by Jon Partridge
It’s nearly here. One of the most anticipated events in any cinephile’s calendar, Fantastic Fest. A week long celebration of genre film, from rep classics to foreign gems to the occasional big budget film premiere.
The fest matches film programming excellence with a mind blowing events program, including the brutal brilliance of the debates, the Fantastic Feud, Doug Benson doing his thing, plenty more and finishing things off with the infamous closing night party. At last year’s closing event I even ended up with a tattoo in honor of Sion Sono. Shiner beer, whisky and 7 days of wonderful film makes you feel the love.
Fro September 22nd to 29th, the Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, here in Austin will be taken over by film-makers, film stars, Nacho Vigalondo and most importantly, film lovers. As ever, the Cinapse team will be there, so check in during the week to see reviews and recaps from this year’s fest. The lineup for 2016 looks as fantastic as you’d expect, read on for the details!
Fantastic Fest Press Release
Fantastic Fest announces its 12th annual celebration of genre-twisting cinema. This year’s festival sees Tim Burton make a triumphant return for a most peculiar red carpet screening of Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children; the World Premiere of Phantasm: Ravager; an Art House Theater Day special screening of Phantasm: Remastered with Don Coscarelli and cast in attendance; breakout star and Texas native Sasha Lane will be in attendance to host Andrea Arnold’s fever dream of youth in revolt, American Honey.
This year’s Fantastic Fest has traveled all the way to South Asia for its annual theme as it embraces the “dishoom!” (the sound of a punch landing in 60’s Bollywood films) of Indian cinema and its superlative culinary delights. A dedicated Indian block of new and repertory features have been carefully crafted to showcase the wildly creative world of the second most populous country. Included in this program is the director’s cut of Psycho Raman, the hyper violent onslaught from India’s most notorious filmmaker, Anurag Kashyareap; the sweeping, 400-year epic of masala madness, Magadheera; and the ultra-stylish Bollywood gangster oddity, Khalnayak.
This year’s Fantastic Fest also celebrates Don Coscarelli’s iconic Phantasm universe with the World Premiere of the series’ latest installment, Phantasm: Ravager. This will be accompanied by a special screening of Phantasm: Remastered, which will stream live to art house theaters all across the country that are celebrating Art House Theater Day on September 24th. Coscarelli will be joined in attendance with cast members and Ravager director David Hartman. Film collectibles specialists Mondo will also be participating with poster, apparel and soundtrack releases made exclusively for the screenings.
This year marks the first time that Fantastic Fest has entered the virtual reality space, and it’s doing so in a big way. Partnering with Los Angeles VR studio Dark Corner, Fantastic Fest will be World Premiering a terrifying VR experience from the team that wrecked senses with their 360-hospital-shocker Catatonic. Founded by commercial director extraordinaire Guy Shelmerdine, Dark Corner is the world’s first genre VR studio and they will be showcasing their very best. Mule is Shelmerdine’s eagerly awaited World Premiere is the follow-up to Catatonic. An emotional, fast-paced hell-ride that catapults the viewer through the final shocking moments of a man’s life (and beyond), Mule will also see the unveiling of a new, custom-designed installation tied to the film’s plot that Shelmerdine promises to be “bigger, more immersive, and more terrifying” than anything they’ve done before.
Dark Corner will also be showcasing Justin Denton’s two-part horror experience, Burlap. Existing as both a traditional 2D short film and an immersive VR experience, Burlap depicts a disturbed killer who zeroes in on an unfortunate babysitter to complete the creation of his secret “masterpiece.” Audiences can watch the short film, then step inside the story with Burlap: Reflections, where they will experience the killer’s sinister obsession firsthand. In addition, Dark Corner will be bringing Catatonic to terrorize Texan audiences for the first time.
Internet video skull-rewinders Everything Is Terrible! bring their brain-melting, eye-shattering, jaw-dropping mayhem to Fantastic Fest for the first time with the World Premiere of their latest assemblage of found footage transdimensional travel. From cat massage to Satanic panic to tap-dancing computers, the EIT! experience is like nothing else in the universe, as they distill and compile the most hilarious/disturbing/unacceptable/impossible images from the past several decades and transform them into a 9000-ton bullet aimed right at the human race’s collective cortex.
