March 29, 2024

Preston Barta // Editor

I probably say this every year around this time, but Fantastic Fest (Sept. 23-28) is the best week of the year for weird-movie lovers. I am certainly chief among them. While I can appreciate a moving drama or a superhero-spectacle movie, Fantastic Fest is where you go when you want to watch those one-of-a-kind type of movies. Just when you think you’ve had seen it all, you see a thriller about two cannibalistic sisters (RAW), or have a meet-and-greet with filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn (DRIVE, THE NEON DEMON) for an adult movie poster book.

Located at the Alamo Drafthouse on Lamar in Austin, TX, this year’s Fantastic Fest already has a few goodies in its first wave of programming. While you wait for the rest of the waves to come through, along with our detailed preview piece next month, below are all the titles we know will project on the Alamo screens.

Ones you may already know about…

THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER
Ireland / United Kingdom, 2017
US Premiere, 120 min.
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman and Alicia Silverstone

The life of a brilliant surgeon is thrown into disarray when his friendship with a bizarre teenager threatens the lives of his entire family. Faced with a frightening choice, the man will be forced to assess all that he’s ever done.

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI
USA, 2017
US Premiere, 110 min.
Director: Martin McDonagh
Cast: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson and Sam Rockwell

A grieving mother takes drastic measures in an attempt to catch her daughter’s killer. Challenging the police to solve the case, she posts a series of billboards that threaten the fabric of rural, Missouri.

THE SQUARE
Sweden, 2017
US Premiere, 150 min.
Director: Ruben Östlund
Cast: Claes Bang, Elisabeth Moss and Dominic West

An art museum director’s life becomes a comedy of errors when trying to put together his latest exhibit in FORCE MAJEURE director Ruben Ostlund’s latest, which won the Palme D’Or at this year’s Cannes.

GERALD’S GAME
USA, 2017
US Premiere, 103 min.
Director: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood and Henry Thomas

Flanagan unites with master of the macabre Stephen King for his cinematic interpretation of King’s beloved GERALD’S GAME. Starring Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood, GERALD’S GAME delivers pitch-perfect performances in a faithful adaptation where the horrors of the mind are much worse than what’s in front of you.

MY FRIEND DAHMER
USA, 2017
Texas Premiere, 107 min.
Director: Marc Meyers
Cast: Ross Lynch, Anne Heche and Vincent Kartheiser

This is the story of Jeffrey Dahmer, a high school loner whose life would shape up to be something far more frightening than anyone could have imagined.

1922
USA, 2017
World Premiere, 101 min.
Director: Zak Hilditch
Cast: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker and Neal McDonough

1922 is based on Stephen King’s 131-page story telling of a man’s confession of his wife’s murder. The tale is told from from the perspective of Wilfred James, the story’s unreliable narrator who admits to killing his wife, Arlette, in Nebraska. But after he buries her body, he finds himself terrorized by rats and, as his life begins to unravel, he becomes convinced his wife is haunting him.

Ones you should know about…

BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99
USA, 2017
US Premiere, 132 min.
Director: S. Craig Zahler
Cast: Vince Vaughn, Don Johnson and Jennifer Carpenter

S. Craig Zahler (BONE TOMAHAWK) returns with his sophomore feature, BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99. An exhilarating exercise in analog violence, CELL BLOCK follows the brutal exploits of a former boxer who finds himself incarcerated after a drug deal goes wrong. Trapped in a maximum security facility, he must fight to stay alive and to protect those he loves.

JUVENILE
USA, 2017
World Premiere, 87 min.
Director: Bradley Buecker
Cast: Blake Jenner, Melissa Benoist and Greg Germann

The emotionally powerful story of Billy, an angry youth who spends his evenings stealing cars with best friend Mikey while attempting to cultivate a stable relationship with his girlfriend Jules.

SUPER DARK TIMES
USA, 2017
Regional Premiere, 102 min.
Director: Kevin Phillips
Cast: Owen Campbell, Charlie Tahan and Elizabeth Cappuccino

A split-second act of violence forever changes the lives of two ’90s kids. Now they must cope with both the fallout of that moment and the pressures of high school in this clever and bloody coming-of-age thriller.

