(L to R) Peter Dinklage, Taylour Paige, Lloyd Kaufman, Macon Blair, Elijah Wood and Jacob Tremblay at the San Diego Comic-Con premiere of ‘The Toxic Avengers’. Photo: Cineverse.
Preview:
‘The Toxic Avenger’ landed at this year’s Comic-Con.
Director Macon Blair and star Peter Dinklage talked the movie up.
Fans were also treated to footage.
It has taken a few years for the latest version of classic Troma character ‘The Toxic Avenger’ to make it to screens, but what better place than the San Diego Comic-Con for writer/director Macon Blair, star Peter Dinklage and other cast members to hype it up at a raucous panel?
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Not appearing in person, but certainly there in spirit (and via video) was Kevin Bacon, who even broke into song at one point.
“Stayin’ at home going to make you blue / You need the movies and the movies need you,” Bacon sang. “Down to the theater, try your luck / ‘Toxic Avenger,’ show the f**k up.”
Peter Dinklage as “Toxie” in the action, comedy, horror film, ‘The Toxic Avenger’, a Cineverse release. Photo courtesy of Yana Blajeva/Legendary Pictures.
When a downtrodden janitor, Winston Gooze (Dinklage), is exposed to a catastrophic toxic accident, he’s transformed into a new kind of hero: The Toxic Avenger.
Now, Toxie must rise from outcast to savior, taking on ruthless corporate overlords and corrupt forces who threaten his son, his friends, and his community. In a world where greed runs rampant… justice is best served radioactive.
Lloyd Kaufman on ‘The Toxic Avenger’s history
Producer Lloyd Kaufman at the San Diego Comic-Con premiere of ‘The Toxic Avengers’. Photo: Cineverse.
Lloyd Kaufman, the boss of Troma studios, who created the original Toxie (for 1984’s movie), talked about the challenges of battling censors over what was allowed.
He recalled that the MPAA forced the company to cut 20 minutes from the original. But, as he reveals:
“Eventually, people were able to get the director’s cut with the full head-crushing.”
That film spawned a franchise and a cult following –– and now, has led to this brand-new take, which Kaufman happily supports.
This was his comment on the new movie:
“It’s everything we tried and didn’t quite get there”
‘The Toxic Avenger’: The Director and Stars Talk
Director Macon Blair at the San Diego Comic-Con premiere of ‘The Toxic Avengers’. Photo: Cineverse.
Director Macon Blair and the cast were overjoyed to be anticipating the movie’s release after worrying that it might not see screens at all.
Blair said he wanted to capture the spirit of the original film without matching its plot beat-for-beat, so he knew the violence had to have the goopy goodness you expect but he also wanted to match what he saw as the warm-hearted nature of the first film.
For Dinklage, his first exposure to Toxie was via a Betamax video at a friend’s house, joking that “there’s always an older brother!” He was persuaded to take on the role because of his appreciation for Blair’s filmmaking style and the environmental message of the movie.
And he revealed that more than 70% of his performance “over 70% of my performance” is down to actor Luisa Guerreiro, who wore the full-body suit and makeup once Winston is transformed into the Toxic Avenger.
Here’s what Dinklage had to say:
“That was a real exercise in trust, in relinquishing something that was important to me. She does a better me than I do of me.”
(L to R) Peter Dinklage and Elijah Wood appear in Hall H at 2025 San Diego Comic-Con for ‘The Toxic Avenger’. Photo: Cineverse.
Elijah Wood, a huge fan of horror –– who has starred in and produced his fair share of the genre –– plays one of the new movie’s villains.
He admitted e loved how this ‘Toxic Avenger’ is filled to the brim with ideas and fun and playing with the medium. But he singled out the father-son story between Dinklage and Jacob Tremblay’s characters as central to the charm of the movie.
Finally, Blair discussed what had been added to the movie since its premiere at Fantastic Fest in 2023. But he had to somewhat talk around it for the family-friendly panel requirements:
“We added really just one VFX shot. I believe this is an all-ages crowd. It involves a depiction of a body part and that’s going to be added for theatrical release. I think you’ll notice it.”
When will ‘The Toxic Avenger’ be in theaters?
Toxie will be creating vengeful havoc on big screens from August 29th.
(L to R) Peter Dinklage, Taylour Paige, Elijah Wood and Jacob Tremblay at the San Diego Comic-Con premiere of ‘The Toxic Avengers’. Photo: Cineverse.
Peter Dinklage in ‘The Toxic Avenger.’ Credit: Legendary Pictures.
Peter Dinklage is probably still best known as Tyrion Lannister in TV mega-hit ‘Game of Thrones’. But he’s taken on a character that has a chance to become just as recognizable –– especially since it has cult status.
In the first picture released by Legendary in honor of the movie’s planned debut at next month’s Fantastic Fest, we see Dinklage play ‘The Toxic Avenger,’ mop in hand.
Exactly how the new movie will update the story remains to be seen, but the 1984 original follows struggling everyman janitor Melvin, who is pushed into a vat of toxic waste. He’s transformed into a mutant freak who must go from shunned outcast to underdog hero as he races to save his son, his friends and his community from the forces of corruption and greed.
It’s not necessarily the sort of character and concept you might expect to enjoy evergreen status, but spoofing superhero tropes, it became a flagship brand for low budget studio Troma, spawning sequels, a stage musical, a comic and a kids’ cartoon series.
All we really know at this point is the latest movie is a reimagining, with Dinklage’s character called Winston Gooze. That’s one to stick in the memory.
“It’s a lot of fun. I just wanted to do something that I’ve never done before. So why not be a monster in an over-the-top, crazy movie? “It’s not a remake. I just like guerrilla filmmaking. Those movies –– they just made them, no matter what. They just did it because they love doing it. Some of them are not the best, but some are so much fun. When you make movies too clean, it can distance the audience. They want to feel the dirt under their fingernails. I think those Troma films definitely dipped the audience in toxic waste.”
How can I see the movie’s debut?
Fantastic Fest will take place in Austin, Texas on September 21st – September 28th. Photo courtesy of fantasticfest.com.
Along with many other titles, ‘The Toxic Avenger’ will debut at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. It’ll serve as the opening night movie.
The genre-heavy festival runs between September 21st and 28th this year and you can get badges to attend via this link.
