-
Fantastic Fest 2024: THE CHILDREN OF THE WICKER MAN Tell of Robin Hardy’s Homespun Horror
Exploring the real-life fallout of making the cult classic for the director and his family
In 1973, The Wicker Man hit British theaters, but many didn’t even notice. A small scale roll-out, with a limited amount of promotion, it’s distributor British Lion was all too cautious with a film it didn’t understand or appreciate. In the years and indeed decades that followed, The Wicker Man has become the benchmark for folk horror, and is regarded as one of the greatest British films ever made. The cost of it’s production isn’t just measured in terms of budget and box office, but is also be gauged by the friends and family of it’s director Robin Hardy in a far more personal way . A man who we come to know as a flawed but driven character, whose choices and priorities over the course of his life left behind a cherished feature, but a fractures series of relationships and individuals in his wake.
The legacy of The Wicker Man has been explored previously, Burnt Offerings from Mark Kermode perhaps being the standout. The Children of the Wicker Man has an altogether different approach. The dive was precipitated by one of Hardy’s son Justin (one of 8, children that Hardy had apparently acknowledged) taking receipt of a portfolio of documents belonging to his late father’s estate. Within were a number of legal documents, production materials, and other artifacts that centered around his father’s professional career and personal life. After realizing that these materials offer a perfect way to piece together their past, and better understand some of the choices their father made, Justin enlists his half-brother Dominic, and support from filmmaker Chris Nunn, to document their work, and their journey to the key people and places that can make sense of it all.
As a self-confessed fan of the film, it’s fascinating to get an alternate perspective on things. These documents include original scripts, sketches of characters, production schedules, contracts, letters concerning funding support from his then wife, and a wealth of personal letters. Together, they offer a roadmap to into their father’s life and thinking from a few years prior to production on the Wicker Man. Covering battles with the studios, the involvement of Christopher Lee, casting decisions, crew conflicts, financial and legal troubles, and the ever deepening friction with his collaborators, most notably the film’s screenwriter Anthony Shaffer (Sleuth). A man who sat down with Hardy and hammered out the story over a day at the latter’s home, drinking two bottles of Scotch as delivered by a young Dominic. Interviews with surviving cast and crew add outsider context, with a large portion of the film comes from thoughtful ruminations and unvarnished sharing of memories, thoughts and feelings as Justin and Dominic visit locations such as their childhood homes, places where Hardy held court celebrating the film in the years after release, and shooting locations. A highlight is a trip to the town used in the film and the botanical gardens where up until a few years ago, they were still finding the artificial flowers used to dress the setting to craft the immortal location that was Summerisle.
The mismanagement of the film by new forces at production company British Lion which impacted it’s release and box office is where the impact on the family crystalizes, and Hardy’s flaws and foibles come to the fore. The film’s introduction made reference to some of his more philandering and lascivious qualities, and it’s kept relatively PG in the documentary itself, likely to keep the peace with other siblings and avoid washing (really) dirty laundry in public. We’re witness to Hardy’s streak of self-sabotage, not limited to this single production, but certainly exemplified by it. His signing away of royalties to the film’s profits in favor of a quick payout early on being one such example. It’s also made clear how Hardy displayed a recurring pattern of abandonment, a pain that united these half-brothers and drove them to face it head-on. You could approach what unfolds with a cooler logic and ask, is The Wicker Man really to blame? You could equally point fingers at British Lion for their failure to promote the feature for instance. The film certainly works as a focal point for this family, drawing attention and ire, but it’s legacy cements Hardy’s culpability, as once again he repeated his penchant for abandonment, even in the face of family related issues such as financial problems or illness. This time in favor of absconding to America and the circuit of screenings popping up across college campuses as the film began to secure it’s cult status. Hardy clearly has a charming and disarming nature, you don’t get to 8 kids (and possibly more), by multiple women without that kind of quality, and his legacy is much burnished by his engagement on the film and academic circuit over the years. There is something poignant about this creative work being reassessed and embraced. Indeed, this cherished status is not lost on the brothers, and goes some way to the cathartic denouement that brings the film to an end.
The documentary has something of a rough around the edges quality, intentionally imparted according to the film’s Q&A, and it does lend to a family scrapbook feeling. There is a bit of redundancy to a series of title cards that are used to breakup the film into chapters, with verbiage usually being reiterated verbally. Some ardent Wicker Man fans may feel they don’t get enough of a dive into the film’s productions wider legacy, but the good news is that the treasure trove of documents the brothers inherited, and a spate of excised footage recorded but unused for Children, will be used to fuel to crafting of a follow-up documentary, with a working title of Wickermania. This will chart the impact of the film and it’s legacy, notably how it’s impacted film, music, culture, and even the practice of Paganism itself. It should provide a nice complement to The Children of the Wicker Man, where through deconstructing their father through filmmaking, Justin and Dominic use the very medium their father used to imprint such harm upon them. It’s poetic in a way, and speaks to how artistic creativity and pursuit of a dream can be a force for good, but can come with a cost.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: Digging into LITTLE BITES with Director Spider One and Star Krsy Fox
Photo via: Instagram spiderone One of my biggest surprises of Fantastic Fest was Little Bites, the latest film by Spider One, lead singer of Powerman 5000 and sibling to Rob Zombie. I came to the film thanks to one of its stars Barbara Crampton, who was discussing her latest collaboration with the director after starring in not only Little Bites, but their latest on twitter, that’s mentioned later in this interview. The film produced by Cher (Yes that one!), stars Krsy Fox and explores domestic abuse through the guise of a vampire film. The film focuses on Mindy (Krsy Fox) a troubled young woman (Krsy Fox) who is a familiar/walking blood bag to a vampire, who has his sights on her young daughter. It’s a bleak and rather heartbreaking portrait of abuse, that uses genre as an effective vehicle for delivery and I can’t recommend it enough.
The film is currently on the festival circuit and while it will soon be streaming on Shudder, the theatrical presentation is well worth a trip, thanks to not only being able to experience this with a live audience, but the sound design on this is top notch. After my screening at Fantastic Fest and I got a chance to not only speak with the film’s director Spider One, but his jack of all trades lead here, who turns in a transformative performance, while also being the film’s editor, producer, start and sound mixer.
So, firstly, I have to ask about the title card at the beginning of the film produced by Cher. How the hell did that happen?
Spider One: We ask ourselves that every day? How the hell did that happen? Because, I mean, I grew up watching Sonny and Cher. I’m that old. It’s very, very bizarre scenario.
Krsy Fox: Her son, Chaz Bono and I are best friends, and I was at her house for a little birthday dinner for him that she hosted, and she started asking questions about these indie horror films we were making. I remember thinking like, how does she care about this? Like, why is she even asking? But, I thought she’s just being nice. But getting to know her a little more, she’s a wonderful, very kind person, but she’s very smart and very direct, you know what I mean? And I was like, oh, wow, she really was interested in this.
Some time went on and she had kept bringing it up to Chaz, and Chaz ended up coming on board for our last film Bury the Bride and it went very well. When Little Bites, came about and the script was done, and we’re about to start production on it – on Mother’s Day, I remember she was like, ‘I’m in, I wanna do this film with you guys’, (laughs) and we’re like, this is crazy. So, we just, shot the film and we took it to her house and watched it in her theater with her and got her notes. And it’s just been a really surreal experience.
Spider One: I mean, talk about nerve wracking. You’re sitting with an Academy Award winner and we’re just like, what? Four or five of us Watching the movie with Cher and I’m just like, oh God, I hope she doesn’t walk out. Remarkably, she really loved it, and she was very complimentary of all the performances. It was such a relief and you know, you can count on one hand someone of that caliber and entertainment, so it’s been amazing.
Krsy Fox: Yeah. Not to mention, every question or is backed by extreme experience and knowledge where that’s not always the case.
And, the stories she would tell you about shooting Moonstruck, or, The Witches of Eastwick, like ‘that reminds me of this’. And you’re just like, you could listen to her talk for hours.
Little Bites is this rather impressive look at domestic violence through the guise of a vampire movie. Like, how does that take even cross your mind? It’s such a great take.
Spider One: I’ve always thought that the real power of horror and science fiction, historically has been to take a subject you couldn’t talk about and represent this social issue with a robot or a monster.
Like Planet of the Apes.
Spider One: Yeah, exactly. Planet the Apes, Godzilla, you know, every, every generation has their atomic bomb. I think that sometimes nowadays that goes missing, because we can now talk about so many things. But for me, it’s just such a fun way to tackle things that are somewhat universal for all of us, whether it’s protecting a child or abuse, or even just feeling like, where do I fit in the world?
For me, you could tell Little Bites without a monster, but it wouldn’t be as fun, you know? So, to create this unique creature that kind of represents all of her fears, all of her insecurities as a parent.
You’re literally at a certain point stacking some rather poignant metaphors here.
I mean, just the idea of the pressures of protecting a child can slowly eat you alive. I think anyone who is a parent at some point in their life feels like they’re exhausted, they’re tired. The world is crashing down. Your mother thinks you’re doing a terrible job. The other parents seem to have it all together, but, it was just a fun space to play in.
So, Krsy, we all kind of known a character like Mindy. How did you find her, and did you know a someone like that? Because it just felt really truthful to people who would have experienced that in their lives.
Krsy Fox: Thank you. I’m a mother as well and I would do anything for my daughter, so I connected initially with that. But also, you know, of course we’ve all struggled with different things, whether it’s personal abuse or someone close to you and watching that. I just really tried to take in those feelings of fear and anger and trying to control it all at the same time. It was a hard character to live in because she basically never gets to be happy.
I just really deeply related to it, with like my personal life and certain things growing up. But then also I’ve had friends who’ve had such deeper struggles, and I’ve kind of gone through it with them. To me, yes, it is about parenthood, but it’s also about substance abuse and, struggling with that and struggling with just abuse in general.
I just think that those are topics that are really heavy, but really important. I like that she’s a survivor, but a flawed survivor. It isn’t necessarily a happy ending, but it’s something that she overcomes some things throughout the movie and she gets some power and, and she figures out how to stand up for herself.
Now, Spider we’ve seen vampires almost for centuries on film since its inception, but this character feels somewhat on its own plane, like it’s rooted in what we know, but it’s also got that extra layer that if they were real, that’s what I kind of think would happen. How did you come up with that mythology and how well is it like thought out?
I mean, it’s funny that people are using the word vampire, which I never even thought of, but I suppose he is a vampire. I guess that’s the most relatable, I just sort of think of him as own his own creature. The thing with Agyar, you know, is that his form? Or if there is just one Agyar or maybe everyone has their own Agyar? I think it would take on a different form depending on your life. But in terms of conceptually coming up with this monster, I mean I knew from the very beginning that I wanted to him to be human enough, because it was a real acting job. He wasn’t just kind of grunting in the corner.
To try and find this unique space in the monster world where, we’re not doing the silent killer, you know, like a Jason or a Michael Myers. Sort of just walking with a mask on, and we’re not doing something like a caricature, throwing one liners out. I wanted to create this creature that his psychological torture, was equally as painful as his physical torture to sort of represent all of her fears and insecurities in life. Then creating a look for him that clearly isn’t human, but we didn’t want to go overboard with prosthetics, where now we can’t really relate to his. We wanted to see him to be able to, to put on a real performance. So I hope we succeeded. We were really thoughtful about how we revealed him very slowly. You get a little bit more and a little bit more as the movie goes on, until finally we kind of see all of him at the end.
Krsy, yesterday Barbara Crampton brought this up in the Q&A and and my literally hit the floor. So, not only did you edit this film, you did the sound, and I really hope people see this movie in the theater, because the sound design really enhanced the experience and just make it that much scarier.
How did that all come together and how collaborative was that process for you two? Because as an actor, that’s got to be great because you have so much control over your performance at that point.
Krsy Fox: It’s great because I’m not just a producer that I have my name on the movie because I’m in it. I do everything. It’s a strange thing to edit a film like this, where it’s just all yourself. You get really sick of yourself. The one thing that was helpful with this movie is that I really don’t look like myself and I’m not acting like myself. So those are the types of films I have an easier time editing. So what I usually do with the films is, actually when we wrapped this film, Spider went on tour for a month, so it was a great time for me to get sort of my first cut. He was gone so I could focus.
