Fantasia 15 - It's Friday, Friday
While the rest of my room slept off the night's libations, I arose at the crack of ten and popped down to the gym for running and lifting and cooling off in the roof top pool. Twenty seven stories will add a whole new kind of horror to your day. There's something about leaning over the railing, watching the drops of water from your hair twist as they fall to the pavement below. Almost like a force wants to pull you right over the edge. The view of the rest of the city was great, mind you.
Nicole and I broke fast at Universal, just around the corner of the hotel. Eggs and fruit crepes for me, both were delicious. We met up with the rest of our crew for our first movie of the day at the J.D. SeVille theater (the more intimate of the two.)
Some Guy Who Kills People: dir. Jack Perez - This is the man who gave us "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus", but you'd never know from watching this film. It's the story of a man freed from a mental institution, working at an ice cream shop and harboring much rage from being bullied as a child. Right around the time he meets his estranged daughter, his bullies begin to die. Can our hero keep his daughter from finding out he's a monster? Can he overcome his social awkwardness and find love? Is there even more than that going on? You bet there is! The dialog is phenomenal. It's full of zingers and humor and clever;it's not "like" Joss Whedon (because that would pigeon hole it and cause too many biases) but it's very engaging and entertaining. Barry Bostwick (Brad from Rocky Horror) plays the elderly sheriff dating Karen Black (old time horror staple) who plays the protagonists wickedly caustic mother. There's humor and blood aplenty, and the ending of the film actually made me teary eyed. In a good way. This is a MUST SEE. Rating: 5/5 ice cream cones
The rest of the crew stayed around to watch Absentia (my showing was sold out the night before), so I picked up some programs and chilled out for a bit, before meeting them after the movie to swap room keys. Nicole was visibly shaking after Absentia, and quickly bolted outside to the warmth of the street. I told her to avoid any tunnels. I think her look could have killed me. Michael and Amanda got tickets to the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. I passed to same some incredibly tasty sushi at Mikada, also within a block of our hotel. The hotel Cantlie may become our default stop for future festivals. The three of us met up again for our next flick, which was running about half an our late (the only late film of the festival.)
Little Deaths: (an anthology) - A collection of three films from British directors with sex and death as their themes (think la petite mort). "House and Home" from Sean Hogan showed a prim and proper British couple picking up a homeless girl for dinner, only to have darker designs in mind, only to find they picked up the wrong lass. Andrew Parkinson's "Mutant Tool" follows a recovering adding and part-time prostitute who partakes in a medical drug trial with exceptionally perverse origins. I didn't stay to see Simon Rumley's "Bitch" because I wanted to be in time for my next film, but that examined a BDSM relationship that was falling apart. This was one of the poorer films of the festival. The couple in House and Holm were fairly pathetic, which is part of the point I think, they are not nearly as cool as they think they are. Mutant Tool was almost distractingly gross, considering the ... member in question. It's hard to maintain horror in some circumstances. Mostly the films suffered form their short length (twenty minutes and half an hour), it's hard to invest in characters in that short span of time. The third film might have changed my mind. Rating: 2/5 naughty scones
A quick dash across the road, there was no line which meant they let people in already! Fortunately, Nicole was easy to find in the hall. The director's of the next film were present and introduced it to us, they were two young professors from Israel who brought us the first Israeli slasher film...
Rabies: dir. Navot Papushado, Aharon Keshales - Our setting is a park in the woods, where several paths cross to horrific effect. A brother and sister are on the run from a serial killer, a ranger and his wife patrol the same park, four attractive college kids (two boys and a girl who all lust after the fourth girl) make a wrong turn, and ask for help from two cops (one of who is a utter sadist). As their paths cross and criss cross in the woods, jealousy and violence escalate, along with mistaken identities, hidden desires, and random lethal accidents. Rabies (or Madness as the film title also translates too) combines very smart dialog with good acting and lots of tension and drama. It's a little confusing as far as geography goes, but suspense is built quite well, and there are many surprises and shocks. It's not overly gory as Friday the 13th or Saw, and at times quite funny. The survivors will surprise you! Rating: 4/5 dredels
Our fabulous foursome all joined forces for the night, dressing up to the nines for Saphir: lots of great dance music, cheap shots, and dance floor domination. After the club we stumbled down St. Catherine and stopping in what we thought was Club SuperSex. We had time to watch about one dance (and fend off some enthusiastic strippers) before a last round of drinks in the hotel. It was four in the morning. We were Doing It Big.