This new ‘The Toxic Avenger’ doesn’t yet have a theatrical release date.
A scene from 1984’s ‘The Toxic Avenger.’ Photo courtesy of Troma Entertainment.
Fantastic Fest is celebrating 15 years with a star-studded lineup.
The Austin festival, which features groundbreaking international genre films, announced the first wave of its programming today.
It will open this year with the U.S. premiere of Taika Waititi’s satire “Jojo Rabbit.” The film centers on a lonely young boy growing up in World War II Germany who finds his life turned upside down when he discovers his mother is hiding a young Jewish girl in their attic. With the help of his idiot imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler, Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.
Waititi directs and stars as the fanciful Fuhrer, and the rest of the cast includes Rebel Wilson, Stephen Merchant, Alfie Allen, Sam Rockwell and Scarlett Johansson.
Also making its world premiere is Jim Mickle’s new sci-fi thriller, “In the Shadow of the Moon,” which stars Boyd Holbrook as a Philadelphia cop who begins tracking a serial killer who mysteriously resurfaces every nine years, defying all scientific explanation.
Here’s the first wave programming for 2019 Fantastic Fest:
4X4
Argentina, Spain, 2019
North American Premiere, 93 min
Director – Mariano Cohn
A 4×4 car will be the battleground between a brash thief trapped inside and the mysterious man who will do anything to keep him imprisoned.
BLOODY BIRTHDAY: Presented by AGFA + Arrow Films
USA, 1981
World Premiere of Restoration, 85 min
Director – Ed Hunt
The classic Killer Kids slasher, newly restored by Arrow Films and presented by AGFA.
THE CLEANSING HOUR
USA, 2019
World Premiere, 95 min
Director – Damien LeVeck
Reverend Max and his best friend Drew have a hit web show where they make a pretty good living faking exorcisms for hundreds of thousands of fans until the evening a real demon takes over and terrorizes their crew.
COME TO DADDY
New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, 2019
Texas Premiere, 94 min
Director – Ant Timpson
When 30-year-old Norval receives a letter from his estranged dad begging him to visit, he is set on a weird path of discovery, unusual encounters… and a lot of violence.
COSMIC CANDY
Greece, 2019
World Premiere, 95 min
Director – Rinio Dragasaki
Anna, an eccentric supermarket cashier with an obsessive taste for a trippy treat called Cosmic Candy, undergoes a quirky transformation when forced to care for a ten-year-old neighbor girl.
THE DEATH OF DICK LONG
USA, 2019
Austin Premiere, 107 min
Director – Daniel Scheinert
Dick is dead but no one knows how, and Zeke and Earl are desperate enough to go to any lengths to stop anyone from finding out the reason… but a small town in Alabama is not the kind of place where secrets can stay buried for long. Soon all hell breaks loose, engulfing the two men in a reckoning they had never even considered.
DEERSKIN
France, 2019
North American Premiere, 77 min
Director – Quentin Dupieux
When Georges buys himself a deerskin jacket, he will find his life on a collision course with madness, crime, and the desire to be the only man wearing an overgarment.
DIE KINDER DER TOTEN
Austria, 2019
North American Premiere, 90 min
Directors – Kelly Copper & Pavol Liška
In this experimental adaptation of an epic Elfriede Jelinek novel, a group of Austrian tourists is killed in a traffic accident before reanimating as zombies and terrorizing a local pub.
DOGS DON’T WEAR PANTS
Finland, Latvia, 2019
US Premiere, 105 min
Director – Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää
A heartbroken heart surgeon is introduced to the dark and extreme when his daughter gets her tongue pierced, sending him down a path of pain, dreams, life, love, death, and awakenings.
FIRST LOVE
Japan, 2019
US Premiere, 108 min
Director – Takashi Miike
When aspiring boxer Leo discovers that he may not have long to live, he goes all out to help drug-addicted call girl Monica, facing down gangsters, assassins, corrupt cops, and much more over the course of one long night.
FRACTURED
USA, 2019
World Premiere, 100 min
Director – Brad Anderson
An unfortunate accident at a truck stop means Ray has to rush his daughter to the nearest hospital for a broken arm, but when his family disappears, he soon finds himself in a frantic fight to discover what happened.
THE GOLDEN GLOVE
Germany, 2019
North American Premiere, 110 min
Director – Fatih Akin
Based on true events that transpired in the grimy slums of 1970s Hamburg, loner-turned-murderer Fritz Honka stalks his local drinking spot, The Golden Glove, in search of his next victim.
HAPPY FACE
Canada, 2018
Texas Premiere, 97 min
Director – Alexandre Franchi
In Attendance – Director Alexandre Franchi and Actor E. R. Ruiz
An attractive teenager infiltrates a support group for those with facial differences in hopes of learning how to connect with his cancer-stricken mother in Alexandre Franchi’s (THE WILD HUNT) deeply personal, often hilarious, and powerfully inclusive sophomore feature.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
USA, Canada, 2019
World Premiere, 115 min
Director – Jim Mickle
In 1988, a Philadelphia police officer doggedly hunts a serial killer whose crimes seemingly follow no pattern, but he hasn’t considered how far the repercussions of his hunt may go.
IN THE TALL GRASS
Canada, 2019
World Premiere, 90 min
Director – Vincenzo Natali
Adapted from the eponymous novella by Stephen King and Joe Hill, IN THE TALL GRASS follows siblings Cal and Becky who find themselves trapped within a vast field of tall grass when they venture in to answer the cries of a young boy.
JOJO RABBIT
USA, 2019
US Premiere, 108 min
Director – Taika Waititi
In Attendance – Director Taika Waititi
Writer director Taika Waititi (THOR: RAGNAROK, HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE), brings his signature style of humor and pathos to his latest film, JOJO RABBIT, a World War II satire that follows a lonely German boy (Roman Griffin Davis as JoJo) whose world view is turned upside down when he discovers his single mother (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding a young Jewish girl (Thomasin McKenzie) in their attic. Aided only by his idiotic imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler (Taika Waititi), Jojo must confront his blind nationalism.
KNIVES AND SKIN
USA, 2019
Texas Premiere, 109 min
Director – Jennifer Reeder
The disappearance of popular teenager Carolyn Harper has a profound ripple effect across her small midwest town in Jennifer Reeder’s hypnotic musical mystery.
