Preston Barta // Features Editor
Fantastic Fest 2023 wrapped up two weeks ago, but many of the films and series that premiered there will be releasing soon. Fantastic Fest is the annual genre film festival in Austin, Texas that brings together movie fans who like their films a little on the darker and nastier side.
Here’s a handful of titles we saw, what we thought about them, and when/where you can expect to see them. More round-ups and interviews will be posted on FreshFiction.tv throughout the next week. Check back!
THE LAST STOP IN YUMA COUNTY
At the top is the best of the bunch: Francis Galluppi’s well-aimed blast of wit, intelligence and suspense, titled The Last Stop in Yuma County. Making his feature film debut, Galluppi steps onto the scene like a seasoned pro, demonstrating a strong grip on his filmmaking craft with well-drawn characters thrown into hilarious and intense situations.
The story? Imagine something close to the diner robbery scene in Pulp Fiction mixed with A History of Violence. It’s a bullet-riddled neo-Western that centers on a traveling knife salesman (a wickedly good Jim Cummings of The Beta Test) who’s forced to wait for fuel at a small-town diner when the only gas station within a hundred miles is dried up. Suddenly, worry presses on the accelerator when two bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan) with the same gas issue arrive during a getaway from a big heist. The heat is only turned up as more people show up and everybody’s darker shades reveal themselves. Do you call the police or ask for a piece of the pie?
Co-starring Jocelin Donahue, Michael Abbot Jr., Faizon Love and Barbara Crampton, this film invites viewers into a scene, compelling you to look at every magnificent inch of it. It’s gloriously unhinged, wildly unpredictable and yet a nuanced, layered piece of art. It’s an extraordinary work that deserves your attention.
Keep it on your radar! We’ll update you on the film’s festival run and release date.
Grade: A
Our Interview with writer-director Francis Galluppi:
WHEN EVIL LURKS
Goodness. Where to begin with Demián Rugna’s totally sinister When Evil Lurks? It’s a strong contender for the year’s best terror for its cold touch that lingers and feels soaked in the Devil’s bathwater. Seriously, the “evil” in the film’s title is completely earned as it’s undoubtedly one of the meanest movies ever made, next to Speak No Evil.
Rugna’s Argentinian horror film (in Spanish) is set in a remote village where two brothers find a demon-infected man about to – get this – give birth to evil itself. In an attempt to dispose of this vileness, they only succeed in spreading the chaos and corrupting people’s minds to see the darkest images ever known.
So, please proceed with caution if you get queasy over movies featuring the murder of children and animals. But also, please don’t let that scare you away from how absurdly accomplished this work is. Amid its disturbances to the senses lies a film that will be remembered. It’s rotten and incredible to the core. Few films have its daring, and it’s downright refreshing.
If you’re up for it, give it a go in theaters today or on Shudder on Oct. 27.
Grade: A
Our Interview with writer-director Demián Rugna:
WHAT YOU WISH FOR
Here’s another film that one certainly wishes for. Writer-director Nicholas Tomnay (The Perfect Host) serves a thriller that cooks your nerves, fires up your brain and pokes your funny bone with its dark humor. It was a festival favorite for combining the intensity and awesome messed-upness of The Menu and Fresh.
What You Wish For is about a chef (a never-better Nick Stahl of Terminator 3 and Sin City fame) with gambling issues who flees to a Latin American villa when the sharks hunt for him. While he’s there, he reconnects with his old cooking school roommate (Brian Groh), who soon helps introduce him to a new and scary world of cooking.
This is one of the films that it’s best not to know too much about it. It has a very fluid and natural pace that strategically places its reveals. You never know more than the characters at each given moment. Expect to lean in constantly, wondering about the significance of things and people. Once everything snaps into place and you know the ins and outs of everything, you’re there feeling trapped, just like its characters. Tomnay normalizes chaos in astonishing ways, and it’s a real treat of a culinary thriller.
What You Wish For is screening on Oct. 12 at Screamfest. An official release date is to be announced. We’ll keep you posted.
Grade: B+
Our Interview with writer-director Nicholas Tomnay:
YOUR LUCKY DAY
Dan Brown’s Your Lucky Day makes a great companion piece with The Last Stop in Yuma County. Both involve robbery. Both have well-fleshed-out characters with interesting things to say about their surroundings and the world at large. Both manage to examine people’s darker and more criminal sides, forcing audiences to question what they would do if they were in the characters’ shoes. And both find exquisite ways to back their stories into impossible corners, conjuring up laughter and great drama along the way. But let’s give Your Lucky Day its own place to shine on the shelf because it’s also a very different film.
Starring Angus Cloud, Elliot Knight, and Jessica Garza, Your Lucky Day is a lean crime thriller about a dispute over a winning lottery ticket that turns into a deadly hostage situation inside a convenience store. Everyone must decide how far they will go to survive or walk away with the winning ticket.
Brown’s film strikes the delicate balance of keeping the intimacy of one setting (for the part) while infusing the material with enough cinematic flourishes to keep it from feeling too constrained. Dialogue is a character itself, as the key players have many lengthy discussions about their place in the world and what they deserve. Each talk feels true to the human experience without feeling preachy or desperate for attention. The natural and committed performances from all significantly contribute to this.
The goon-too-soon Angus Cloud (Euphoria) deserves special mention as his performance runs away with the film. Cloud’s nonchalant vibe is great to watch on screen. He delivers dialogue with the verbal bells and whistles to make his lines sing and generate laughter. Cloud’s character also causes people to question themselves and why they should settle for a life on cruise control. It gets real, ultimately setting Your Lucky Day apart from other films.
Brown’s film is a thoughtful and thrilling work. Its social commentary will have you thinking deeply. Its well-built scenes of suspense maintain a momentum that’s equivalent to a composer making music. There are many spinning plates here, and it’s dazzling to see Brown and Co. bounce them around without shattering.
Well Go USA will release Your Lucky Day in theaters on Nov. 10 and digital on Nov. 14. See it in theaters with a crowd if you can. One moment, in particular, is as intense as the birthing scene in A Quiet Place, making it worthy of experiencing in a packed theater.
Grade: B+
Our Interview with writer-director Dan Brown and star Jessica Garza:
