Fantastic Fest Coverage: Day 1
Fantastic Fest is the premiere genre film festival in the US. Each year it attracts the best in horror, sci-fi, and fantasy cinema. It is nothing short of a film geek’s paradise. This year the festival runs from September 24 through October 1st, and we are lucky to have one of our own writers, Kayley Viteo, in Austin covering the film fest. Starting today we’ll be bringing you daily wrap-ups of what went down, highlighting the films and the buzz, with the occasional full reviews and photos sprinkled throughout. Keep your dials tuned in right here as Kayley blogs her way through the wondrous world of Fantastic Fest 2009.
FANTASTIC FEST: September 24, Day 1
-Kayley Viteo
Fantastic Fest is a week-long film festival in Austin, Texas featuring some of the best genre films around. And since I’m lucky enough to live in this wonderful city, I’ve managed to attend the last three years. This year, I’ll be writing a daily wrap-up every night before I collapse into sleep, featuring short reviews of what I see and any gossip/buzz I’ve heard, and I’ll let you know what film was the best of the day (from my genius perspective, of course). I’ll also give you a preview of my schedule for the next day. At the end of the week, full reviews for horror films playing the Fest will be posted.
Today was the first official day of the Festival … and so the horror geek marathon begins! A marathon it will definitely be – today: four films, and tomorrow I’m slated to see five. Assuming I can actually get up and get to my early screening tomorrow. Nothing important outside of me seeing movies happened today, except that, despite my unfortunate history, my first viewing of the Festival didn’t suck. Actually, it was pretty damn good. Compared to last year’s Wicked Lake, it deserves Best Picture.
A few notes on what I saw today (in order that I saw them):
Van Diemen’s Land: A gorgeously shot, decidedly disturbing look into what your environment can drive you to do. Not necessarily horror, but it is certainly something genre lovers would be interested in seeing. Some will love this for the pacing, which is purposely slow, but others will not. I’m one of the first group and I heartily recommend seeing this one if you get the chance.
Terribly Happy: Basically, Hot Fuzz written by Denmark’s version of the Coen brothers, only less funny. Supposed to be a dark comedy but instead falls somewhere between that and thriller, which ultimately makes the entire film feel uneven. The film is still entertaining … but I doubt I’ll remember this one in a week’s time.
Macabre: FINALLY. After an afternoon of two rather slow (albeit not unpleasant) films, I was definitely in the mood for something quickly paced and exciting. And by that, of course, I mean copious amounts of blood and gore. My initial reaction to this one is that it is Indonesia’s version of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre … only more insane. Insanely entertaining.
Paranormal Activity: Startlingly good. This is not Blair Witch Project we are not led to believe it is real footage. Yet, this film feels way more real than any moment of BWP. And THAT is why it is so damn great. I’ll be honest – this one left me feeling rather unnerved, which is quite rare for me. Everyone in the theater sat quietly for a few moments when the screen went dark, and when it stayed dark, I swear nervous laughter erupted everywhere. As Scott Weinberg tweeted later – it played the theater like a maestro.
Tomorrow will be an interesting day – among a couple of Asian martial arts/action movies (one by the maker of Tokyo Gore Police), I will be seeing Antichrist, Trick r Treat, and Doghouse. In fact, those last three I’ll be seeing in a row. Should make for a fun little evening!
MOVIE OF THE DAY: Paranormal Activity, by a landslide.
