The 14th year of the genre film festival threatens to be the best one yet!
From September 20th to the 27th, the South Lamar Alamo Drafthouse in Austin will become home to to a cinematic treat for filmmakers and fans alike, the fourteenth iteration of Fantastic Fest. It opens with the U.S. Premiere of David Gordon Green’s new addition to the Halloween franchise, with Jamie Lee Curtis in attendance. There’s also the J.J. Abrams-produced Overlord; Gareth Evans’ new gothic horror Apostle; Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer; Iko Uwais (The Raid) vehicle The Night Comes for Us‘;’ the much anticipated new film from Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room), the psychological thriller Hold the Dark starring Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), Alexander Skarsgård, and Riley Keough; the long gestating The Man Who Killed Don Quixote from Terry Gilliam; Gaspar Noé’s Climax; and SO many more. Look at the end of this piece for the full lineup. Closing things out will be the Texas premiere of Bad Times at the El Royale, the new film from Drew Goddard (Cabin in the Woods) starring Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, and Cynthia Erivo.
Festival Creative Director Evrim Ersoy says, “2018 is proving to be a remarkable year for genre cinema. It is a constant delight to be able to discover both seasoned directors and newcomers pushing the boundaries of what genre can mean, using cinematic language to bring incisive, intelligent commentary on the current state of the world and still find enough ingenious methods to terrify, thrill and twist!”
As in previous years, the festival embraces a certain region or culture to give a extra flavor to its repertory screenings and menu selections. This year it’s South Korea, exploring the Korean Quota Quickies from the 1970s, when filmmaking flourished despite stifling censorship thanks to a quota system which required a strict number of local productions had to be made for every foreign film imported. Titles include director Kim Ki-Young’s Bangreumyeon, Park Nou-Sik’s Quit Your Life, and Lee Chang-dong’s critical Cannes hit Burnin. Talking of rep screenings, AGFA (the American Genre Film Archive) also returns to the festival with host of restorations, including Blood Lake and Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore, as well as a 4K restoration of Maniac with director William Lusting in attendance.
And it’s not just film that attendees will be treated to either, with a host of festivities designed to compliment the lineup, including a Halloween-themed costume/music/sugar/dance party on opening night, the Fantastic Debates, a performance from Tenacious D, and podcast recordings from fest regulars Leonard Maltin and Doug Benson, along with April Wolfe’s Switchblade Sisters. The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies will also be on hand at this year’s Fantastic Fest to present a one-off special lecture by academic and scholar Alexandra Heller-Nicholas titled “Ghouls to the Front: Rethinking Women’s Horror Filmmaking.”
Can’t make it to Austin? After last year’s successful launch, Fantastic Fest Satellite Markets are back! They’ll be showing select festival titles in Denver, San Francisco, and New York. Details for the Satellite Markets can be found here! If you’re convinced, there are still a number of badges available for purchase here. There’s also an all new Midnighter badge, so if you’ve never been before, it’s a perfect way to dip your toe into the water, albeit in perhaps the most crazy time slot of the festival. Those Midnighters rarely mess around, folks.
The fest kicks on on the 20th of September, so check out the full lineup for 2018 below!
For the latest developments, visit the Fantastic Fest official site www.fantasticfest.com and follow on Facebook & Twitter.
Fantastic Fest 2018 runs from September 20th-27th, Alamo S. Lamar, Austin, TX.
For tickets and more details go to www.fantasticfest.com
The full lineup is detailed below!
AFTER THE SCREAMING STOPS
D: Joe Pearlman & David Soutar
United Kingdom, 2018, World Premiere, 97 min.
In Attendance — Directors Joe Pearlman and David Soutar
Matt and Luke Goss were part of Bros, one of the biggest bands of the Eighties. With a №1 album and sold-out concerts at stadiums across the world, the rise of the band was meteoric … sharply followed by their downfall. Now, the two brothers reunite for the gig of a lifetime, facing fractured relationships, a new musical landscape, and the changes that time brings. Can they rekindle the magic and make Bros come alive once again?