I got a first cut and then I would send him scenes often while he was on the road and then we’d talk on the phone and get his thoughts. But we’re very aligned. When it comes to our prep and working with our DP, I’m sitting in on every meeting, I know what he’s looking for, I’m on set the whole time. I remember which takes he was connecting with. It’s not like it’s way out there and I’m going through 7,000 clips and I have no idea. It’s a quick process and once I get my first cut, he’ll have some thoughts, but it’s never really a big challenge. The sound design with this one was really cool and we did work with a company that mixed it and they did a great job, but it was important to be disgusting and scary and also very minimalistic. Whereas there’s other films where I’m like, every single time someone turn turns their head, you hear it.
When this one hits it hits!
Krsy Fox: To make it effective, you have to have the space and the silence and we tried to be really mindful of that. When we got into the music side of it, what I like to do if I’m not scoring the movie, which I did do some of the music in Bittle Bites, but like 99% was this amazing composer Roy Mayorga. We really wanted it to feel like seventies. All of his equipment was really from that time period, he had such a great sensibility in the films he loved. What I did was, I put in some temp music and I’m like, this is the direction, this is where we like the scene to go. This is where he would like it to build. And he just took it from there and I just think really did an amazing job with the music. Which was really exciting because at that point I was like, if I have to sit here and look at myself anymore, I’m going to jump out the window. So, it was nice to have someone else come in and do that.
But it’s usually a very great collaborative process. The only time we wanna kill each other is if I’m like, let me get my first cut, and then we can do it, then we’ll go through it.
Spider One: I know when to stay outta the world.
Krsy Fox: It’s sort of like all of our films. We all do a thousand jobs and everyone just kills themselves to make these films and that’s why there’s so much heart in them, we all do it just because we love them.
I agree 100% and it really came across on screen yet last night. So, what do you have planned next? Are we going to get another creature feature?
Spider One: Well, the next idea is already finished. We shot it. We have a movie we actually just finished the first edit on.
Oh, wow.
Spider One: It’s called Big Baby, which I describe it best as like a meta slasher. Because I’ve always wanted to have the benefits of making a slasher film, you know, the character and fun kills. But I didn’t want to make, you know, six teenagers go into a cabin and each one gets, you know.
Yeah.
Spider One: So, Big Baby is the next one. It’s about a screenwriter whose creations come to life and haunt him and the lines between reality and his fictional story are blurred and it’s a true descent into madness for this guy. So we’re very excited about that movie. Very scary. And it deals with a six foot five hulking man in a baby mask and a onesie. So, get ready for that.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: SISTER MIDNIGHT is a Blood-Draining and Delightful New Take on Vampire Lore
Debut director Karan Kandhari finds an exquisite balance between camp and creeps in challenging cultural institutions
Uma (Radhika Apte) arrives at her new husband Gopal’s (Ashok Pathak) home in Mumbai under the cover of darkness. However, it’s many minutes into Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight before they–or she–exchange any words. Thrust into an arranged marriage with a man she’d only met a handful of times, Uma’s adrift in a sea of domestic expectations. She can’t cook or keep a house, earning her scorn from her nosy neighbors. Moreover, others blame Uma and Gopal’s mutual awkwardness around each other solely on her. If Uma wasn’t complaining or standing up for herself, instead being wholly servile to her husband’s every whims–he might be more interested in her and they’d fit in more with the neighborhood.
At first, Sister Midnight plays like a whimsically deadpan skewering of Indian social norms, full of bright colors that clash the characters’ blunt and harsh treatment of one another. These contrasting elements, and the natural humor found within them, would be at home in the films of Wes Anderson or even his more bleak satirist counterpart Roy Andersson. However, it’s the director’s keen eye for the gender-based cultural specifics of Uma’s low social standing in Indian society that allow Kandhari’s direction to truly sing, and forge an emotional foundation for Sister Midnight’s bittersweet, cynical tone.
Apte’s cutthroat performance makes it thrilling to watch Uma come into her own. Already fiercely independent from the start, she gives her new circumstances an even shot before Gopal’s bemused avoidance underscores how Uma’s new home is far more comparable to a prison. She finds no solidarity with her fellow housewives, and when domestic life allows a mysterious illness to take hold, all anyone can focus on is Uma’s skincare routine–highlighting colorism as another otherizing aspect within a society already rife with inequality. Doctors, in turn, barely listen to Uma’s needs, wanting to treat her incessant headaches and whitening skin with flat Coca-Cola. While Uma’s harsh callouts of everyone’s off-putting behavior further her isolation, Apte and Kandhari seize each opportunity to position Uma as a straight-woman for the irrationality of such behavior.
It’s a fascinating, brutal dynamic comprising Uma’s world, which Kandhari mines for both comedic and dramatic tension–and that’s before Uma gets a taste for blood.
While the film’s unique tone is already enjoyable, it takes quite some time for Sister Midnight to reveal just why it was making its debut at Fantastic Fest. To Uma’s surprise, drinking the blood of animals cures her illnesses; ironically, becoming a vampire provides Uma with an injection of the life drained from her as an arranged bride. It’s a thrilling new take on vampire stories within this context–while Kandhari plays up the laughs in Uma’s haphazard attempts to keep her new rituals a secret, he doesn’t position the act of being a vampire as a world-ender for Uma. Rather, she seizes opportunities to change her appearance and forge new bonds with nonjudgmental Hijra in the neighborhood. In juxtaposing Uma’s nightly journeys with her coworker who doesn’t want to leave his job as an elevator operator, or a gaggle of salarymen who silently drink at individual tables at a bar, Kandhari also suggests that becoming a bloodthirsty creature may make for a better life than being a member of society’s living dead.
Kandhari’s underplayed playful tone extends to his world-building. Aversions to sunlight and other touchstones of Vampire lore make nuanced appearances here, as well as how the animals Uma drains over time come back to life as cartoonish stop-motion creatures. When we least expect it, they emerge from underneath Uma’s hiding place under her bed, screaming and whistling with zany new vigor far surpassing other human beings. To Uma’s surprise, some of these creatures form a bizarre attachment to her, becoming a loyal flock to her reluctant surrogate motherhood. And, in an interesting pivot, Gopal slowly learns Uma’s secret–while they don’t develop the chemistry expected of them as husband and wife, they manage to eke out a mutual helpful bond and admiration, something Sister Midnight suggests is more meaningful for them in the long run.
