Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary: A squadron of trained gunmen lay siege to a supermarket at closing time. What first appears to be a robbery soon takes on other worldly dimensions. Full Description: It's the end of yet another night at Hastings Supermarket, an idyllic family grocery store in Buck Lake, Arizona. But the normal closing-time monotony is broken when a group of masked and armed-to-the-teeth militants invade the store, immediately killing several of the employees and shoppers and holding the rest hostage. Though the hostage-takers at first appear to be robbers or terrorists, they reveal themselves to be a cadre of rogue scientists that have discovered and tracked an alien infestation to THIS STORE on THIS NIGHT, and they are determined to find out which of the survivors are extraterrestrials and end the invasion at any cost. ALIEN RAIDERS is a throwback to what we consider the golden age of creature features, the 1980's. This one falls somewhere between the seriousness level of THE THING or TREMORS. Nostalgic without being stale, ALIEN RAIDERS draws strong performances from a young ensemble cast composed of mostly working character actors that you've seen in a million small parts. You might recognize the monster hunting team: Carlos Bernard from his recurring role as Tony Almeida on "24" and Matthew St. Patrick who played Keith Charles on SIX FEET UNDER. The plot explores what happens when you have one of those MEN IN BLACK jobs that you can't really explain to people. When you start invading public spaces to blow shit up, the bystanders naturally think that you're the bad guy, and there's not a lot you can do to convince them otherwise. So you don't bother, and you do your job and damn the consequences. But sometimes those bystanders can b e pretty tough and wily, and some of them ARE the monsters. But which? For a modern alien creature movie, the filmmakers refreshingly rely on practical effects for the punctuations of gore. The carnage happens in the blink of an eye by a monster that you only see in glimpses. This serves to heighten the tension, as you experience the uncertainty of the hostages, who aren't quite sure what just happened, but it's very very bad. You can see them weighing in their minds the present danger of these masked terrorists who are "testing/torturing" them against the mysterious glimpses of a threat that they don't understand. (Karrie League) Director Ben Rock will be live in person to present the film. Check out the trailer here .

A gripping tale of high-impact, two-fisted science fiction in the 25th Century!!! Kind of. Appearing as part of the SHORT FILMS OF NACHO VIGALONDO program. CLICK HERE for details.

When most film series reach their fourth episode, one usually expects the creative crew to be on autopilot and give the audience the same-old, same-old; to not do anything new or challenging that would drive viewers away. In fact, only a complete nutter would make the fourth film in a series the bleakest and darkest of them all, because where could you go from there? Who would want to see a series that was so entertaining turn depressing all of a sudden? It may have seemed that the makers of CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES were painting themselves into a corner, but in truth, they were just working off an entire series that didn't do things by the book. After all, the previous APES films also ended memorably, with the destruction of the Earth and the death of the series most likable characters, so audiences had come to expect some tough twists and turns. What they got with CONQUEST was something different altogether - darker, more political and apocalyptic. Its themes of civil rights and social unrest spoke very much to the times, while its setting of a totalitarian future looks as bleak today as it did back in 1972, yet strangely more plausible. But it's also a solid entertainment, too, with an incredible action climax that features of the best work of J. Lee Thompson's career and Roddy McDowell's finest performance in the entire APES series. Naturally, we're expecting some of you to ask, "Why the F are you showing CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES at Fantastic Fest?" Two reasons: One, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the APES series, and to honor this, Fox Home Entertainment is releasing the entire series of Blu-Ray DVD this November; and two, included in this set is the original, uncut version of CONQUEST OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, with 9 additional minutes of footage removed so the film could obtain a PG rating. This version of the film hasn't been seen in over 35 years, and Fantastic Fest will be hosting the first public screening since its 1972 test screenings. And best of all, it's absolutely free, so whether you have a badge or not, you're all welcome to see the second best APES film as it hasn't been seen in decades in a glorious new HD master, courtesy of our friends at Fox Home Entertainment. There will also be some DVD giveaways courtesy of Fox and some previews for upcoming Fox DVD releases. Come witness the birth of the PLANET OF THE APES like you've never seen before - before anyone else does! (Matthew Kiernan) This film is sponsored by Fox Home Entertainment.

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) Actor and associate producer Javier Albarrán will be in attendance.

Nacho Vigalondo portrays an interstellar superhero who, along with his sniveling sidekick, fearlessly battles evil throughout the universe!

A Ferrari-fixated mad scientist devises the perfect heist. With a mastery of advanced super-technology, what could possibly go wrong?

In a socially disconnected future, two people feel a spark, but they'll need to break modern laws to act on their rediscovered humanity.