ALL THE GODS IN THE SKY
D: Quarxx
France, 2018, World Premiere, 98 min.
In Attendance — Director Quarxx
Simon lives in an old house in the countryside with his severely disabled sister. He takes care of her day after day, hoping that “they” will come to ease their pain. The date of “their” arrival approaches.
THE ANGEL
D: Luis Ortega
Argentina, Spain, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 120 min.
In 1971 Argentina, Carlitos is a baby-faced youth whose good looks match his confident swagger. Carlitos’ passion is stealing; the things he covets, he takes. But when he meets Ramon at his school, he embarks on his true calling: armed robberies and violent crimes.
APOSTLE
D: Gareth Evans
United Kingdom, 2018, 129 min., World Premiere, 129 min
The year is 1905. Thomas Richardson travels to a remote island to rescue his sister after she’s kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult demanding a ransom for her safe return. It soon becomes clear that the cult will regret the day it baited this man, as he digs deeper and deeper into the secrets and lies upon which the commune is built.
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE
D: Drew Goddard
USA 2018, Texas Premiere, runtime TBA
Seven strangers, each with a secret to bury, meet at Lake Tahoe’s El Royale, a rundown hotel with a dark past. Over the course of one fateful night, everyone will have a last shot at redemption … before everything goes to hell. Jeff Bridges, Chris Hemsworth, Jon Hamm, Dakota Johnson, and Cynthia Erivo lead an all-star cast in Bad Times at the El Royale.
BAN GEUM-RYEON
D: Kim Ki-young
South Korea, 1981, 90 min., Regional Premiere
From Park Chan-wook’s idol comes a twisted tale of lecherous lords and murderous mistresses. Presented outside of Korea for only the second time, Kim Ki-young’s masterpiece Ban Geum-ryeon is a lush smorgasbord from Korea’s most demented cinematic mind.
THE BASTARDS’ FIG TREE
D: Ana Murugarren
Spain, 2017, Texas Premiere, 103 min.
In Attendance — Director Ana Murugarren and producer Joaquin Trincado
In Ana Murugarren’s whimsical The Bastards’ Fig Tree, a fascist soldier in the Spanish Civil War becomes a fig tree-obsessed hermit after looking into the vengeful eyes of a young boy whose father and brother he had violently executed.
BETWEEN WORLDS
D: Maria Pulera
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 90 min.
Nicolas Cage plays Joe, a lonely trucker whose new girlfriend’s daughter is possessed with the spirit of Joe’s recently deceased wife, creating a love triangle no synopsis can do justice to.
AGFA and BLEEDING SKULL PRESENT: BLOOD LAKE
D: Tim Boggs
USA, 1987, 82 min., World Premiere of New Preservation
The finest vacation from hell ever captured on VHS, rescued from the original 1-inch master tapes!
THE BLOOD OF WOLVES
D: Kazuya Shiraishi
Japan, 2018, Regional Premiere, 126 min.
In the neon-soaked streets of 1988 Hiroshima, experienced detective Ogami Shogo is forced to partner with greenhorn Hioka Shuichi to investigate a routine disappearance case. Soon they’re in the midst of a full-blown yakuza war that threatens to destroy all that the two men hold dear.
BLOODLINE
D: Henry Jacobson
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 95 min.
In Attendance — Director Henry Jacobson, actor Seann William Scott, producer Adam Hendricks, and writer Avra Fox-Lerne
Evan (Seann William Scott) values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
THE BOAT
D: Winston Azzopardi
Malta, United Kingdom, 2018, World Premiere, 89 min.
In Attendance — Director/co-writer Winston Azzopardi and actor/co-writer Joe Azzopardi
A lone fisherman on his daily run finds himself lost in a thick fog which proves impossible to navigate. The worst is yet to come when his encounter with a seemingly abandoned sailboat becomes a fight for survival against an enemy unknown.
BORDER
D: Ali Abbasi
Sweden, Denmark, 2018, Texas Premiere, 108 min.
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
THE BOUNCER
D: Julien Leclercq
France, Belgium, 2018, North American Premiere, 82 min.
