Fantasia 2018--First Wave of Title Announcements

By far my favorite poster of the past 5 years!!

As I've been running around the planet, giving papers and being all sorts of academic, the year has flew by, and before I knew it, the first announcement of the 2018 Fantasia Film Festival's line-up has happened!  While one only makes final decisions once the schedule is up, I love the anticipation that builds as the event draws closer.  Of course I perused the first announcement with painstaking care to get excited about what's brewing this year.  Here are some tasty items:

Horror anthologies can be hit (all women-directed XX) or miss (the first VHS), and most fall somewhere in between (see my review of Tales of Halloween, for instance).  Still, they can be full of hidden gems, so I'm looking forward to two big new horror anthologies screening at Fantasia this summer.  First off, Nightmare Cinema will be screening on the festival's opening night, in part as a tribute to Joe Dante, who will be receiving a lifetime achievement award at the festival.  Five filmmakers will be presenting their visions of horror for the project: Alejandro Brugues (Juan of the Dead), Joe Dante (Gremlins), Mick Garris (Hocus Pocus), Ryuhei Kitamura (The Midnight Meat Train), and David Slade (30 Days of Night).  Tony Timpone is hosting, and he's great at these events--many of the directors are likely to be there.  A little bit of a mixed bag, but the conceit is that Mickey Rourke plays "the projectionist," and is the link to the five films.  Check out this picture!

Is Mickey Rourke hanging out with...Dracula??

Honestly, I'm even more excited about The Field Guide to Evil which headlines some of my favorite filmmakers for this anthology.  This upcoming horror anthology is directed by Ashim Ahluwalia, Yannis Veslemes, Can Evrenol, Severin Fiala, Veronika Franz, Katrin Gebbe Calvin Reeder, Agnieszka Smoczynska, and Peter Strickland.  So the directors of Housewife, Goodnight Mommy, The Lure, and The Duke of Burgundy are being represented here.  Check out an image from Peter Strickland's contribution:

A folktale influence in The Cobbler's Lot, Peter Strickland's contribution to A Field Guide to Evil

This image is so gorgeous, and unsurprisingly unsettling and poetic coming from a filmmaker with such skill.  The film screened at SXSW, the lucky bums.  I wouldn't miss it.

The 2014 Fantasia Film Festival was rife with time travel films/puzzle films, and I love them.  I've used quite a few films that I saw at Fantasia for my puzzle films class--The One I Love, Predestination, Infinite Man, The House at the End of Time.  I'm really hard to please when it comes to comedies, but New Zealand's Mega Time Squad sounds suitably nuts, and might be fun to insert in all that puzzle film darkness.

Two-bit criminals stumble on a time travel device in Mega Time Squad

As a "haunted house" film fan, I try to see as many of these films as possible, and this one happens to hail from Canada (a country in which I wish I lived).

Love the tag line!

The Camera Lucida section of the Fantasia Film Festival is dedicated to experimental, boundary-pushing and auteur-driven works of genre cinema, and I want to see all four of its announced titles.  These films are often like nothing you've ever seen before.  David Robert Mitchell's Under the Silver Lake has gotten some mixed reviews when it's screened elsewhere, but it looks quirky and unsettling, and I'm willing to give it a shot.  The director of It Follows has definitely got vision.

Riley Keough channeling Marilyn in Under the Silver Lake

 

The Fantasia staff tantalizingly describes Luz: 
"LUZ recalls the best of ’70s arthouse and Euro-horror (Zulawski, Fulci, and even Fassbinder come to mind), without ever giving way to pastiche or citation. Instead, LUZ is a mise-en-scène tour-de-force; an experimental subversion of the familiar possession narrative by way of avant-garde theatre – even shot in scope on gorgeous 16mm!"--You had me at Zulawski.

His eyes are a dead giveaway in Tilman Singer's Luz

 

I'm a latecomer to Josephine Decker's films--I wasn't really clued into her work when Fantasia screened both Butter on the Latch and Thou Wast Mild and Lovely in 2014 (cut me some slack, it was my first year attending).  Both films are available for screening on SHUDDER, Btw.  As someone very committed to screening work by female directors, I'm very excited to see her newest film Madeline's Madeline, which sounds suitably smart, dark, and complex.

