Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary: Exploring an abandoned sanatorium while ditching school, two high school burnouts discover a girl strapped to a gurney in a secluded chamber. Debut directors Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento craft a new breed of teen angst drama set against a backdrop of humor black enough to make John Hughes retreat to a fetal state. Directors Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento in person! Full Description: Many horror films feature teenage characters but these people are generally nothing more than corpses in waiting and might as well be replaced by showroom mannequins. This is a shame as teenagers face unique psychological and physiological disrputions that are ripe for tales of horror. Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel apparently understand this; their film DEADGIRL mines the recesses of the hormone-wracked adolescent mind to create one of the most original American horror films in recent memory. Shiloh Fernandez (RED) and Noah Segan (CABIN FEVER 2) portray high school stoners who ditch school in favor of drinking beer in an abandoned sanitarium. The pair make their way into the bowels of the building, and stumble across a vicious dog. The ensuing chase leads them to a barricaded door. Upon entering the adjoining room, they find an incapacitated woman wrapped in plastic and strapped to a table. As time passes, the teens make a series of questionable decisions that put them, their friends and the audience on the spot. Given the film's untenable content, which is best revealed by actually watching the film, many film makers might be prone to either pull back from the edge or deliver an incoherent string of set pieces. Deadgirl, however, attacks its subject matter with an unerring commitment. The precise direction and fluid, dream-like cinematography work in service of an excellent script by Trent Haaga. Instead of marching a set of two-dimensional ciphers through a rote hack and slash plot, Haaga provides fully developed characters that allows the cast of mostly young actors (Michael Bowen has a supporting part) to embrace their roles. The film's attention to characterization and story increases the viewer's emotional investment, thus sharpening the impact of the film's underlying prurience and weirdness. It is useful to note that DeadGirl is an independently produced feature that was digitally shot with HD cameras and a tapeless workflow system similar to that used by David Fincher on his film Zodiac. This might seem like a peripheral detail but it further reflects the type of novel thinking behind this film. DeadGirl's marriage of hard content and technical craftsmanship easily raises the bar for independent horror films, and demonstrates a path away from the genericism that plagues the genre as a whole. (Rodney Perkins) Directors Gadi Harel and Marcel Sarmiento will be in attendance to present the film.

Brief Summary: A demented gynecologist discovers a cure for all the world’s illnesses and uses it as leverage to become sole dictator of the earth. Jam-packed with monsters, kung fu, battling robots and deviant sexual practices, DR. INFIERNO doesn’t let budget get in the way of executing a mountain of crazy ideas. Full Description: I have yet to meet the talent behind DR. INFIERNO, but in my mind I'm imagining gleeful, spastic, lovable motormouths with attention deficit disorder and raw creative energy exploding out of every orifice. In short, our kind of folks. More unhinged crazy shit is crammed into the 84 minute runtime of DR. INFIERNO than most entire film festival dockets combined. My recommendation: stay focused. It's the eye-on-the-prize time for this one. MAJOR plot developments whiz by like lightening. Summarization is somewhat futile because of the myriad of related and unrelated story tendrils that pop up at every surreal turn. At the core of the story, however, is always the titular Dr. Infierno, a demented gynecologist who discovers a cure for all the world's illnesses and uses it as leverage to become sole dictator of the earth. Is the film coherent? Hell no! How could a gynecologist come up with a single serum that cures all the worlds' illnesses in the first place? Why a gynecologist? And how does this deranged madman also find the time to command robot armies? Does it have polish? Yes and no. This is NOT your typical half-assed camcorder-recorded excuse of a horror movie, something all-too-common in a world of cheap and easy tools for all. Director Paco Limon poured his heart and soul into every frame of this film, creating impressive mutantoid monsters, choreographing tight martial arts battles, crafting ample old-school gore and even producing impressive out-of-left-field CGI sci-fi sequences. It is raw, though. Shot in black and white, DR. INFIERNO has a gritty look and feel, and occasionally the limitations of the thin budget shine through. The sheer outrageous spirit of this film, however, allows you to look past the occasional blemish. Many have compared DR. INFIERNO to the early Peter Jackson films, and I dare say that Paco Limon and his gang are worthy successors. These guys are clearly big genre fans and with time and money could be producing some of the craziest films we've likely to ever see. Keep 'em coming, I want to see a lot more. (Tim League) Writer/Producer Sergio Martínez and star Carlos Ortega Ceacero will be live in person to present the film!

