Perry Blackshear looks by all counts to be a low-fi psychological thriller and paranoiac masterpiece. A man receives a call to prepare for the coming war between humans and the other. It's not quite apparent as to what the other is --- demons, monsters, aliens --- but it doesn't matter. The plot is similar to the underrated Frailty, but without the religious bent.
Anima State (read Josh's review here) by Hammad Khan could be an important Pakistani film. It features a man with a bandaged head (which he wears to keep his head from exploding) running around and offing people from all social classes when it suits him, but beneath the surface story, there's a deeply political undercurrent here that looks worth pursuing.
Kurt Halfyard's Picks
The Interior - Canadian writer-director Trevor Juras looks to be putting his takeaways from Werner Herzog's Rogue Film School into action with his debut feature The Interior. Shot on location in the forested interiors of British Columbia, a young man who is fed up with everything in his life goes into the woods to be alone, but soon finds out he is not. The atmospheric trailer for the film promises slow-burn kind of affairs that leaves a lasting impression.
Crumbs - Weird, weird, weird Ethiopian post-apocalyptic science fiction Crumbs is a gamble I am hoping will pay off. The trailer is baffling, the plot seems to defy any kind of synopsis and it's signature image of a spaceship hovering in the sky over a burned out planet feels less like an imitation of District 9, than a Samuel Beckett inspired comedic satire of Neill Blomkamp's allegorical big budget blockbuster. There is simply no way to tell without seeing the film.
Børning - Norwegian Cannonball Run? That is about as concise a pitch and value proposition that one can offer in a film. Peppering in old-school muscle cars, the impressive landscape involving thousands of kilometers of near-arctic coastline highway, and apparently there is even some drama and characters (including Kon Tiki's Anders Baasmo Christiansen and Trollhunter's Otto Jespersen) in the mix. Børning, which roughly translates to "Burnout," was huge hit in Norway where it apparently outsold Guardians of the Galaxy at the local box office and indeed, there is a lot of promise here that I hope the film will deliver.
Cash Only - I am intensely fascinated with the 21st century metamorphosis of Old Detroit. And director Malik Bader looks to offer a very unique experience from the perspective of the Albanian criminal community in the city. The film has a street-level grit and desperation that looks to go to dark places that are not for the squeamish. If anything, the film recalls Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher Trilogy, and that is a damn good thing.
Andrew Mack's picks - CanCon
Fully aware that Fantasia is an International festival I always look forward to getting my fill of goodies from far away lands. However, one cannot forget that our ‘home and native land’ dishes out just as good genre fare as anyone else. So do not forget to fill your bellies on these homegrown talents.
Far and away the biggest Canadian title to hit the festival this year will be Turbo Kid. If you are attending the festival and you have not heard about Turbo Kid then there is nothing that can be done for you. Your viking funeral awaits you on the shores of the Saint Lawrence River.
The folks at Black Fawn Films are returning to Fantasia with two World Premieres, Bite and Antisocial 2. I’ve watched Bite and if there is a stickier and ickier film at the festival this year then I have not looked at the program hard enough. Another Canadian outfit that has done quite well for itself is Astron-6 and some of the lads from that group made The Editor. You might have heard of it.
On the evening of the 27th there is a double bill of Canadian independent projects that will be worth your time. Starting with the vigilante flick The Demolisher starring Black Fawn regulars Ry Barret and director Gabriel Carrer. Following that screening stick around for Trevor Juras’ The Interior and rekindle your love for camping in the woods and plunges into insanity. Both films are having their World Premiere at Fantasia.