Josephine Decker's latest film, Madeline's Madeline

And finally, but by no means, last for a reason, the fantastic director of Hausu (1977), Nobuhiko Obayashi, after having recovered from stage four lung cancer (?!) will be screening his latest film, Hanagatami.  I'm so glad he's recovered and making films, for his zany filmmaking is utterly unique.

I'm a fan of Andy Mitton's 2016 film We Go On--it's smart and nuanced with some great surprises--so sign me up for his latest solo venture, a film entitled The Witch in the Window, about another haunted house.

Andy Mitton's creepy The Witch in the Window--shades of The Sentinel?

Not to "toot my own horn" whatever that means, but I know quite a bit about erotic thrillers.  I haven't really been writing about these films for a while (Noe and Von Trier didn't do it for me), but I cannot help but be intrigued by Cam, which the Fantasia staff describes as "a surrealistic thriller set in the world of webcam erotica in which an ambitious young camgirl (“The Handmaid Tale”’s Madeline Brewer) discovers that she’s inexplicably been replaced on her site with an exact replica of herself – a replica that knows personal things only she could know, and is considerably less guarded about privacy. The control that she has over her life, and the people in it, begins to break away."  It's also written by a former sex worker, so it will have a ring of authenticity.  And it looks gorgeous.  They say it "borders on Lynchian."  Sold.

Isa Mazzei and Danny Goldhaber’s Cam sounds like an erotic thriller puzzle film

One of my favorite films screened at Fantasia in recent years is Su-jin Lee's Han Gong-Ju (2013), so when the Fantasia staff waxes poetically about Last Child (2017), I take notice.  Writer/director Shin Dong-seok’s masterpiece recently secured the coveted White Mulberry Award for Best Debut Film at the Udine Far East Film Festival, so I'm looking forward to being moved by strong Korean filmmaking.

A moving image from Shin Dong-seok's Last Child (2017)

 

Rounding up the list of titles in which I'm interested, I'm also looking at Justin P. Lange's The Dark, Parallel, shot by my cinematographic crush, Karim Hussain, The Ranger, which has also gotten some mixed reviews, but it's directed by producer Jenn Wexler, so why not.  Satan's Slaves is an Indonesian Haunted House film tempting for the title alone, and Skate Kitchen, also women-directed, about a NYC female skateboarding crew are on the list.  Here's a few last images to tempt you:

An undead teenage girl befriends a blind boy in Justin P. Lange's The Dark

Jenn Wexler's The Ranger has got a cool, punk vibe

Not quite what I expected for the film's title, Satan's Slaves

Tales of Halloween--anthology film put together by Axelle Carolyn (2015)

Demented pumpkins are just a small sinister part of Tales of Halloween (2015)

While I love Halloween (Samhain), I enjoy its symbolism and rituals more than actually celebrating the holiday the way most Americans do: doling out candy, crafting kitschy spooks, dressing in sexy cat costumes.  Sometimes the holiday seems geared specifically for kids or adults suffering from severe arrested development.  Like everything else, Halloween has become over-commercialized.  I feel similarly about horror comedies in relation to horror films.  Horror comedies seem to be tailor-made for 14 year boys, or guys that are still psychologically that age.  A really good horror comedy like Gerard Johnstone's Housebound (2014) even has to resort to toilet humor.  Sigh.  So you can imagine that Tales of Halloween, the anthology film produced and co-directed by Axelle Carolyn (Soulmate) would not be my favorite film screened at Fantasia this year.  Nevertheless, the screening was quite fun, and the crowd was really, really into it.  In fact, the film had its World Premiere at Fantasia, and some of the directors in attendance had not even seen the complete film--so that was damn exciting. 

The film has some really great moments, on which I'll primarily focus.  First off, the horror microcosm in this L.A. suburb is divine.  The film makes clear that each and every event is going on in the same town on the same night, with characters intermingled throughout the different shorts and keeping to a consistent timeline.  The town in which the film's events take place makes perfect sense, even amidst all the craziness. Adrienne Barbeau's DJ character (an homage, among so many, to The Fog) holds everything together as she narrates over the shorts.  There's some gore, some spookiness, but primarily a lot of humor--and frequently that humor is both sly and smart.  All of the films are riddled with horror cameos from actors and directors alike (Lin Shaye, Barbara Crampton, Barry Bostwick, John Landis, Stuart Gordon, Mick Garris, Adam Green, and all the segment directors make notable appearances).

