So: this is my first pass through the Fantastic Fest program. Of the 70 or so features programmed, I figure I can see, at max, 35. (No more than 5 per day, minus some parties and such like.)
So I've broken the program into six sections. But of course I have incomplete information. And so, if you're reading this and can advise, please do.
(Asterisks mean director or someone relevant in attendance.)
CAN'T MISS
++a boy and his samurai
(director of FISH STORY)
++american werewolf in london*
(classic + Rick Baker in person + chance to get Mondo poster)
++beyond the black rainbow*
(STALKER + LOGAN'S RUN + early 80's VHS aesthetic? I'm there)
++clown*
(Fantasia award winner, looks like insane disreputable fun)
++comin' at ya! 3d*
(restored screening of when 3D meant having fun with the genre? Hell yeah!)
++extraterrestrial*
(director of TIMECRIMES)
++livid
(directors of INSIDE; looks goofy, stylish, and unhinged; TIFF selection)
++milocrorze, a love story
(sounds insane; good press reviews)
++movies on fire!
(vintage Hong Kong insanity, yay)
++revenge: a love story
(from the DREAM HOME production team)
++sleep tight*
(REC director, good description)
++smuggler
(director of TASTE OF TEA and FUNKY FOREST, neither of which I've seen but both sound like insane Japanese fun; positive review from Michael Sicinski (scroll down))
++underwater love
(Christopher Doyle-shot mermaid love story)
++yellow sea
(missed this at NZFF to my chagrin; everyone loved it there)
++zombie ass
(MACHINE GIRL director; it's called ZOMBIE ASS. I doubt any film, for better or worse, will epitomize the Fantastic Fest experience as much.)
REALLY WANT TO SEE
+body temperature
(Japan)
+boys on the run
(Japan)
+bullhead*
(insane premise plus Fantasia awards)
+carre blanc
(on description alone)
+the corridor
(good Fantasia reviews)
+the day*
(TIFF Midnight Madness)
+el infierno/el narco*
(high IMDB rating; Mexican drug black comedy; 145 min may prove challenging to schedule; title on program is el narco but trailer is for el infierno, weird ...)
+house by the cemetery
(old Fulci)
+karate robo zaborgar*
(MACHINE GIRL director again)
+kill me please*
(MAN BITES DOG producers, good premise, good review)
+a lonely place to die*
(awards at actionfest)
+melancholia
(Lars Von Trier, raves from some trusted friends; other chances to see on big screen keep it from ++)
+michael
(very mixed reviews for chilly Austrian profile of a pedophile, but the good reviews convince me it may be up my alley)
+penumbra
(stylish trailer, hyped director - COLD SWEAT, which I haven't seen)
+rabies
(good fest reviews)
+sennentuntschi
(one positive review)
+snowman's land
(on description alone: Coens being invoked gets my attention)
+summerland
(on description alone: "Oscar and Lara have an entirely normal family other than the fact that Oscar runs a haunted house in their basement and Lara speaks with elves.")
+yakuza weapon*
(VERSUS director)
+you said what?
(on description alone: "The producers of DEAD SNOW re-imagine Takashi Miike’s AUDITION as a rom-com and make Peter Stormare ride a paper mâché dragon shrieking that he is the King of Darkness.")
INTERESTING ...
~~aardvark*
(mixed notices, blind alcoholic who does martial arts still sounds up my alley)
~blind
(I can't remember if I even saw ARANG; I have a negative impression in my head of it. stock premise, but split screen in the trailer caught my attention)
~~the devil's business*
(mildly positive Kim Newman review)
~~elite squad 2
(good reviews but will probably be available easily in the future)
~~headhunters
(good reviews at home; might be slickly generic …)
~~juan of the dead*
(Cuban setting intriguing but zombie fatigue)
~~knuckle*
(mildly positive fest reviews)
~~last screening
(avg review but stylish giallo comparisons)
~~new kids turbo*
(looks aggressively stupid, like a TRAILER PARK BOYS/BACK OF THE Y hybrid, which could be enjoyable depending on my mood)
~~pastorela
(sympathetic to concept [namely, man loses role as Satan in Xmas parade in Mexico and goes crazy]; trailer looks uninspiring)
~~sleepless night
(TIFF midnight madness)
~~the squad*
(mildly promising trailer, despite meh color grade)
~~the stoker
(Balabanov of CARGO 200, who I've never seen any films by; try to watch something before FF)
~~you're next*
(didn't gel with what I saw of POP SKULL, but was impressed enough to think that Wingard deserves a 2nd look)
HMMM
~bunohan
(gangland, kickboxing. trailer looks mildly promising but possibly not too exciting)
~calibre 9*
(looking at the trailer, could be blood-spurty fun)
~how to steal 2 million
(dark on African action after being let down by VIVA RIVA and nothing sounds novel here)
~invasion of alien bikini
(zero budget is losing its charm for me quickly)
~julia x
(3-d serial killer with Kevin Sorbo as its big selling point? Hmmm.)
~let the bullets fly
(got a collective shrug at NZFF, from what I remember.)
~polvora negra
(generic sounding premise)
~two eyes staring
(didn't they already make THE ORPHANAGE? the trailer looks pretty much like that.)
NAH
-borderline
(meh on the trailer)
-manborg
(cringy trailer)
-the retreat
(bad fest reviews)
-the holding
(bad frightfest reviews)
-urban explorer
(bad fest reviews)
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE
--comicon
(Morgan Spurlock)
--human centipede 2
(really not my thing. let's leave it at that.)
ALREADY SEEN:
the innkeepers*
(HIGHLY recommended - a great old fashioned scare film. May go back if it's being projected on film.)
the loved ones*
(strongly recommended for those with a strong stomach.)
snowtown
(didn't enjoy and have major issues with some of its choices, both aesthetic and story-telling wise, but it's certainly a bracing experience.)
take shelter
(this didn't work for me, but i appear to be in the vast minority)
versus*
(I adore it.)
zombie
(this is the one where a zombie fights a shark, right?)
