On its fourth day, the Neuchâtel International Fantastic Film Festival in Switzerland continues debuting new genre films -- notably the world premiere of French thriller Year of the Shark, which is very good, and which I'll detail in my review, publishing later today, and the international premiere of supernatural crime thriller Ashkal, which my colleague Shelagh Rowan-Legg will be reviewing later today -- alongside second screenings of titles that debuted during the first three days, including "magical realist eco-fable" The Cow Who Sang a Song into the Future, "morbid weight watching" in Family Dinner and queer body horror in Hypochondriac, which are all recommended by our reviewers.
So, it's probably a manic Monday for our friends in Europe, and will call for some judicious schedule studying. Perhaps you'll be able to fit in the 'shark night' titles Deep Blue Sea and/or Tintorera: Killer Shark, or perhaps Karyn Kusama's quite excellent Jennifer's Body.
Or perhaps you'll turn your attention to one of the titles in our gallery below?
Saloum
Screens today at 22:00 and again on Thursday at 22:15. Visit the official festival page to learn more
"The Saloum Delta in Senegal is a land of cannibal myths and cursed kings," advises our own Kurt Halfyard in his review of the film from last year's Toronto International Film Festival. "Nowhere is this more true than in Congolese director Jean Luc Herbulot's supernatural skinwalker of a film that brings West African mythology to the criminal getaway thriller.
"The director and his creative partner, Paméla Diop, have stated that their film is not a heroic movie, but a movie about heroes. Heroes that we have not seen before. The revenge story at its core taps into the anti-hero western vibes that can be set anywhere from Australia to South Korea. Saloum is a loving home for this vision in Senegal."
Who Can Kill a Child?
Screens today only at 0:15. Visit the official festival page to learn more.
"Grim holiday horror," in the words of the festival. Our own Kurt Halfyard had a little bit more to say about this 1976 Spanish classic, directed by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, and summed it up this way:
"If you are only going to see 5% of even just the horror films made worldwide, the original Who Can Kill A Child? should be one of them."
Visit the official festival page to learn more about today's programming.