Representing the moody, grimy, realistic return of JCVD to more dramatic roles, The Bouncer wows with a taut, contained approach to crime and violence, and one father’s fight to save his daughter.
BURNING
D: Lee Chang-dong
South Korea, 2018, 148 min., Texas Premiere
Lee Chang-dong’s latest triumph weighs the delicate balance between creation and destruction as a writer runs into an old classmate who gets him caught up in a mystery bigger than both of them.
CAM
D: Daniel Goldhaber
USA, 2018, 94 min., U.S. Premiere
In Attendance — Writer/Producer Isa Mazzei
Alice is a camgirl with principles. She doesn’t do public shows, she doesn’t tell her fans she loves them, and she doesn’t fake her orgasms. But when a mysterious lookalike takes over her channel, the rules no longer apply.
CHAINED FOR LIFE
D: Aaron Schimberg
USA, 2018, Regional Premiere, 91 min.
In Attendance — Director Aaron Schimberg and producer Vanessa McDonnell
Mabel (Jess Weixler, Teeth) and Rosenthal (Adam Pearson, Under the Skin) — both hired for their looks — meet on the set of a horror movie in this surreal examination of how those with physical differences are portrayed on film.
CLOSE ENEMIES
D: David Oelhoffen
France, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 111 min.
A gangster film with heart, Close Enemies refers to Driss and Manuel, childhood friends now on either side of the law, who discover the sacrifices both are willing to make in the name of family in this Paris-set contemporary thriller.
CLIMAX
D: Gaspar Noé
France, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 96 min.
Consistent provocateur Gaspar Noé outdoes himself with his latest feature, Climax, a trippy horror-musical featuring 20 sensuous dancers partying hard and living their best lives, until a bad batch of sangria plunges them into insanity.
DACHRA
D: Abdelhamid Bouchnak
Tunisia, 2018, North American Premiere, 113 min.
Come for Tunisia’s first horror film, following three students’ filmed investigation of weird rumors in a remote village, and stay for the sickening madness, macabre witchcraft, ghastly beheadings, and gory cannibalism.
DEADLY GAMES
D: René Manzor
France, 1990, North American Premiere, 90 min.
In Attendance — René Manzor
Deadly Games (3615 Code Pere Noel) is the terror version of Home Alone. A 9-year-old kid in his house, tormented by a demented Santa Claus, fights for his survival by setting traps. Christmas will never be the same again.
DEADWAX
D: Graham Reznick
USA, 2018, Regional Premiere, 110 min.
A young woman is pulled into a murder investigation revolving around a curious vinyl record which has driven those who possess it mad, and killed anyone who dared to listen to it.
DESTROYER
D: Karyn Kusama
USA, 2018, Texas Premiere, 123 min.
In Attendance — Director Karyn Kusama and Screenwriter/Producer Phil Hay
Nicole Kidman gives the performance of a lifetime as LAPD Detective Erin Bell, a human weapon of escalating vengeance, in the brilliantly grounded new drama-action-thriller from Karyn Kusama.
DOG
D: Samuel Benchetrit
France, 2018, 87 min., U.S. Premiere
A dark fable about loneliness, perfectly illustrated by Jacques Blanchot’s loss of humanity and slow transformation into a dog. Director Samuel Benchetrit shares a subtle commentary on our current world, and its social, interpersonal, and political issues.
DOGMAN
D: Matteo Garrone
Italy, France, 2018, Texas Premiere, 102 min.
Marcello is a gentle dog groomer whose tumultuous friendship with violent neighborhood thug Simone engulfs him in a violent series of events that will leave him forever scarred.
DONNYBROOK
D: Tim Sutton
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 101 min.
In Attendance — Tim Sutton
Frank Grillo and Jamie Bell are just two of the desperate men and women headed for “the Donnybrook” — a no-holds-barred, bare-knuckle fight contest with a $100,000 prize — in this Midwestern Gothic journey into a heartland of darkness.