Kandhari’s ability to infuse his social critiques with such a rich blend of comedy, drama, and horror makes his debut feature film one of Fantastic Fest 2024’s most memorable outings, anchored by a ferociously punk rock performance by Radhika Apte.
Sister Midnight had its North American premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024, where it won Best Picture in the Next Wave Features category. Magnolia Pictures has acquired the film for future US Distribution.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: GET AWAY is a Bloody Good Time
The latest from Nick Frost and Steffen Haars delivers folk horror with a gleeful twist
There’s nothing like a nice get away. A holiday, a vacation if you’re stateside, whatever you call it, a chance to kick back, indulge in some pleasures, and recharge your batteries. That’s the idea for the Smith family anyway, with father Richard (Frost), mother Susan (Aisling Bea), and their son Sam (Sebastian Croft), and daughter Jessie (Maisie Ayres) all on the road heading toward a killer vacation. Their destination, the secluded Swedish island of Svälta. Their visit coincides with the festival of Karantan, an event that marks the anniversary of a tragic family that afflicted the island. Ritualistic performances, masks and costumes, and a play that depicts events precipitated by four English naval officers, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of locals due to their blockades and ensuing starvation. A celebration, but not for a particularly cheery event.
Despite being warned off my the mainlanders, the Smith family catch the last ferry over to Svälta and receive a frosty reception that soon becomes openly hostile. The only friendly face is their creepy AirBnB host (Eero Milonoff), who himself seems to be ostracized from the community. The family set their determination on enjoying the trip as best they can, while the villagers note the symbolism of four Brits arriving on the 200th anniversary of their historical event, and soon the town elder (Anitta Suikkari) is championing a return to the old ways, unaware of the bloody consequences already set in motion.
Director Steffen Haars (New Kids Turbo) and writer/star Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead), reunite after their splatter infused Krazy House earlier this year for another blood-soaked affair, one but which trades in the zaniness for a more off-kilter edge. Frost’s script is sharp with just the right amount of silly worked in. As an expat myself I’m all too familiar of that feeling of venturing over to the mainland as it were. A holiday on the Continent, visiting a small town, or distant region, whether in Greece, Spain, France, or yes Sweden, where a certain frostiness, cautious gaze, and a denial of an ability to speak English (even is heard fluently earlier) makes for an unwelcoming surrounds. It’s evocative of some of the tropes of folk horror, outsiders arriving at a community and picking up on an otherworldly vibe. With Get Away it’s smartly and hilariously leveraged into a sharp black comedy. Quirky villagers, with their curt ways, dry tone, and antiquated language, convey the a sense that this is a place that’s a little unstuck in time, and in service to an older way of doing things. That’s even before the ritualistic garb is pulled out of storage. Haars well works the rental house and it’s secrets, to carve out a little mystery element that offers up a complementary side-plot. A quaintly clean Swedish aesthetic adds to the offbeat feel, as does the remote, but picturesque surrounds, with Finland (the shooting location) providing an authentic stand-in for Sweden. In all, the setup and setting deftly pull from folk-horror tropes to add just the right level of unease around this family.
Where the film excels is in the family unit itself, played by a quartet that convey a palpable sense of fun about being involved. In the face of hostility they largely adopt a forced politeness, a consequence of British etiquette, and the resultant exchanges with the local deliver gem after gem. Patience wears thing and a war of words escalates, never felt more strongly that in a withering assault on the moistness of a local’s waffles. There’s a sense that this is a dysfunctional unit working through some issues, likely in therapy, as they take care over their language, and use affirming words and titles to reinforce familial bonds. This work on boundaries often gives way to bickering, especially among the siblings, with some withering retorts. And while the family is at odds with each other, it’s delightful to see them rally the wagons when they come under threat from those outside their group. Ayres, in her first theatrical role, delivers a gem of a performance, that plays wonderfully off the drollness of Frost, the snark of Croft, and the dry wit of Bea.
There is a a twist that comes to tee up the final act, one that you’ll probably see coming. Even so it will likely enhance your gleeful anticipation for what’s to come. The reveal itself is a little clunky in its execution. A sudden shift into a riotous final act, rather than something that is milked as much as it could have been, for comedy and dramatic effect. It’s a small bump in the road on a trip that is quite simply a bloody good time with a gleeful twist. Get Away offers up feast of violence, but never loses sight of delivering a laugh as well as a dismemberment.
Get Away will hit theaters courtesy of IFC Films on December 6, 2024, and find its way to Shudder in 2025.
-
Fantastic Fest Folk-Horror: THE SEVERED SUN and WITTE WIEVEN
If you want to get me in the door, tell me you made a folk-horror movie. Honestly, I’ll turn up for any horror movie, but folk-horror is the quickest path to my heart, whether we’re talking about small-scale stories of ritual gone wrong or grand-scale Old World meets New World cultural clashes. It’s just My Jam.
So I was thrilled to find that this year’s Fantastic Fest lineup featured a couple of films (at least) that felt right up my alley, and thanks to the fest’s online screening room, I was able to pair them as a double feature from the comfort of my couch. The films are the English film The Severed Sun and the Dutch film Witte Wieven, and thankfully for me, both turned out to be wonderful exercises in folk-horror atmosphere.
But it wasn’t just subgenre that linked these features, it turns out. They’re set in different parts of Europe, in different periods of time, but both are potent studies of women pushed to the brink when the systems of power that govern their lives prove either ineffective, dangerous, or both. In The Severed Sun, we meet Magpie (Emma Appleton), a woman caught in an abusive marriage within the isolated spiritual commune run by her father (Toby Stephens). Desperate for some sense of control over her own destiny and her own suffering, she murders her husband and makes it look like an accident. But the locals aren’t buying Magpie’s story, and her future gets even more complicated when a mysterious beast from the woods starts invading the community and picking off locals.