Legendary exploitation filmmaker James Bryan (Lady Street Fighter; Don’t Go In the Woods) will be on hand to World Premiere his never-before-seen VHS-era horror masterpiece Jungle Trap. Shot in 1990, the film was shelved unedited and without a musical soundtrack, but has finally been cut and scored a quarter century later. A rampaging, top-notch camcorder adventure packed with ghosts, cannibal warriors, drunken pilots and bloodthirsty elderly bellboys, the world is only just now (sort of) ready for the decapitating delights of Jungle Trap.
Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest unveils its final wave of programming with a giant-sized round up of the wildest films from across the planet. Opening the announcement and closing out the festival is the triumphant return of Fantastic Fest’s Karaoke King Nacho Vigalondo with his kaiju monster mash-up COLOSSAL, starring Hollywood heavies Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis.
Converging music, film and art, Fantastic Fest welcomes fellow festival alumni and Wu-Tang Clan founder RZA for his first ever live re-score. Eighteen months in the making, RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN is a mammoth live re-scoring of the Shaw Brothers classic. Featuring over 40+ tracks culled from RZA’s monumental catalog, instrumentals, beats, samples and vocals amplify Lau Kar-leung’s narrative and Gordon Liu’s iconic performance.
“I am thrilled to be welcoming so many first-time directors to our weird festival family this year,” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “But as counterpoint, I am equally excited to be closing it down with veterans Nacho and RZA. In 2016, we’re going out with an epic bang.”
Fantastic Fest embraces its more physical side with a series of violent smashers that are guaranteed to leave heads spinning and jaws rattled. All 6′ 5″ of our favorite chemical engineer will be in attendance as Dolph Lundgren promises to pummel Austin and demons alike with DON’T KILL IT. Paul Schrader will be making a very special appearance in the second half of the festival to share and discuss his wild exploration of the criminal underground, DOG EAT DOG. Indonesia is gloriously represented with HEADSHOT, the latest from the Mo Brothers and THE RAID / THE RAID 2’s Iko Uwais in what is guaranteed to be the most violent film of the year, and Hong Kong comes correct with the legendary Sammo Hung choreographing the action in Benny Chan’s wuxia western, CALL OF HEROES.
TV takes center stage with two of the season’s most hotly anticipated shows gracing the big screen. The man, the myth, The Bruce Campbell will be in attendance battling the Necronomicon once more and bringing new episodes of ASH VS EVIL DEAD with him. Campbell will also be sitting with critic/film historian Leonard Maltin for an exclusive dialog spanning his entire career. HBO joins the Fantastic Fest fray with an exclusive screening of the first episode of its highly anticipated new drama series, WESTWORLD. Inspired by Michael Crichton’s ’73 sci fi classic, this supremely contemporary rendering is a dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. WESTWORLD will be accompanied by a complimentary, classic western meal for all guests courtesy of HBO. Artfully prepared by the Alamo Drafthouse culinary team, the meal will draw its influence and ingredients from the frontier era and its expansive environment.
Western meals aren’t the only munchies inspiring programming as three of the festival’s most high profile gross-outs are first timers. Morgan Spurlock marks his Fantastic Fest debut with his uber-disgusting dissection of the most loathsome rodent in his doc RATS. Spurlock will be in attendance to talk about the vicious vermin and their endless conquest to take over the world. Another stomach-churning debut is Puke and Explode, a gala event of competitive eating dedicated to both gastro excess and grotesque edibles as contestants devour the most mortifying morsels imaginable. And in the grand tradition of festival favorite 100 BEST KILLS, Fantastic Fest vets Zack Carlson and Laird Jimenez deliver 100 BEST KILLS: 100 WORST BIRTHS, a dazzling array of the most nauseating, disturbing, inhuman and downright vomitous births in cinematic history. From sci-fi cesareans to martial arts miscarriages to horror hysterectomies, they will permanently sterilize viewers with 80 minutes of no-holes-barred babyrage.
Mondo will be driving movie fans crazy with a creative cornucopia of limited-edition collectibles at Fantastic Fest for the first time. The roll call of film tie-ins include super-exclusives for RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN, and product signing sessions with Don Coscarelli and the cast of PHANTASM: REMASTERED and André Øvredal with THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE.
During Fantastic Fest, Mondo is also hosting Italian composer extraordinaire Fabio Frizzi as he performs THE BEYOND: COMPOSER’S CUT, his all-new live re-score of Lucio Fulci’s shocker in a supremely gothic church with jaw-dropping acoustics.