DRUG STORIES! NARCOTIC NIGHTMARES AND HALLUCINOGENIC HELLRIDES, FEATURING THE TRIP BACK
— PRESENTED BY AGFA AND SOMETHING WEIRD
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 80 min.
In Attendance — Something Weird Video’s Lisa Petrucci
AGFA and Something Weird present a compilation of classroom scare films about boozers, users, and losers, all in brand new 2K preservations and featuring the legendary anti-drug diatribe known as The Trip Back.
AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN
D: Jim Hosking
USA, 2018, 108 min., Texas Premiere
Fantastic Fest alumni director Jim Hosking (The Greasy Strangler, Renegades) is back with a second feature as absurd, crazy, and funny as his first. Follow Lulu Danger’s very own revolution in a Lynch-meets-Waters rundown version of America.
FERAL
D: Andrés Kaiser
Mexico, 2018, World Premiere, 97 min.
In Attendance — Andrés Kaiser
The mountains of Oaxaca harbor the remains of a ravaged and burnt shelter, once home to a psychoanalyst priest who used it to look after savage children, trying to reintegrate them into society. Through videotape diaries and interviews, the truth of what happened is shockingly revealed.
FOLKLORE: “MONGDAL”
D: Lee Sang Woo
Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, 2018, World Premiere, 49 min.
Lee Sang-Woo turns his camera on an unusual child and his mother in a visually striking and scary episode of HBO’s Folklore.
FOLKLORE: “TOYOL”
D: Ho Yuhang
Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, 2018, World Premiere, 49 min.
Ho Yuang explores a strange and frightening relationship between a politician with a problem and a shaman who promises the solution in an episode of HBO’s Folklore that’s deeply rooted in Malaysian legends.
FLASH GORDON
D: Mike Hodges
United Kingdom, USA, The Netherlands, 1980, Repertory Screening, 111 min.
He’s here to save every one of us! Heroic earthling Flash Gordon protects the world from the nefarious Ming the Merciless in this lavish, majestically camp adaptation of Alex Raymond’s legendary sci-fi comic strip.
FP2: BEATS OF RAGE
D: Jason Trost
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 89 min.
In Attendance — Jason Trost
JTRO gave Frazier Park everything he had, but his challenges aren’t over. Now he must journey into the destruction of the Waste to rekindle the passion he needs to win the ultimate Beat-Beat Revelation tournament and fulfill his destiny.
FUGUE
Poland, Czech Republic, Sweden, 2018
North American Premiere, 100 min
Director — Agnieszka Smoczyńsk
A woman tries to reconnect with her family after being lost in a fugue state for several years in Agnieszka Smoczynska’s follow up to Fantastic Fest favorite, THE LURE.
THE PERFECTION
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 90 min
Director — Richard Shepard
Guests in attendance — Director Richard Shepard, Actors Allison Williams and Logan Browning
A former cello prodigy (Allison Williams) seeks out both her mentor (Steven Weber) and his new star pupil (Logan Browning) with enigmatic intent in this twisty and undeniably twisted midnigh
GIRLS WITH BALLS
D: Olivier Afonso
France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, 2018, World Premiere, 77 min.
After winning a competition, a women’s volleyball team heads home aboard their minibus. Forced to take a shortcut, they end up at a tavern where they upset the local degenerate rednecks … and then the hunt begins.
THE GUILTY
D: Gustav Möller
Denmark, 2018, 85 min., Austin Premiere
A horrific crime; an emergency responder struggling to stay off the edge; a kidnapping victim calling in for help. This is all we’re going to tell you about first-time feature filmmaker Gustav Möller’s unmissable and gripping debut thriller.
HALLOWEEN
D: David Gordon Green
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 105 min.
In Attendance — Jamie Lee Curtis and producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum, and Bill Block
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
HOLD THE DARK
D: Jeremy Saulnier
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 125 min.
In Attendance — Director Jeremy Saulnier and co-writer/actor Macon Blair
A gripping psychological thriller unfolds in the treacherous Alaskan wilderness when a retired wolf expert is summoned to investigate a child’s disappearance.