Brief Description: After a car accident renders Igarashi free of his short term memory, he abandons his dreams to become a lawyer in favor of becoming a masked wrestler Full Description: That Japanese college students donning wrestling masks and tights to try their hand at flamboyant professional style wrestling would prove entertaining came as no surprise. That it could be touching, heartfelt and emotionally satisfying as it is in GACHI BOY - a very deserving winner of the Audience Award at the Udine Far East Film Festival 2008 - came as a shock of the highest order. Sure to be a huge crowd pleaser as it rolls out on the festival circuit, GACHI BOY is a remarkable piece of work that fully exploits its sublimely ridiculous premise for comic effect while also finding a deeply human heart in the proceedings. Igarashi seems to have it all. He’s young, cheerful, friendly and blazingly intelligent. Though he still has one full year of university remaining, Igarashi has already passed the bar exam and is well on his way to a career as a high-powered lawyer. But Igarashi has one major problem—a serious accident a year before has left him with no short-term memory. He cannot learn anything new and gets by only with the help of detailed notes and photographs taken every day and left for himself to find in the morning. Clearly his dream of becoming a lawyer is impossible now, so what is Igarashi to do? Become a masked wrestler, of course! Yes, kids, GACHI BOY is a film that combines the central plot device of MEMENTO and fuses it into a movie that is equal parts cult comedy, underdog sports movie, and power-of-the-human-spirit inspirational melodrama. It's a bizarre fusion that, bluntly, should never ever have been able to work, but my god it does, each part coming together in ways that surprise despite being familiar and the strengths of each disparate element building up the other parts while cancelling out the typical weakness of each subgenre. Yes, the scenario is goofy as all hell - and riotously fun as a result - but the characters are played with such sincerity and charm that GACHI BOY earns every ounce of the emotional high it hits with its climactic wrestling bout. There's no real need to talk about plot with this film - it hits all the marks you expect any sports film to hit from start to finish - because the charm isn't in the plot, it's in the characters and the young actors who portray them and the equally young director - he's only twenty six - who directs with a confidence well beyond his years. GACHI BOY will draw you in with the wrestling - as it should, the wrestling's a blast - but it'll leave you with the characters you'll want to stand and cheer for for days after seeing it. (Todd Brown) This film is sponsored by Viz Pictures. Director Norihiro Koizumi live in person!

Brief Summary: Under the Christmas tree, unemployed loser François Margin mysteriously finds a jar of face cream that once applied, temporarily turns him into the most famous celebrity in France. WINNER: Best Feature, Fantasy Worldwide Film Festival WINNER: Best Foreign Feature, Oxford International Film Festival WINNER: Best Film, Beijing Film Festival Director Reynald Bertrand live in person! Full Description: As far as I'm concerned, a film like LA CREME is what film festivals are all about: Finding obscure gems that come from out of nowhere and suddenly become new favorites. Reynald Bertand's comedy has one of those premises that sound too simple and too pat - For Christmas, an unemployed family man gets a jar of facial cream that, when applied, makes people think he's incredibly famous - but this is a truly clever, multi-layered thing of beauty, a smart and hilarious farce that proves that all you need is the right idea and clarity of vision to make a terrific comedy. Some might think that a small French comedy might seem out of place at a genre festival like Fantastic Fest, but they couldn't be more wrong. LA CREME is about fantasy itself, about the power of illusion and the power that comes with it and how, once it's applied, takes on a life of its own. It's a very simple "What would you do?" premise, like having the ability to fly, and Bertand works it like a dream. The cream comes into the life of its lead character (played by Laurent Legeay) just when he's struggling to survive with his family on welfare while he's up for a much-needed sales job against the similarly desperate Nicolas Abraham, and with its great power comes not great responsibility but big trouble and tremendous consequences and Bertand's screenplay takes it into risky places directions that pay off wonderfully. Like a great genre film should, LA CREME is about more than what its premise implies - the ease in which people give in to power and celebrity - but also about how we all give in to illusion to make ourselves feel more important. This is not to say that LA CREME is a serious dissertation on this topic, because it's also one god damn funny movie, briskly paced (Bertand is one of France's top editors, here making his feature directorial debut) with barely a single wasted moment. He's helped immeasurably by a terrific cast; the wonderful Legeay makes for a perfect everyman, with top-notch support from Abraham, Marie-Anne Pauly as Leagay's wife, and an amusingly deadpan Rachid Moutsafy as a straight-laced cop who damn near steals the show. OK, I'm sure you guys get it that I really, really like this one, so expect to see me in at least one screening and if you like it, make sure to vote for it in this year's Next Wave competition, because it deserves to become a breakout hit. To me, LA CREME is this year's TIMECRIMES. (Matthew Kiernan) This film is sponsored by Room Service Vintage.

