Fantasia 2017--Animals--Greg Zglinski

Marital strife creates psychotic confusions in Greg Zglinski's Animals/Tiere (2017)

Fantasia rocked my world yesterday with its first of two screenings of Greg Zglinski's Animals (2017), a powerful and disturbing German film that ups the WTF quotient in terms of narrative twists and turns, all through a female character's troubled narration.  I haven't felt this thrilled and pumped about a German film since Fantasia's screening of Goodnight Mommy in 2015.  While I was disappointed that the director wasn't there to talk about his film, it was probably for the best, because I could just imagine some of the questions posed during the Q & A.  What exactly happened during the car accident?  How does Anna's novel relate to the film's events?  What is going on in the locked room in both apartments (a locked room--paging Freud)?  What's up with the suicidal animals (it starts with a goldfish)?  In my estimation, each and every one of these questions only triggers new ones, producing such a myriad of cinematic pleasures, I'm grinning wildly while I write this review.

Anna's combination of paranoia and ennui anchors the film

Ostensibly, the film follows Anna (Birgit Minichmayr), a children's book author embarking on her first grown up novel while vacationing for 6 months with her husband, Nick (Philipp Hochmair), a chef and serial flirt who she believes is undoubtedly cheating on her.  They rent their apartment out to a rather untrustworthy house-sitter named Mischa (Mona Petri) who breaks every rule they give her, and looks strikingly like the woman who lives on the third floor, Andrea (Mona Petri as well), and the woman at the ice cream shop in Vevey (Mona Petri yet again!)  In fact, the doppelgangers here fly fast and furious, and space and time lose all their boundaries.

Chef Nick decides to butcher the sheep he hit with a car (nice that they shaved it first)

Things go decidedly pear-shaped when Anna and Nick, en route to their house in Switzerland, hit a sheep, landing Anna in the hospital with another head injury (she had bashed her head tripping over a skateboard prior to their journey).  All this head trauma makes Anna not only rather unreliable, but forces her to question what is real and what is not at every turn.  Both Anna and Nick have very weird dreams about being killed by the other, and one cannot tell where dream begins and reality ends, or who is actually dreaming, and who is awake, and when.  This type of confusion leads to some pretty darkly humorous moments, with a creepy-looking talking black cat tying the different worlds together. Such FUN!

Mischa wants to find out what's behind the door

Head injuries abound, as Mischa seems to have her own series of mishaps, falling and injuring herself numerous times.  She encounters Andrea's ex, who insists that she is Andrea (hello, same actress), and there's a suicide that happens, or doesn't, and it's not certain when exactly.  Zglinski deliberately dresses Anna and Mischa in similar clothes, in mirrored spaces, experiencing similarly injuries--all to tie the two characters, and both their confusion and curiosity, tightly together.  Then, there's Andrea, who lives on the third floor, or not, and is Anna's alter ego, or not.  The crazy gets upped to eleven when Anna reads her novel (on which she cannot remember working) and it contains characters named Anna, Nick, and Mischa.  What???

Is Nick more than a catalyst for Anna's fantasies/nightmares?

Unsurprisingly, I zeroed in on Anna's rich and confused interior life, and how both her apartment in Germany (traversed primarily by Mischa) and her house in Switzerland, possess mysterious doors behind which lies...???  The film's mysteries keep one constantly guessing.  That's why I'm not sure how to read Nick's character.  Is he just the cheating catalyst for Anna's paranoia, or has he slipped into this film's alternate dimension/timeloop/marital hellhole along with Anna, after the accident?  Or is he really just a fictional character in Anna's twisted novel?  I have very few answers in this first time viewing, and hope beyond hopes that the film gets a strong distributor so that I can watch it again, numerous times, very, very soon.  A masterpiece, but I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from Fantasia.

Fantasia 2017--The Honor Farm--Karen Skloss (2017)

A lackluster prom night is transformed by shrooms in Karen Skloss's The Honor Farm (2017)

Prom Night can be a great setting for horror films, especially because this "event" in a teen's life is so fraught with both expectation and disappointment.  Karen Skloss's The Honor Farm sets her surreal and dreamy coming-of-age tale on this fated evening, as teen Lucy (Olivia Grace Applegate) and her BFF Alice (Katie Folger) bounce back from their bummer evening to hang out with some "freaks and geeks," including the goth-cool Laila (Dora Madison) and the heartthrob J.D. (Louis Hunter) on their way to the sinister "Honor Farm"--a former prison, now abandoned, that is rumored to have been the site for murder, torture, and ritual sacrifice. Oh, and did I mention that they are all tripping on mushrooms??  That's the kicker, and part of the real charm of the film.

