Fantastic Fest 2008

Brief Summary: James Tresswick and Mark Vincent are victims of a brutal bully named Gary Parker who has maltreated both boys, marking their bodies and spoiling their young lives. In their last year of high school, James and Mark find a way to stop being victims. They're going to kill Gary... Full Description: High-Schoolers James Tresswick and Mark Vincent were mercilessly bullied throughout childhood by their nemesis Gary Parker. The torment only ended when Gary was hauled off to prison five years ago. Now back on the streets, he is once again beginning to make their lives a living hell. Their outlook is dim until Mark happens to witness a murder burying his victim deep in the nearby woods. The duo crafts what should be a perfect plan: blackmail the killer in to killing again, this time their mortal enemy Gary Parker. This perfect plan, however, doesn't work out exactly as envisioned, and the boys find themselves in a worse predicament than imaginable. ACOLYTES is a perfect accompaniment to our NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD Aussie Retrospective. Director Jon Hewitt shows that he’s a worthy heir to the Ozsploitation throne, delivering a tight knuckle-biter thriller with enough brutal violence to make the likes of Brian Trenchard-Smith stand up and cheer. The film is so much more than just a horror/thriller, though. Hewitt takes time to develop a fully-developed visual world. The first act establishes an idyllic tableau with rich detail and beautiful cinematography. These are innocent kids in a tranquil town living their lives with only childhood concerns. That is, of course, until they toy around with a murderer hell-bent on obliterating their serenity into a chaos of fear and brutality. (Tim League) Director Jon Hewitt will be live in person to introduce the film and answer questions afterwards. We also expect Jon to rock not only the Ozsploitation category of Fantastic Feud but also the subsequent Karaoke microphone.

Brief Summary: A cross-country manhunt searchers for an abducted woman and a marauding Indian tribe, but the real villains don't ride horses...they burrow from beneath the ground. Full Description: I appreciate it when horror elements are thrown into an unconventional scenario. This year SAUNA flips a horror body slam on Finnish Spa culture, and THE BURROWERS does the same to the American old west. The story opens with a young man named Coffey (Karl Geary) rehearsing and fumbling with his words. He has a wedding band in his hand and intends to propose to his sweetheart that very night. We cut to the scene of her house where domestic tranquility is interrupted by the all too familiar sound on the desolate prairie, the thundering hooves and whooping calls of an Indian attack. The women and children cloister themselves in a locked barn while the men try to ward off the attack. We catch fragments of the battle only through the sounds audible from inside the barn, but can soon tell that something is different about this attack, something foreign. No bodies are found, and Coffey sets out to follow the trail of the Indians in the seemingly desperate hope that his fiancee is still alive. He joins a scouting mission set on exterminating the tribe, but as they close on the trail, odd sounds are emanating from the perimeter of their camp and members of the party go missing in the middle of the night. Victims' bodies are later found, still twitching and half-alive, buried in shallow graves in the prairie. The search party's only information is filtered through a shifty Indian interpreter who - through a mix of willful manipulation and outright ignorance - informs the party that the "tribe" they are seeking is called "the burrowers", but he fails to warn of the deadly consequences of continuing the hunt. Compared by many to TREMORS (and there are similarities), THE BURROWERS creates an original and elaborate mythology of "the burrowers", steeped in Native American folklore with a subtle dash of environmentalist agenda. J.T. Petty paints a lush, classically western portrait with strong characters, both good and bad, and effectively evokes the hopelessness of the most famous wild west manhunt in film history, THE SEARCHERS. Since his first feature, SOFT FOR DIGGING, (which played the Alamo Drafthouse as part of Kier-la Janisse's Cinemuerte Film Festival) J.T. Petty has steered clear of the pitfalls of the modern horror film: booming musical cues, superficial characters and music-video inspired editing. His films are rooted in the classics with sure camera work, rich characters and stories and plenty of good old-fashioned gothic horror creepiness. THE BURROWERS delivers plenty of chills and thrills, but they are produced with a respect and an understanding of the western and film history in general. (Tim League) With director J.T. Petty live in person.

