Leaves are falling and there's a mild chill in the air. It's Fall Fest Season and that means Fantastic Fest! It's a big year for new genre flicks and some of the best will be playing in Austin from September 21 - 28 and the good ol' Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar. We'll have plenty of coverage as the fest unspools. But ahead of that, here's a spotlight on just a few of the titles.
Infested (aka Vermin)
Sébastien Vaniček's feature debut is this uber creepy-sounding French horror about a spider on the loose in an apartment complex. The film premiered at Venice under the title Vermines. -Ryland Aldrich
Kill
The Raid on a train is the simplest and most effective way of describing Nihil Nagesh Bhat's Kill. A love-struck solider learns that his paramour has been surreptitiously betrothed to another by her father. He goes to her and convinces her to elope, but when their train is beset by well organized, murderous bandits, this soldier will do anything to keep his lover safe. And if he can't, everyone will pay.
Uber-violent, fast paced, and with a central twist that launches the film into the revenge movie stratosphere, Kill is the ultimate experience for fans of punching, kicking, stabbing, and smashing. You know who you are. - J Hurtado
Enter the Clones of Bruce
David Gregory of Severin Films has directed some incredible documentaries, like Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley’s Island of Dr. Moreau. This time, with Enter the Clones of Bruce, Gregory tackles the peculiar period after the sudden death of legendary martial artist, actor and filmmaker Bruce Lee, where a bunch of impersonators – including Bruce Li, Bruce Lai and Bruce Le – starred in the movies that birthed the Bruceploitation subgenre. - Eric Ortiz
Crumbcatcher
A crumbcatcher lets a waiter clean your table in one quick swipe, hence its nickname, the silent butler. But what if there was a crumbcatcher that caught more than just crumbs? And what if the not-so-silent obnoxious inventor of this device showed up unannounced late one evening, grumpy wife in tow, determined to prove his idea will revolutionize the restaurant industry?
Produced by indie legend Larry Fessenden, Crumbcatcher is rumored to be a wild ride full of unpleasant characters doing unpleasant things to one another. Which is one way of saying it sounds like it absolutely belongs at Fantastic Fest. - Dave Canfield
Concrete Utopia
South Korea's entry for this year's International Oscar is this tense tale of high-rise hierarchy. Originally based on an internet cartoon, this feature adaptation is directed by Um Tae-hwa and stars Lee Byung-hun and Park Sea-joon. -Ryland Aldrich
Animalia
Sofia Alaoui's feature career is off to a great start with this first full-length film premiering at Sundance (where she previously won Grand Jury Prize for a short). The film is a dreamy, Moroccan-set road movie with a distinctly genre thrust. It's excellent and well worth seeing on a big screen. -Ryland Aldrich
Strange Darling
JT Mollner's (Outlaws and Angels) latest is this hotly anticipated serial killer thriller making its world premiere at the fest. It stars Willa Fitzgerald, Kyle Gallner, Ed Begley Jr., and Barbara Hershey. -Ryland Aldrich
Caligula:The Ultimate Cut
Caligula (1980) belongs to that group of movies that straddle fandom. Some love it mainly for its excess Others because of its place in film history and undeniably interesting production schedule. Many just want to see what all the fuss has been about.