KOKO-DI KOKO-DA
Sweden, Denmark, 2019
Texas Premiere, 86 min
Director – Johannes Nyholm
When a disconnected couple take a camping trip in an attempt to mend their marriage after tragedy, they find themselves tormented by a peculiar band of misfits.
THE LAST TO SEE THEM
Germany, 2019
Texas Premiere, 79 min
Director – Sara Summa
One summer evening in rural Italy, the Durati family is murdered during a home robbery. THE LAST TO SEE THEM chronicles the previous — and final — day of their lives.
LIMBO: Presented by AGFA + Bleeding Skull!
USA, 1999
Texas Premiere of Restoration, 55 min
Director – Tina Krause
Tina Krause’s unseen and unreal shot-on-video horror movie, newly preserved by AGFA + Bleeding Skull!
THE MCPHERSON TAPE: Presented by AGFA + Bleeding Skull!
USA, 1989
World Premiere of Restoration, 63 min
Director – Dean Alito
The world’s first found footage horror movie, newly preserved by AGFA + Bleeding Skull!
MEMORY: THE ORIGINS OF ALIEN
USA, 2019
Texas Premiere, 93 min
Director – Alexandre O. Philippe
Following up his deconstruction of PSYCHO’s shower scene in 78/52, documentarian Alexandre O. Philippe is back with his analysis of ALIEN, its origins, and the impact of Ridley Scott’s classic sci-fi shocker.
NAIL IN THE COFFIN: EL VAMPIRO CANADIENSE
Canada, 2019
World Premiere, 88 min
Director – Michael Paszt
In Attendance – Director Michael Paszt
An intimate and heartfelt look at professional wrestler Vampiro’s past, and his new life navigating the management of a lucha libre federation in Mexico, while raising his teenage daughter in Canada.
NIGHT HAS COME
Belgium, 2019
World Premiere, 56 min
Director – Peter Van Goethem
In Attendance – Director Peter Van Goethem
In a dystopian society, the population is threatened by a virus eating its way through the brain, erasing memories. After developing a treatment to store and classify memories, the State requires citizens to comply.
THE PEANUT BUTTER SOLUTION: Presented by AGFA + Severin Films
Canada, 1985
World Premiere 2K Restoration, 93 min
Director – Michael Rubbo
The Canadian children’s oddity takes youthful fantasy to strange new places in a brand new 2K restoration.
THE POOL
Thailand, 2018
Texas Premiere, 90 min
Director – Ping Lumprapleng
When a dog trainer and his pet finish their commercial gig, it’s time to head home and enjoy a lazy afternoon floating in the pool… until he wakes up to the pool being drained and no way out.
REFLECTIONS OF EVIL: Presented by AGFA
USA, 2002
World Premiere of Restoration, 137 min
Director – Damon Packard
The new ground zero for gonzo horror surrealism in the 21st century, newly preserved by AGFA.
ROCK, PAPER, AND SCISSORS
Argentina, 2019
North American Premiere, 83 min
Directors – Macarena García Lenzi & Martín Blousson
When Magdalena returns to Argentina to confront her half-siblings about her share of the inheritance, the stage is set for a family reunion both bloody and brilliant.
SHE MOB: Presented by AGFA + Something Weird
USA, 1968
World Premiere 2K Restoration, 82 min
Director – Harry Wuest
A gang of lesbian prison escapees kidnaps a gigolo in a 2K preservation of this sexploitation classic.
SOMETHING ELSE
USA, 2019
Texas Premiere, 83 min
Directors – Jeremy Gardner & Christian Stella
In Attendance – Directors Jeremy Gardner & Christian Stella
When Hank’s longtime girlfriend Abby leaves him, he spirals into a cycle of drinking and depression. But it’s the monster that shows up every night that’s really driving him crazy.
SON OF THE WHITE MARE
Hungary, 1981
US Premiere 4K Restoration, 81 min
Director – Marcell Jankovics
A psychedelic animated cult classic is back on the big screen in this brand-new restoration. Three brothers join forces to restore order in their kingdom, encountering bizarre and mind-bending challenges along the way.
SWALLOW
USA, 2019
Texas Premiere, 94 min
Directors – Carlo Mirabella-Davis
Beautiful newlywed Hunter has a perfect home, perfect life, and perfect husband. When the pressure to maintain that perfection builds after the announcement of her pregnancy, she develops an unusual craving: swallowing random household objects.
TAMMY AND THE T-REX: Presented by AGFA + Vinegar Syndrome
USA, 1994
World Premiere of Restoration, 91 min
Directors – Stewart Raffill
Fully restored and ready to tear your head off. Literally.
THE WAVE
United States, 2019
World Premiere, 87 min
Director – Gille Klabin
Frank (Justin Long), a bored corporate lawyer, decides to shake it up with a wild night out. In the process, he takes a mysterious drug that launches him into a mind-bending time travel adventure.
THE WHISTLERS
Romania, 2019
US Premiere, 97 min
Director – Corneliu Porumboiu
Corneliu Porumboiu mixes Romanian New Wave with Hollywood noir beats as he follows a corrupt detective who helps a wealthy criminal escape from jail by learning the ancient, secret language of silbo whistling.
WHY DON’T YOU JUST DIE!
Russia, 2019
Texas Premiere, 100 min
Director – Kirill Sokolov
In Attendance – Director Kirill Sokolov
After agreeing to kill his girlfriend’s father, Matvei gets in way over his head when he arrives at her parents’ apartment to learn her dad’s a cop.
WRINKLES THE CLOWN
USA, 2019
World Premiere, 78 min
Director – Michael Beach Nichols
In Attendance – Director Michael Beach Nichols
Pennywise isn’t real. But Wrinkles is. This documentary explores the story of the infamous freaky clown from Naples, Florida who makes a living being hired by parents to terrorize their naughty children.
YOU DON’T NOMI
USA, 2019
Texas Premiere, 94 min
Director – Jeffrey McHale
In Attendance – Director Jeffrey McHale
Using cleverly edited clips of Paul Verhoeven’s genre-spanning filmography, Jeffrey McHale’s video essay explores the decidedly un-titillating and delightfully inexplicable SHOWGIRLS and its continued, ever-expanding legacy.