Tripping teens bonding over awesome/nightmare visions

Drew Tinnin from Dread Central writes that the film contains, "Imagery of the occult and moments that would make David Lynch proud;"  and indeed, the film's surrealist and evocative images are dependent on the inclusion of psychedelics to the narrative.  While it may not be the wisest choice to visit a haunted abandoned prison on one's first "trip," Lucy and Alice are in remarkably friendly and supportive hands.  The kids who introduce them to drugs are not horrible teens, and throughout their journey bond in changing groups of two, three, and four.  Yet the majority of the film focuses on Lucy, who early on is established as having a rich fantasy and dream-life.  Her voice-over grounds the film and gives spectators a perspective through which to experience the film's world.  

Lucy's narration and POV really emphasize the female-oriented focus of the film, and as it was co-written by Skloss and her teenage daughter, the film's voice feels very authentic.  The Honor Farm carries forth the wonder and anxiety involved in being a teenage girl, and much of the film's occult imagery replicates some of the pagan goddess/wiccan symbolism out there, while also exploring tropes of femininity and virginity common to the coming-of-age genre.  One of the striking cameos that is uncredited on IMDB is the role of Laura--a woman who appears to be the victim of a sexual assault/pagan sacrifice, but becomes more of a trigger for Lucy's incipient transformation from girl to woman.  I didn't get a chance to ask Skloss (whom, btw, was just so warm, friendly, and cool) at the screening, but I'd swear that brief role is played by Michelle Forbes, who always elevates every work in which she plays a part. If not, she's a definite look-alike, channeling a goddess figure similar to her Maenad character in True Blood.

J.D. and Lucy "meet cute" in the oddest places

The film contains moments that are just a touch too "teenage" for my tastes, as the sudden romance between J.D. and Lucy attests.  Still, I admire that Lucy was portrayed as a young woman with burgeoning desires, unafraid to express them, and all the male characters in the film, while almost entirely supports for the female characters, were not jerks, or dicks, or a-holes (except, maybe, Lucy and Alice's original prom dates).  I think that J.D.'s unabashed sweetness and respectfulness for Lucy was written very thoughtfully and carefully from a female POV to both appeal to and educate audience members on the politics of representation.  One also gets the sense that the experience this group of 8 teens share will create some very strong bonds.

The girls attack with makeshift weapons

While I'm really not a fan of horror comedies, The Honor Farm made me laugh out loud many times, from the pitch perfect representations of tripping on mushrooms (with all of its assorted fascinations), to the spunky, intrepid way the female characters showed strength, curiosity, and resourcefulness.  None of these young women are your average victims, and some of the lines popping out of their mouths not only felt "teen-real," but were downright hilarious.  Further, Sinclair's (Liam Akin's) enthusiastic munching of the entire bag of shrooms led to a spot-on interpretation of an owl, and an impromptu call to one's Mom adds just the right tone.

Teens hide from the crazed Dentist

Not to say that there are not some genuine scary moments in the film.  The "honor farm" itself is the perfect setting for a bunch of claustrophobic scares, heightened by the dimly-lit flashlights employed and the truly sinister underground tunnels.  When some of the kids stumble upon what looks like a ritual sacrifice, with a baby lamb in tow, things take a real turn toward the dangerous and terrifying.  What makes the Honor Farm really unique is that you actually care about these kids, and much of the menace is hoping that nothing too terrible happens to them.  Strikingly, the film never makes certain what actually happens in the film's diegesis (because shrooms), and that ambiguity really makes an artful impact on the film as a whole.  For her debut fiction feature (she has a feature documentary under her belt), Karen Skloss creates a moving portrait of girlhood with all of its fears and pleasures, and places it in an ambiguous dream realm both scary and funny.  A triumph, and I hope she continues to work in the genre for years to come.