Full Film LINEUP 24X36: A MOVIE ABOUT MOVIE POSTERS Canada, 2016 World Premiere, 83 min Director — Kevin Burke
Through interviews with art personalities from the past four decades, 24 x 36 examines the birth, death and resurrection of illustrated movie poster art.
AALAVANDHALAN India, 2001 International Premiere, 178 min Director — Suresh Krissna
Kamal Hassan stars in this ridiculously entertaining tale of an Indian commando pitted against his own serial killer twin brother in a deadly race to save the beautiful Tejaswini from certain death.
A DARK SONG Ireland, 2016 World Premiere, 99 min Director — Liam Gavin
Sophia is a determined young woman who hires a weird occultist to perform a ritual which will risk not only their lives and souls, but also the very essence of their being.
A MONSTER CALLS United States, 2016 Texas Premiere, 108 min Director — J. A. Bayona
Twelve year old Conor, dealing with his mother’s illness, unexpectedly summons a most unlikely ally — a 40-foot-high Monster.
AGE OF SHADOWS South Korea, 2016 US Premiere, 140 min Director — KIM Jee-woon
Korea, during the Japanese occupation. Police Chief Lee Jung-Chool is hunting members of the resistance under strict orders from the Japanese overlords. However, a chance encounter with Jung Chae-San will have him questioning his loyalties…
ALOYS Switzerland, France, 2016 US Premiere, 91 min Director — Tobias Nölle
Aloys Adorn is a lonely private investigator who, after the death of his father, finds himself sucked into a mysterious “telephone walking” game with a mysterious woman who might be his only hope.
AMERICAN HONEY United States, 2016 Texas Premiere, 158 min Director — Andrea Arnold
Andrea Arnold’s first US feature follows 18-year-old Star as she leaves her home in Oklahoma and goes in search of adventure, adulthood and America.
ANOTHER WOLFCOP Canada, 2016 World Premiere, 82 min Director — Lowell Dean
Alcoholic werewolf cop Lou Garou springs into action when an eccentric businessman with evil intentions seduces Woodhaven’s residents with a new brewery and hockey team in this outrageous horror-comedy sequel.
ARRIVAL United States, 2016 Opening Film, 116 min Director — Denis Villeneuve
When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team — lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) — are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers — and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.
ASH VS EVIL DEAD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director — Rick Jacobson, episode 1 Director — Tony Tilse, episode 2
“Ash vs Evil Dead,” a 10-episode half-hour series, is the long-awaited follow-up to the classic horror film The Evil Dead.
ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM — GRADUATION Japan, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 118 min Director — Eiichiro Hasumi
This conclusion to last year’s hit finds Class-E running out of time in their efforts to assassinate Koro-sensei, their yellow octopus smiley-faced teacher who is about to destroy Earth.
ASURA US Premiere, 136 min South Korea, 2016 Director — Sung-soo KIM
Corrupt police detective Han protects Mayor Park’s interests while he saves up to pay for his wife’s terminal cancer treatment. When intimidation of a witness goes wrong, they’re all thrown into a violent storm.
THE AUTOPSY OF JANE DOE United Kingdom, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 99 min Director — André Øvredal
When a mysterious body turns up at a crime scene, the local sheriff turns to the coroner and his son to find the cause of death.
THE BAD BATCH United States, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 115 min Director — Ana Lily Amirpour
Ana Lily Amirpour follows up her alt-cult sensation A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE with her highly anticipated dystopian cannibal desert trip.
BAD BLACK Uganda, 2016 World Premiere, 65 min Director — Nabwana IGG
A mild-mannered doctor is trained in the art of ass-kicking commando vengeance by a no-nonsense ghetto kid named Wesley Snipes (!). This is only one of the many delirious action-packed stories that converge in this exuberant DIY extravaganza from the home of “da best of da best movies”: WAKALIWOOD, UGANDA!!!
BELIEF: THE POSSESSION OF JANET MOSES New Zealand, 2015 US Premiere, 89 min Director — David Stubbs
The true story of the Wainuiomata exorcism provides the basis for David Stubbs’ striking debut feature, a documentary exploring the tragic death of Janet Moses in a traditional Maori exorcism ceremony.
BOYKA:UNDISPUTED United States, 2016 World Premiere, 90 min Director — Todor Chapkanov
Escaped from prison and longing for a legitimate life, Yuri Boyka must choose between a shot at the glory he has trained for and the demands of his conscience after tragedy strikes in the ring.