HOLIDAY
D: Isabella Eklöf
Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, 2018, 93 min., Texas Premiere
The sun-drenched dream of the eponymous summer vacation has its dark side revealed in Isabella Eklöf’s powerful debut feature Holiday, an unforgettable exploration of the fraught, brutal experience of young womanhood.
HOUSE OF SWEAT AND TEARS
D: Sonia Escolano
Spain, 2018, 104 min., World Premiere
In Attendance — Director Sonia Escolano
“She,” the leader of a violent cult, rules her flock with an iron fist to ensure they never stray from the path. But a series of events and a mysterious outsider threaten the pattern of their reality in this electrifying exploration of faith and belief.
I USED TO BE NORMAL: A BOYBAND FANGIRL STORY
D: Jessica Leski
Australia, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 96 min.
In Attendance — Producer Rita Walsh
The lives of four women from across the globe are radically changed by their deep love of boy bands in this fascinating, joyful exploration of intense fandom.
AGFA PRESENTS: I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER
D: Sarah Jacobson
USA, 1993, 27 min., World Premiere of New Restoration
Sarah Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism in brand new 2K preservations.
IN FABRIC
D: Peter Strickland
United Kingdom, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 118 min.
Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy, Berberian Sound Studio) returns to Fantastic Fest in full, flourishing style with In Fabric, a film that’s part surreal thriller, part giallo love letter, part fashion collage, and all hypnotic originality.
THE INNOCENT
D: Simon Jaquemet
Switzerland, Germany, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 113 min.
In this dark and fantastical tale about religion vs. science and good vs. evil, a woman’s faith is being tested as her ex-lover reappears in her life after 20 years in jail.
KEEP AN EYE OUT
D: Quentin Dupieux
France, 2018, 73 min., North American Premiere
An absurd all-night interrogation set in a camp ’70s police station, Quentin Dupieux’s latest opus, Keep an Eye Out, is a celebration of his own brand of quirky, offbeat humor, performed by France’s most refreshing comedic talents.
KNIFE + HEART
D: Yann Gonzalez
France, 2018, North American Premiere, 102 min.
In Attendance — Director Yann Gonzalez
In Yann Gonzalez’s second feature, a masked serial killer stalks a producer and her film company in this love letter to European giallo, American grindhouse cinema, and ’70s gay porn.
LADYWORLD
D: Amanda Kramer
USA, 2018, 93 min., U.S. Premiere
In Attendance — Director Amanda Kramer and Actor/Co-Editor/Production Designer Noel David Taylor
In Amanda Kramer’s daring low-budget debut Ladyworld, a birthday party quickly devolves into chaos when a mysterious earthquake traps eight teenage girls alone in a house, challenging their friendships, identities, and eventually their grip on reality.
LAIKA
D: Aurel Klimt
Czech Republic, 2017, 88 min., Regional Premiere
In Attendance — Director Aurel Klimt
This is the story of Laïka the space dog who, unlike in real life, did not die aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. In this bizarre and charming stop-motion musical, Laïka crashes on a peculiar planet where she meets new friends.
LEVEL 16
D: Danishka Esterhazy
Canada, 2018, World Premiere, 102 min.
In Attendance — Writer/Director Danishka Esterhazy and Producers Judy Holm and Michael McNamara
The teenage girls of Vestalis Academy are meticulously trained in the art of being “clean girls,” practicing the virtues of perfect femininity. But what exactly are they being trained for? Vivien intends to find out.
LIFE AFTER FLASH
D: Lisa Downs
United Kingdom, 2018, Texas Premiere, 94 min.
In Attendance — Director Lisa Downs and Actor Sam J. Jones
Celebrating the iconic Flash Gordon and focusing on the fascinating, unusual, and untold story of actor Sam J. Jones, the man behind the sparkly suit, Life After Flash is a celebration, an exploration, and a joyful scream all at once!
LORDS OF CHAOS
D: Jonas Åkerlund
USA, 2018, Texas Premiere, 112 min.
