Festivals: Fantastic Fest

International Genre Focused Hub 'Fantastic Pavilion' to Launch at Marche du Film at Cannes

Variety had the exclusive yesterday, an announcement of the creation of Fantastic Pavilion, "... a significant booth and exhibition space located at the Cannes Marché du Film in the Palais des Festivals".    Announced this week during Ventana Sur in...

Fantastic Fest 2022 Review: SMILE Opens Wide

Writer/director Parker Finn had me asking one question prior to my viewing of Smile: Would the film simply coast on a creepy visual gimmick or, like It Follows (2016), take that idea and do something genuinely unnerving with it? Things...

KIDS VS. ALIENS Teaser Promises a Colorful And Gory Romp

All Gary wants is to make awesome home movies with his best buds. All his older sister Samantha wants is to hang with the cool kids. When their parents head out of town one Halloween weekend, an all-time rager of a teen house party turns to terror when aliens attack, forcing the siblings to band together to survive the night.

SPOONFUL OF SUGAR: Shudder Acquires Mercedes Bryce Morgan's Psychological Horror

Shudder have announced that they have acquired the streaming rights for Mercedes Bryce Morgan's psychological horror flick, Spoonful of Sugar. The film will have its world premiere at Fantastic Fest this coming Saturday.   Millicent is taking a semester off...

Fantastic Fest 2022: SMILE, MISSING, THE FIVE DEVILS, AMAZING ELISA Kick Things Off

Fall festival season kicks into high gear tonight in Austin, Texas, where the 17th edition of Fantastic Fest opens with its usual gusto. Smile, Missing, The Five Devils and Amazing Elisa are the films that have been chosen to screen...

The GNOMES Are Coming To Fantastic Fest... And Feature Length Cinema

For some time, Dutch director Ruwan Heggelman (Mime, I Can Fly) and producer Richard Raaphorst (director of Frankenstein's Army) have been working on several projects, but one of the funniest of these must be their gory short Gnomes. In it,...

SOLOMON KING: Deaf Crocodile Releases Trailer For New Restoration of Long-Lost Independent Black Crime Film

Deaf Crocodile released a trailer for their restoration of the long-lost black crime film, Solomon King. The wholly independant flick was the work of writer/director/actor/producer/ Sal Watts way back in 1973/74. At the beginning of the year Deaf Crocodile formally announced...

KING ON SCREEN: Yellow Veil Pictures Acquires World Sales For Doc About Stephen King Adaptations

Few other authors have had as many of their works adapted to film and televison like Stephen King has. With so many adaptations out there documenting it all must have been a monumental feat in itself. Belgian actress and filmmaker...

Fantastic Fest 2022: SMILE and TRIANGLE OF SADNESS to Bookend 17th Edition

In some places, 17 is the legal age to do a lot of things you don't necessarily want your parents to know about. In Austin, Texas, 17 is the legal age to celebrate Fantastic Fest. One of our favorite genre-focused...

THIS IS GWAR: Doc About The Notorious Heavy Metal Band Coming to Shudder

Shudder keeps boosting its Summer schedule with the acquisition of This is GWAR, Scott Barber's documentary about the notorious and outrageous heavy metal band.    You will get to experience a behind the scenes look at one of the most...

Review: SHE WILL, Empowered by Truth and Mythic Magic

She did. That is, Charlotte Colbert did. She’s one of a few first-time directors who turned in great movies at this years edition of Fantastic Fest. What seemed like it may be a grim and broody revenge horror fable becomes…...

Interview: Noomi Rapace and Valdimar Johannsson Dish Up LAMB

For those who have already seen Lamb, an interview with its star, Noomi Rapace, and its director, Valdimar Jóhannsson, may provide welcome clarification. For those who haven't, said interview might provide a warning. Lamb is not casual cinema. Its odd...

Fantastic Fest 2021 Review: LAMB May Not Be What You Think

Whatever the trailer may make you think, maybe it's best just to let go of your preconceptions before watching Lamb. This is the kind of cinema to go into blind, ready to connect with characters and the journey they find...

Fantastic Fest 2021 Review: BARBARIANS, Hell Really Is Other People

Not to be confused with Barbarians (the Netflix series), Barbarians at the Gate (Wall Street robber barons), or even Waiting for the Barbarians (the already forgotten adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author J.M. Coetzee’s novel), the latest film with the word...

ALONE WITH YOU: Raven Banner Boards Fantastic Fest Thriller

Only a couple weeks ago we announced that Dark Star Pictures acquired the thriller Alone With You ahead of its world premiere at Fantastic Fest. The debut feature film from Emily Bennett and Justin Brooks starred Barbara Crampton alongside Bennett,...

COP SERET: Future Festival Dates For Hit Icelandic Buddy Cop Comedy

A tough super-cop, in denial about his sexuality, falls in love with his new partner while investigating a string of bank robberies where nothing seems to have been stolen.   This is a public service announcement that the Icelandic buddy...

HOMEBOUND Exclusive Clip, Like it Used to be With The Kids

Holly’s excited to finally meet fiancé Richard’s three children for the first time at a birthday celebration for his youngest. Taking place at his ex-wife’s secluded home in the English countryside, Holly is nervous at the proposition of being a...

Fantastic Fest 2021 Review: PREMAN, Indonesian Action Flick Delivers Heart, Emotion, and Kicks

At one point in writer-director Randolph Zaini’s feature-length debut, Preman, Pak Guru (Kiki Narendra), a depth-free, mustache-twirling villain, marvels that the best laid plans of gangsters, gang bosses (like him), and a Buddha-like real-estate developer have gone sideways due to...

Fantastic Fest 2021 Review: IKE BOYS, Kindhearted Tribute to Sentai's Life Lessons

The story goes that back in the late 60s a dynamic anime director in Japan made a very ambitious movie that bombed at the box office. Shelved in the company archives the film escaped a warehouse fire and became the...

Fantastic Fest 2021 Review: LET THE WRONG ONE IN Lets Audience in On Joke

This is the most fun I’ve had in a vampire comedy since What We Do in the Shadows.   The comparison needn’t stop there but this is no imitator. Full of original characters, hysterically gross practical effects, and a take...