Fantasia 2017--Killing Ground--Damien Power (2016)

Every sound is threatening in Damien Power's Killing Ground (2016)

IFC Midnight, a purveyor of some pretty damn good horror movies (The Autopsy of Jane Doe for one) screened Killing Ground (Damien Power, 2016) last night at the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival just a few days short of its release in the U.S. and VOD.  Since I live too far from a proper city to really experience films in theaters overmuch, I depend on IFC Midnight to show me the new stuff.  Their social media coordinator was there to hand out posters and blu-rays and stir up the crowd, which was fun.  AND the film was sold out, so the Fantasia crowd craves horror!  I would say that the film was...good.

Still, not as groundbreaking or innovative as one would like.  The Blair Witch Project (not Wingard's remake) still wins my vote for scariest camping movie, but I do have a penchant for "vacations from hell" horror--with either troubled couples (The Strangers, Vacancy) or ones on the verge of marriage (Echo Lake).  Killing Ground skews toward the latter as the film joins us with Sam and Ian as the cute couple, newly affianced, decide to go camping for New Years in the Australian outback.  Indeed, the setting they choose does seem really pretty, but they arrive to find a tent nearby, and hope that their celebratory privacy won't be spoiled by their neighbors.

Bored Em should never go camping with her parents

The film cuts frequently to two other stories: one concerning teenage Em and her family, including the toddler moppet, Ollie (adding yet another contribution to the baby in peril horror subgenre).  The other story follows German and Chook, two slightly menacing morons who you just KNOW are going to be the unfortunate source of all the danger and violence.  The film gives them little to no backstory: they have a vicious dog named Banjo, German was in prison, and they are both kind of dumb.  That's it.  Why are they violent psychopaths--for kicks it seems.  The film really did remind me of Wolf Creek, albeit not as scary, and with villains certainly not as compelling.

The step toward unique the film takes is by mixing up the timelines of the two "victims'" stories, while intermingling the thugs throughout.  This jumping back and forth through time is really quite effective, and not immediately noticeable (the family is hanging out a few days after Christmas while Sam and Ian arrive on New Year's Eve). What happens in those few days in between is what creates the sharp tension and dread in the film.  We both KNOW what's going to happen, but do not quite KNOW, and that slippage will make you just the right amount of queasy.  The puzzle starts to fit together piece by piece in a way that makes you re-examine some of the earlier scenes moments after watching them.  Kind of cool.

Chook is your garden-variety dumb psycho redneck

Australia's Outback certainly isn't a hospitable place to camp, as thrill killers German and Chook make clear.  While I really like the way the film spends some time with them in order to jumble the linear storyline, and I understand that we are supposed to loath them, these killers are just a bit too pathetic.  I guess I didn't quite appreciate their more quiet menace, and wanted them to be more over the top (a la John Jarratt in Wolf Creek).  These two are just not that scary, and I wonder if that's a side effect of spending too much time with them.  You know almost exactly what they are going to do, rather than being surprised by their shenanigans.

The Baby in Peril trope was not overly annoying

I really do appreciate some of the choices that Power makes in the representations of violence in the film, although I think forgoing the sexual assault and the baby in peril storyline would have helped matters even more.  As expected, the crowd cheered when Sam started to really develop a backbone, relying more on herself than her "doctor" boyfriend to figure things out.  Classic Final Girl moxie.  I think my favorite thing about the film is when Sam realizes that Ian is not exactly the "husband material" she thought he was.  Another "vacation from hell" revealing unfortunate truths.  People, what do I have to say to make happy couples avoid camping in the woods as a way to instill intimacy in their burgeoning relationship!  DON'T DO IT!  Do not go into the woods today, on the advice of some sketchy local, and just hang out in a nice bar in Melbourne instead, holding tight to your romantic delusions.  Killing Ground is fun, but ultimately a little too derivative to properly thrill and chill.

Cate Blanchett Shines in Manifesto (Julian Rosenfeldt, 2017)

Cate Blanchett's Rock Star iteration in Julian Rosenfeldt's Manifesto (2017)

Some people might say that they would see Cate Blanchett in anything, that she really elevates a film to a whole other level.  I tend to agree, although Blue Jasmine, directed by "he who shall not be named" is a strike against her.  Still, if you loved her as Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes's I'm Still Here, Julian Rosenfeldt's Manifesto really allows her talents to shine.

