Horror comes in all shapes and sizes. Some elements come and go, while others stick around and are constantly with us. On that note, Kenichi Ugana‘s latest film, The Curse, gives us frights that not only go bump in the night, they follow us around in broad daylight. Similar to how there are no safe zones in films like The Babadook and It Follows (which also raised eyebrows and pulses at Fantastic Fest), a curse is not something that subscribes to any rules other than this: unrelenting pursuit and peril that usually ends in tears. So, if you have a taste for something with long hair, tall shadows and sticks…
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Fantastic Fest Celebrating 20 Years with Epic 2025 Feature Programming
It’s that time of year, dear friends. The season of Fantastic Fest will soon be upon us, and in just over a month we’ll be rubbing elbows with genre film fans and filmmakers in Austin, TX. This year marks twenty years of the world’s largest genre film festival. While it gets bigger and bigger each year, it still maintains a small-scale, boutique feeling. Sure, they can bring in the likes of Tim Burton and Keanu Reeves, but they put film at the forefront and this no frills festival sets the standard for what others can only hope to achieve. Add to that the fact it is set in the Alamo…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Director Francis Galluppi on ‘Last Stop In Yuma County’
I sat down with Francis Galluppi to discuss his first feature film, a neo-noir (do not call it a western) pressure cooker that I really loved. How can you not be intrigued by this log line or the clever poster below? “When a traveling knife salesman is forced to wait for fuel at an isolated rest stop, violence erupts around him when two bank robbers arrive during their getaway from a big heist.” We discussed his unexpected inspirations, the injury that kickstarted his filmmaking career, and the amazing cast he collected for this film.
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…’Spooktacular!’ Documentary Team
Long before Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights, there was Spooky World. Spooktacular! tells the story of America’s first Halloween Theme Park and the people behind it. This includes employees, guests, and horror icons that played a part in the park’s history including Tom Savini, Linda Blair, Kane Hodder, and Robert Englund. I sat down with the team behind the documentary to discuss the process and the passion involved: Quinn Monahan (Director), Gail Jorden (Writer), Anthony Landry (Halloween Event Historian/Producer), and David Bertolino (Hauntrepreneur/Founder). This makes for a great Halloween season watch and will join the list of past Fantastic Fest haunt documentaries such as American Scream, and Haunters: the Art of…
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Fantastic Fest 2023…Day 1 Recap
Editor’s Note: We’d like to introduce our newest contributor, Atlanta-based cinephile Alex Spivey covering this year’s Fantastic Fest. Hi, everyone! Alex here, bringing you all the fun and mayhem happening in Austin this Fall. 2023 marks the 18th year that the best damn fest in the world has been celebrating and pushing genre cinema. Over the years, I’ve been here to witness the calamity, insanity, brutality and hilarity from filmmakers like Scott Derrickson, Bong Joon Ho, David Gordon Green, Rian Johnson and many, many others. This year Austin is again flooded with spectacular titles (and Secret Screenings!) that pull no punches, and the opening night film of this year’s fest…
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Interview…Fest Friends: Natalie Metzger, Joe Badon, Tiffany Kimmel, Dawn Luebbe and Margaret Miller
Fantastic Fest 2022 was one of the very best – it’s certainly tops in my book for all the years we’ve covered and attended. One take away that is more impactful and enduring than seeing some gonzo foreign film, sitting for a secret screening or getting in on the ground floor for the next big genre spectacle is the people. Whether it’s the fans, the festival staff (including those hard-working volunteers!) or the filmmakers, there is a certain kind of magical haze that only exists on the festival circuit. Moreover, I fondly (and sometimes fuzzily) recall the conversations, chance encounters and unexpected friendships that have emerged from being in the…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…’The Banshees of Inisherin’
For those needing a change of pace, and prefer something with subtlety and substance, The Banshees of Inisherin is your cup of tea. Tea? Feck tea! In Ireland, they drink something stronger. So serve up a pint and prepare to enjoy every last drop of this hoppy, foamy, and delicious slice of cinema from Martin McDonagh. Set just about 100 years ago, on a fictional island just off Ireland’s west coast, we jump to the end of two characters’ lives – who never really had much going on – when one decides that the banality of life is just not enough. As time is slipping away for all of us,…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Jason Eisener on ’Kids Vs. Aliens’
Jason Eisener’s passion for fun filmmaking oozes right through the screen. Fun, furious and fast-paced, KIDS VS. ALIENS is like a kids playset come to life. An inventive alien abduction flick that really commits to its concept with the right amount absurdly over-the-top elements. If you love Treevenge and Hobo With A Shotgun, this flick offers is a wild look into what makes Eisener’s mind tick is one of the best playing. You’re gonna want much more. Promise! Enjoy our fun chat with Jason about kids, aliens, toys and Rutger Hauer’s improv. If you weren’t at FF this year to enjoy all the pint-sized fun, worry not. It’s been picked…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Carter Smith and Mark Patton on ’Swallowed’
Whether it’s at Fantastic Fest, or anywhere else, it’ll be hard to find a tighter or more claustrophobic narrative than Carter Smith’s Swallowed. With four key cast members thrown into a no-win scenario, it’s like a vice that tightens every second of this solid story. It gives me chills just thinking back on it. Of course it also doesn’t help (or maybe it does) that Smith shot this in 4:3 which only puts the characters that much closer to uncomfortable situations and Jena Malone‘s ferocity. That certainly amplifies the intensity and helplessness but man, oh, man it this a great ride. We sat with star/veteran horror icon Mark Patton and…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Turmoil and Family Terror in ’Spoonful of Sugar’
One of the best and biggest surprises of the festival is Mercedes Bryce Morgan‘s acid-fueled stunner, Spoonful of Sugar. People like to say that a movie sticks with them after seeing it, but in this case we really and truly mean it. Unsettling, stunning and serious as cancer, Spoonful of Sugar makes you question family, friends, even horticulture in a film that shows that monsters exist everywhere…even within each of us. But it also asks an important question: do we nurture a monster in an attempt to manifest the life that we want? Answer that how you will, but in the meantime check out the film which, in a mark…