78/52
USA, 2017
Regional Premiere, 91 min.
Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

This masterful documentary focuses on a single aspect of Hitchcock’s PSYCHO to demonstrate the master’s technical ability in storytelling. With expert interviews and rollicking analysis, 78/52 sets a new bar in how to examine film overall.

KING COHEN
USA, 2017
US Premiere, 104 min.
Director: Steve Mitchell

Featuring interviews from some of the biggest names in genre cinema including Joe Dante, Robert Forster and Fred Williamson, this documentary tells the story of one of the best and hardest working exploitation filmmakers.

TIGER GIRL
Germany, 2017
US Premiere, 90 min.
Director: Jakob Lass
Cast:

Failing to crack the ranks as a would-be cop, Maggie begrudgingly settles for a security guard job until she encounters Tiger (Ella Rumpf of RAW), a fierce young woman whose rebellious antics leave Maggie questioning which side of the law she truly belongs on.

Ones we all need to know about…

ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE
Scotland, 2017
World Premiere, 107 min.
Director: John McPhail
Cast: Ella Hunt, Malcolm Cumming and Sarah Swire

Anna’s life is dominated by the typical concerns of her youthful peers until the Christmas season in her small town brings not Santa, but an outbreak of the undead in this genre-mashing holiday horror musical. Yep. Musical.

ANYAB
Egypt, 1981
Repertory, 100 min.
Director: Mohammed Shebl
Cast: Ahmed Adawiyya, Hassan Al Imam and Ali El Haggar

ANYAB (FANGS) is an oddity worth rediscovering! An Egyptian take on THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW, this eye-popping musical of madness manages to cram horror, science fiction and even social commentary together while charming with its outrageous costumes and action.

BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL
Japan, 2017
US Premiere, 141 min.
Director: Takashi Miike
Cast: Takuya Kimura, Hana Sugisaki and Sôta Fukushi

Takashi Miike’s 100th journey is an adaptation of the BLADE OF THE IMMORTAL manga. Manji, a samurai who cannot die, crosses paths with Rin Asano, a young girl whose parents were killed. Manji swears to help Rin Asano avenge her parents’ deaths.

COLD HELL
Germany, 2017
US Premiere, 91 min.
Director: Stefan Ruzowitzky
Cast: Violetta Schurawlow, Tobias Moretti and Robert Palfrader

A young Turkish woman living in Vienna feels increasingly lonely after she witnesses a murder and finds herself next on the killer’s agenda in this smart and gritty thriller from the director of ANATOMY and the Oscar-winning THE COUNTERFEITERS.

DAN-DREAM
Denmark, 2017
US Premiere, 97 min.
Director: Jesper Rofelt
Cast: Frank Hvam, Peter Gantzler and Casper Christensen

KLOWN duo Casper Christensen and Frank Hvam reunite for a true-life tale of epic failure. Witness the non-arrival of the Danish electric car!

THE ENDLESS
USA, 2017
Texas Premiere, 111 min.
Directors: Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead
Cast: Callie Hernandez, Lew Temple and Emily Montague

When brothers Justin and Aaron return to the cult that they escaped from ten years ago, they encounter a web of secrets and mysteries that threatens to tear them apart.

GENERATION B (GENERATIE B)
Belgium, 2017
Ep. 1-4 = North American Premiere; Ep. 5-6 = World Premiere, 210 min..
Director: Pieter Van Hees
Cast: Eva Binon, Ella-June Henrard and Jeroen Perceval

The generation gap has never been wider than it is in Pieter Van Hees’ deliriously absurd satire, pitting old generation money against Millennial apathy – and the occasional naked anarchist – following Belgium’s economic collapse.

HAGAZUSSA – A HEATHEN’S CURSE
Germany, 2017
World Premiere, 102 min.
Director: Lukas Feigelfeld

Set in the 15th Century in the Austrian Alps, Lukas Feigelfeld’s HAGAZUSSA takes us back to a dark period in which even the remotest parts of Europe suffered from the paranoia and superstition of the time.