BUGS Denmark, 2016 Regional Premiere, 74 min Director — Andreas Johnsen
Two researchers search the globe for the best flavors the insect world has to offer in an attempt to make this inevitable future food source more palatable to wimpy Westerners.
CALL OF HEROES Hong Kong, 2016 North American Premiere, 120 min Director — Benny Chan
During China’s Warlord era, in the village of Pucheng, a sheriff and his ragtag band of men must make sure the cruel general Cal’s son Shaolin faces justice in this brilliant blend of wuxia and westerns!
CHINYUKI Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 100 min Director — Yudai Yamaguchi
Yudai Yamaguchi’s Chinyuki is one of those rare films where its own subtitle tells you everything you need to know about the movie: A journey to the West with farts.
COLOSSAL Canada, 2016 US Premiere,110 min Director — Nacho Vigalondo
Fantastic Fest favorite Nacho Vigalondo (TIMECRIMES) wrings an extraordinarily potent allegory for personal responsibility and emotional toxicity in this witty and absorbing drama about an alcoholic (Anne Hathaway) who discovers an improbable connection between herself and a giant monster ravaging South Korea.
THE CREW France, 2016 US Premiere, 81 min Director — Julien Leclercq
It’s bad men versus worse men as thieves face off against dealers in this super slick French heist thriller from the director of Chrysalis and The Assault.
DEAREST SISTER Laos, France, Estonia, 2016 World Premiere, 100 min Director — Mattie Do
After moving to the city, a poor woman realizes her recently blinded cousin can not only commune with the dead, but they can provide a path to much-needed wealth.
DOG EAT DOG United States, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 93 min Director — Paul Schrader
From the brilliant minds of Edward Bunker and Paul Schrader comes this unhinged pulp comedy at a million miles an hour; the story of three hardened criminals and the final, simple crime which will bring them all down.
DON’T KILL IT United States, 2016 North American Premiere , 93 min Director — Mike Mendez
An ancient demon is unleashed in a Mississippi town and the only people who can stop it are FBI agent Evelyn Pierce and grizzled, cynical demon hunter Jebediah Woodley.
DOWN UNDER Australia, 2016 North American Premiere, 87 min Director — Abraham Forsythe
In the aftermath of massive race riots, two carloads of dim-witted alpha males set off to defend their respective territory with outrageous results in this sharp edged Australian satire.
THE DWARVES MUST BE CRAZY Thailand, 2016 World Premiere, 92 min Director — Bhin Banloerit
A Thai village of little people is attacked by evil, butt-munching, fart-tracking Krause spirits — floating heads with attached intestines — in this slapstick horror-comedy.
ELLE France, 2016 US Premiere, 131 min Director — Paul Verhoeven
Paul Verhoeven’s debut in French cinema highlights an incredible Isabelle Huppert in a dramedy that first subverts then transgresses the rape-revenge narrative.
EYES OF MY MOTHER United States, 2016 Regional Premiere, 77 min Director -Nick Pesce
After a traumatic event, a young girl begins to associate pain and death with love and friendship in increasingly dangerous ways.
FASHIONISTA United States, 2016 World Premiere, 108 min Director — Simon Rumley
April and Eric own a clothing store together and are happily in love. April will have to rely on her fashion obsession for survival when everything unexpectedly crumbles after Eric makes a single destructive mistake.
FAULTLESS France, 2016 North American Premiere, 103 min Director — Sébastien Marnier
After burning out in Paris, Constance returns to her home town only to find herself in lethal competition with a younger girl for her old job.
FRAUD United States, 2016 Texas Premiere, 53 min Director — Dean Fleischer-Camp
A family’s home movies document a desperate crime, and the subsequent bid to escape the consequences in this impressionistic meta-fiction born from the manipulation of hundreds of hours of innocuous uploads to YouTube. An extraordinary feat of editing, a provocative parable of the pursuit of happiness and a disturbing demonstration of the mutability of the stories we share in the Internet age.
GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS United Kingdom, United States, 2016 US Premiere, 111 min Director — COLM MCCARTHY
In a dystopian future, young Melanie must go on a trip with the soldier who needs to kill her, the doctor who wants to use her and the teacher who wants to help.