It’s not hard to parse the thematic content at the heart of this, nor is it meant to be, but what The Severed Sun lacks in mystery it makes up for in atmosphere. Director Dean Puckett shoots his film in a vivid juxtaposition of handheld close-ups and wide, pastoral static shots, blending the chaos of Magpie’s life with the seemingly idyllic world in which she lives. It’s a style that reminded me of classics like The Blood on Satan’s Claw and Witchfinder General, and indeed it feels like something that UK studio Tigon might have dropped somewhere in about 1971, in a very good way.
Then there’s Witte Wieven, another story of a woman wronged who takes matters into her own hands. In this case, that woman is Frieda (Anneke Sluiters), a wife in a Medieval farming community who’s desperate to be a mother, as much because she’d like a child as because the deeply Christian community around her expects it. Driven to frustration by her own fertility issues, and by the presence of the local abusive butcher who’s allowed to walk free, Frieda’s life changes when she runs into the dark woods around the village one day, chased by said butcher, and discovers something lurking there that might change her life.
Again, thematically, you can see where this is going, but Witte Wieven is not hobbled by predictability, nor is it entirely predictable. You can see the vague scaffolding that Frieda’s climbing in this film, but director Didier Konings successfully immerses her into a world so lush and shadow-filled that you can’t truly see exactly where things are going until they exploded in sometimes orgasmic gouts of blood and emotional revelation. The violence in this film is particularly well-staged, there’s great creature work, and the mist-soaked visuals will remind you of recent folk-horror hits like Hagazussa and You Won’t Be Alone.
Bottom line, I loved both of these movies, as much for their differences as for their thematic, visual, and atmospheric similarities. If you’re a folk-horror devotee like me, I urge you to seek them both out, and maybe even pair them together if you can. This is a subgenre that remains not just alive and well, but full of strange magic not yet revealed.
-
AZRAEL: Samara Weaving Versus the Post-Apocalypse
After premiering at SXSW, Azrael, the latest by E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills), is set to open this week theatrically today. The film has Katz teaming up with one of my favorite genre writer/directors Simon Barrett (You’re Next) to deal out their take on the post-apocalyptic horror film. The film stars Samara Weaving in the lead as Azrael, and if you’ve seen any of the young actor’s films you know when it comes to genre she’s essentially the female equivalent to John Wick in a flick and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Azrael, named after the angel of death, is a film that leans into the young actor’s action chops for his mostly silent narrative that has her delivering a rather impressive performance without saying a word, but I will explain.
Transpiring post rapture, the film follows Azrael, who was once part of a cult that have renounced the sin of speech by undergoing a surgery on their vocal cords, signified by a cross scar on their throats. As the film begins, Azrael and her partner are being hunted down by the cult, who are led by a rather ominous pregnant woman, that we get the impression has some kind of ties to the events that are to transpire post rapture. The film is essentially a cat and mouse game, as Weaving spends the film living up to her namesake dispatching cult members as she does, to save her partner who is taken in the first act. This all while we glimpse just what Azrael’s role is in this story as the film goes full on folk horror in the remaining moments.
While Weaving is a known quantity in the action/horror genre, without the ability to speak, she’s left to craft a nearly silent performance here and she just annihilates it. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul and for a role that to most that would have been a handicap, Weaving uses her piercing blue eyes to convey everything from love, loss to complete bloodlust. She’s opposite a cast of characters that at times feel like lambs to the slaughter, there’s not too much invested in building out the lore, which would be my only quip here, I just wanted to know more. Because no one really speaks for the entirety of the film, it’s hard to extrapolate exposition; which – given this is one of my favorite sub-genres – hurt the film for me.
That being said, as a post-apocalyptic horror film, Azrael most definitely delivers the blood soaked goods. Weaving is just a beast here. Of course she’s going to end up covered in viscera throughout the film, as she kills her way through the supporting cast, but I kind of expected that. What I didn’t expect, however, is her ability to elevate the material through an unnerving physical performance made mostly up of her facial expressions. Also the fact she has a legitimate love interest here, who didn’t set her up to be hunted by his family and gives some real meat to her character. Azrael is a solid piece of sub-genre that tells its story through a collection of lenses that tell a familiar story, but with a savage folk horror twist.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: I, THE EXECUTIONER Perfects the VETERAN Formula
South Korean writer/director/actor Ryoo Seung-wan is quickly establishing himself as one of the top tier filmmakers working in his homeland today, and I, The Executioner somewhat perfects a formula that he began with Veteran in 2015. In terms of tone, this now franchise of Veteran and I, The Executioner somewhat bookend the incredible South Korean cop/action/comedy franchise starring Ma Dong-seok known as the Roundup series. I don’t believe they’re related in terms of filmmakers or stars or a “shared universe” or anything like that. But they certainly share a vibe that is incredibly crowd pleasing and satisfying, and worth noting if anyone is seeking a “vibe check” before they check out I, The Executioner for themselves. You’ll be getting a cop thriller with plenty of laughs, as well as sophisticated fisticuffs.
It’s shocking that Veteran is almost 10 years old, and this is only the first sequel to that highly successful and influential Korean crime film. I personally didn’t see Veteran until just a few months ago, but after watching most of the Roundup series over the last couple of years, it hit me that Veteran sort of walked so that those films could run. In Veteran, seasoned detective Seo Do Cheol (Korean star Hwang Jung-min) is determined to get his man no matter the cost, and the cost will be dear. The system weighs heavily against him as he tries to take down a criminal who is rich and well connected. It’ll take his entire dedicated team of fellow officers, who are portrayed as goofball losers with hearts of gold, incorruptible outcasts, to close the case. They’ll bend rules, endure angry calls from their spouses, and get their man no matter what. It’s a solid enough formula that wouldn’t have fully gelled without a truly hateable villain that the audience wants to get got as much as the lead characters do. But that dogged, rag tag, comical team of South Korean detectives has become somewhat of a genre unto itself with 4 Roundup films playing in that same sandbox.
