Monsters Club Directed by Toshiaki Toyoda Written by Toshiaki Toyoda Japan, 2011 How often is it said that one person’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter? Maybe that is but a cliché which has emerged out of tired movie scripts. Be that as it may, most people in the world do claim entirely opinions on …
Errors of the Human Body Directed by Eron Sheean Written by Eron Sheean and Shane Danielson U.S.A./Germany, 2012 There is so much potential in films relating to scientific experiments gone awry that one wonders why there are not more which play at Fantasia. Part of the reason may have to do with the fact that …
The Sword Identity Directed by Haofeng Xu Written by Haofeng Xu China, 2011 Wu xia can be a fantastically exciting movie genre when done correctly. The costumes, the melodrama, the grand scale action set pieces, even the more intimate but no less impressive one-on-one combative contests. Directors frequently take the opportunity to present the thousands …
Wrong Directed by Quentin Dupieux Written by Quentin Dupieux U.S.A., 2012 Two years ago writer and director Quentin Dupieux brought Rubber to Fantasia and the world at large, which told the story of an evil tire which rolled around and killed people. On one side of the film fan community it was hailed as clever, …
Toad Road Directed by Jason Banker Written by Jason Banker U.S.A., 2012 ‘Go to hell.’ ‘My life is a living hell.’ ‘What the hell just happened?’ These are but some of the countless examples of how flippantly the term ‘hell’ is utilized in everyday idiom. The word offers a flexibility unparalleled with almost any other. …
Dead Sushi Directed by Noboru Iguchi Written by Noboru Iguchi and Jun Tsugita 2012, Japan Junk food is tasty food with little to no long term pertinent effects, other than some negative health concerns if one consumes to much. Its purpose is to stuff that hole in one’s stomach in moments of hunger and nothing …
Punch Directed by Han Lee Written by Dong-Woo Kim South Korea: 2011 Contrary to popular belief, the Fantasia International Film Festival is not some movie haven for those seeking pure thrills via genre pictures. True to its traditions, the event awards screen time to some the world’s more outlandish movies, from pure gore fests, ghost …
Hard Romanticker Directed by Su-yeon Gu Written by Su-yeon Gu Japan, 2011 There are not many nations whose film industries carry as much unabashed violence about them than Japan. Some other countries come close, and virtually all countries at least a few violent films, yet when it comes to the Japanese, well, they simply take …
Doomsday Book Directed by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung Written by Kim Jee-woon and Yim Pil-sung South Korea, 2012 How often do anthology films fully come together, with each part perfectly complimenting one another? The answer, despite however many times filmmakers attempt to construct them, is rarely. In fairness, the degree of difficult involved is …
Llyod the Conqueror Directed by Michael Peterson Written by Andrew Herman and Michael Peterson Canada, 2011 Some games, while popular within the circles of their respective fans, are the target of not so subtle jibes from most other people who either do not understand their appeal or actually have a point in venting their annoyance …
Black Pond Directed by Tom Kingsley and Will Sharpe Written by Will Sharpe U.K., 2011 Comedy, in its nature and its presentation, has morphed dramatically over the past decade or so, both in North America and in Europe, in particular the United Kingdom. From the more overt, on the nose comedy of yesteryear we have …
Beast Directed by Christoffer Boe Written by Christoffer Boe Denmark, 2011 Everybody enjoys a well told love story. The sub genre, less prominent perhaps, is the doomed love story, the ones in which the two protagonists do not get exactly what they want by the film’s end. It can be played in such a way …
The Victim Written by Michael Biehn, based on a story by Reed Lackey Directed by Michael Biehn USA 2012 Fantasia imdb For years, Michael Biehn has been of the most interesting and versatile actors in genre cinema, while paradoxically one of the most misused. Capable of playing the hero, anti-hero or stone cold villain, Biehn has the …
Resolution Written by Justin Benson Directed by Justin Benson and Aaron Scott Moorhead USA 2012 Fantasia imdb It would be easy to compare Resolution to The Cabin in the Woods, both films tackle the horror tropes surrounding the titular isolated cabin in the woods, digging into the meta-narrative that informs the trope, but they come at the text from completely opposite …
V/H/S Directed by David Bruckner, Ty West, Radio Silence, Glenn McQuaid Radio Silence Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard Screenplay by Simon Barrett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, David Bruckner, Tyler Gillett, Justin Martinez , Glenn McQuai, Radio Silence, Nicholas Tecosky, Chad Villella and Ti West 2012, USA The faux-documentary, “cinema verité” camera style is increasingly prevalent in horror flicks …
A Boy And His Samurai (Chonmage purin) Directed by Yoshihiro Nakamura Screenplay by Yoshihiro Nakamura 2010, Japan Director Yoshihiro Nakamura really caught the attention of the Sound On Sight staff with his 2009 end-of-the-world punk rock film Fish Story. Last year, he made the equally impressive conspiracy thriller, Golden Slumber. Now he’s back, only this …
Carré Blanc Directed by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti Written by Jean-Baptiste Leonetti France, 2011 Jean-Baptiste Leonetti’s Carre Blanc marks the arrival of someone who promises to be an emerging new talent in genre filmmaking in France. With that said, his directorial debut comes off as a somewhat jejune undergraduate rhetoric about consumerism and corporate supremacy. Leonetti shows …
Juan Of The Dead (Juan de los Muertos) Directed by Alejandro Brugués Screenplay by Alejandro Brugués 2011, Spain / Cuba It seems every country nowadays feels the need to produce an epidemic/zombie film, something they can call their own. And so Cuba’s first zombie flick gives a distinct cultural perspective to breathe life into an …
The Human Race Written and Directed by Paul Hough USA 2012 imdb Fantasia The Human Race is a grindhouse drive-in classic that happens to have been made years after the drive-in heyday; at least it follows the maxim of legendary drive-in critic Joe Bob Briggs, “the first rule of great drive-in movie-making: Anyone can die at any moment.” The set-up …
Resolution Directed by Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson USA, 2012 An exploration of urban legends, examining our eternal relationship with storytelling, Resolution begins as the story of two friends. Michael, whose life is on the right path, receives a disturbing video of his friend Chris, and decides to go to the backwoods in order to …
Under the Bed Director by Steven C. Miller. Written by Eric Stolze U.S.A., 2012 They do not seem to make films involving kid-related content like they used to. The common complaint about kids films in the early 21st century is that they cater to the lowest common denominator. Such a qualm can be aimed at …
Possession (1981) Written and Directed by Andrzej Zulawski France/West Germany, 127 minutes Zulawski’s work can be described as being a part of the cinema of hysteria. His characters exist on the edge of sanity, often in an alternative universe that resembles our own but is fuelled by different rules of conduct. Unreal is a way …
Sushi Girl Written by Kern Saxton and Destin Pfaff Directed by Kern Saxton USA 2012 Fantasia imdb I saw Sushi Girl under almost perfect conditions: at the Fantasia Film Festival surrounded by more than 700 enthusiastic grindhouse film fans in the presence of the producer, director, writer and virtually the entire cast including Andy MacKenzie …