GOKE: BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL — PRESENTED BY AGFA Japan, 1968 Special Screening, 84 min Director — Hajime Satô’s
An airplane crashes under mysterious circumstances and the survivors find themselves stalked by an evil blobby presence bent on world domination.
THE GREASY STRANGLER United States, 2016 Special Screening, 93 min Director — Jim Hosking
Ronnie fears his first love affair is turning his father into a bloodthirsty monster who’s covered in grease and has an 18-inch penis that looks like a dead chicken.
THE HANDMAIDEN South Korea, 2016 U.S Premiere, 145 min Director — Park Chan-Wook
In the 1930s, country girl Sook-Hee is hired as a handmaiden to Japanese heiress Lady Hideko, who lives a secluded life with her uncle. However Sook-Hee is not what she seems… and neither is Lady Hideko, Count Fujiwara or Uncle Kouziki.
HEADSHOT Indonesia, 2016 US Premiere, 117 min Director — Kimo Stamboel, Timo Tjahjanto
The bone-crunching, soul-crushing, face-breaking story of an amnesiac young man named Ishmael, the doctor named Rika who cares for him and the bad men who all need to die in a maelstrom of sweet violence.
HELMUT BERGER, ACTOR Austria, France, Italy, 2015 Texas Premiere, 90 min Director — Andreas Horvath
Filmmaker Andreas Horvath (EARTH’S GOLDEN PLAYGROUND) offers a deeply personal and unblinking portrait of Helmut Berger, the Austrian film star of the ’60s and ’70s best known for his work with director Luchino Visconti.
HENTAI KAMEN 2: The Abnormal Crisis Japan, 2016 Texas Premiere, 118 min Director — Yuichi Fukuda
At the request of his girlfriend Aiko, Kyosuke Shikijo agrees to retire Hentai Kamen. But when a new threat starts stealing panties, who will the people of Tokyo call on?
THE HIGH FRONTIER Poland, 2016 International Premiere, 97 min Director — Wojciech Kasperski
Father/son bonding time takes an extraordinarily dark turn when a former guard and his two teen boys receive an unexpected guest in their remote cabin along the Poland-Ukraine border.
THE INVISIBLE GUEST Spain, 2017 US Premiere, 106 min Director — Oriol Paulo
A wealthy businessman wakes up in a locked hotel room with the body of his dead lover next to him in Orio Paulo’ latest.
JUNGLE TRAP : Presented By Bleeding Skull United States, 1990/2016 World Premiere, 80 min Director — James Bryan
Exploitation demigod James Bryan’s massively entertaining, decapitation-fueled shot-on-video horror masterpiece about a jungle hotel haunted by kill-crazy ghosts in loin cloths, shot in 1990 and unreleased until THIS VERY MOMENT.
KAMMATTIPADAM India, 2016 North American Premiere, 240 min Director — Rajeev Raji
Aging gangster Krishnan returns to his hometown after receiving a distressing phone call from a friend, only to find that he’s picking up the pieces after thirty years of bloody gang war.
KHALNAYAK India, 1993 Repertory Screening, 190 min Director — Subhash Ghai
Ballu is an unrepentant gangster who has dedicated his life to the celebration of villainy. He is a bad, bad man and not ashamed one bit. However, with the help of his mother and a sympathetic cop, Ballu will rise above his circumstances to gain satisfying redemption.
THE LURE United States/United Kingdom, 2016 Texas Premiere, 77 min Director — Tomas Leach
Two young mermaids get caught up in the world of a Warsaw nightclub as they navigate human life and love in this Polish musical.
MAGADHEERA India, 2009 Repertory Screening, 157 min Director — S.S. Rajamouli
Harsha, a dirt bike racer, lives for thrills. One day he crosses paths with Indu, a girl with whom he feels strangely connected. Through this bond, Harsha discovers his hidden identity: a reincarnated warrior king.
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN United States, 2016 Special Screening,123 min Director — Tim Burton
From visionary director Tim Burton, and based upon the best-selling novel, comes an unforgettable motion picture experience. When Jake discovers clues to a mystery that spans alternate realities and times, he uncovers a secret refuge known as Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children. As he learns about the residents and their unusual abilities, Jake realizes that safety is an illusion, and danger lurks in the form of powerful, hidden enemies. Jake must figure out who is real, who can be trusted, and who he really is.
