Sometimes, a film can hook you from the very first frame, and you just know you’re gonna love the ride. As a film fan, that’s the best you can hope for. Beyond that, if something has high replay value and staying power, it means that particular film it’s on its way too greatness or, at least, cult status. One such feature that meets all of the above and more is Bad Haircut, and having its World Premiere at Fantastic Fest is a badge of honor. Everything in this 110 minute runtime is primed for maximum enjoyment from this fervent and genre-loving crowd. All the elements we love are there (check…
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[Fantastic Fest Review]…’Bad Haircut’ is Sharp, Silly and Sweet as Spielberg
For 20 years, the best collection of genre film experiences has been shared with the world in Austin, TX at Fantastic Fest. This beloved institution celebrates two solid decades surprising, entertaining and delighting festival goers, and you can be sure they always deliver the goods. Great credit goes to the organizers who not only set up the festival, but pick and choose from a number of dizzying, demented, and otherwise gonzo films. So let’s just say that if the staff says it’s worthwhile, then it is sure to please. One such devilishly handsome, charming, and comedic entry into this year’s lineup is the world premiere of a shockingly good, hilariously…
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[Fantastic Fest Interview]…Director Kenichi Ugana on Brooding Horror in ‘The Curse’
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…Director Brett Simmons on Music, Muses and Meeting Your Heroes
It should be news to no one that Quentin Tarantino, Kevin Smith, Edgar Wright and Brett Simmons are big names in film. Granted you might not know the latter (yet!) but these filmmakers all share the same level of encyclopedic knowledge about the industry and important films which they use to take viewers on rides they’ve never had before. They make films the way they want and, more importantly, the way we fans want to see them. A sometimes hodgepodge of ideas and inspiration from what spoke to them through the years can be an instant hit and keep us talking long after the credits have rolled. Anyway, Simmons belongs…
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Interview…Dominic Mariche and Calem MacDonald on Goo, Gore and Good Times in ‘Kids Vs. Aliens’
For all you film fans missing the days of Saturday morning cartoons and gleeful amounts of practical gore, Jason Eisener has something right up your alley. His gooey homage to weird, wild and extraterrestrial yarns from yesteryear will keep you entertained for the full run time. His latest is a raunchy throwback thrill ride about kids fighting aliens…and you really don’t need much more of a premise than that. Suffice to say, there is a whole lot of fantasy and sci-fi elements mixed in for good measure which makes this genre stew overstuffed (and gross) yet highly surprising and satisfying. We saw Kids Vs. Aliens last September and spoke to…
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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…