Blanchett takes on a series of personas to deliver monologues on a variety of Manifestos

If you are looking for a film with a narrative arc, then this film is NOT for you.  It consists of a series of vignettes, where Blanchett takes on a host of different characters: choreographer, homeless person, conservative housewife, financial broker, news anchor, puppeteer, etc.  She then spouts a series of monologues written, largely, by famous white guys, who pontificate on art and life in various "manifestos."  She covers a broad range of works that had me chuckling throughout and reliving some of grad school's finest moments--surrealism, communism, futurism, situationism, minimalism, conceptual art, and even the Dogme 95 guys.

Cate's choreographer shouts at a bunch of dancing Xenomorphs while spouting Fluxus theory

This litany of theories might sound rather boring, but the film is really and truly visually dynamic.  Rosenfeldt uses carefully composed frames, stunning set pieces, and many long, aerial shots to keep the film formally attractive and enticing. One of the standout scenes is when Choreographer Cate puts together a rather unusual dance performance while spouting Fluxus.  Another scene has Widower Cate going on about Dada at a funeral.  The collisions of sound and image are witty and smart.  One of my favorites has Schoolteacher Cate teaching a bunch of grade school kids how to follow the Dogme 95 rules.  My one caveat is that sometimes I felt distracted by the soundtrack and the visual track, as if I was struggling to place the ideas in a monologue, but was so delighted by the images onscreen, that I just kind of gave up.  The references are fast and furious, and made me want to reread some of the quoted theorists while also going through the film very slowly in order to catch everything.

Puppeteer Cate unpacks Surrealism

Would this film fly with someone not steeped in some of the most important artistic and cultural theories of the 20th century?  I don't think so, UNLESS you are a huge Cate Blanchett fan.  Then, who cares what she's going on about--her performances are extraordinary in Manifesto, and gives me hope that there are still plenty of smart people out there who would truly dig this unique and inventive film.

I Kind of Love I LOVE DICK--Jill Soloway (2016)

In Chris's fantasy, Dick (Kevin Bacon) snuggles a lamb in I Love Dick (Jill Soloway, 2016)

I'm not much of a binge-watcher, even though I know it's all the rage these days.  Yet, I found myself whipping through the entire 8 episode season of I Love Dick (Jill Soloway, 2016) in the last couple days.  Granted, the entire series clocks in at less than 3 1/2 hours, so it's not that much of a time suck.  Yet, I did not want this show to end!  Let me regale you with its pleasures, of which there are so, so many.

So Many Women!--Jill Soloway, Chris Kraus, Andrea Arnold, and all the women-directed clips.  Wow!!

First off, this show is created, written, and frequently directed by WOMEN.  I'm sure you have heard of Jill Soloway from her hit Amazon show Transparent.  While that show carries her trademark thoughtfulness and wit, this new show is a different fish.  The show does similarly highlight nuanced and sophisticated representations of women, but it focuses very specifically on women's interiority and desire.  If a show deliberately tried to embody a "female gaze" in its characters, then this show IS IT!

The show follows Independent filmmaker Chris Kraus (the author of the feminist novel I Love Dick on which the show is based, and one of the series' producers) as she moves to Marfa, Texas to be with her husband, Sylvere, an academic doing work on the Holocaust at a residency at the Marfa Institute.  She does not originally plan to stay in Marfa, until she has her first, rather fateful encounter with Dick Jarrett, a famous minimalist artist who runs the institute and basically draws acolytes to his desert artist's retreat.  (While Kraus was writing about media theorist Dick Hebdige, the show seems to be having fun with someone more along the lines of Donald Judd, who did have a foundation in Marfa, although he was NOT the charismatic cowboy played so winningly by Bacon on the show).

Dick (Kevin Bacon) busily mansplaining at dinner

During dinner, Dick tells Chris that women cannot be filmmakers because they are just not passionate enough and that their oppression gets in the way.  Chris points out "Jane Campion, Sally Potter, Chantal Ackerman," but Dick is a first-class Dick of the highest order.  Instead of dismissing this guy as a sexist a-hole, though, Chris gets highly stimulated by this battle, and it's "GAME ON."  He becomes her muse, and drives her creative writing of a group of "Dear Dick" letters that shake the town, and everyone's lives, including Dick's.  And she will not be muzzled!

Kathryn Hahn as the sexy, beautifully-flawed, and creatively inspiring Chris Kraus

Hahn's Chris is a bit of a hot mess, but wildly funny, and as the show goes on, deeply admirable and somewhat inspiring to those around her.  She has an incredibly rich fantasy life and it fuels the creativity of others, including Dick himself, who when she meets him hasn't created a new piece in over a decade.  The wry digs at the precious academic and art world community in Marfa are actually very gently cutting, making fun of the artist and academic residency racket in a rather kind, but genuinely funny way.

