Nine hours in a train, thirteen hours securing Wi-Fi, and a whole ton of walking. All this adds up to your correspondent’s arrival to the 2017 Fantasia Film Festival. No sleep? No problem. This party’s got everything you need to stay on your feet.
Things began with a power-house slaughterfest, Doom-style, with Jung Byung-Gil’s latest picture, The Villainess. Countless dead bodies filled this tale of deadly women, murder agencies, and betrayal. Disarmingly introduced by the commendably low-key director, The Villainess is an ultra-violent assassin revenge movie with a strange “rom-com” interlude. I strongly suspect that Quentin Tarantino would give Byung-Gil a high five after watching it.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable was introduced by no less than Japan’s consulate general, whose gracious speech was followed by some snazzy fantasy-rock violin. Unfortunately, things began to disappoint immediately thereafter; so much so that, having given Jojo a chance for half its length, I had to duck out. Somehow I didn’t get the memo that most of the other attendees received: that this movie was amusing, stylish, and worthwhile. Ignorance of the series no doubt worked against me; the only other culprit I can think to blame is my sobriety.
I have no worries, though. Peeking ahead at the weekend, I find I will be booked solid with very promising titles. As midnight approaches, my first festival day winds down to a close. Tomorrow: three movies, with the action starting at 10 AM. Wish me luck out here; I’ll keep the reports coming.
7/14 : Travel-Size Review, The LaPlace’s Demon
Awkwardly titled, pleasantly unnerving. Giordano Giulvi’s The LaPlace’s Demon is a through-the-looking-glass take on the horror genre, replacing the fear of the supernatural with the terror at the hyper-rational. Eight souls are lured to an ominous mansion high atop a peak on a deserted island and trapped inside. Within, they find a clock-work model of their opulent prison, with eight white pawns. The all-knowing Professor Cornelius explains, via video-tape, they are part of an experiment to see if free will exists. As the pawns inside the model begin moving in sync with the visitors, real fear sets in when one pawn disappears—and an ominous Continue reading 2017 FANTASIA FESTIVAL: MOVIES & MAYHEM IN MONTREAL, VOL. 1→
Next week starts off at the drive-in as Alfred Eaker considers a 1960 double feature of Horror Hotel (with Christopher Lee) matched with Germany’s contribution to the disembodied head genre, the memorably titled The Head. Then, Pete Trbovich sails over Dark Waters to consider the nunnery-set horror of the title. Next, Giles Edwards brings us his first report from 2017’s Fantasia Festival, with possible bonus content to drop unpredictably through the week. Finally G. Smalley takes onFernando Arrabal‘s surreal anti-fascist screed Viva la Muerte! (Long Live Death!) It’s a highly cosmopolitan and international week from the well-traveled (virtually and otherwise) crew here at 366.
Now is the time you wait all week for, when we survey the weirdest search terms that brought visitors to the site this week in a feature we sensibly designate “Weirdest Search Terms of the Week.” We’ll start with one we’ve seen before, which still mystifies us: “friends boring strangers” (we could maybe understand “friends boning strangers,” though that would still be an odd thing to search for). A bit weirder was “french language film bicycle ride policeman vagina.” (We’re guessing the last item on the list is the one the searcher is really interested in). Still, it’s no match for our official Weirdest Search Term of the Week: “while stranded on an island this baby doll bit the head off a lizard and drank the juice.” We especially like that this query is stated so matter-of-factly, as if it came up naturally in conversation over coffee: “say, did you hear about the time…”
Here’s how our ridiculously-long reader-suggested review queue stands: Dark Waters (next week!); Viva la Murete (next week!); Beauty and the Beast [Panna a Netvor] (1978); 1 Day; Black Devil Doll; Vermilion Souls (depending on availability); No Smoking (2007); Gahjini; One Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE→
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
Endless Poetry: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s second installment in the psychoautobiographical project that began with the Certified Weird The Dance of Reality, now concerning his experiences as a young bohemian artist in Santiago. We were shocked by how little Jodo had lost when Reality came out after a 21-year hiatus from filmmaking, making us even more excited for this second installment. Endless Poetry Indiegogo page.
The Persian Connection: A “neon-noir fever dream” set in the Persian and Russian gangster underworlds of L.A.. This drug, sex, and violence cocktail was originally titled The Loner when it played the Tribeca Film Festival. The Persian Connection Facebook page.