Nicole and I broke fast at Universal, just around the corner of the hotel. Eggs and fruit crepes for me, both were delicious. We met up with the rest of our crew for our first movie of the day at the J.D. SeVille theater (the more intimate of the two.)
Some Guy Who Kills People: dir. Jack Perez - This is the man who gave us "Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus", but you'd never know from watching this film. It's the story of a man freed from a mental institution, working at an ice cream shop and harboring much rage from being bullied as a child. Right around the time he meets his estranged daughter, his bullies begin to die. Can our hero keep his daughter from finding out he's a monster? Can he overcome his social awkwardness and find love? Is there even more than that going on? You bet there is! The dialog is phenomenal. It's full of zingers and humor and clever;it's not "like" Joss Whedon (because that would pigeon hole it and cause too many biases) but it's very engaging and entertaining. Barry Bostwick (Brad from Rocky Horror) plays the elderly sheriff dating Karen Black (old time horror staple) who plays the protagonists wickedly caustic mother. There's humor and blood aplenty, and the ending of the film actually made me teary eyed. In a good way. This is a MUST SEE. Rating: 5/5 ice cream cones
The rest of the crew stayed around to watch Absentia (my showing was sold out the night before), so I picked up some programs and chilled out for a bit, before meeting them after the movie to swap room keys. Nicole was visibly shaking after Absentia, and quickly bolted outside to the warmth of the street. I told her to avoid any tunnels. I think her look could have killed me. Michael and Amanda got tickets to the Jean Paul Gaultier exhibit at the Museum of Fine Arts. I passed to same some incredibly tasty sushi at Mikada, also within a block of our hotel. The hotel Cantlie may become our default stop for future festivals. The three of us met up again for our next flick, which was running about half an our late (the only late film of the festival.)
Little Deaths: (an anthology) - A collection of three films from British directors with sex and death as their themes (think la petite mort). "House and Home" from Sean Hogan showed a prim and proper British couple picking up a homeless girl for dinner, only to have darker designs in mind, only to find they picked up the wrong lass. Andrew Parkinson's "Mutant Tool" follows a recovering adding and part-time prostitute who partakes in a medical drug trial with exceptionally perverse origins. I didn't stay to see Simon Rumley's "Bitch" because I wanted to be in time for my next film, but that examined a BDSM relationship that was falling apart. This was one of the poorer films of the festival. The couple in House and Holm were fairly pathetic, which is part of the point I think, they are not nearly as cool as they think they are. Mutant Tool was almost distractingly gross, considering the ... member in question. It's hard to maintain horror in some circumstances. Mostly the films suffered form their short length (twenty minutes and half an hour), it's hard to invest in characters in that short span of time. The third film might have changed my mind. Rating: 2/5 naughty scones
A quick dash across the road, there was no line which meant they let people in already! Fortunately, Nicole was easy to find in the hall. The director's of the next film were present and introduced it to us, they were two young professors from Israel who brought us the first Israeli slasher film...
Rabies: dir. Navot Papushado, Aharon Keshales - Our setting is a park in the woods, where several paths cross to horrific effect. A brother and sister are on the run from a serial killer, a ranger and his wife patrol the same park, four attractive college kids (two boys and a girl who all lust after the fourth girl) make a wrong turn, and ask for help from two cops (one of who is a utter sadist). As their paths cross and criss cross in the woods, jealousy and violence escalate, along with mistaken identities, hidden desires, and random lethal accidents. Rabies (or Madness as the film title also translates too) combines very smart dialog with good acting and lots of tension and drama. It's a little confusing as far as geography goes, but suspense is built quite well, and there are many surprises and shocks. It's not overly gory as Friday the 13th or Saw, and at times quite funny. The survivors will surprise you! Rating: 4/5 dredels
Our fabulous foursome all joined forces for the night, dressing up to the nines for Saphir: lots of great dance music, cheap shots, and dance floor domination. After the club we stumbled down St. Catherine and stopping in what we thought was Club SuperSex. We had time to watch about one dance (and fend off some enthusiastic strippers) before a last round of drinks in the hotel. It was four in the morning. We were Doing It Big.