Ah, Fantastic Fest. The international film festival, which highlights genre films of every stripe, takes place at Austin, Texas’ Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar every fall. It’s one of the greatest film festivals in the world, period, even if it does show a lot of very odd movies that your parents would probably disapprove of you watching.
This year, the lineup was totally stellar, with a number of very high profile debuts and just as many interesting screenings of movies that have picked up hype over the last few months. It was an incredible event (as always), and while we didn’t get to see everything, we did get to see a lot. Here’s hoping we’ll see even more in 2019.
15. ‘Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club’
On paper, it’s very easy to get behind a zany Israeli cannibal comedy-of-manners, but — whew, boy — watching is something very different indeed. Instead of there being any punch to the concept, “Madam Yankelova’s Fine Literature Club” is, instead, a tedious bore, full of mixed-up gender politics, suspense set pieces with very little tension, and a dopey love story at its center.
Listen, they’re not all going to be winners.
14. ‘An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn’
Univerrsal
Jim Hosking, the bizarre British filmmaker behind “The Greasy Strangler,” is back. Consider yourself warned.
Instead of some crazed version of a horror movie, he’s doing some crazed version of a romantic comedy, with Aubrey Plaza playing a woman in love with a mysterious illusionist (Craig Robinson). Of course, her hired hand (Jemaine Clement) is in love with her. Oh, and Emile Hirsch plays her husband. The entire thing is incredibly off-putting, with a mixture of nonprofessional actors and actors behaving in incredibly nonprofessional ways. “An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn” heightened and icky, although there are a few laughs to be had along the way (even if immediately after laughing you feel the need to take a shower).
13. ‘Burning’
CGV
Well this movie was … something. “Burning” is the latest film from South Korean master filmmaker Lee Chang-dong and, what’s more, it’s based on a short story by international literary phenomenon Haruki Murakami. Sadly, it is a very dull movie.
It’s essentially a very protracted murder mystery, with very little murder or mystery, that might have some sociopolitical or cultural dimensions that I just didn’t pick up on but I couldn’t quite figure it out. (Keep in mind, it competed for the Palme d’Or at Cannes and is South Korea’s official Foreign Language Feature selection.) At 148 minutes, it’s at least 45 minutes too long, too.
12. ‘Overlord’
Paramount/Bad Robot
J.J. Abrams‘ secretive World War II thriller made its long-awaited debut at Fantastic Fest, and while most fell in love with the bloody carnage, I remained cooler.
“Overlord” is the story of a group of soldiers (led by Jovan Adepo), dropped into Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day, who encounter, along with an enemy-operated radio tower, lots and lots of zombies. Unlike many of the other movies at Fantastic Fest, you could tell that “Overlord” has gone through a number of revisions (there are two credited cinematographers) and the seams show. There’s never really any escalation to the action, and much of the horror feels ho-hum.
11. ‘One Cut of the Dead’
Fantastic Fest audiences went nuts for this wry Japanese zombie comedy (it was a smash in its native land, too) and while it’s easy to admire, it’s harder to actually love.
The first 37 minutes are a single shot (the “one cut” of the title), following a film crew as they shoot a zombie movie but are – surprise! – attacked by actual zombies. Then the movie takes a very fun twist that puts it squarely in “Ed Wood” territory (the less said about it, the better). Sure, “One Cut of the Dead” is charming and strange in a satisfying way, it also feels cheaply made (the music is atrocious) and, for a zombie comedy, could have used a little more bite.
10. ‘Lords of Chaos’
Vice
“Lords of Chaos” is a based-on-a-true-story story so bizarre that you’ll undoubtedly look up the actual case the second the movie is over. (It checks out.)
Music video visionary Jonas Åkerlund co-wrote and directed the film (based on the nonfiction book of the same name), which charts the meteoric rise of Norwegian death metal, focusing mostly on the band Mayhem. What makes the movie work so well is its expert tonal control; most of the movie plays like a younger version of “This Is Spinal Tap,” with a bunch of messy kids (led by Rory Culkin) trying to make a name for themselves and self-seriously piling on all of the offensive iconography and Satanic kitsch they can find.
Of course, once they start actually tapping into that darkness (church burnings! Murder!) is when the movie exerts even more power. If you’ve never been a head-banger, you can still easily love this film.
9. ‘Apostle’
Netflix
If you’ve seen the trailer for “Apostle,” the brand new Gareth Evans movie debuting on Netflix on October 12, you get the general gist: a man (Dan Stevens) travels to a far away island to rescue his sister from a dangerous cult (led by Michael Sheen). But, really, that’s only a sliver of the story and to say anything more would probably get me banished.
But know this: there are dark forces at work on that island and what begins as a fairly creepy horror movie along the lines of “The Wicker Man,” soon turns into a probing examination of what faith can do to people, and concludes with a wonderfully WTF moment that will require much discussion. Just know that Evans’ move away from action to more sustained atmospherics was a fruitful one indeed.
8. ‘Hold the Dark’
Netflix
Another movie that was maybe purposefully misdirected in the marketing materials is “Hold the Dark,” now available on Netflix. As expressed in the trailer, the film is the tale of an Alaskan woman (Riley Keough) who hires a wolf expert (Jeffrey Wright), after she claims her young son was murdered by a local wolf. Now, that set up alone is great and it’s a very big part of the movie, but there’s a lot more to it than that. (Not that it’ll be spoiled here.)
Director Jeremy Sualnier knows how to craft almost painfully thrilling set pieces, and he never allows the bleakness to overcome the movie’s inherent beauty. Throw in some performances as chilling as the Alaskan air, and you’ve got a cult favorite in the making.
7. ‘Halloween’
Universal/Blumhouse
40 years later, we finally have a worthy successor to the original “Halloween.” This installment all but ignores every other sequel, remake, or spin-off, picking up where the events of the first film left off … only 40 years later.
Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has become a backwoods survivalist, convinced that relentless killing machine Michael Myers will one day come for her (spoiler alert: he does!) What could have been a fairly standard, nostalgia-dipped slasher movie, instead becomes something deeper and more thoughtful, focusing on the way that the effects of violence and trauma can ripple through generations. (Thank director and co-writer David Gordon Green.)
It’s just one of the many ways that expectations are inverted and subverted into something even newer and more exciting. (It’s a testament to how outstanding Fantastic Fest’s programming was this year that there are even six movies better than “Halloween.”) Also, this movie is going to make so much money.