Chris's desiring letters fuel a creative upswing among the Marfa community

Chris is not the only female artist/academic on which the series focuses, as her letters stimulate everyone in the town, especially Toby (India Menuez) who writes on the formal aspects on hard core porn, and is inspired to create her own performance piece (one that is called out for its own entitled privileges).  Paula (Lily Mojekwu) is the curator of the Marfa Institute, but her hands are tied by Dick's stranglehold over the exhibitions.  She wants to curate feminist work by women!  By far though, the show is often stolen by Roberta Colindrez's Devon, a queer Latinx who is inspired by Chris and Sylvere's drama next door to write a play and construct a performance that lifts the men of the town up high.  She is sexy, charismatic, and the heart of the show in many ways.

Sylvere (Griffin Dunne) and Chris's (Kathryn Hahn) marriage transforms over time

The show really never wavers from Chris's desires.  They drive the series.  Nevertheless, I Love Dick is also a careful examination of a contemporary marriage and people who truly love each other exploring who they are and what they need.  While Sylvere can be a bit of a "dick" many times, his love for Chris is pretty unshakeable, and he wants her happiness above all.  His encounters with Dick change him in important ways.

I Love Dick highlights women filmmakers in extraordinary ways--here Carolee Schneeman's Fuses (1967)

The show is also an educational journey into some of the best female experimental filmmakers' work, including pieces by Schneeman, Chantal Ackerman, Marina Abromavic, and the beloved Maya Deren, among many others.  Not only does the show formally and stylistically manipulate the politics of representation, but it also deliberately inserts feminist work to remind people that women are creative forces with which to be reckoned.  This show inspired me to think about using more experimental work in my Women Directors class, or, quite simply, requiring students to blog about this show.

While there are many deliciously sexy people on the show, and the whole atmosphere is riddled with desire, I have to give kudos to Kevin Bacon's handling of Dick.  He serves as the object of desire, and muse, for so many creative and talented women, and he handles that mantle quite well, admitting to feeling flattered and humiliated in equal measure.  Dude.  Welcome to our world.  See this show.  For a very brief time commitment, it's really, REALLY great.

Fantasia Film Festival 2017--Time to Get Excited!!

The poster for this year festival is pretty magical!

Finally!  We've reached that marvelous time of year when Montreal blossoms into full summer and shows three weeks of the most fantastic films at the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival.  Poring through the listings, as usual I've chosen too many films about which I am excited, and I have to be a little more practical and make some hard choices.  I stood in the epic line at Concordia waiting for the box office to open today, and now, tickets in hand, I'm ready to talk cinema. I have tons of films to discuss, but I have to start with my second favorite film of all time, which is screening on the final day of the festival.

The Kaleidoscopic Phantasmagoria of Dario Argento's Suspiria (1977)

Fantasia is showing the first public screening of Dario Argento's technicolor masterpiece, a remastered 4K version that I've heard about, but never thought I'd be lucky enough to see!  The film follows Suzy Bannion as she attends an ominous European school of dance--one that's full of Witches.  The set pieces of this film are so gorgeous, the imagery so incredibly surreal, if you have not seen this film yet, you are missing out.  It takes my breath away every single time.

The film is the perfect cap to a pretty intense festival, with some really dark films--just the way I like them.  Here are some of the goodies!

Camping will kill you in Damien Power's Killing Ground (2016)

I kind of hate camping.  I grew up in a very rural area, and my sister and I spent a lot of time in nature--a lifetime's worth, in my opinion.  I like cities.  Power's film promises to be another "vacation from hell" horror, where the bourgeois couple (w/kids), out of their element, must fight to keep their family alive.  I'm one of those sick people who likes to see it all go to hell.  This film will be released in the U.S. later in July, but why wait and watch it VOD?