But what about, I, The Executioner? I mentioned all those previous films to say that I, The Executioner feels like somewhat of a warm cinematic blanket for fans of South Korean crime/action films as it almost perfects the formula that so many similar films have laid out. Cheol is as stubborn and dogged as ever, complaining about the low wages and high sacrifice of being a detective and monkeying around with his brothers in arms. This time around, a Robin Hood style serial killer seems to be emerging (although his bosses won’t believe him). Known as “Haechi”, our killer is terminally online, and only kills people who seemingly committed heinous crimes and got away with them. So Haechi kills killers, often recreating the deaths of their victims in his own killings. He’s a vigilante serial killer, to some extent, so the public kind of loves him and I, The Executioner very much highlights the complications of social media and true crime YouTubers whipping up public opinion into a frenzy. It’s a great, chaotic set up to throw our lead detectives into. Cheol is tasked with protecting a guy he largely views as a scumbag, and who got out of being punished for a crime Cheol believes he committed. Cheol and his team have to walk a fine line of being cops who bend the rules, but who will do what’s right when the time comes. And Cheol will stop Haechi if it kills him.
Seung-wan writes and directs here, and what’s most impressive about I, The Executioner is the remarkable tonal balance it achieves, even more successfully than Veteran did. The world around Cheol is a chaotic one, with his son struggling with bullying at school, a serial killer on the loose, bosses who won’t back him up, and the internet in a speculative whirlwind that places his team in a media firestorm. The tension is ratcheted up to 11 not just for our characters but in the style of the film as well. But within that stew I, The Executioner brings tons of laughs, and also presents a credibly threatening villain with real heavy duty stakes. Then top all that off with some high energy chases and action set pieces, and you’ve got something special, if familiar, going. All the stops are pulled out to ensure you are entertained in a way that only South Korean cinema can really deliver.
I would recommend I, The Executioner to anyone who enjoys a good police procedural. It’s accessible whether you’ve seen Veteran or not. If you love thrills and laughs, this will have a lot to offer. Fans of Veteran or The Roundup films will know what they’re in for here, but the ride will prove worth it even for the familiar. I, The Executioner is one of the most straight up entertaining and furiously paced films I caught at Fantastic Fest 2024 and I’d welcome a third installment of Seung-wan and Jung-min’s madness.
And I’m Out.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: AJ GOES TO THE DOG PARK is Pure Cinematic Serotonin
Toby Jones, who most probably know from his work on Regular Show and OK KO debuted his first feature length live action film, AJ Goes to the Dog Park at Fantastic Fest yesterday, and the best way to describe it’s the cinematic equivalent to the chilly side of your pillow after a long day. The film has the vibe of a group of friends who got together to make a wholesome family movie and that’s because it was. The film stars Toby’s childhood friend AJ Thompson, who would star in his short films he made growing up as the titular AJ. The three year passion project resulted in a film that was so delightful, I can’t wait to recommend it to friends and families looking for something off the beaten path.
AJ loves his simple life in Fargo, North Dakota and his routines. He loves his buttered toast, falling asleep to youtube videos with his two chihuahuas after a long day and taking his puppies to the local dog park to play. Almost as soon we meet AJ, there’s a recall on his butter, his TV’s youtube app is no longer compatible and when AJ thinks it can’t get any worse, the dog park now has desks and computers and has now been turned into a blog park! Looking to restore order to his world and give his puppies back their park, AJ decides he’ll run for mayor. But in Fargo, North Dakota, he can’t just win the election, he has to complete a series of Herculean tasks that involves: fighting, fishing, scrapping, scraping and sapping in that order to become the mayor and restore order.
Sitting down, I really didn’t know what to expect except dogs – given the title. There were indeed dogs and they were adorable. What transpired is this PG hybrid of peak live-action adult swim and I Think You Should Leave, that’s hilarious as it is wholesome. The humor is a rapid fire mix of cool dad jokes, absurdist sight gags and slapstick, conjuring essentially a live action cartoon onscreen and it completely broke me more than a few times with its rapid fire barbs. That humor is paired with a rather prickly heart and message of not losing focus of the important things in life, as AJ becomes so focused on his tasks he forgets why he was doing them in the first place.
AJ healed my soul a little bit and left me with a warm and fuzzy feeling leaving the theater. AJ Goes to the Dog Park is pure cinematic serotonin and will leave you with a spring in your step and song in your heart, and not enough films can claim that, and dogs.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: Talking Tiny Monsters with FRANKIE FREAKO’s Director Steven Kostanski
Photo via kill_kostanski instagram Frankie Freako, the latest by Astron-6 alum Steven Kostanski (The Void, Psycho Goreman, Father’s Day) recently screened at Fantastic Fest and given my love of the Tiny Monster subgenre, I couldn’t have dug it more. The film seamlessly transposes the familiar plot of those films, where someone’s life is upended by troublemaking critters, here called the Freakos, but instead of a kid, it’s an adult, hitting folks like me who grew up with these films square in the nostalgia. If you’re a fan of this vastly underrated subgenre, you’re in luck, because this film gets everything right, while introducing us to a new crew of critters with a bad attitude.
Seriously, it’s so much fun!
I caught up to Steven after catching the film and we chatted not only about where Frankie Freako came from, but Boglins – which offers up its own mini-twist, our love of tiny monster films in particular Ghoulies Go to College, and for you hard core Astron-6 fans like myself – an update, as it is on the infamous, still unreleased doc, No Sleep No Surrender.
First Off Steven, congrats on the film. I really enjoyed it. Thanks for giving late 80s early 90s monster kids some representation! First off I have to ask. Boglins appear to definitely be an inspiration here, did you ever call the Boglin 1-900 number?
Steven Kostanski: For the Boglins 900 number, no.
I mean boglins were in the periphery and like full disclosure years ago I was poking around to see what the right situation was with Boglins.
Oh really!?
Steven Kostanski: Yeah. I mean it seems like the rights for that are kind of tied up in knots. So, I just decided to make my own original thing. There’s a lot of things that contributed to this movie’s existence, but Boglins was an early point of like, I want to make a little monster movie. I remember when I was early in development on this, I ordered one off eBay and was like dismantling it and playing with the inner mechanisms and stuff just to be like can I make something like this in terms of like the simplicity of its mechanics for the Freako puppets.
So yeah, Boglins were definitely an influence on this project.
I dug that instead of going to gremlins you went to the more direct to video fare for inspiration, what’s your first experience with the Tiny Monster genre and why did you decide to pay homage to it with your own film?