MY ENTIRE HIGHSCHOOL IS SINKING INTO THE SEA United States, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 74 min Director — Dash Shaw
Jason Schwartzman voices a young, hopeful writer who jumps into action during a disaster in this dazzling and hilarious animated adventure from famed graphic novelist Dash Shaw.
NOVA SEED Japan, Canada, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 64 min Director — Nick DiLiberto
Painstakingly hand-drawn by a single animator over four years, this saturated slice of lo-fi sci-fi pulp recalls both Moebius and Miyazaki as it ambitiously realizes an eclectic post-apocalyptic future populated by lion-men, brain-leeching slugs and Saturday Morning Cartoon villainy, the latter most memorably personified by the sublimely named Dr. Mindskull.
ORIGINAL COPY Germany, 2016 Texas Premiere, 95 min Directors — Florian Heinzen-Ziob and Georg Heinzen
In the heart of Mumbai, behind the screen of one of the last Hindi Film cinemas, lives Sheik Rahman, the city’s last painter of film posters. This is his story.
PHANTASM: REMASTERED (1979) United States, 1979 Special Screening, 88 min Director — Don Coscarelli
One of the most influential and important horror films of all time, Don Coscarelli’s Phantasm returns to Alamo Drafthouse’s screens in a gorgeous 4k remaster.
PHANTASM: RAVAGER United States, 2016 World Premiere, 87 Director — David Hartman
The fifth and final film in the classic Phantasm film series, Phantasm Ravager follows our intrepid everyman hero Reggie on his quest across dark dimensions as he struggles to confront and vanquish the sinister Tall Man.
POPOZ The Netherlands, 2015 International Premiere, 85 min Directors- Erwin van de Eshof & Martijn Smits
Festival favorite Huub Smit (New Kids Nitro; New Kids Turbo; Bros Before Hos) stars as a Dutch cop raised on far too many American action films in this outrageous action comedy.
PSYCHO RAMAN India, 2016 US Premiere, 127 min Director — Anurag Kashyap
Raghavan is a cop: brutal, violent, and drug-addicted. Ramanna is a criminal: psychotic, unpredictable, and vicious. It’s only a matter of time before they meet and when they do, Mumbai’s slums will be colored deep crimson.
RATS United States, 2016 Austin Premiere, 84 min Director — Morgan Spurlock
Morgan Spurlock’s latest documentary shows us the world of the rat, from the garbage of NYC to the dining plates of Vietnam to a Karni Mata Temple of worship in India.
RAW France, 2016 US Premiere, 98 min Director — Julia Ducournau
Part sister bonding, part coming-of-age story, part gross-out horror flick, Julia Ducournau’s debut feature is the terror discovery of 2016.
RE: BORN Japan, 2016 North American Premiere, 115 min Director — Yûji Shimomura
Tak Sakaguchi is a seemingly untouchable super soldier who must return to the life he left behind when a former colleague threatens his fragile world.
THE RED TURTLE France, 2017 North American Premiere, 81 min Director — Michaël Dudok De Wit
A castaway ekes out an existence on a deserted tropical island guarded by an enigmatic red tortoise in this magnificent animated fable from the imagination of acclaimed Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit (FATHER AND DAUGHTER) and produced in part by the legendary Studio Ghibli.
RZA: LIVE FROM THE 36th CHAMBER OF SHAOLIN Hong Kong, 1978 Special Screening, 115 min Director — Chia-Liang Liu
What happens when one of the most influential hip hop artists descends on one of the most influential martial arts movies? There’s only one way to find out.
SADAKO VS KAYAKO Japan, 2016 US Premiere, 98 min Director — Kôji Shiraishi
The showdown of the century is about to begin and no one in Tokyo will be spared: Ring’s Sadako vs The Grudge’s Kayako in a fight to determine the future of humanity.
SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD Australia, United States, 2016 World Premiere, 85 min Director — Chris Peckover
Chris Peckover, director of 2010’s UNDOCUMENTED, returns to Fantastic Fest with this playfully twisted suburban Christmas thriller in which babysitter Ashley must protect twelve-year-old Luke during an unusual home invasion.
SALT AND FIRE Mexico, 2016 North American Premiere, 93 min Director — Werner Herzog
Herzog’s most wildly unpredictable film, Salt and Fire is a meticulously slow burning, quasi-ecological thriller punctuated by moments of the lyrically poetic and the inexplicably, outrageously absurd.