Prom Night and Shrooms from a female perspective in Karen Skloss's The Honor Farm (2017)

As people who read this blog know, I am pretty invested in there being more female directors, especially in the horror genre; so I make it mandatory that I try to see as many woman directed films at Fantasia as I can.  Here's the first, and I have not heard of it, so I'm excited.  The beauty of Fantasia is that they bring the directors in to talk about their films, and Skloss will be around to discuss her coming-of-age horror film that has been touted as "Lynchian."  When Lucy's prom night is less than stellar, she gets persuaded to go to the Honor Farm, an old abandoned prison, and take Shrooms.  What a premise.  The film was co-written by Skloss's teenage daughter, so perhaps this film is only the beginning of a women's horror dynasty!

Kira inadvertently sheds her skin in Norbert Keil's Replace (2017)

In contemporary western culture, a woman's beauty is a treasured commodity, so horror films are a common place to explore female monsters hungry for aesthetic perfection.  Norbert Keil's Replace is yet another male-directed film seemingly trying to comment on how culture makes women into avaricious monsters who will stop at nothing to achieve the highest beauty standards (think The Neon Demon and Starry Eyes).  We'll see how well he does.  Showing something does not necessarily mean you are critiquing it!

Writer/Director/Star Marianna Palka loses it in her latest film Bitch (2017)

Another woman-directed gem at Fantasia--this one follows a woman who undergoes a psychotic break and "assumes the psyche of a vicious dog" as IMDB explains.  Looks like it might be darkly funny and perhaps a bit too real...and I heart Jason Ritter, even if he plays her philandering, no-good husband.

Voyeurism can get you into trouble in Stefan Ruzowitzky's Cold Hell (2016)

I've been hearing about Cold Hell for quite some time, and I feel incredibly lucky that Fantasia is screening it in the big SGWU Hall, where it will get the dazzling display it so richly deserves. Ozge witnesses a serial killer next door, and he sees her looking, and goes after her.  She's no "damsel" though, more a worthy adversary for this misogynist piece of trash.  The film just looks gorgeous.  Check out the trailer here.

A Mashup of Italian Gothic and Giallo on offer in Giordano Giulivi's The LaPlace's Demon (2017)

I think Ariel Estaban Cayer describes this film so perfectly: "Short of bringing Rod Serling back to life, THE LAPLACE’S DEMON – unfolding like an all-time great TWILIGHT ZONE episode directed by Guy Maddin, in turn channeling his inner Mario Bava and Val Lewton – will send you right over the edge, and into a new dimension of terror, madness… and cinematic pleasure."  Indeed, I'm so excited to see this film!  It does look like a cross between The Cat and the Canary with a classic Bava or Freda film, and a dash of The Legacy thrown in for kicks.  And it's in Black and White.  Sold!

Jun-young must escape a deadly time loop in Sun-ho Cho's A Day/Haru (2017)

Two summers ago, Fantasia seemed to be obsessed with time travel, with film such as Infinite Man and The House at the End of Time as two prime examples.  Properly intrigued by the trendiness of the concept, last fall I decided to teach a Puzzle Films class, where we explored all manner of repeating storylines and time loops (a la Looper, Groundhog Day, Source Code).  Call me hooked, but I have to see this new South Korean time loop thriller, AND the director will be on hand to experience what's sure to be thundering applause.

A hallucinatory image from the pagan Eston, an fable November (Rainer Sarnet, 2017)

This Estonian B & W beauty, November, is supposedly based on a popular Estonian novel Rehepapp, which combines "magic, black humor, and romantic love."  After watching the trailer, I really do not ultimately care what it's about, for the film looks utterly gorgeous.  When contemporary filmmakers do black and white, that choice is very deliberate, creating a very specific mood and atmosphere.  The rich and evocative cinematography of this film is enough to convince me--but I am a sucker for a beautiful image.  This film has so many.

Ana Asensio writes, directs, and stars in the harrowing Most Beautiful Island (2017)

Another triple threat woman director arrives at Fantasia with a film that is far too timely--the story of an immigrant woman who comes to the U.S. and struggles to stay above the poverty line.  As the U.S. has become increasingly inhospitable to immigrants, women, and especially immigrant women, Ana Asensio reveals this living nightmare in horrible and revelatory detail.  I'm going to miss her discussion at Fantasia because I'm going to see A Day.  I'm torn!!

Depraved fantasies reign in Gabriela Amaral Almeida's Brazilian Thriller Friendly Beast (2016)

Some of the most exciting work I've seen at Fantasia can come from films of which I know nothing, debut features by directors (sometimes women) just bursting with talent.  Sarah Adina Smith's The Midnight Swim (2014) immediately comes to mind.  That film was revelatory, and she continues to make strong, compelling work.  So I'm enthusiastic for Brazilian director Almeida's debut feature, Friendly Beast, and she will be there to talk about her film.  Love all the Q & As!