Steven Kostanski: Well, it’s a super underrepresented genre right now and it’s annoyed me to no end for years, because I’ve been pushing little monster movies on people for a long time. Other filmmakers are like, ‘nobody wants to see that, that’s not like the hot creature right now, people want witches or people want zombies or whatever’ and I want little trouble making critters like – seems obvious.
My history with it goes back pretty far. I mean, as a kid, I remember loving gremlins and then growing up and like in my teens, when I started discovering the Full Moon movies, like, I became obsessed with Puppet Master. I feel like those are kind of the top tier for me. That franchise does the thing that I like to do in my movies, you kind of present your characters as villains for the first part and then they become the heroes at the end of the movie – it’s my like Terminator 2 logic. Puppet Master does that progressively over like the first 5 movies, they go from being killers to working with our protagonists to fight a worse villain.
So that’s what I wanted Frankie Freako to encompass especially and the diversity of the looks of the puppet master, puppets really impresses me. I am all about iconography, and as a kid it was all about what are the exciting designs that catch my eye. You look at the variety of the puppets in Puppet Master and they’re just so iconic in their own way, and they’re all totally different. So I want to emulate that with Frankie as well, where each character feels like they’re coming from their own universe.
Like there’s a general consistency, but each one clearly has their own life, does their own thing and has their own special set of skills. So yeah, I really pulled from Puppet master a lot, but then also like, and this is only fairly recently, but Ghoulies Go to College. I’ve become obsessed with because it’s just such a bizarre choice for a third movie in a franchise, like ‘let’s go to college’, other franchises are going to space and we’re going to do college.
A couple of Christmases ago, we were watching just streaming every little monster movie there is and watching them back-to-back. So it’s like they all kind of gelled together in my brain, and I barfed out Frankie Freako.
Yeah, I just watched Ghoulies Go to College recently too, they dulled the Satanic undertones and were summoned by a comic book; and they also add the toilet to the lore officially at that point, that was a bit part of the marketing campaign.
Steven Kostanski: Yeah, a lot of bold choices in that movie. I love that it has the Dean that becomes an end boss monster at the end and you can see a bit of a reference to that in Frankie Freako. But I just love that movie is a college sex comedy derailed by puppets that puts way more effort into its lore and its world building than any movie called Ghoulies Go to College ever should.
(Laughs) Yeah!
Steven Kostanski: I think that sums up my tastes pretty well and kind of what I’m doing with Frankie Freako, which is like I wanted to feel like a De Palma thriller in the 1st 15 minutes, that gets derailed by little creatures. It’s very much in line with my sensibilities of like a bunch of college frat guys chasing around babes is all fun and games, but like, I really just want to watch these monsters get into shit.
I really dug how you just sort of transpose the plot of these films from a kid to an adult without skipping a beat. How did you come up with that approach to your script? And it was surprisingly wholesome as well.
Well, that was like a bit of an intentional troll on my end, as I was making it like people kept talking about like it was going to be a horror movie and like it’s gonna be so violent and gory.
Yeah.
Steven Kostanski: I don’t know. I feel that’s like the easy way out nowadays. To me, the ultimate challenge is to make a kids movie that adults can watch. So I really approached this movie with the attitude of like, I want parents to not really have an excuse not to show this to kids. Like, aside from some bursts of violence and insinuation of potential sexual assault of our protagonist. I feel like it doesn’t go harder than something like Ghostbusters or Gremlins, and it was a very deliberate choice because I just feel like it’s the tone of this type of movie. It keeps it feeling childish, without feeling juvenile, if that makes sense.
I didn’t want to make a thing where it’s just gross out gags and just people cussing constantly like that. That bores me, and I feel like there’s so much stuff out there that leans into that. I like that it delights some people and annoys others, that I don’t really lean into those tropes as much.
So you’re an FX guy, but you also do a lot of directing. What’s your process like, do you design the monsters first and then do the script or do the script and then do the monsters. What’s your process?
Steven Kostanski: I mean, I have no set workflow. I don’t enjoy writing particularly, so usually when I’m writing scripts, I’m procrastinating and making monsters at the same time. So I’m kind of like designing and writing simultaneously. Sofor this movie I actually built like a proto Frankie, an early version of him that didn’t end up getting used as Frankie, but he pops up as an assorted Freako later on in the movie. So when I got tired of writing, I would go sculpt a bit and do a bit of shop work and that stuff helps me wrap my brain around what I’m writing as well, because I can really get a sense of like just scale and like how this thing exists in a space.
I’m a very tactile filmmaker, I don’t love words on a page. I like seeing things, I like holding and operating and manipulating things. I feel my brain doesn’t fully turn on until I’m like in the set with the actors, with the creatures. So I try to inject that into the development process as much as possible, where I’m trying to also build things, while I’m writing so I can have the things sitting there staring at me while I’m putting words on the page.
There’s an innocence, but there’s also a darkness to Frankie Freako. Was it hard balancing that tone and did you ever feel the film went too far in any direction? The film had an interesting ebb and flow, like when Conor is beating up Boink, you’re not sure where it’s going to go.
Steven Kostanski: I mean, that’s something that I’ve adopted from my fellow Asteron 6 members, especially having Connor and Adam around on set and just talking over the project with Matt who voices Frankie. It’s very much in line with their sensibilities, the idea of like, kind of jumping the line, going back and forth. Lulling people into a sense of security and then doing something really hard and intense and real, and then pulling back immediately.
It’s the concept that I’ve become fascinated with recently. I’ve been listening to a lot of The Simpsons commentary tracks and Matt Groening talks about elastic reality. I don’t know if you’ve heard of this concept. It’s like Homer can go to space and crazy shit can happen, but he always ends up back at home in suburbia, with his family and kind of everything always gets pulled back to a place.
So in this movie, I was trying to do that where it’s like the grounded reality is just kind of like this fun light tone. But occasionally we’ll fly away somewhere else. But then just naturally get pulled back. We always end up back in the same place, like it doesn’t go hard, and then we’re like living with it being hard for the rest of the movie, if that makes any sense.
Definitely, it was a fun ride. So finally being a big Astron-6 fand I have to ask, will we ever see No Sleep, No Surrender?
