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Northern Exposures: FanTasia Report #1
Filed under: Comedy », Documentary », Horror », Independent », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », SXSW », Mystery & Suspense », IFC », Festival Reports », Shorts », Fantastic Fest », Other Festivals »
After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.
Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle, Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.
Read the rest at HorrorSquad!
SXSW Review: Black
Filed under: Action », Foreign Language », Independent », Thrillers », SXSW », Theatrical Reviews », Cinematical Indie »
A groovy 70s-style adaptation of Richard Strauss' Also Sprach Zarathustra (you know, the theme music from 2001: A Space Odyssey) sets a funky tone for the opening of Black, which moves briskly and efficiently from a slickly-shot "armored car robbery gone bad" in Paris to a modern update of Shaft in Africa to a lunatic, witchy, bastard offspring of Cat People and Ssssss. It's gloriously lunatic.
All credit to screenwriters Lucio Mad and Gábor Rassov for conjuring up such a fantastic tale, and to director/co-scenarist Pierre Laffargue for framing the action in such a realistic manner. If those names sound suspiciously French to you, yes, people, this is another crazy French genre flick; think of it as the Gallic cousin of The Bourne Identity if Jason Bourne was an ambitious, African-born Parisian criminal set loose on the streets of Dakar, Senegal.
The title character, played by rap artist MC Jean Gab'1 (District B13), survives a botched heist and then gets a phone call from his cousin in Dakar. It seems that a tiny bag filled with big diamonds has been placed in a local bank's safe deposit box for safekeeping, and cousin has the key to the box. All they have to do is blow through inadequate security and pay off a few underpaid guards, and the diamonds will be theirs. Black's eyes light up, and before you can count to three, he's on a plane to Dakar with three of his buddies.
Black was born in Senegal but moved away as a child and has never returned. He views his homecoming through opportunistic, criminal eyes, disgusted by the poverty and apparent simplicity of the people, and all too ready to take advantage of his cousin's tip. His arrival is the tipping point in a series of ever-escalating, mad adventures.
Hey, You Got Your Fantastic Fest in My SXSW!
Filed under: SXSW », Fantastic Fest »
And boy does it taste awesome! As you probably know, and with all due respect to the Austin Film Festival, the two coolest film festivals in Austin have combined their cinematical magic ... and the result is six more flicks that will tickle the eyeballs of any self-respecting genre fan. This is the first year that Fantastic Fest has contributed to the SXSW slate, and it sure looks like the partnership is off to a great start.The six flicks are: French action flick Black, Thai mayhem sequel Ong Bak 2, the world premiere of The Haunting in Connecticut, a blisteringly good Aussie thriller called The Horseman, the awesome-sounding British import Lesbian Vampire Killers, and the Canadian zombie effort Pontypool, which played Toronto last September and got some rather good notices.
Of the six, I've only see The Horseman, and I think it's a damn good film. DAMN good. It's about a father whose runaway daughter is found dead after appearing in a homemade porno flick, so he goes on a ruthless road trip of revenge. Only he didn't expect to pick up a young female hitchhiker along the way. (It's not a comedy.)
For more info on these flicks, I refer you to post-jump and / or the official SXSW website.
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