Noelle seduces with malevolence in M.F.A.(2017), Natalia Leite's take on the Rape-Revenge thriller

You'd have to be living under a rock to miss that the U.S. has a rich and varied rape culture, and that sexual assault statistics do not begin to describe the realities of the physical and emotional violence perpetrated on women.  I think that's why the horror genre can be so satisfying for female spectators--it gives us a safe space to experience fear, violence, and sometimes, vengeance.  More than any other genre, in horror, women fight back.  While the genre has its share of women monsters, the ones with which we can sympathize are often the most powerful and persuasive.  Natalia Leite will be at Fantasia to talk about her film, and I'm sure she'll address some of these issues.

Nothing like Horror for the Holidays in in Chris Peckover's Better Watch Out (2016)

I love a good holiday horror film.  Last year's Tales of Halloween (2016) was a pretty fun anthology that premiered at Fantasia, but Halloween is the typical holiday for horror.  Xmas is supposed to be about family, giving, community--so violating those precious experiences is that much more horribly satisfying.  My favorite Holiday horror movie is Rare Exports, but I'm willing to try out other options.  This Aussie film has a dumb adolescent boy crushing on an older girl (his babysitter), and I guess we're supposed to find that charming, but I'm still trying to get over the abject creepiness of Crazy, Stupid, Love and it's deranged babysitter crush.  Ugh.  Despite that premise, its been touted as a mashup of Home Alone and Funny Games, and I certainly love the latter, so I'll give it a shot.

Okay, I'm on the fence about these next two films playing at the exact same time in different theaters.  As I said, I have to make the hard choices.  First up, Takashi Shimizu, of Ju-on fame, has a new film with scary ghost children, and he really knows how to do scary ghost kids.

Not just one scary ghost kid, but a passel of them in Takashi Shimizu's Innocent Curse (2017)

The trailer has some pretty cool imagery as it intimates a creepy pied piper story, and the kid's homework: BRING DEATH TO ADULTS!  This kind of sh** happens when you piss kids off. Looks super fun.  The competing films are two female directed exploitation films--A Double Feature and a World Premiere:

Latina women tearing it up in Jenna Cavelle's Blood Heist (2017)

 

An all-female biker gang delivers expected violence in Melanie Aitkenhead's Blood on Wheels/Blood Ride (2017)

I teach a cult and exploitation film class and I'm always searching for female directors.  We've got Doris Wishman....and that's mostly it.  Stephanie Rothman a little bit, Roberta Findlay, maybe.  So two women directors premiering their films at Fantasia--awesome!  Here's the catch: both are produced by James Franco.  You might have heard of him, right?  The multi-degreed, multi-hyphenate cinematic "auteur?"  I'm not a fan of his, to put it nicely.  The question is: are these films going to be groundbreaking, or are we looking at female wannabee Grindhouse or Machete films; films that do women no favors whatsoever.  I guess these films will test the "female gaze" at work, and I'm super-intrigued.  But Ghost kids!!  What to do?

Moscow gets its own destructive alien fantasy film with Fedor Bondarchuk's Attraction (2017)

I saw a trailer for this gonzo Russian alien film nearly a year ago, and I never forgot it.  Now the film is playing at Fantasia at a blink and you'll miss it afternoon screening, so I encourage everyone to GO!! The trailer is super intense, and the alien ships lay waste to Moscow beautifully.  I do have a soft spot for aliens blowing sh** up, but I still think the way to go (in case of alien invasion) is the "peace-loving" exceedingly smart Arrival (2016).  Loved that film, but excited about this one too.

Right wing fu**wits turn the U.S. into an even more dangerous place in Bushwick (2017)

As you may likely know, the political climate in the U.S. right now is acutely polarized, with both sides vehemently opposing the other.  The country is filled with depressed people mainlining drugs and alcohol, and a bunch of sore winners endlessly tweeting that the Declaration of Independence is just some "liberal propaganda."  Cognitive Dissonance abounds as some of us cannot even comprehend the mindset of some others of us.  So imagine this turn of events leading to a rather logical conclusion, and some of the Southern states attempt to secede, starting a new civil war.  Fiction or Premonition?  I just have to see Bushwick, if only to prepare for our inevitable future.