Based on the biography of the same name, Lords of Chaos is the tale of an Oslo teenager who launches Norwegian black metal, setting off a chain of events that have made his band, Mayhem, infamous for decades.
LUZ
D: Tilman Singer
Germany, 2018, 70 min., U.S. Premiere
In Attendance — Director Tilman Singer
Luz enters a police station at night to report an assault. As the interrogation progresses, it becomes clear a demonic entity wants to possess her in this audacious, psychotropic horror film shot on 16mm.
MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB
D: Guilhad Emilio Schenker
Israel, 2018, 90 min., International Premiere
Desperate, aging, Sophie only needs to seduce one more handsome victim — excuse me, date — to become a worry-free Lordess in Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club, Israeli director Guilhad Emilio Schenker’s delightfully twisted debut feature.
MANIAC
D: William Lustig
USA, 1980, 88 min., World Premiere of New 4K Restoration
In Attendance — Director William Lustig
The 4K restoration of grindhouse auteur Bill Lustig’s 1980 slasher landmark features splatter SFX artist Tom Savini’s gnarliest work, as well as one of horror’s finest, sweatiest performances from legendary character actor/co-writer Joe Spinell.
THE MAN WHO KILLED DON QUIXOTE
D: Terry Gilliam
Spain, France, Belgium, Portugal, 2018, North American Premiere, 132 min.
Once-ambitious advertising man Toby finds himself revisiting a student film he made long before his world became monochrome. Reteaming with the Spanish cobbler he cast in the film who genuinely believes he’s Don Quixote, Toby embarks on a soul-searching journey of magical proportions.
AGFA PRESENTS: MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE
D: Sarah Jacobson
USA, 1997, 98 min., World Premiere of New Restoration
Sarah Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism in brand new 2K preservations.
MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU
D: Timo Tjahjanto
Indonesia, 2018, North American Premiere, 110 min.
At her father’s deathbed, Alfie learns that she and her family must give the devil his due when he comes to collect on the pact made years before in this electrifying horror film from Indonesian master storyteller Timo Tjahjanto.
MID90S
D: Jonah Hill
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 84 min.
In Attendance — Writer/Director Jonah Hill
Written and directed by Jonah Hill, Mid90s follows Stevie, a 13-year-old in Nineties-era L.A. who spends his summer navigating between his troubled home life and a group of new friends that he meets at a Motor Avenue skate shop.
MODEST HEROES: PONOC SHORT FILMS THEATRE, VOL. 1
D: Hiromasa Yonebayashi & Yoshiyuki Momose & Akihiko Yamashita
Japan, 2018, North American Premiere, 53 min.
Delve into the world of Studio Ponoc and discover a trio of brilliant creations: lost crab siblings, a bizarre allergy to eggs, and an invisible man having an unusual day.
MURDER ME, MONSTER
D: Alejandro Fadel
Argentina, France, Chile, 2018, 109 min., North American Premiere
Visual horror masterpiece Murder Me, Monster lures you into the fascinating and opaque underworld of serial murder, supernatural obsession, metaphysical hallucinations, forbidden love — and one nightmarishly gross monster.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US
D: Timo Tjahjanto
Indonesia, 2018, 121 min., World Premiere
A former triad enforcer must protect a young girl while trying to escape his former gang, setting off a violent battle on the streets of Jakarta.
THE NIGHT SHIFTER
D: Dennison Ramalho
Brazil, 2018, 110 min., U.S. Premiere
An attendant at a busy morgue who can also converse with the dead puts his loved ones in peril using his forbidden knowledge for vengeance in Dennison Ramalho’s (“Ninjas,” ABCs of Death 2) twisted and gleefully icky feature debut.
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
D: Shinichiro Ueda
Japan, 2018, 96 min., Texas Premiere
A filmmaker sets out to shoot a zombie film in an abandoned factory, but something is lurking on the outside. Is it a zombie apocalypse or just another shoot gone wrong?
OPEN 24 HOURS
D: Padraig Reynolds
USA, Serbia, 2018, 100 min., North American Premiere
In Attendance — Director Padraig Reynolds
A young woman who had previously set her serial killer boyfriend on fire is now seeking normalcy by getting a job working the overnight shift at a 24-hour convenience store, where things are most definitely not going to be normal.
