A couple of weeks ago, I bit the bullet and booked my trip to Fantastic Fest, a movie festival focusing on genre film (mostly horror, fantasy, SF and action). It takes place in Austin, TX and is primarily held at a couple of big theaters there, notably the Alamo Drafthouse (I’ve never been to one, but from all reports, they’re great). Everything I’ve heard about this festival is that it is amazing, especially for genre-hounds like myself (and this year’s festival aligns pretty well with the beginning of my annual 6 Weeks of Halloween marathon).
They haven’t announced the schedule yet (and they should totally get on that), but they have released a bunch of the movies that will be showing. I’m really psyched to see a bunch of these films. Many genre films and filmmakers don’t get wide releases, so it will be really nice to be ahead of the game on some of these. Even more interesting is the fact that I haven’t heard of the grand majority of the films announced so far, which hopefully means I’ll be discovering some films that I wouldn’t normally have even had the chance to see. Again, they haven’t announced the schedule, but I figured I should take a look through the two blocks of released titles to see what I’m interested in. I suppose there’s no real guarantee that I’ll get to see all the films I want, but I’m definitely hoping to catch up with most of these films:
- Extraterrestrial – The premise of this one sounds mildly lame – it’s another alien invasion movie, this time told from the perspective of a guy with a hangover. Or something. But it’s directed by Nacho Vigalondo (best director name ever?), who made Kaedrin favorite IMDb – Timecrimes a few years ago. I love that movie, so I’m hoping this one will overcome its cliched premise.
- The Innkeepers – Basically a haunted house movie. But that subgenre seems ideally suited for writer/director Ti West, another Kaedrin favorite and director of The House of the Devil.
- Let the Bullets Fly – Apparently a very successful Chinese film starring Chow Yun Fat. It’s set in the 1920s on a train and seems to be a parody of westerns, or something.
- Pastorela: A Christmas Play – A movie so obscure I can’t find it on IMDB. I’m a sucker for Christmas horror though, and it seems like that’s what this one is getting at: “When Chucho (Joaquín Cosio) loses the beloved role of Satan in the town’s Christmas play and tries to reclaim the part, all hell breaks loose and an epic battle between good and evil begins.”
- Snowman’s Land – Ah, I see what they did in the title there. Another typical premise – the hit man’s one final job. Still, looks interesting…
There are, of course, lots of interesting looking films that have been announced, and I’m sure I’ll see a ton of films while I’m there, but I’m really looking forward to several of the above films.