Brief Summary: Set in one night in a seedy hotel, cult Novelist Eric Shapiro’s debut feature intertwines two stories of sexual encounters gone horribly awry. Full Description: US Premiere Winner, best actor, Ben Siegler, Fantasia Film Festival 2008 "This is refreshing, exciting indie cinema, and the rule here is to see it when you get the chance." - Ryan Levey, Fangoria “Shapiro’s transition from novelist to feature filmmaker delivers on every promise with a rare and engrossing work whose qualities can perhaps best be likened to a darker PT Anderson or Steven Soderbergh” – Mitch Davis, Fantasia Film Festival Twenty-something Lo (Rhoda Jordan), checks into a roadside motel with her boyfriend for a bit of innocent sexual exploration. In the same hotel, a dowdy middle-aged businessman is planning for his own romantic rendezvous, a first sexual encounter with a co-worker that he feels might turn out better if Rohipnol is in the mix. Neither encounter works out according to plan, and as the stories cleverly intertwine, the tension swirls to a gut-punch climax. Novelist/ essayist Eric Shapiro directs his debut feature with a sure hand and stretches his budget by cleverly limiting the action to the claustrophobic interior of one seedy hotel. Instead of a large budget, Shipiro substitutes exceptional writing to move the story briskly forward and keep the audience fully engaged. His cast of relative newcomers execute the naturalistic dialogue flawlessly, in particular Ben Siegler (THE WEST WING) as Lo’s anxious father and Rodney Eastman (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. 3 & 4) as a particularly loathsome drug dealer. RULE OF THREE is exactly the type of film we are seeking in the Next Wave competition, a young first-time director storming out of the gate with a sack full of talent, a mature understanding of cinema and a strong story to tell. (Tim League) This film is sponsored by Book People.

Brief Summary: Two brothers on the wrong side of everyone must face an endless array of torture, terrors and indignities in this darkly comic and visually striking noir. Full Description: If your most harrowing fears vacationed on an airbrushed spaghetti western soundstage, they might look something like the quasi-Earthly SOUTH OF HEAVEN, a wholly unique and darkly comic id-ride through some of the more questionable corners of the human condition. Roy Coop (Adam Nee) is a recently discharged Navy boy intent on finishing the great American novel and living the good life, all of which is blown to hell when a case of mistaken identity leaves him violated and completely subhumanized. Meanwhile, his brother Dale (Aaron Nee) is on the run from the law alongside formidable kidnapper/murderer/all-around maniac Mad Dog Mantee (Shea Wigham). In the grand tradition of lawless cinema, everything spirals relentlessly downwards, leaving each character running for their life, foaming for vengeance, or both. Add considerable helpings of femme fatales, spine-snapping hit men and monstrous human deformities, and you've got an undeniably ambitious feature that harkens back to the olden days of pulp criminal bloodlust while remaining unflinchingly innovative in every respect. This is the first feature from J.L. Vara, and it may be the most stylistically impressive directorial debut since 2000's TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER. The film immediately lulls the audience into a false sense of Norman Rockwell-era whitebread comfort before turning the world upside-down on their heads. Brilliant character actor – and longtime Alamo pal – Jon Gries (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, THE MONSTER SQUAD) appears as a heartless-but-dapper hood, and Wigham's performance as Mad Dog will have you convinced that he ate a kitten every day before shooting, just to get into the role. Leads The Nee Brothers are Austin festival veterans, having co-directed the much-ballyhooed SXSW entry THE LAST ROMANTIC a couple years back, but no comparisons can be made there. In fact, we hereby guarantee that SOUTH OF HEAVEN is like nothing you've ever seen. (Zack Carlson) Director J.L. Vara and star Jon Gries will be in attendance and will conduct a Q&A following the film. Click here for a clip from the film.