OVERLORD
D: Julius Avery
USA, 2018, TBD min., World Premiere
In Attendance — Director Julius Avery and cast including Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, John Magaro, and Mathilde Ollivier
In the upcoming World War II horror-thriller Overlord, a group of American paratroopers drop into Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day. As they struggle to carry out their seemingly impossible mission, they discover a secret Nazi lab carrying out terrifying and bizarre supernatural experiments.
PIERCING
D: Nicolas Pesce
USA, 2018, 81 min., Texas Premiere
From the twisted mind of Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother) comes a provocative two-hander chamberpiece — a tense battle of wits and desire between prostitute and trick, predator and prey.
THE QUAKE
D: John Andreas Anderson
Norway, 2018, Texas Premiere, 105 min.
This sequel to The Wave follows the same family, off to Oslo where the Earth will shake again. The experts warned that it would! Expect death, drama, and awesome SFX. ‘Nuff said.
QUIT YOUR LIFE
D: Park Nou-sik
South Korea, 1971, 82 min., North American Premiere
Presented in English for the first time, actor-director Park Nou-sik balances the scales of justice as he stalks around Korea with his noose of judgment in the relentless revenge drama Quit Your Life.
SAVAGE
D: Vincent Mariette
France, 2018, World Premiere, 83 min.
In Attendance — Director Mincent Mariette
Summer is in full swing and men are going missing. People are talking about a leopard on the loose in the area. A mysterious horror writer is in the bungalow next door. And Laura’s most disturbing summer has only just begun.
SCHOOL’S OUT
D: Sébastien Marnier
France, 2018, 103 min., North American Premiere
In this dread-soaked cerebral thriller, a handsome young substitute teacher gets in over his head when taking on a class of gifted students after their former teacher’s dramatic in-class suicide.
SHADOW
D: Zhang Yimou
China, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 116 min.
Zhang Yimou returns to the screen with an explosive tale of intrigue and action set within the warring Three Kingdoms. A wild and ambitious ruler, his loyal but cunning commander, and a double he’s set up as insurance, play games of deceit as war rages through their kingdom.
SLUT IN A GOOD WAY
D: Sophie Lorain
Canada, 2018, Texas Premiere, 89 min.
Charlotte and her best friends Mégane and Aube must navigate their first times, first jobs, and first loves in this hilarious and touching Québécois sex comedy.
THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK
D: Henry Dunham
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 88 min.
Over the course of one grueling night, a militia tears itself apart as it searches for the perpetrator of a mass shooting among its own.
STARFISH
D: A.T. White
United Kingdom, USA , 2018, World Premiere, 99 min.
A girl. A mixtape. And Armageddon. A uniquely honest portrayal of loss as a young woman struggles with the death of her best friend while dealing with the horrific Lovecraftian end of the world, driven by a beautiful indie music soundtrack.
STRIKE, DEAR MISTRESS, AND CURE HIS HEART
D: Mickey Reece
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 71 min.
Inspired by Ingmar Bergman’s Autumn Sonata and conjured by a remarkably prolific obscure auteur who’s been averaging two feature films a year since 2008, this offbeat and oft-chilling indie discovery depicts the uncanny psychological duress endured by the newlywed proprietors of an ancient hotel following the arrival of an estranged matriarch.
SUDDEN FURY
D: Brian Damude
Canada, 1975, World Premiere of New Restoration, 91 min.
When a well-intentioned bystander rushes to the scene of a violent car wreck, he finds himself embroiled in a hot mess of desperate homicide in this wickedly taut and unpredictable thriller, recently rescued from Canadian obscurity and restored by exploitation video label Vinegar Syndrome.
TERRIFIED
D: Demián Rugna
Argentina, 2017, 87 min., U.S. Premiere
In Attendance — Director Demián Rugna
Strange things are going on in a Buenos Aires neighborhood. Demián Rugna’s constantly surprising and truly spine-chilling horror film has one goal: to scare the shit out of everyone.
