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 has 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!
HORNSAfter spending a chunk of the day was spent checking out the inaugural Mondo Con event (check out our coverage on Cinapse) which was happening here in Austin at the same time as Fantastic Fest, I settled in for the first film of the day, Alex Aja’s adaptation of the Joe Hill novel Horns. Daniel Radcliffe is Ig Perrish, a man in a small town who has grown up with the love of his life Merrin (an ethereal Juno Temple). As the film begins, she has been found murdered and Ig is the prime suspect. Trying to drown his sorrows, he awakens one morning with horns growing out of his head and new abilities where his mere presence liberates people and allows them to indulge their darker impulses and physical contact gives him access to their memories. Ig decides to use these devilish gifts to solve Merrin’s murder.
A premise with plenty of scope for both drama and comedy and overall Horns successfully delivers both. The love between the central pair is defined well, flashbacks fill out the film and their lives together. The horror/comedy aspect comes from the more raucous unleashing of people’s desires, be it sex, drugs, burning down a bar or a man exhibiting his junk in public. It all allows Radcliffe to continue to shed his Potter-image while entertaining the audience. The film is also filled out with some familiar faces that deliver great and genuine supporting performances.
Part detective story, part horror film and part YA love story, each aspect works well but does cause some weird tonal and pacing issues, the film also feels about 20 minutes too long. It also seems to lean a bit too heavily on expecting a younger fan base, the voiceovers are absurd, totally unnecessary, intrusive and to be frank patronizing to think the viewers couldn’t figure things out without them. Part of me wishes they had cranked up the horror and how extreme the film was but it embraces the younger targeted crowd and delivers a film that overall will appeal to a larger audience.
TOKYO TRIBESion Sono is a filmmaker that in many ways is perfect for Fantastic Fest. Incredibly creative, satirical, violent, joyous and at times crazy. I knew nothing about the plot of Tokyo Tribe going into it, what I experienced was a violent assault on my face and mind and I loved every second of it. A Japanese Hip-Hop Opera bringing elements of East Side Story, The Warriors, The FP and Jodorowsky together into a incomparably unique vision. Essentially it is a tale of tribal warfare, various gangs each with their own distinct style controlling areas of Tokyo. Buppa (Riki Takeuchi in gleefully bonkers mode) is the big crime boss who sets out to eliminate all the tribes and take overall control forcing enemies to unite as the city plunges into chaos.
Shot in a neon lit Tokyo, massive multi-leveled scenes, a cityscape rife with character. The utter anarchy onscreen belies what is an incredibly dense, complicated and accomplished technical creation. Incredible choreography, stunning tracking shots, hilarious songs and routines. It is a dense and rich cinematic experience bursting with energy and madness and memorable characters (the beat boxing maid being my personal favorite). It draws from many elements of hip-hop culture including its regressive misogynist tendencies, here exacerbated by some of the more exploitative styles of Japanese cinema, some may be offended but it is a small aspect in a overall accomplished piece.
If there is one film that can encapsulate and manifest the spirit of Fantastic Fest, it is Tokyo Tribe. And I can think of no higher compliment than that.
Take me. To. A sauna.
LET US PREYFueled my Marko Zaror’s energy drink (I had two in quick succession and got a bit overstimulated going into this one) I hit up my final film of the day, Brian O’Malley’s Let Us Prey. It begins with a highly stylized bleak opening, reminiscent of a dream sequence from Game of Thrones, ironic as Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth) stars in the film as a mystery figure who appears in a small Scottish town and seems to be responsible for setting in series a strange deaths.
It’s certainly atmospheric and tries to build up some intrigue before setting off into a over the top quasi-religious purge movie. There is carnage and some surprises, but the dialogue is simply awful at times and the cast seem unable to handle it. McIntosh, the female lead, is pretty unlikeable but gets some redemption with her transformation in the final arc of the film. Overall, it’s a film that just doesn’t make coherent sense, is uncertain of what it is aiming for, and ultimately misses the mark.
Tomorrow, Day 5, will bring Blind, Purgatory, Over Your Dead Body, The 2014 Fantastic Fest Awards, and the Fantastic Feud.