Brief Summary: A serial killer is preying on call-girls from various escort agencies. In the midst of police indifference and incompetence, Jung-Ho (Yun-Seok Kim), an ex-cop-turned-pimp must dust off his old flatfoot skills to find the killer and save the life of one of his girls who has gone missing. Full Description: I sat on the Asian Features Jury at the Puncheon International Fantasy Film Festival this year. Of the 32 films in competition, our jury unanimously decided THE CHASER to be the grand prize winner. This is a return to form for the Korean crime film after a string of fairly disappointing efforts. The story is gritty and intense, the pacing taut, and the performance of lead actor Yun-seok Kim is phenomenal. Korean genre films sometimes manage to pack in a much wider array of emotional notes and complex character interaction than their American counterparts. In much the same way that THE HOST was a dysfunctional family drama that happened to have a monster running a muck, THE CHASER is a tender portrait of a jaded, hard-boiled ex-cop who realizes that he still has deep pathos and compassion beneath his stony veneer. And there's bloody rampage serial killer on the loose. THE CHASER was a box-office hit in Korea this year, topping the charts until the blockbuster THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WEIRD took top honors. Look for the American remake, by the same production team behind Scorcese's award winning film THE DEPARTED, to begin production soon. (Tim League) Plot Summary The debut feature from award winning short film director Na Jong-Jin, THE CHASER, tells the story of Jung-Ho, a former cop turned pimp. Think for a moment about what sort of cop would choose to become a pimp in his post-law enforcement career and you have an immediate grasp of Jung-Ho. He is a surly, foul tempered, hard talking man driven by the pursuit of easy profits. And Jung-Ho is in a bad mood because a number of his girls - girls who he effectively owns, having bought out their bad debts - have recently gone missing. Jun-Ho believes a rival pimp is simply stealing his girls and reselling them for profit but the truth is far worse. There is a serial killer on the prowl, one that has not been detected because he preys exclusively on call girls hired from a variety of escort agencies. When the call comes in for a girl one night, Jung-Ho realizes too late that the client's phone number matches the number used to book sessions with a pair of his missing girls, and he rushes off to protect his investment. The rival must be captured and taken out of the picture. But while a chance encounter leads Jung-Ho to the correct man, his girl Mi-Jin is nowhere to be found, and the client - Young Min - is spouting nonsenses about having killed a dozen women. It's enough to bring Young-Min to the police but the killer is smart enough to give them only enough to taunt but not enough to actually charge him or even hold him for an extended period of time. And so the chase is on. It is not a chase to find the killer - he has already been found - it is a chase to find the girl. If they can't find her - or other significant evidence - within twelve hours, Young-Min must be set free. (Todd Brown) Check out the Korean trailer here .

Full Description: Two strangers (Shia LaBeouf and Michelle Monaghan) become the pawns of a mysterious woman they have never met, but who seems to know their every move. Realizing they are being used to further her evil plans, they must work together to outwit the woman before she either has them killed or executes her dastardly plan. I've only seen 20 minutes of the beginning of EAGLE EYE, but from that glimpse, packed full of innovative action sequences, I'm hooked. When you've got an apparently omniscient villainess monitoring the every move of a couple of ordinary schlubs who have been coerced and terrorized into following every sexy-voiced command, each of which leads them deeper and deeper into what can only be a very dangerous anarchic plot, it's a very good start. It's going to be a game of explosive battle-chess, played at 100 miles an hour. (Karrie League) EAGLE EYE SCAVENGER HUNT: Shia Lebeouf and Michelle Monaghan are pawns in a deadly game in the new Paramount film EAGLE EYE. Fantastic Fest invites you to be our pawns in a far less-deadly game, the EAGLE EYE SCAVENGER HUNT. Teams can sign up at www.fantasticfest.com in groups of 1 to 6. You will need a text-enabled cell phone, a map of Austin, a vehicle, a phone book, a notepad, a pen and about $20 cash per team. It's free to sign up, but space is limited, so don't wait until the last minute! At 2:00PM on Friday, September 19, a member of your team will receive a text message that will set the game in motion. you will find your way around town, solving problems and picking up clues. Teams will meet back at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar at 6:00PM. All teams will be treated to a free screening of EAGLE EYE with director D.J. Caruso live in person, and one lucky team will win the grand prize (to be announced, check website for details). Director D.J. Caruso (DISTURBIA) live in person!

JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY is not as benign as the title might suggest. A mild mannered forensics photographer is involved in a traffic accident with a young woman. Curious, he visits her in the hospital only to be mistaken as her boyfriend. When she awakens blind and suffering from mild amnesia, he continues his charade. As you might expect, things don’t turn out so well. The Danish trailer gives you a good idea of the style and intensity of this exciting film.