Axelle Carolyn's Grim Grinning Ghost was the most accomplished and atmospheric film of the bunch

One of the scariest pieces is Axelle Carolyn's Grim Grinning Ghost, which not only highlights smart, attractive female characters, but also is by far the most sophisticated and atmospheric of the shorts.  Carolyn places her main character in believable peril.  Lucy McKee's Ding Dong is a pretty sly mashup of Hansel and Gretel meets a melodrama about a sexy witch desperate to have a child, and the negative thoughts and desires that Halloween, a night rife with little kids, provokes. Adam Gierasch's Trick starts off with me thinking one thing (these kids are EVIL), and ends on another thought entirely (maybe these two couples deserved it).  While Mike Mendez's Friday the 31st is utterly over-the-top with too many cliches for my taste, his use of stop-motion animation to craft the most adorable alien elevates this short to a whole other level.  Both cute and ICK.  Finally, Neil Marshall's Bad Seed ties the whole universe together, and is a wonderful homage to Halloween 3, a tragically underrated film.

Tales of Halloween effectively captures the night's hijinks w/ teenage boy glee and mayhem

The rest of the shorts, well...as I said before, teenage boys, and those teenage boys trapped in the body of an adult, are going to LOVE this film.  The other shorts have enough gore (Sweet Tooth, Friday the 31st, Trick), teenage girls in very short skirts (Sweet Tooth, The Night Billy Raised Hell, Friday the 31st) and a heady mixture of teen and pre-teen boys as protagonists (Sweet Tooth, The Night Billy Raised Hell, The Weak and the Wicked).  The film has something to offer for every kind of horror fan.

During the Q & A after the film, Carolyn explained that the project really came about because they all hang out at each other's houses in L.A. and watch horror together (and often share holidays, like Thanksgiving).  My first thought was "I want to hang out with these people," and then my next was "where are all the women directors?"  Axelle Carolyn definitely is "one of the boys," but I wish she had wrangled more women to direct, because maybe then the film wouldn't be so testosterone heavy, and her husband, Neil Marshall, wouldn't make such bone-headed comments as "she's the best looking director here."  Really?  Who says that about male directors?  Isn't Darren Lynn Bousman pretty enough for you?? I'm pretty sure this film is going to be a hit, and I hope that Carolyn continues to make atmospheric films.  Another feature from her would be awesome.

31 Days of Horror--Day 1 V/H/S (2012)

Remember when Dark Iris used to blog?  Heh.  Those days seem so long ago, before I was buried by a rampaging semester full of academic labor.  I feel like I've fallen off the writing wagon, and I have to do everything in my power to get back on!  So, here's day one of my quest to write a blog post EVERY DAY about a different horror film (with some creative stretching of the genre's boundaries at times).  I cannot say that my posts will be that scintillating, or explore these films with the depth and attention they deserve, but whatever.  This blog makes me happy, so I'm invested in keeping it going.  As this month, October, is the ideal month for all things horror, and my birthday month, I'm going to copy some of my favorite horror sites and celebrate the month with style and flare, and create a list!  Too bad I'm starting things off with such a crappy and disappointing film. **Some spoilers ahead, but I'll try to keep some of the film's secrets.

V/H/S is one of those oh-so-fashionable anthology films, like the rather cool Trick 'r Treat (2007) or the scary looking The Theater Bizarre (2011).  I'm super-excited about The ABC's of Death (2012) consisting of 26 short films, many of them directed by women.  Yes!  But back to V/H/S (2012).  None of its films are directed by women, and boy, can you tell.  Multiple heavy sighs.

THE GOOD

After seeing so many found footage horror films post Paranormal Activity, one doesn't have a whole lot of patience for that genre, but The Sick Thing That Happened to Emily When She Was Younger has some legitimate scares and quite the twist ending.  Emily is maintaining a long distance relationship with her beau, James, via Skype, and she just happens to be haunted at the same time.  Of course.  This film hints at some "sick thing" that happened to Emily in her past, but never fully reveals what's happened (or is happening) until the short's final moments.  The webcam gimmick actually works, and the viewer is only privy to what James seems to be seeing onscreen (which unfortunately truly aligns the spectator with a voyeuristic and sadistic male gaze).  Emily not only believes that she's being haunted, but in rubbing and complaining about a lump in her arm, she's soon gouging a hole into it with an Exacto blade, creating some real YUK moments.  Big surprise, Emily seems pretty crazy.  Meanwhile, James, who happens to be studying to be a doctor, proves he's a really crummy boyfriend by not dropping everything and promptly showing up at her doorstep.  He proves to be far worse than a mere crummy boyfriend, and the revelation about his character, and Emily's past includes surgery, babies, and aliens, oh my!  I thought this short was at least surprising and clever, even though it featured the horrifying victimization of women and the exploitation of their terror at the mercy of some patriarchal a**hole.  Notice that I've placed this analysis under the GOOD category.  Mumblecore director Joe Swanberg does a decent job here, but that's not saying much.

