Welcome to the 10th annual Fantastic Fest film festival here in Austin, Texas. This is my daily recap which over the next week will primarily recap the film experiences I have had as well as touch on the mental and physical status of the festival-going folk, myself included. My entertainment is guaranteed but please, pray for my well being. Let chaos reign!
So, here we are. We’ve already covered the lineup as well our the plans of the Cinapse team, so here is a recap of Day 1 in a torrentially wet Austin. From a jam packed lobby to “I don’t want to die in Canada tees”, a human pinata, musical entertainment from Unicorns, and a colossal food fight on the roof of a parking garage, Day one kicked things off with as crazy a bang as you’d expect.
TUSKTusk marks the return of Kevin Smith (Mallrats, Clerks) to theaters and a bizarre beast of a film it is. Wallace Bryton (Justin Long) is a podcaster who seeks out unusual tales for his shows. Hitting a dead end in pursuing an interview with a subject in Canada he finds a flyer in a bathroom from a rather storied elderly man (Michael Parks as Howard Howe) offering board in exchange for assistance at home. What starts with conversations about WW2 and Hemingway soon descends into a nightmare scenario where a drugged tea sends Wallace on a journey of mental and physical terror as Howe tries to recapture the peace he once felt when spending time stranded with a Walrus by way of turning Wallace into the companion he once lost.
That premise alone could be enough for some to check out the film and certainly enough to make some stay away. It is a slapdash approach to filmmaking; the writing and direction are all over the place; comedy and horror collide; flash backs from another genre entirely pop up and there is no harmony in the film whatsoever. Rambling monologues (superbly delivered by Parks) are littered along the hastily developed transformation from man to walrus with a subplot about Wallace’s girlfriend and best friend searching for him in Canada. It’s hilarious in parts, but tonally all over the place. It’s a pretty jarring viewing. Parks is chillingly insane but hits the perfect spot for it to cause nervous laughter, whereas Long is just annoyingly over the top. Johnny Depp pops up in somewhat of a cameo and is like a Gerard Depardieu/Peter Sellers mashup. It drives the film to 11 on the farcical scale and I have to say, I loved his contribution. His interaction with Parks in one scene being the highlights of the film. There is an utter madness to it, but something absolutely perfect about it too.
There is a sense of liberation to the film and it is refreshing to see Smith go back to doing something less pretentious than the awful Red State. But it is hard to recommend. Its feels more like an overly extended episode of Tales from the Crypt than a coherent film. It’s deeply flawed. I feel like if I really started to critique the film, I’d be here for hours but in many ways it was a perfect film to kickoff Fantastic Fest X. The release of this film was preempted by a social media campaign after the initial idea was floated in a podcast. #WalrusYes Vs. #WalrusNo. At the end of the day it’s more #WalrusMeh.
The ABCS OF DEATH 2Two years ago I had the pleasure of watching the first ABC’s of Death. I love the premise, the ingenuity, and randomness of what unfolded. So, seeing this followup was a no brainer. 26 directors, each given a letter and carte blanche to develop their own inventive short with the method of death playing off the assigned letter. As with the first film there are highs, M for Masticate, Q for Questionnaire and Z for Zygote, as well as lows, D for Deloused and O for Ochlocracy.
This is just an issue with the premise, the quality and tone of the film veers as wildly as it did in the first outing. Its a fascinating and fun watch trying to guess what the letter is for each segment. Some are obvious, others less so. But for each crazy high there is a befuddling segment that kills the momentum. A stronger hand is perhaps needed to guide all the parts to a more coherent whole. There are great moments of flourish and demonstrations of great talent involved. The stylish U for Utopia being stunning and V for Vacation, which actually made some of the best use of the “found footage” approach I’ve seen in a long time, both being showcases for their respective directors. However overall the film is too inconsistent to be deemed a success. It’s a shame as I really dig the idea.
DEAD SNOW 2: RED Vs. DEADThe first Dead Snow was a simple tale. A group of friends in Norway stumble across Nazi gold, cursed Nazi troops resurrect to reclaim gold, shit gets messy. It was a joyously messy and fun film and it was easy to say yes to seeing the sequel. More Nazis, more budget, tanks and Russian zombies too! Bigger doesn’t always mean better, however, and Dead Snow 2 somewhat affirms this. The first film was simple and focused, allowing the action and over the top premise to flourish. Whereas this sequel has the difficult task of delivering a far more complicated plot than “Nazi Zombies after their gold”. It is the expositiony segments that do slow down the film. This is compounded by an American presence inserted into the film, a Zombie Squad arriving in Norway to help defeat the Nazi menace. This aspect seems incredibly forced and unnecessary. The only thing worse is the shoehorned in Star Wars references. I cannot fathom how anyone thought this would be an amusing addition at all.
But, when the film is unleashed it is as terrific as ever. The zombie kills are inventive and hilarious, the dead pan humor (largely from the local police officers) works well and, niggles aside, the film is a lot of fun. There is a clever plot device where the survivor from the first film, Martin, is accidentally transplanted with the arm of the German Commander which gives him certain abilities. This works well to propel the plot along as well as put him into some great action and comedy situations. A scene where attempted CPR goes horribly wrong being a spectacularly gross highlight. Add in a recurring zombie companion that is treated like a pinata throughout and the entertainment content is high enough to allow you to forgive the clunkier plot elements. But the biggest triumph of Dead Snow 2 is that I will no longer associate Total Eclipse of the Heart with Old School, now it has far more fucked up connections.
We’re just getting warmed up. Tomorrow brings Redeemer, Hive, John Wick and It Follows.