Brief Summary: In Gô Shibata’s controversial film, Masakiyo Sumida, a severely disabled mute, is driven to madness and violence by his loneliness and isolation. Full Description: Gô Shibata’s controversial 2004 film LATE BLOOMER (Osoi Hito) appeared on the international festival circuit a few years ago to much acclaim but soon fell off the map. Now, this poignant story of a disabled man driven to madness by isolation and loneliness is ready to be discovered by a brand new audience. Similarly themed films have both preceded (Chang-dong Lee’s OASIS) and followed (Crispin Glover’s IT IS FINE! EVERYTHING IS FINE!) Shibata’s work but there is no adequate cinematic frame of reference for the way LATE BLOOMER explores disability and the frailty of the human body. In this fictional tale, Masakiyo Sumida, a severely disabled mute, portrays himself. Sumida is surrounded by friends but his handicap cuts off his ability to fully interact with them. He falls in love with Nobuku, who becomes Sumida's helper for her college thesis project. Nobuku exploits Sumida and becomes involved with his friend, Takei. Sumida finds refuge in alcohol, and the resulting hallucinations drive him to acts of violence. LATE BLOOMER begins as a story of a disabled man working his way through life with the help of friends. However, his smile is an immovable mask that covers his heartache and pain. The link that LATE BLOOMER draws between this internal suffering, which is rooted in helplessness, and violence is both disturbing and moving. The film’s black-and-white photography is well-suited for such stark content. The hallucination sequences, which are full of quick cuts and sputtering electronic music, recall the video work of Chris Cunningham; one can also detect hints of Sogo Ishii’s ELECTRIC DRAGON 60000V, and Shinya Tsukamoto’s TETSUO: THE IRON MAN throughout. LATE BLOOMER is, at times, difficult to watch but the film is never exploitative. Those who open up to the film will be subject to an emotionally powerful experience. (Rodney Perkins)

Brief Summary: A young woman moves in with her new boyfriend on the fashionable "left bank" in Antwerp only to discover that the building may have a very disturbing past. Full Description: The title refers to a trendy new suburb on the shores of Antwerp's River Schelde. Built up with new luxury high rise apartments and miles of running trails through lovely wooded parks, it seems an unlikely place to find evil flourishing. Yet the neighborhood has a dark past and a darker secret. Talented young actress Eline Kuppens plays Marie, a driven young runner who has pushed her body to exhaustion and is forced by her doctor to take it easy. Without her grueling daily training, she finds she has the time to fall in love with a handsome young man she meets practicing archery at her athletic club. She moves into his apartment on the Left Bank, but soon discovers that the reason her lover is able to afford the apartment is because the previous tenant disappeared under mysterious circumstances. She discovers some papers that the young woman left behind when she vanished, and unsettled by the strange trail towards which they point, she begins to research the history of the land and the unsavory people that used to call it home before gentrification took over. Deliberately paced and shot in a muted palette of misty grays, the film is almost oppressively atmospheric in the slow unraveling of the secrets of the past. Yet there are also touches of the bizarre, including a small wound that becomes more and more grotesque and unexplainably hairy; and lavish doses of sensuality - there's enough nudity and sex to qualify this film for a slot in the Japanese pinku series. Tense and heavy with dread, the movie builds inexorably to what you would naturally expect to be a dramatic and tragic end. Yet the final moments manage to completely invert the entire horror paradigm, changing everything that went before and placing a thoroughly unexpected and opposite meaning to the events that have taken place. (Karrie League) With director Pieter Van Hees live in person.

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) With director Eric Shapiro, Producer Rhoda Jordan and star Rodney Eastman live in person. This film is sponsored by Book People.

Brief Summary: Jennifer Lynch (BOXING HELENA) helms a crime thriller with overtones of RASHOMON. None of the eyewitness accounts in a roadside serial killer massacre seem to match up. The FBI is called in to cut through the confusion before the killer can strike again. Star Bill Pullman and writer Kent Harper will be live in person to introduce the first screening and will conduct a Q&A after the film. Full Description: At first, SURVEILLANCE comes off a bit like your run-of-the-mill RASHAMON rehash. FBI agents Bill Pullman and Julia Ormond are tracking a serial killer across the nation. After a recent mass murder on an isolated highway, they simultaneously question the three remaining survivors in the three different interrogation rooms, inevitably ending up with three wildly different stories. But while RASHOMON played with the conventions of the different characters giving different untruthful accounts, the flashback scenes in SURVEILLANCE are based on the honest points of view of the characters, so the audience is always seeing what actually happened. And because the flashbacks introduce us to many other characters who don't make it to the police interview, we also know that the events we are seeing are going to culminate in some seriously fucked up shit. The surviving police officer talking about his partner? Something must happen to keep that partner from making it to the questioning. The suburban family accompanying the little girl in the station wagon? The little girl is the only one who makes it to the interview. The boyfriend of the drugged up girl? Also conspicuously missing. And while your blood bubbles over with the Oh-Shit-Is-This-It? tension every time the characters get close to each other, you'll be blindsided when the killing spree finally begins. (Henri Mazza)