FILM FESTIVALS – Fantasia Festival (Montreal, Quebec, 7/13-8/2):
As its name implies, Montreal’s Fantasia Festival originally began as a showcase for fantastic films from Asia; it has since morphed into a major event on the genre cinema calendar. Not that they’ve let mainstream success get to their heads; there’s still more rare weirdness to be found at Fantasia than at just about any film festival on the globe. We make watch lists from Fantasia’s programming, and we’re always saddened when less than half of the most daring films find meaningful distribution in the U.S. (We’re still awaiting release of the video-art black comedy She’s Allergic to Cats, never mind the completely bizarre and incomprehensible Atmo HorroX). Because of the large number of entries, we’re highlighting only films here that are debuting at Fantasia or that are totally new to us. We’ll mention that the indie comedy Brigsby Bear, Casey Affleck’s A Ghost Story, Takashi Miike‘s WFT The Mole Song: Hong Kong Capriccio, the surreal Estonian fairy tale November, and the Filipino Town in a Lake are also playing, while Luc Besson‘s big-budget epic Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets gets an early screening at Fantasia. Also of note are revivals of God Told Me To (and other movies from Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Larry Cohen), a rare screening of Rape of the Vampire, and the debut of the restored print of the Certified Weird Suspiria, which will be touring North America in late summer.
Animals – Black comedy/horror about a couple whose vacation becomes a surreal nightmare after their car hits and kills a sheep. Screening July 16 & 18.
Assholes – This incestuous anal sex themed comedy with a butt monster aims to be the grossout ticket of the year. See it Aug 1, if you dare.
The Endless – Bored by life on the outside, two apostates return to the UFO death cult they had abandoned. Screens Aug 1.
The Honor Farm – High school seniors decide to take an after-prom shroom trip in an abandoned prison; bad idea. July 15 & 17.
Infiltration [Le Problème d’Infiltration] – A wealthy reconstructive surgeon’s life falls apart after he is threatened with a malpractice suit. World premiere Aug. 2.
Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable – Takashi Miike opens the festival once more with this manga adaptation that pits a hero with bizarre hair against a serial killer. Debuted yesterday, with an encore screening July 23.
The Laplace’s Demon – Eight researchers are trapped in a castle in this retro B&W feature exploring concepts of chance and free will. See it July 21 or 23.
Night Is Short, Walk on Girl – Anime about a college student following his dream girl through a surreal all-night used book store. July 30 & 31.
As a special treat, 366’s own Giles Edwards is in attendance and will be bringing us updates weekly (perhaps more frequently) on the Fest’s biggest and weirdest contenders. Fantasia Festival home page.
NEW ON DVD:
Pulse (2001): Read our review. Arrow Video’s release of Kiyoshi Kurosawa‘s apocalyptic millennial J-horror comes with a ton of extras for fans, including a collectible booklet available with this pressing only. Buy Pulse [Blu-ray/DVD combo.
Next week starts off with unstuck-in-time Alfred Eaker jumping to 1955 for a fantasy double feature of the Wood/Lugosi collaboration Bride of the Monster (paired with The Phantom from 10,000 Leagues on the bottom half of the bill). After that, Pete Trbovich gets philosophical with an essay on “What Makes a Weird Movie Weird?,” Giles Edwards goes underground for a look at the experimental art flick Suggestive Gestures, and G. Smalley swings back around to officially consider 3-Iron (nominated for the List by Jason Ubermolch way back in 2011—this gives you some idea of how far we may be behind!)
It was a slim week for weird search terms used to locate the site, but we’ll bring you the oddest queries we noted in our periodic survey of Weirdest Search Terms of the Week. First off: we have no “bestiality thunder,” so don’t bother looking here. “weird chick uses her boy doll as her sex partner to eat” was an even stranger search, although even taken literally we’re sure it appeals to someone, somewhere. Our official selection for Weirdest Search Term of the Week is “angel came to earth and sex with farmer with her stick comedy movie,” however. Now, that’s comedy!
Here’s how our ridiculously-long-and-ever-growing reader-suggested review queue stands: Beauty and the Beast [Panna a Netvor] (1978); 1 Day; Black Devil Doll; Vermilion Souls (depending on availability); No Smoking (2007); Gahjini; One Eyed Monster; Save the Green Continue reading WHAT’S IN THE PIPELINE→
Our weekly look at what’s weird in theaters, on hot-off-the-presses DVDs, and on more distant horizons…
Trailers of new release movies are generally available at the official site links.
IN THEATERS (LIMITED RELEASE):
A Ghost Story: Casey Affleck (under a sheet with eye holes) stars as Rooney Mara’s deceased hubby, helplessly watching her from the afterlife. A slightly surreal Sundance hit reuniting David Lowery with the stars of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints. A Ghost Story official site.
Awkwardly titled, pleasantly unnerving. Giordano Giulvi’s The LaPlace’s Demon is a through-the-looking-glass take on the horror genre, replacing the fear of the supernatural with the terror at the hyper-rational. Eight souls are lured to an ominous mansion high atop a peak on a deserted island and trapped inside. Within, they find a clock-work model of their opulent prison, with eight white pawns. The all-knowing Professor Cornelius explains, via video-tape, they are part of an experiment to see if free will exists. As the pawns inside the model begin moving in sync with the visitors, real fear sets in when one pawn disappears—and an ominous Continue reading 2017 FANTASIA FESTIVAL: MOVIES & MAYHEM IN MONTREAL, VOL. 1 
.