Brief Summary The privatized Tokyo police force led by Audition‘s Eihi Shiina is authorized to execute judgment on the spot. They are threatened, however, by a breed of “engineers,” genetically modified super-villains who grow mutant weapons from their injuries and amputations. Full Description Given the amount of coverage that TOKYO GORE POLICE gets on Twitch, it is easy to forget that the film has not been released on DVD and has only screened a few times in the United States. TOKYO GORE POLICE deserves the attention its been getting because it is a great riff on films such as ROBOCOP but with a unique Japanese flavor. In a future version of Japan, a private company takes over policing functions throughout the country. A special squad known as the Tokyo Gore Police is tasked with handling a breed of mutants ("engineers") who can turn wounds into weapons. Ruka (played by Eihi Shiina) is the star of the squad. She is tormented by the assassination of her father, an officer who spoke out against the privatization of the police. Ruka eventually finds the assassin, and learns the secrets behind both her father's death and the police force to which she has devoted her life. This back story can easily be ignored as the attraction of TOKYO GORE POLICE lies in its over-the-top action and insane visual effects. Nishimura was not working with a big budget but the choices in set design and effects are very resourceful. The film throws everything at the screen, including blood spraying from dismembered torsos in slow-motion, exotic weapons sprouting from injured body parts, and bondage-garbed quadriplegics walking on swords. The ROBOCOP influence is apparent throughout, particularly in a series of tongue-in-cheek television ads for products that make it easier to commit suicide. Tak Sakaguchi, star of VERSUS and AZUMI, choreographed the fight sequences. (Rodney Perkins) Director Yoshihiro Nishimura will be in attendance to introduce the shows and answer questions after the screenings. We have also purchased special Japanese language karaoke tracks for Monday night... This screening is sponsored in part by Media Blasters.

Brief Summary: A very pregnant woman and her husband are trapped in the woods in a demolished sedan and her water has just broken. They are in a really bad situation, and it gets a LOT worse. Full Description Bam! The opening shot of THE WRECK fires out of the barrel with a sting of gunpowder, hitting you right in the gut. A very pregnant woman Julia (Judy Maier) and her husband Frank (Aaron Lohr, NEWSIES!) are trapped in the woods in a demolished sedan and her water has just broken. They are in a really bad situation, and it doesn't appear to be getting better anytime soon. The clock spins back and we see our young couple preparing for a weekend getaway, perhaps their last before being inundated with the trials of first-time parenthood. The somewhat idyllic tone, however, seems sinister with the knowledge from the opening shot that this couple is very soon going to be fighting for survival in the worst of all possible locations for childbirth. Adding to the viewer discomfort is the unwelcome arrival of Chuck (Jonathan Cherry) just before they leave for the mountains. Chuck is the classic bad seed, the family prodigal son, but there is a past between him and Julia that puts the entire family on edge. In the vein of OPEN WATER and DEAD CALM (but with no ocean, mind you), THE WRECK shrinks the framing of nearly all of the action to a claustrophobic space (this time the inside of a four-door sedan), causing an attenuated mishmash of human emotion: fear, mistrust, hatred, horror, bravery, self-doubt and in the end, raw survivalism. I refuse to talk about the trauma of what happens past the 20 minute mark in the film when our young couple wakes up from their crash. Experience it for yourself. Sufficed to say, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and was slapping high-fives at the end of the film. James Jones takes the action in bold directions and delivers more brutal intensity than you would think possible from two people pinned in a car wreck. (Tim League) THE WRECK is competing in our AMD Next Wave competition and director James Jones will be in person to present the film and host a Q&A following the screening.