Steven Kostanski: I feel like every few months in our Astron-6 group chat, somebody will bring that up. Like what are we doing with this? I think the issue is we don’t have a master file of it. I think there was like a rough export at one point and we just have it floating around on a hard drive somewhere.
So it’s not like a thing that we can fully mix and master and have ready to put out there. I think it’s like the actual project file I think, is lost to time.
Oh wow.
Steven Kostanski: It’s like a real non answer and I apologize, I wish I could tell you what we’re doing with that. But, it’s once a year at least we’re like, should we just put this thing out on YouTube? I know there’s talk of that for a bit for this kind of unfinished version that we have. That’s the only thing that’s left, but yeah, I don’t know. Like, keep an eye out. Maybe it’ll just end up on YouTube at some point because I would like people to see it. It’s pretty fun.
Yeah, I feel like I need to just put it out there in the ether as a fan and hopefully one day we’ll get to see it.
Well, this is a good reminder. I’ll throw it at the guys later today and be like, hey, I was getting asked about no sleep, no surrender. We should throw it up again. Maybe it’ll be another dead end conversation, but maybe this time we’ll actually do it. We’ll see.
-
Fantastic Fest 2024: BETTER MAN Uses a Simian Slant to Craft a Strange and Soaring Biopic
A Robbie Williams biopic that delivers a gut-punch, a tearjerker, and a toe-tapper all rolled into one
A wild creative leap can make or break a film. In the case of Better Man, it’s thankfully the former–a decision by director Michael Gracey (The Greatest Showman) to depict the lead in this biopic in precisely the way he has always seen himself: as a performing monkey. The man in question is Robbie Williams; at 16, he became a key player in the boy band Take That and their pop music domination in the ’90s. A separation and ensuing solo career saw his singer-songwriter work garner him a series of hit #1 UK singles, six albums entering the top 100 all-time sales charts in the UK, and a Guinness World Record in 2006 for selling 1.6 million tickets in a day for his Close Encounters Tour. He even ventured into a Vegas residency and crooned his way through a duet with Nicole Kidman. Alongside the fame and success, though, were darker moments fueled by his confrontational personality, disruptive demeanor, and substance abuse–all well chronicled by the British tabloids. Better Man is a warts-and-all depiction of Williams’ life and career against the backdrop of nearly two decades of British pop culture.
The script from Gracey, co-writing with first-time screenwriters Oliver Cole and Simon Gleeson, gives you that foundational through-line that you’d expect from a music biopic; thankfully, the end product is more reminiscent of Rocketman or Walk the Line rather than Bohemian Rhapsody and Back to Black. Gracey takes us through the beats of Williams’ career, relationships, family strife, and ever-deepening descent into addiction. Key moments are brought to life with a dovetail into musical set pieces, where key compositions from William’s catalog are married to grand visual sequences. Rock DJ lights up a Regent Street showstopper, Come Undone underscores a nightmarish sequence that wouldn’t feel out of place in Trainspotting, and Let Me Entertain You fuels a frenetic psychological battle royale as Robbie finally faces up to his own self-judgment and doubt. To be clear, this isn’t a purely whimsical endeavor; sex, drugs, and violence are all presented in unvarnished fashion.
Unlike the woeful Bohemian Rhapsody, Better Man does not alter or sanitize the misdeeds of its lead, or his expressions of sexuality. You’re not just reminded how good some of these tunes were as we become privy to how Williams pulled them out and worked them over to become hits, a process facilitated by his longtime collaborator Guy Chambers (Tom Budge). While these tracks fuel some of the more visually and audibly memorable sequences, it’s the quieter moments of the film that are among its most indelible. The time Robbie spends with his nan (a wonderful Alison Steadman), and fellow pop star and first love Nicole Appleton (Raechelle Banno) are standouts. It’s Better Man’s father/son dynamic that sets much of Robbie’s life in motion, with the abandonment and future approval of his father Peter (a spot-on turn from Steve Pemberton) serving as key informers to the damage and the drive that accompanies Williams through his life.
Voiced by Williams, this monkey man is realized by the marvelous mo-cap performance of Jonno Davis. The creation is a marvel to behold, not just from a technical viewpoint. Never acknowledged by other characters, never played for laughs or leveraged into the narrative, he is just simply a visual of William’s perception of himself. From a CGI perspective, it’s not quite at the level of the recent …of the Apes movies, but it’s pretty damn close. The film reworks old concerts, performances, and photoshoots to show this monkey-man at the center of the limelight, as Williams very much was. Robbie is imbued with personality and emotive force, whether glimpsed as a young chimp eating a bag of crisps on the TV with his gran, or a pitiful older form, slumped on a toilet with a needle in his arm. At his cheekiest or his most loathsome, it’s impossible to not feel a tug at the heartstrings gazing into his eyes.
There’s an element of the film that might be off-putting to some stateside, namely Williams himself. Many stateside have little knowledge of the man, and some may find his cheeky demeanor to be somewhat grating. He’s undeniably the marmite of the Brit-pop world. As an Expat, I was certainly more informed as to the background of the subject and the smattering of UK references in the film, from who the All Saints are, Knebworth, Top of the Pops, Parky, and even the endearing use of The Two Ronnies as a ongoing tether between Robbie and his Nan. Despite this, I urge people to take a chance on such a wild, creative swing that pays off in spades. Switching out the lead for a CGI monkey-man in a way adds a clever layer of accessibility to the project; even if you’re not familiar with the man, the film remains a remarkable take on the all-consuming nature of ego and inner demons. As commented on within the film, “How can you be miserable when you have it all?” That’s the human psyche for you. Fame is no shield from insecurities, and Better Man reminds us of that by blending the fantastical with a solid thud of reality. We see one of the biggest musical stages in the world, with over 125,000 people, and the most human thing there is this CGI monkey.
Better Man leverages its simian-styled gimmick to craft a biopic that just soars. It charts the highs and many lows of a life not just under the spotlight, but one wrestling with inner doubt. Michael Gracey’s film is a gut-punch, a tearjerker, and a toe-tapper all rolled into one.
Better Man had its US Premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024. A limited release is planned by Warner Brothers for December 25th, 2024, followed by a wide expansion on January 17, 2025.
Pre-CGI still from the film