6. ‘The Night Comes For Us’
Netflix
October 19. That’s when “The Night Comes for Us” premieres on Netflix. I’m just letting you know so that you can drink plenty of water and maybe bolt yourself to the furniture or something because this movie kicks that much ass.
It’s the tale of a member of the triad’s elite killing squad who turns his back on the mafia after being ordered to murder a child, and ends up taking the heat from the entire criminal organization. Indonesian filmmaker Timo Tjahjanto stages the action with gleeful, gory abandon, as wide shots take in all of the bone-crushing carnage. And it never, ever stops.
This movie shows you just how lame and tired American action filmmaking has become, but makes you hopeful because, clearly, there are others out there still doing it right.
5. ‘The Standoff at Sparrow Creek’
RLJE
Talk about an ingenious set up for a low budget thriller: There’s been a shooting at a police officer’s funeral. A local militia convenes and discovers that one of the group’s automatic weapons is missing, and that one of the men is responsible for the crime. What follows is an increasingly tense whodunit, as a former cop (James Badge Dale, also excellent in “Hold the Dark”) starts to investigate which one of them is lying.
That’s about all that you can say about “The Standoff at Sparrow Creek” without giving anything away, but writer-director Henry Dunham, making his feature debut, has put together an incredibly exciting, wonderfully photographed yarn that is apolitical in ways you would never expect, leading to much post-viewing discussion. Get ready.
4. ‘The World Is Yours’
It struck me as odd that more people weren’t talking about “The World is Yours,” a zippy, incredibly engrossing French crime comedy from filmmaker Romain Gavras. The title, of course, comes from the mantra of Tony Montana in “Scarface,” and it’s a purposeful misdirect; instead of aspiration-minded gangsters who want nothing but the latest guns, shoes, and silk shirts, it follows a fairly straight, low-level goon who is just trying to make enough money to get a popsicle franchise off the ground in Africa. (Yes, seriously — it’s adorable.)
Of course, things get rather complicated along the way, with each new wrinkle being introduced with almost surgical precision (my favorite subplot involved Vincent Cassel being consumed with Illuminati conspiracy theories). Add in a wicked supporting performance by Isabelle Adjani, and a killer score by Jamie xx and Sebastian, and you’ve got a comic soufflé too delicious to pass up.
3. ‘Bad Times at the El Royale’
Fox
The festival’s closing night film seems like something of a no-brainer: It’s a twisty turny, noir-tinged story of double-crosses and people pretending to be something they’re not. But what makes “Bad Times at the El Royale” transcend those fairly obvious genre trappings is how much heart writer-director Drew Goddard injects into the material, and what marvelous, full-bodied performances stars like Fantastic Fest MVP Dakota Johnson, Jon Hamm, Chris Hemsworth, Jeff Bridges, and breakout Cynthia Erivo provide.
Some folks groused about the movie’s lengthy 140-minute running time; I was happy to luxuriate with the colorful band of lowlifes. Checking into the El Royale, it’s best not to know much of anything except, of course, that you’ll have a ball.
2. ‘Piercing’
Universal
Well, “Piercing” was a huge surprise: Nicholas Pesce‘s follow-up to 2016’s dour, black-and-white horror movie “The Eyes of My Mother” turns out to be a bright, vibrant, very screwed-up romantic comedy (of sorts). Christopher Abbott plays a straight-laced businessman who, fighting back homicidal urges, checks into a hotel and orders a prostitute, luring her to her doom. Except, of course, the prostitute is Mia Wasikowska and, well, you know what they say about best-laid plans.
Alternately horrifying and hilarious, Pesce’s sophomore feature is more human and alive than his debut, complimented by unassumingly oddball production design (all of the exteriors of buildings are miniatures) and featuring a musical bedrock full of obscure cuts from movies like “Cherry 2000” and “Tenebre.”
1. ‘Suspiria’
Amazon Studios
When “Suspiria,” “Call Me By Your Name” filmmaker Luca Guadagnino‘s autumnally hued take on Dario Argento‘s 1977 candy-colored classic, made its debut at the Venice Film Festival reactions were, um, muted, to say the least. So it was something of a surprise that “Suspiria” exploded at Fantastic Fest the way it did; nobody quite knew what they were getting into (and not just because it was the never-officially-announced secret screening). But, make no mistake, this new version of the ballet-school-run-by-witches tale is vitally alive and unlike any other movie released this year (or, potentially, any other year).
Instead of a remake or sequel, it’s a straight-up transformation, taking the original conceit and making it sexier, weirder, more political, and more distinctly feminist. The results are a fascinating, electric work of art, featuring sublime performances by Dakota Johnson (as the naïve waif), Tilda Swinton (as the plotting witch — plus a couple of other characters), and Mia Goth (as the delicate ballerina-turned-detective).
It’s almost impossible to describe, but this intricately staged masterpiece (with new music by Thom Yorke) will carry you away. It’s bloody brilliant.
Fantastic Fest 2018 will open with a slash — the long-awaited face-off between Laurie Strode and Michael Myers.
The new “Halloween” directed by David Gordon Green will premiere on opening night of the festival on September 20 in Austin, Texas. And the original scream queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis, will be on hand to mark the occasion.
Curtis is reprising her role as Laurie Strode, who still bears the emotional and physical scars from her first confrontation with the masked psycho Michael Myers 40 years prior.
“Halloween” producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block will also be in attendance. The movie opens in theaters October 19.
Fantastic Fest also announced a second wave of programming to complement the first wave, which was unveiled a few weeks ago.
Joining the line-up is Jeremy Saulnier’s thriller “Hold the Dark” starring “Westworld’s” Jeffrey Wright. A brutal, beautiful excursion that pits nature versus man’s heart of darkness, the film also boasts electric performances from Alexander Skarsgård and Riley Keough.
Check out the entire second wave line-up below. The 14th Annual Fantastic Fest will take place in Austin from September 20-27.
THE ANGEL
Argentina, Spain, 2018
US Premiere, 120 min
Director – Luis Ortega
In 1971 Argentina, Carlitos is a baby-faced youth whose good looks match his confident swagger. Carlitos’ passion is stealing; the things he covets, he takes. But when he meets Ramon at his school, he embarks on his true calling: armed robberies and violent crimes.