Majestic natural beauty meets animal rights eco-horror in Agnsieska Holland's Spoor/Pokot (2017)

Agnieska Holland is one of the most brilliant women directors on the planet (see her early work like Europa, Europa, and Olivier, Olivier for starters), and she's been really busy with television work (as women directors are wont to do between their far too few films).  So imagine my heart-stopping thrill when I saw that her latest film, Spoor, would be making its North American debut at Fantasia!  As per usual, the trailer reveals a film that is equal parts poetic and mysterious.  She is such a talented artist, and this film will certainly showcase her gifts.  And nature fights back!!

Haunted men amongst haunting imagery in The Endless (2017)

Anyone into horror knows Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead.  Their debut feature Resolution (2012) put them on the map, and their follow-up, Spring (2014) solidified their cred.  I'm embarrassed to say that despite knowing all about their films, I've yet to see one.  To remedy that, I'll be watching their latest The Endless (2017), which focuses on two men returning to an ominous cult from which they escaped years ago.  Fascinating, and they'll be at Fantasia in person!

The rampaging monster of Dick Maas's Prey/Prooi (2016)

The Dutch horror film Prey (2016) has a killer lion in it.  Do I really need to say more?  Watch the trailer and you'll be convinced.  A giant lion chases a famed lion hunter who is stuck in a motorized wheelchair (the hunter only has one leg--coincidence?)  OMG this film is going to be tons of fun!

I haven't listed all the films that I want to see, but these films are the definites, with still some decisions up in the air.  Stay tuned for my coverage of the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival and all its wonders!!

Fantasia 2016--We Go On--Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton (2016)

Miles (Clark Freeman) wants proof of life after death, but is also afraid to find it in We Go On (2016)

I am afraid of dying.  Most people are.  I keep hoping some hot vampire will invite me into his or her immortal club with a kiss, but the window in which I'm okay with living in this body forever is rapidly closing.  Still, I try not to think about my impending death too much IRL, and channel those fears into the pleasures of the supernatural horror genre.  Is there life after death?  It's a question that haunts us, and no one is more plagued by this question--to the point of phobia--than strapping but terrified Miles (Clark Freeman) in Jesse Holland and Andy Mitton's sharply-written and fiercely intelligent supernatural thriller We Go On (2016).

Miles and his Mom (Annette O'Toole) sift through the viable answers to his ad

With the help of a small inheritance, Miles attempts to alleviate his crippling fear of death by placing an ad saying that he will give $30,000 to anyone who is able to give him "definitive proof" of life after death.  Of course, he gets his share of nutters and hoaxes, but with the help of his Mom, who's kind of worried about this particular project, they narrow things down to three viable options (and some maybes): a professor, a medium, and some guy with a magic box (like the Hellraiser box, people)!  I'm not going to give away what happens with any of these folks, but suffice to say that once a certain door opens, or once you squeeze the toothpaste, or whatever cliche applies--there's NO GOING BACK.  Or is there?

Miles's fears start leaking into his waking life

The smart writing and strong performances in this film are nicely counterbalanced by some choice visuals, and I really appreciate a film with this strapping white guy lead who is both terribly flawed and scared of everything.  We're so used to white guy heroes blundering about on a testosterone-fueled hubris mission that to see a man constantly freaking out, yet clearly set up as the film's hero, is damn refreshing.  Despite Clark Freeman's commendable performance, every scene is stolen by Annette O'Toole as Miles's morally questionable Mum.  She's fiercely protective of her son, but not in a cloying way; rather, she's a shoot first and then ask questions kind of lady.

Nelson (Jay Dunn) lurks around a graveyard

Kudos to Jay Dunn for making the LAX-loving Nelson initially benign and a little sad, to twitchingly menacing shortly later.  Dunn and co-director and writer Andy Mitton were there for a Q & A after their film screened at Fantasia.  Mitton admitted that he "believes in the paranormal," and that he's the "no doubt believer" while Jesse Holland is the skeptic, creating a creative balance between the two.  Both men, with Jay Dunn, all went to Middlebury College, and as a professor at a small liberal arts college myself, I know the kind of spark that can ignite a creative group of students to produce great things.  Middlebury should be very proud.  We Go On is a smart and frequently witty thriller, and I hope it gets a wider release so more people can see it!