SCIENCE FICTION VOLUME ONE : THE OSIRIS CHILD Australia, 2017 World Premiere, 95 min Director — Shane Abbess
A far-future military contractor — and moderately shitty father — must race to save his daughter when his employer’s negligence puts her in the path of a rampaging alien race.
SHIMAUMA Japan, 2016 International Premiere, 103 min Director — Hajime Hashimoto
Dora is a lowlife con man who runs a marriage scam with his associates. But a badly timed encounter with a yakuza will plunge Dora into a new, deep world of darkness, both ugly and enticing!
S IS FOR STANLEY Italy, 2016 North American Premiere, 82 min Director — Alex Infascelli
Alex Infascelli’s documentary about Emilio D’Alessandro, Stanley Kubrick’s personal assistant for more than thirty years, which provides never-before-seen insight into the private auteur.
SWEET, SWEET LONELY GIRL United States, 2016 World Premiere, 76 min Director — A.D. Calvo
Adele is a friendless young woman living with her wealthy but agoraphobic aunt. She meets Beth and the two become fast friends, but Adele may be drawn to a darkness within her new companion, a darkness that threatens to overtake everything.
TERRY TEO New Zealand, 2016 International Premiere, 92 min Director — Gerard Johnstone
Teenaged cat burglar Terry Teo turns crime fighter when his estranged father is killed by local gangsters in this revival of the classic New Zealand character.
THE TRUTH BENEATH South Korea, 2016 International Premiere, 108 min Director — LEE Kyoung-mi
When a politician’s teenage daughter goes missing, a desperate mother takes it upon herself to uncover the truth in this startling Korean thriller.
THE VOID Canada, 2016 World Premiere, 90 min Directors — STEVEN KOSTANSKI & JEREMY GILLESPIE
Trapped in a hospital with a handful of people, a small town sheriff finds himself caught up in the demented plot of a death-obsessed madman.
TONI ERDMAN Germany, 2016 U.S. Premiere, 162 min Director — Maren Ade
A father tries to reconnect with his repressed, career-driven daughter in the funniest movie to ever come out of Germany.
THEY CALL ME JEEG ROBOT Italy, 2015 Texas Premiere, 118 min Director — Gabriele Mainetti
A lowlife thug finds his grimy, pornography-filled existence disrupted when he accidentally acquires superpowers that force him to become a better man against his will.
WE ARE THE FLESH Mexico, 2016 Texas Premiere, 80 min Director — Emiliano Rocha Minter
Somewhere within a ruined city, a man makes an offer to a pair of siblings who wander into his abandoned building: food and shelter in exchange for building a strange room…
WESTWORLD United States, 2016 Special Screening, 60 min Director — Jonathan Nolan
A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.
YOUNG OFFENDERS Ireland, 2015 International Premiere, 84 min Director — Peter Foott
The day after the largest drug bust in Irish history, with massive packages of cocaine washing up along the shoreline, two go-nowhere teens make a most sensible decision: They will ride to the coast on stolen bicycles and claim a bundle of that wondrous cocaine for themselves.
THE ZODIAC KILLER — Presented by AGFA and SOMETHING WEIRD United States, 1971 World Premiere, 85 min Director — Tom Hanson
AGFA and Something Weird present a brand new 4K transfer of this sanity-defying, tabloid-horror vortex that was produced with one goal in mind: to capture the real-life Zodiac Killer.
ZOOLOGY Russia, France, Germany, 2016 US Premiere, 87 min Director — Ivan I. Tverdovsky
Natasha is a lonely, middle-aged woman who still lives with her mother and feels insecure about her tedious life… until she grows a tail.
Fantastic Fest attendee Noah Lee graciously maintains a current list of trailers for the fest here so be sure to check that out. For the latest developments, list of Short Films, details on the Fantastic Arcade and ticketing information, visit the Fantastic Fest official site www.fantasticfest.com.
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 BONE TOMAHAWK, 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, Nicolas Winding-Refn, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Keanu Reeves, Martin Landau, Winona Ryder, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox, 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.
Alamo Drafthouse
Tim and Karrie League founded Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in 1997 as a single-screen mom and pop repertory theater in Austin. Nineteen years later, the now 24-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 Founder & CEO, Tim League, 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 Drafthouse Films which has garnered two Academy Award nominations in its short three year existence and Birth.Movies.Death., an entertainment content platform edited by veteran journalist Devin Faraci.