THE BASTARDS’ FIG TREE
Spain, 2017
Texas Premiere, 103 min
Director – Ana Murugarren
In Attendance – Director Ana Murugarren and Producer Joaquin Trincado
In Ana Murugarren’s whimsical THE BASTARDS’ FIG TREE, a fascist soldier in the Spanish Civil War becomes a fig-tree obsessed hermit after looking into the vengeful eyes of a young boy whose father and brother he had violently executed.
BLOODLINE
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 95 min
Director – Henry Jacobson
In Attendance – Director Henry Jacobson, Actor Seann William Scott, Producer Adam Hendricks, and Writer Avra Fox-Lerne
Evan (Seann William Scott) values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
THE BOAT
Malta, United Kingdom, 2018
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Winston Azzopardi
In Attendance – Director/Co-Writer Winston Azzopardi and Actor/Co-Writer Joe Azzopardi
A lone fisherman on his daily run finds himself lost in a thick fog which proves impossible to navigate. The worst is yet to come when his encounter with a seemingly abandoned sailboat becomes a fight for survival against an enemy unknown.
BORDER
Sweden, Denmark, 2018
Texas Premiere, 108 min
Director – Ali Abbasi
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
CHAINED FOR LIFE
USA, 2018
Regional Premiere, 91 min
Director – Aaron Schimberg
In Attendance – Director Aaron Schimberg and Producer Vanessa McDonnell
Mabel (Jess Weixler, TEETH) and Rosenthal (Adam Pearson, UNDER THE SKIN) – both hired for their looks – meet on the set of a horror movie in this surreal examination of how those with physical differences are portrayed on film.
CLIMAX
France, 2018
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Gaspar Noé
Consistent provocateur Gaspar Noé outdoes himself with his latest feature CLIMAX, a trippy horror-musical featuring twenty sensuous dancers partying hard and living their best lives, until a bad batch of sangria plunges them into insanity.
DEADLY GAMES
France, 1990
North American Premiere, 90 min
Director – René Manzor
In Attendance – René Manzor
DEADLY GAMES (3615 CODE PÈRE NOËL) is the terror version of HOME ALONE. A 9-year old kid in his house, tormented by a demented Santa Claus, fights for his survival by setting traps. Christmas will never be the same again.
DOGMAN
Italy, France, 2018
Texas Premiere, 102 min
Director – Matteo Garrone
Marcello is a gentle dog groomer whose tumultuous friendship with violent neighbourhood thug Simone engulfs him in a violent series of events that will leave him forever scarred.
DONNYBROOK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 101 min
Director – Tim Sutton
In Attendance – Tim Sutton
Frank Grillo and Jamie Bell are just two of the desperate men and women headed for “The Donnybrook” – a no-holds-barred bare-knuckle fight contest with a $100,000 prize – in this midwestern gothic journey into a heartland of darkness.
DRUG STORIES! NARCOTIC NIGHTMARES AND HALLUCINOGENIC HELLRIDES, FEATURING THE TRIP BACK – PRESENTED BY AGFA AND SOMETHING WEIRD
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 80 min
In Attendance – Something Weird Video’s Lisa Petrucci
AGFA and Something Weird present a compilation of classroom scare films about boozers, users and losers, all in brand new 2K preservations and featuring the legendary anti-drug diatribe known as THE TRIP BACK.
FERAL
Mexico, 2018
World Premiere, 97 min
Director – Andrés Kaiser
In Attendance – Andrés Kaiser
The mountains of Oaxaca harbor the remains of a ravaged and burnt shelter, once home to a psychoanalyst priest who used it to look after savage children, trying to re-integrate them into society. Through videotape diaries and interviews, the truth of what happened is shockingly revealed.
FP2: BEATS OF RAGE
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Jason Trost
In Attendance – Jason Trost
JTRO gave Frazier Park everything he had, but his challenges aren’t over. Now he must journey into the destruction of The Waste to rekindle the passion he needs to win the ultimate Beat-Beat Revelation tournament and fulfill his destiny.
GIRLS WITH BALLS
France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, 2018
World Premiere, 77 min
Director – Olivier Afonso
After winning a competition, a women’s volleyball team heads home aboard their minibus. Forced to take a shortcut, they end up at a tavern where they upset the local degenerate rednecks… and then the hunt begins.
HALLOWEEN
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 105 min
Director – David Gordon Green
In Attendance – Jamie Lee Curtis and Producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
HOLD THE DARK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 125 min
Director – Jeremy Saulnier
In- Attendance – Director Jeremy Saulnier and Co-Writer/Actor Macon Blair
A gripping psychological thriller unfolds in the treacherous Alaskan wilderness when a retired wolf expert is summoned to investigate a child’s disappearance.
IN FABRIC
United Kingdom, 2018
US Premiere, 118 min
Director – Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland (THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY; BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO) returns to Fantastic Fest in full, flourishing style with IN FABRIC, a film that’s part surreal thriller, part giallo love letter, part fashion collage, and all hypnotic originality.
THE INNOCENT
Switzerland, Germany, 2018
US Premiere, 113 min
Director – Simon Jaquemet
In this dark and fantastical tale about religion versus science and good versus evil, a woman’s faith is being tested as her ex-lover reappears in her life after twenty years in jail.
KNIFE + HEART
France, 2018
North American Premiere, 102 min
Director – Yann Gonzalez
In Attendance – Director Yann Gonzalez
In Yann Gonzalez’s second feature, a masked serial killer stalks a producer and her film company in this love letter to European giallo, American grindhouse cinema, and ’70s gay porn.
MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU
Indonesia, 2018
North American Premiere, 110 min
Director – Timo Tjahjanto
At her father’s deathbed, Alfie learns that she and her family must give the Devil his due when he comes to collect on the pact made years before in this electrifying horror film from Indonesian master storyteller Timo Tjahjanto.
SAVAGE
France, 2018
World Premiere, 83 min
Director – Vincent Mariette
In Attendance – Director Vincent Mariette
Summer is in full swing and men are going missing. People are talking about a leopard on the loose in the area. A mysterious horror writer is in the bungalow next door. And Laura’s most disturbing summer has only just begun.
THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 88 min
Director – Henry Dunham
Over the course of one grueling night, a militia tears itself apart as it searches for the perpetrator of a mass shooting among its own.