Brief Summary: Darren Bousman, director of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th installments of the wildly popular SAW franchise, pulls a "what-the-f..." 180 degree turnaround to creates a very personal, very demented, bloody goth rock opera about organ repossession with lead performances by Paul Sorvino, Paris Hilton and Ogre from Skinny Puppy. Full Description: I was predisposed to hate this. While I'm pretty damn immature for a 38 year old, the black-nail-polish crowd is one of the few things that somehow manages to make me feel my age. Also, I'm a curmudgeon when it comes to musicals. I like a few of the modern musicals, CHICAGO and MOULIN ROUGEROUGE for example, but DREAMGIRLS and PHANTOM OF THE OPERA almost caused me internal bleeding. I came to this project with trepidation to say the least. But when I heard that REPO! was helmed by Darren Bouseman, director of the last 3 SAW films, and this was a very personal project that he championed for years and agreed to complete on an unusually tight budget, I had to check it out. This could be the most devastatingly awful career mutilator or it could be an amazingly bold auteur decision that breaks him free of being "the SAW guy." I'm happy to report that it's the latter. The world of REPO! emerges on screen as a decaying futuristic city, think BLADE RUNNER as seen through a NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS goth filter. Organ failure runs rampant, leading to the rise of GeneCo, a multinational corporation offering quick and plentiful organ transplant as well as a plethora of enhancement surgeries. There's a little catch, however. If you can't keep up with your organ payments, the GeneCo repo men are dispatched to retrieve their property, quickly and very painfully. Paul Sorvino is clearly having a ball here as Rotti Largo, the patriarch of GeneCo. He is a trained opera singer and seems to have been waiting for this part for a lifetime. He belts out his numbers with scene-chewing gusto. His character is on his deathbed, and before he dies, he must settle some old romantic scores as well as choose an heir to his empire. Paris Hilton plays Rotti Largo's only daughter Amber Sweet, one of three deadbeat siblings vying for control of GeneCo upon the imminent death of their father. A bold choice for Paris, she plays the prima donna daughter of millionaire tycoon. She's precocious, has temper tantrums, is addicted to drugs and plastic surgery and tries to launch a singing career despite her lack of talent and responsibility. Wow, big stretch. The funny thing is that Paris has never been better. Her singing is impeccable and she delivers a spot-on performance with grace and ease. Bouseman initially refused to consider Hilton for the role, considering it "novelty" casting, but when she persisted and nailed both her vocal and acting auditions, he realized the perfection of this choice. With a wild ensemble cast (Joan Jett for example, literally emerges from a bedroom closet to jam on one of the harder rocking numbers), a lush mixture of practical sets and opulent CGI, REPO! sucks you into it's dark and alien world and doesn't let you go. It's operatic, it's flamboyant, and it's dripping with blood. Damn it all, despite myself, I'm a big fan of REPO! Open to the idea of a goth rock opera or not, I highly recommend you check out this film. There's nothing else like it this year at Fantastic Fest and there may never be again in the history of film. (Tim League) Director Darren Bousman will be live in person at the screening.

Brief Summary: Three years after his SXSW debut feature PROMEDIO ROJO, Chilean prodigy director Nicolás López returns with SANTOS, a wild, sweeping tale of comic book nerds versus superheroes in a battle for the future of mankind. Think Ultraman with a Latin American brain transplant. From the producers of SIN CITY and THE ORPHANAGE, visual effects by Troublemaker Studios. Full Description: When Nicolás López first visited Austin in 2005 with his debut feature PROMEDIO ROJO, he implored his idol, legendary Austin producer Elizabeth Avellan to watch the nerd-centric high school romantic comedy (with a lead character named Roberto Rodriquez, natch). She was immediately captivated, both with the film and the spirited filmmaker. So much so that she eventually agreed to have Troublemaker oversee many of the CGI special effects for his ambitious follow-up project: SANTOS. The story begins in flashback, with two young (again) comic-obsessed boys on their shared birthday as they are treated to a song-and-dance routine by a plus size Ultraman-esque impersonator named Gigaman. Strange coincidences mounnt on this fateful day: a freak car accident nearly crushes their rotund entertainer, a blisteringly-close comet blazes across the sky, and in the ensuing chaos, boyhood pals Salvador Santos (Javier Gutiérrez) and Arturo Antares (Leonardo Sbaraglia) discover that the comet may have actually unlocked latent superpowers. Flash-forward to modern times. Salvador and Arturo are now comic-book producers, successful entrepreneurs on the brink of making it big. Strange things, however, are once again brewing: their childhood friends are dying in freak accidents, Arturo is morphing into a rather unlikable megalomaniac, and the same comet that sparked so much chaos in their childhood is set to return in a matter of days. In production for nearly three years, Nicólas López's film explodes off the screen with raw nerd-energy. With a complex plot that encompasses fanboys, superheroes, feces-addicted senseis (aka Antropomosco), homoerotic sidekicks, alternate universes and a plot to bring about the destruction of mankind, SANTOS is ambitious to say the least. Full of the same raw energy, charm and bubbling creativity that first drew Elizabeth Avellan to the director, SANTOS should prove to be a strong contender for this year's Fantastic Fest audience award. We are honored to be presenting the world premiere of SANTOS, in Austin, Texas, a town that after last year's MIRAGEMAN success is proving to be an unofficial cinematic sister city to Santiago, Chile. (Tim League) Director Nicólas López will be live in person to present this film and will answer questions following the screening.