This lush visual spectacle certainly contains something to offend nearly everyone in it’s new, nearly three-hour runtime. But it also offers a far more fleshed out version of the film, reconstructing it to include major subplots brought to life by a stunning array of acting legends. including Helen Mirren, Peter O’Toole, John Gielgud, and Malcolm McDowell, the latter of whom will be on-site to accept a lifetime achievement award. - Dave Canfield
The Toxic Avenger
As a huge Troma Entertainment aficionado, I’d be highly doubtful of a modern retelling of their most iconic picture: The Toxic Avenger, that 1980s cocktail of superhero movie, gore, irreverent humor and social commentary. However, the team behind this Lloyd Kaufman produced remake makes me think we’re in good hands: Jeremy Saulnier’s collaborator Macon Blair was behind the camera, while the great Peter Dinklange became Tromaville’s quintessential toxic hero. - Eric Ortiz
Kim's Video
This documentary about the eponymous video store and its huge collection of movies is a must see. It's also better to go in knowing as little as possible. It premiered at Sundance and has played a bevy of fests, including Tribeca and Telluride. -Ryland Aldrich
Divinity
Eddie Alcazar's latest is a wild and wonderful story of a mad scientist that is perfectly captured in gritty black and white 16mm. It features some incredible animation and a wonderful cast of Stephen Dorff, Scott Bakula, and Bella Thorne. -Ryland Aldrich
Totally Killer
Fantastic Fest's closing night film is Nahnatchka Khan's time travel slasher that stars Kiernan Shipka, Julia Bowen, and Olivia Holt. Its produced by Blumhouse and Divide/Conquer, and will be coming to Prime Video soon. -Ryland Aldrich
Restore Point
From the Czech Republic comes a fascinating vision of the future in Robert Hloz's feature debut. Technology has advanced to the point where humans can essentially live forever, thanks to the creation of the Restore Point, a process by which people can be brought back to life in the event of an untimely death without missing a beat. If it seems unnatural to you, you're not alone; a faction within society also finds this subversion of nature's plans to be troubling, setting them and the powers that be on a collision course. - J Hurtado
Your Lucky Day
The recently departed Angus Cloud (Euphoria) stars in this Christmas Eve-set thriller about a lowlife thug, a dead cop, and a $156 Million lottery ticket. It's directed by first time feature director Dan Brown. -Ryland Aldrich
UFO Sweden
Inez Dahl Torhaug is Tomi, a young woman whose father one day went out to chase a UFO in the woods and never came back. Having lived for years with the idea that she was abandoned, Tomi tried to start a new life. However when evidence begins to appear that indicates that maybe Dad was on to something, she engages his old conspiracy crew, UFO Sweden, to try and track him down.
The result is a propulsive film that is less about aliens than it is about self discovery and realizing that no matter how crazy the cosmos is, it's nothing when compared to what happens when your heroes fail you. - J Hurtado
Battle Paradise vs. Inferno
This screening is destiny for yours truly. I graduate this year with a Master's in Theological Studies and my emphasis has been on the culpability of Christian mass media in the fermentation of moral panics.
Having already dived deep into Indicator’s fabulous Ormond Family box set showcasing the films they did with ultra-conservative evangelist Rev. Estus Pirkle, I can’t wait to go a little deeper. Have no doubt this will be a raucous screening of vintage Christian scare films. But beyond the kitsch value were the seeds that such fare planted for moral panics around Satanism, the occult, the new age, children’s television programming, and rock n’roll, which destroyed careers, families and maybe even many of the souls of those who bought into them. - Dave Canfield
What You Wish For
Nick Stahl stars in Nicholas Tomnay's (The Perfect Host) sophomore feature about a holiday retreat to the Central American rainforests, filled with intrigue. -Ryland Aldrich
Secret Screenings
Fantastic Fest’s secret screenings are always exciting for us and they clearly understand this, because this year they programmed four!
I’d say it’s possible that Eli Roth’s grindhouse slasher Thanksgiving is going to celebrate its world premiere at FF. They have also shared on social media stuff about David Fincher’s new thriller The Killer, so maybe we get to watch on the big screen this Netflix production.
Blumhouse’s new take on The Exorcist, The Exorcist: Believer, could also play at the fest just before its October theatrical release. I’m also hoping for Kitano Takeshi’s samurai film Kubi, given that it hasn’t gone to a lot of festivals after its Cannes premiere. With four different secret screenings scheduled, maybe it will be all of them! - Eric Ortiz
ROAR: Doug Benson Movie Interruption
I've only seen one Doug Benson Interruption. It was Roar at Fantastic Fest. I've only seen Roar once. It was a Doug Benson Interruption at Fantastic Fest. I've told many people about this once in a lifetime hilariously wonder adventure. Miraculously it's happening again (not once in a lifetime, apparently). Don't miss it! -Ryland Aldrich