STARFISH
United Kingdom, USA, 2018
World Premiere, 99 min
Director – A.T. White
A girl. A mixtape. And Armageddon. A uniquely honest portrayal of loss as a young woman struggles with the death of her best friend while dealing with the horrific Lovecraftian end of the world, driven by a beautiful indie music soundtrack.
SUDDEN FURY
Canada, 1975
World Premiere of New Restoration, 91 min
Director – Brian Damude
When a well-intentioned bystander rushes to the scene of a violent car wreck, he finds himself embroiled in a hot mess of desperate homicide in this wickedly taut and unpredictable thriller, recently rescued from Canadian obscurity and restored by exploitation video label Vinegar Syndrome.
TUMBBAD
India, 2018
US Premiere, 108 min
Directors – Rahi Anil Barve & Adesh Prasad
In Attendance – Co-Director/Writer Adesh Prasad
In the rural village of Tumbbad, a decaying castle hides an immeasurable ancestral fortune guarded by something ancient, sinister, and monstrous. Vinayak thinks he can control it, but how long will it be until his own greed destroys everything he’s built?
One of the quirkier film festivals on the circuit just announced the first batch of titles that it will be screening at its annual event: Austin’s Fantastic Fest is gearing up for what it dubs “the very best in mind-melting mayhem and madness from all corners of the globe.”
That superlative certainly applies to one of the highlights of the festival, “Overlord,” the new flick from J.J. Abrams‘s Bad Robot production company that mashes up a WWII setting with a horror-thriller vibe. Here’s how Fantastic Fest describes the flick:
This exhilarating, nerve-shredding ride tells the story of American paratroopers dropped into occupied France on the eve of D-Day who discover a secret Nazi lab carrying out terrifying and bizarre supernatural experiments.
Other notable events slated for the fest include the premiere of “Apostle,” the latest flick from Gareth Evans (“The Raid” series); a focus on international female genre filmmakers; and an exploration of South Korean cinema and the Korean Quota Quickies from the 1970s.
The announced lineup so far is below. The 14th Annual Fantastic Fest is set to take over Austin from September 20 though September 27.
FIRST WAVE FILM LINEUP:
APOSTLE
United Kingdom, 2018
World Premiere, 129 min
Director – Gareth Evans
The year is 1905. Thomas Richardson travels to a remote island to rescue his sister after she’s kidnapped by a mysterious religious cult demanding a ransom for her safe return. It soon becomes clear that the cult will regret the day it baited this man, as he digs deeper and deeper into the secrets and lies upon which the commune is built.
BAN GEUM-RYEON
South Korea, 1981
Regional Premiere, 90 min
Director – Kim Ki-young
From Park Chan-wook’s idol comes a twisted tale of lecherous lords and murderous mistresses. Presented outside of Korea for only the second time, Kim Ki-young’s masterpiece BAN GEUM-RYEON is a lush smorgasbord from Korea’s most demented cinematic mind.
AGFA and BLEEDING SKULL PRESENT: BLOOD LAKE
USA, 1987
World Premiere of New Preservation, 82 min
Director – Tim Boggs
The finest vacation from hell ever captured on VHS, rescued from the original 1″ master tapes!
BURNING
South Korea, 2018
Texas Premiere, 148 min
Director – Lee Chang-dong
Lee Chang-dong’s latest triumph weighs the delicate balance between creation and destruction as a writer runs into an old classmate who gets him caught up in a mystery bigger than both of them.
CAM
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 94 min
Director – Daniel Goldhaber
In Attendance – Writer/Producer Isa Mazzei
Alice is a camgirl with principles. She doesn’t do public shows, she doesn’t tell her fans she loves them, and she doesn’t fake her orgasms. But when a mysterious lookalike takes over her channel, the rules no longer apply.
DOG
France, 2017
US Premiere, 87 min
Director – Samuel Benchetrit
A dark fable about loneliness, perfectly illustrated by Jacques Blanchot’s loss of humanity and slow transformation into a dog. Director Samuel Benchetrit shares a subtle commentary on our current world, and its social, interpersonal, and political issues.
AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN
USA, 2018
Texas Premiere, 108 min
Director – Jim Hosking
Fantastic Fest alumni director Jim Hosking (THE GREASY STRANGLER; RENEGADES) is back with a second feature as absurd, crazy, and funny as his first. Follow Lulu Danger’s very own revolution in a Lynch-meets-Waters run-down version of America.
THE GUILTY
Denmark, 2018
Austin Premiere, 85 min
Director – Gustav Möller
A horrific crime; an emergency responder struggling to stay off the edge; a kidnapping victim calling in for help. This is all we’re going to tell you about first-time feature filmmaker Gustav Möller’s unmissable and gripping debut thriller.
HOLIDAY
Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Turkey, 2018
Texas Premiere, 93 min
Director – Isabella Eklöf
The sun-drenched dream of the eponymous summer vacation has its dark side revealed in Isabella Eklöf’s powerful debut feature HOLIDAY, an unforgettable exploration of the fraught, brutal experience of young womanhood.
HOUSE OF SWEAT AND TEARS
Spain, 2018
World Premiere, 104 min
Director – Sonia Escolano
In Attendance – Director Sonia Escolano
“She,” the leader of a violent cult, rules her flock with an iron fist to ensure they never stray from the path. But a series of events and a mysterious outsider threaten the pattern of their reality in this electrifying exploration of faith and belief.
AGFA PRESENTS: I WAS A TEENAGE SERIAL KILLER
USA, 1993
World Premiere of New Restoration, 27 min
Director – Sarah Jacobson
Sarah Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism in brand new 2K preservations.
KEEP AN EYE OUT
France, 2018
North American Premiere, 73 min
Director – Quentin Dupieux
An absurd all-night interrogation set in a camp ’70s police station, Quentin Dupieux’s latest opus, KEEP AN EYE OUT, is a celebration of his own brand of quirky, offbeat humor, performed by France’s most refreshing comedic talents.
LADYWORLD
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 93 min
Director – Amanda Kramer
In Attendance – Director Amanda Kramer and Actor/Co-Editor/Production Designer Noel David Taylor
In Amanda Kramer’s daring low-budget debut LADYWORLD, a birthday party quickly devolves into chaos when a mysterious earthquake traps eight teenage girls alone in a house, challenging their friendships, identities, and eventually their grip on reality.