JAILBREAK
Cambodia, 2017
US Premiere, 92 min.
Director: Jimmy Henderson
Cast: Celine Tran, Jean-Paul Ly and Tharoth Sam

Cambodia’s traditional martial art of bokator is unleashed in all its bone crunching fury in this action-packed tale of police trapped in the midst of a raging prison riot.

MAUS
Spain, 2017
World Premiere, 90 min.
Director: Yayo Herrero
Cast: August Wittgenstein, Alma Terzic and Ella Jazz

Yayo Herrero’s directorial debut is a couple’s nightmare journey into the heart of darkness. A superlative horror parable, this shocking film is an indictment of modern history, war and the difficulties of reconciliation. It is a story for our times.

THE ORIGINALS
Egypt, 2017
International Premiere, 125 min.
Director: Marwan Hamed

Samir works for a bank, provides for his ever-demanding family and dreams of being in an Egyptian talent show. When he’s unexpectedly fired, Samir finds himself recruited to be part of a secret society and finds a darker side to life in Egypt.

RON GOOSSENS: LOW-BUDGET STUNTMAN
The Netherlands, 2017
North American Premiere, 78 min.
Directors: Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kuil
Cast: Tim Haars, Bo Maerten and Michiel Romeyn

The latest from the comedic team behind the NEW KIDS films and BROs BEFORE HOs. Ron Goossens is totally shitfaced. Only by working as a movie stuntman and bedding the hottest actress in the Netherlands can Ron save his marriage.

TOP KNOT DETECTIVE
Australia, 2016
North American Premiere, 87 min.
Directors: Aaron McCann and Dominic Pearce
Cast: Toshi Okuzaki, Masa Yamaguchi and Mayu Iwasaki

Aliens! Ninjas! Robots! Enormous egos! Get ready to enter the world of TOP KNOT DETECTIVE! Possibly the greatest cult TV series you’ve never heard of, TOP KNOT DETECTIVE and its creator Takashi Tawagoto come to life in this gonzo documentary.

Attend

2ND HALF Badges for Fantastic Fest 2017 are available for purchase here.
For the latest developments, visit the Fantastic Fest official site www.fantasticfest.com and follow us on Facebook &Twitter.

About Fantastic Fest

Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. In years past the festival has been home to world premieres of JOHN WICK, FRANKENWEENIE, MACHETE KILLS, RED DAWN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND and RED while the guest roster has included such talent as Tim Burton, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. Fantastic Fest also features world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films. Fantastic Fest has seen the acquisition of many titles, including BULLHEAD, KILL LIST, MONSTERS, KLOWN, THE FP, PENUMBRA, HERE COMES THE DEVIL, NO REST FOR THE WICKED, VANISHING WAVES, COMBAT GIRLS and I DECLARE WAR. Fantastic Fest is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin, Texas. Alamo Drafthouse has been named the best theater in the country by Entertainment Weekly, Wired and TIME. Variety included Fantastic Fest in a list of “10 Film Festivals We Love,” and was also named one of the “25 coolest film festivals” by Moviemaker Magazine.

Tim and Karrie League founded Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin.  Twenty years later, the now 29-location chain has been named “the best theater in America” by Entertainment Weekly and “the best theater in the world” by Wired. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema has built a reputation as a movie lover’s oasis not only by combining food and drink service with the movie-going experience, but also introducing unique programming and high-profile, star studded special events. Alamo Drafthouse created Fantastic Fest, a world renowned film festival dubbed “The Geek Telluride” by Variety. Fantastic Fest showcases eight days of genre cinema from independents, international filmmakers and major Hollywood studios. The Alamo Drafthouse’s collectible art gallery, Mondo, offers breathtaking, original products featuring designs from world-famous artists based on licenses for popular TV and Movie properties including Star Wars, Star Trek & Universal Monsters. The Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is expanding its brand in new and exciting ways, including partnering with the film distribution company NEON, Birth.Movies.Death., an entertainment content platform for movie lovers and the American Genre Film Archive, a non-profit film archive dedicated to preserving, restoring and sharing exploitation-era film.

Leave a Reply