TUMBBAD
D: Rahi Anil Barve & Adesh Prasad
India, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 108 min.
In Attendance — Co-director/writer Adesh Prasad
In the rural village of Tumbbad, a decaying castle hides an immeasurable ancestral fortune guarded by something ancient, sinister, and monstrous. Vinayak thinks he can control it, but how long will it be until his own greed destroys everything he’s built?
UNDER THE SILVER LAKE
D: David Robert Mitchell
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 139 min.
From the dazzling imagination that brought you It Follows comes a delirious neonoir fever dream about one man’s search for the truth behind the mysterious crimes, murders, and disappearances in his East L.A. neighborhood.
THE UNTHINKABLE
D: Crazy Pictures
Sweden, 2018, 129 min., World Premiere
Something unthinkable is happening in Sweden. It starts with a few isolated incidents but suddenly, it’s all over the country. There are some who were prepared and others who weren’t. Ready or not, things will go out with a bang!
VIOLENCE VOYAGER
D: Ujicha
Japan, 2018, 83 min., Regional Premiere
En route to visit a friend in another village, two kids go looking for a fabled shortcut through the mountain. Instead, they stumble upon an amusement park called Violence Voyager, and that’s when everything goes to shit.
WEREWOLF
D: Adrian Panek
Poland, The Netherlands, Germany, 2018, International Premiere, 88 min.
In a makeshift orphanage forgotten by most, a group of children who just survived the Holocaust find themselves preyed upon by a pack of wolf dogs. Their fight for freedom has only just begun.
WHEN THE TREES FALL
D: Marysia Nikitiuk
Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia, 2018, 88 min., North American Premiere
In Attendance — Director Marysia Nikitiuk
Scar and Larysa are desperately in love and suffocating under the tradition and archaic demands of their Ukrainian village. When the frustrations of each finally detonate, their world and the lives of those surrounding them are tragically shattered.
WHITE FIRE
D: Jean-Marie Pallardy
France, Turkey, United Kingdom, 1984, North American Premiere of 2K Restoration, 98 min.
A small team of diamond smugglers stumbles upon the location of the supernatural white fire diamond, but competing criminals pose deadly challenges in this forgotten and truly bizarre gem from 1985.
THE WIND
D: Emma Tammi
USA, 2018, U.S. Premiere, 89 min.
In Attendance — Director Emma Tammi
In Emma Tammi’s narrative debut The Wind, the forces of nature in the isolated prairies of the American Wild West are playing tricks on Lizzy. Her paranoia only grows with the arrival of a mysterious young woman.
THE WOLF HOUSE
D: Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña
Chile, 2018, 73 min., North American Premiere
In Attendance — Director Cristóbal León
An animated tale, supposedly restored from the archives of a German colony by the Chilean government, The Wolf House is the unsettling story of Maria, punished with a hundred nights alone in a cabin in the woods.
THE WORLD IS YOURS
D: Romain Gavras
France, 2018, Regional Premiere, 100 min.
Nothing goes as planned when a Parisian midlevel dealer must complete one last delivery to escape the drug life and open a Mr. Freeze franchise in Romain Gavras’ (Our Day Will Come) instant heist-comedy classic.
YOU MIGHT BE THE KILLER
D: Brett Simmons
USA, 2018, World Premiere, 92 min.
In Attendance — Director Brett Simmons
Counselors are being killed off at summer camp, and Sam (Fran Kranz) is stuck in the middle of it. Instead of contacting the cops, he calls his friend and slasher-film expert (Alyson Hannigan) to discuss his options.
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 BONE TOMAHAWK, JOHN WICK, FRANKENWEENIE, MACHETE KILLS, RED DAWN, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND, RED and SPLIT, while the guest roster has included such talent as Tim Burton, Nicolas Winding-Refn, Lilly and Lana Wachowski, Robert Rodriguez, Rian Johnson, 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 Mike Judge, M. Night Shyamalan, James McAvoy and Vince Vaughn. 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.