LAIKA
Czech Republic, 2017
Regional Premiere, 88 min
Director – Aurel Klimt
In Attendance – Director Aurel Klimt
This is the story of Laïka the space dog who, unlike in real life, did not die aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. In this bizarre and charming stop-motion musical, Laïka crashes on a peculiar planet where she meets new friends.
LUZ
Germany, 2018
US Premiere, 70 min
Director – Tilman Singer
In Attendance – Director Tilman Singer
Luz enters a police station at night to report an assault. As the interrogation progresses, it becomes clear a demonic entity wants to possess her in this audacious, psychotropic horror film shot on 16mm.
MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB
Israel, 2018
International Premiere, 90 min
Director – Guilhad Emilio Schenker
Desperate, aging, Sophie only needs to seduce one more handsome victim – excuse me, date – to become a worry-free Lordess in MADAM YANKELOVA’S FINE LITERATURE CLUB, Israeli director Guilhad Emilio Schenker’s delightfully twisted debut feature.
MANIAC
USA, 1980
World Premiere of New 4K Restoration, 88 min
Director – William Lustig
In Attendance – Director William Lustig
The 4K restoration of grindhouse auteur Bill Lustig’s 1980 slasher landmark features splatter SFX artist Tom Savini’s gnarliest work, as well as one of horror’s finest, sweatiest performances from legendary character actor/co-writer Joe Spinell.
AGFA PRESENTS: MARY JANE’S NOT A VIRGIN ANYMORE
USA, 1997
World Premiere of New Restoration, 98 min
Director – Sarah Jacobson
Sarah Jacobson’s punk-spirited DIY films combine B-movie aesthetics and riot grrrl feminism in brand new 2K preservations.
MURDER ME, MONSTER
Argentina, France, Chile, 2018
North American Premiere, 109 min
Director – Alejandro Fadel
Visual horror masterpiece MURDER ME, MONSTER lures you into the fascinating and opaque underworld of serial murder, supernatural obsession, metaphysical hallucinations, forbidden love – and one nightmarishly gross monster.
THE NIGHT COMES FOR US
Indonesia, 2018
World Premiere, 121 min
Director – Timo Tjahjanto
A former triad enforcer must protect a young girl while trying to escape his former gang, setting off a violent battle on the streets of Jakarta.
THE NIGHT SHIFTER
Brazil, 2018
US Premiere, 110 min
Director – Dennison Ramalho
An attendant at a busy morgue who can also converse with the dead puts his loved ones in peril using his forbidden knowledge for vengeance in Dennison Ramalho’s (NINJAS; ABCS OF DEATH 2) twisted and gleefully icky feature debut.
ONE CUT OF THE DEAD
Japan, 2018
Texas Premiere, 96 min
Director – Shinichiro Ueda
A filmmaker sets out to shoot a zombie film in an abandoned factory, but something is lurking on the outside. Is it a zombie apocalypse or just another shoot gone wrong?
OPEN 24 HOURS
USA, Serbia, 2018
North American Premiere, 100 min
Director – Padraig Reynolds
In Attendance – Director Padraig Reynolds
A young woman who had previously set her serial killer boyfriend on fire is now seeking normalcy by getting a job working the overnight shift at a 24-hour convenience store, where things are most definitely not going to be normal.
OVERLORD
USA, 2018
World Premiere, TBD min
Director – Julius Avery
In Attendance – Director Julius Avery and cast including Jovan Adepo, Wyatt Russell, Pilou Asbaek, John Magaro, and Mathilde Ollivier
In the upcoming WWII horror-thriller OVERLORD, a group of American paratroopers drop into Nazi-occupied France on the eve of D-Day. As they struggle to carry out their seemingly impossible mission, they discover a secret Nazi lab carrying out terrifying and bizarre supernatural experiments.
PIERCING
USA, 2018
Texas Premiere, 81 min
Director – Nicolas Pesce
From the twisted mind of Nicolas Pesce (THE EYES OF MY MOTHER) comes a provocative two-hander chamberpiece – a tense battle of wits and desire between prostitute and trick, predator and prey.
QUIT YOUR LIFE
South Korea, 1971
North American Premiere, 82 min
Director – Park Nou-sik
Presented in English for the first time, actor-director Park Nou-sik balances the scales of justice as he stalks around Korea with his noose of judgment in the relentless revenge drama QUIT YOUR LIFE.
SCHOOL’S OUT
France, 2018
North American Premiere, 103 min
Director – Sébastien Marnier
In this dread-soaked cerebral thriller, a handsome young substitute teacher gets in over his head when taking on a class of gifted students after their former teacher’s dramatic in-class suicide.
TERRIFIED
Argentina, 2017
US Premiere, 87 min
Director – Demián Rugna
In Attendance – Director Demián Rugna
Strange things are going on in a Buenos Aires neighborhood. Demián Rugna’s constantly surprising and truly spine-chilling horror film has one goal: to scare the shit out of everyone.
THE UNTHINKABLE
Sweden, 2018
World Premiere, 129 min
Director – Crazy Pictures
Something unthinkable is happening in Sweden. It starts with a few isolated incidents but suddenly, it’s all over the country. There are some who were prepared and others who weren’t. Ready or not, things will go out with a bang!
VIOLENCE VOYAGER
Japan, 2018
Regional Premiere, 83 min
Director – Ujicha
En route to visit a friend in another village, two kids go looking for a fabled shortcut through the mountain. Instead, they stumble upon an amusement park called Violence Voyager, and that’s when everything goes to shit.
WHEN THE TREES FALL
Ukraine, Poland, Macedonia, 2018
North American Premiere, 88 min
Director – Marysia Nikitiuk
In Attendance – Director Marysia Nikitiuk
Scar and Larysa are desperately in love and suffocating under the tradition and archaic demands of their Ukrainian village. When the frustrations of each finally detonate, their world and the lives of those surrounding them are tragically shattered.
THE WOLF HOUSE
Chile, 2018
North American Premiere, 73 min
Directors – Cristóbal León & Joaquín Cociña
In Attendance – Director Cristóbal León
An animated tale, supposedly restored from the archives of a German colony by the Chilean government, THE WOLF HOUSE is the unsettling story of Maria, punished with a hundred nights alone in a cabin in the woods.