10/31/98 focuses on a foursome of genuinely nice guys (a rarity for this film) on their way to a Halloween party.  They are dressed in costume, good-humoredly tease each other, and do not assault, disparage, or insult women in this short.  One of them has a nanny cam in their costume (as a giant, furry teddy bear) so we get to see the four of them wander through the house via crappy technology.  To their surprise and dismay, no one seems to be at the party, but "weird things" start to occur that they attribute to an elaborate "haunted house" set-up created by their missing hosts.  The men try to laugh off the scary things they see, all agreeing that the "stunts" sure are effective!  When they stumble upon what appears to be a religiously based female sacrifice in the attic, the guys assume that it's all an act--until the fire-and-brimstone rednecks stab the poor woman in the gut.  At first, they all flee, but then "fuzzy bear" decides to be a hero, and the rest follow suit, rescuing her while the evil rednecks are attacked by some unseen malevolent force.  They hightail it out of there carrying the injured woman, and run to their car, all the while chased by the mysterious scary thing.  Things do not end well, and I felt genuinely disappointed.  They were good guys!  Not like the rest of them.  Ugh.

THE BAD

Women are evil creatures who will seduce you, deceive you, and then literally castrate you, don't you know?  They'll either devour you because they like you (Amateur Night), murder you for kicks because they are secret lesbians (Second Honeymoon), or use you as bait in order to prove that they really aren't crazy and there is a psycho killer at camp blah, blah (Tuesday, the 17th).  Also, I hope you like breasts, because they are exposed or obsessively gazed upon in every short in this anthology.  Seriously. 

And Ti West, what the heck were you thinking??  All the positive feelings I held toward the creator of the great House of the Devil (2009) and the not-as-great-but-not-bad The Innkeepers (2011) have since curdled after watching his Second Honeymoon short.  Killer lesbians indeed.

AND THE UGLY

The technological aspects of the film are really quite contrived, with everyone always documenting their every move and moment.  Yes, those characters who use the technology for lascivious or nefarious purposes often pay a steep price, but one has to sit through their rampant misogyny in order to witness their just desserts.  Creepy Wendy tells her "friends" that they are all going to die on their camping trip, and each are attacked by some weird "video artifact" creature.  She has brought them to the woods as bait to prove the killer is still out there.  They all die, Wendy captures it on camera, and then she's gruesomely disemboweled.  Nice.

The guys in Amateur Night equip their nerd friend with an eye-glasses camera, and then set up scenarios for him to voyeuristically observe.  At one point, after bringing a drunk girl back to their hotel room, the disgusting Shane disappointingly realizes that having sex with an unconscious woman is not okay.  So then he hits on Monster girl, who appropriately shreds him and his buddies.  The misogyny of these scenes far outweighs the satisfaction one might get from seeing them all slaughtered, and female sexuality is once again vividly and graphically demonized.

The most egregious male behavior occurs in the film's bracketing narrative Tape 56, where a bunch of sexist jerks decide to put aside their money-making business of assaulting women and filming their terrified response as their clothes are ripped off in order to steal a valuable tape for some real money.  The reasoning behind this caper is utterly preposterous, and the guys are picked off by some old guy one-by-one as they watch each tape--this collection of lovely snuff films that the viewer simultaneously watches with them.  Almost every short in this anthology is insulting, repulsive, and reeks of hatred and fear toward women.  I'm getting pissed off just thinking about this film.

So, one might ask, why am I blogging about this horrible and hateful film?  Because I want to tell anyone thinking about renting or purchasing this film NOT TO DO SO!!!  I still wish I could bring those 2 hours of my life back, but at least I have an object on which I can unload my feminist rage.  Negative stars!