I'm writing this from the last row of an airplane, heading home to LA after a whirlwind week and a half in Austin. Eight days of Fantastic Fest were jam-packed with first-time watches, premieres, interviews galore, old friends, new friends, and the strange hybrid of existing friends we have never met in the flesh, making them simultaneously old and new. A species unto itself.
We always begin the fest with the best intentions of updating in real-time with a daily diary. But inevitably, it swallows us whole, and now we are bursting with excitement to sit down and write it all out to share with all of you.
Check out our day one recap for the Terrifier 3 world premiere and opening night festivities, and please enjoy some highlights from the first half of the fest below!
Fantastic Fest day two is where things really began to charge full speed ahead. Our second festival day started with a morning interview with Never Let Go director Alexandre Aja. After a brief chat with Aja on the red carpet the night before, it was nice to sit down and get into some more details about collaborating with Halle Berry on this dark fairytale. (Full interview coverage coming your way soon.)
After our interview, it was back to the Alamo to watch the Nick Frost-starring Get Away. The horror comedy hits all the right notes, and Frost is, of course, a delight. While most horror comedies tend to veer closer to the slasher route, Get Away utilizes a nice little folk horror backdrop to great effect, and the ensemble cast is phenomenal across the board.
Following the screening, we hit the red carpet for a quick chat with Frost and Get Away's director Steffen Haars, stunt icon Zoë Bell to celebrate ten years of Raze, and the massive V/H/S/Beyond gang.
We had just a bit of time before the V/H/S/Beyond premiere, so we ducked into the Highball to catch the tail end of Paramount Scares trivia hosted by Colors of the Dark's Rebekah McKendry and Elric Kane. The competition was intense, and two teams went head-to-head on either side of the stage in a rapid-fire round. An impressive showing from both, but there could only be one victor!
Like two ships passing in the night, I managed to catch the opening number of Louisiana Purchase's Clown Town drag show before rushing off to the next screening,
The big evening premiere was V/H/S/Beyond, and it's safe to say this is one of the strongest entries in the long-running found footage franchise. This installment features segments directed by Jordan Downey, Christian & Justin Long, Justin Martinez, Virat Pat, Jay Cheel, and first-time director Kate Siegel. They knocked it out of the park on this one, and, fear not, we have extended coverage on the way.
On Saturday morning, we were treated to the very first live recording of Mike Flanagan's Directors Commentary podcast. This episode celebrated the tenth anniversary of Jennifer Kent's The Babadook. Sitting in the theater with Flanagan and Kent up front on microphones as they broke down the whole process was an experience we won't forget.
Immediately following the screening, we were lucky enough to sit down with Kent for an incredible in-depth chat about her contemporary horror classic.
Something that particularly struck me during Kent's live director's commentary was her remarking on her acting background and, at one point in time, thinking to herself, “Women don't direct.” It's wild to believe someone as masterful a director as Jennifer Kent could have at any time doubted her own talent, but perhaps inspirational to hear? We're grateful she broke out of that narrative and proved it wrong. It makes me hopeful for a world where women directors continue fiercely protecting their work and bringing their vision to the screen.
We rounded out our Saturday afternoon with another horror comedy. Joseph Kahn's Ick fully capitalizes on his background as a music video director. Kahn jokingly referred to his PG-13 horror as “The Terrifier 3 of needle-drops.” The movie is rife with early 2000s emo kid nostalgia while still managing to bring it back around and firmly plant itself in the present. Kahn wanted something parents of a certain generation could watch with their kids, and it sticks that landing pretty perfectly. Starring Superman himself Brandon Routh, Mena Suvari, Malina Weissman and Peter Wong, it's reminiscent of The Blob meets The Faculty with enough originality that it stands on its own two legs.
Closing out a jam-packed Saturday… the infamous Fantastic Fest debates! If you're uninitiated, this is a Fantastic Fest staple. Festival attendees are bused offsite to a local Austin gym for libations and debauchery. The contenders begin behind podiums, orally debating a varying degree of topics, before putting on their gloves and beating the hell out of each other.
The big draw of the evening was Zoë Bell facing off against Fantastic Fest co-founder Tim League in a heated showdown that pit the topic of practical effects against CGI (a losing battle if there ever was one). Blood was spilled that night. Having a front-row seat to Zoë Bell doing a roundhouse kick was a highlight of the fest for me, and keep an eye out for a blow-by-blow breakdown coming your way from Fango's Amber T. We figured it would be fun for you to experience this Fantastic Fest standard from a first-timer’s perspective to understand how truly strange and wonderful it is.
Here are the final results: Zoë Bell vs Tim League (Resolved: Practical effects are better than CGI effects), Annick Mahnert vs Ahbra Perry (Resolved: Independent films are superior to studio films), James Cullen Bressack vs Sam Malcolm (Resolved: Nicolas Cage is the world's greatest living actor). Compelling arguments were made, blows were thrown, and Owen Egerton is the greatest MC to ever hold a mic (not up for debate).
Sunday morning, we checked in for a sit-down interview with all attending V/H/S Beyond directors before catching up with the Ick gang. We got to chatting about the anthology process, FX, Brandon Routh's wigs, and all sorts of fun stuff we'll share with you soon.
After our sit-down interviews, it was time to hit the red carpet for some photos. Only this time, instead of conducting interviews, I was on the other side of the red carpet for the first time. My wonderful friends Spider One and Krsy Fox's latest movie had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, and I got to stand on the Little Bites red carpet with the whole gang. If you haven't heard, I have a small role in the film, but I actually prefer that to be a surprise. As an independent production company, the duo wear multiple hats in their productions and tag in their roster of talented friends (Barbara Crampton, Bonnie Aarons, Heather Langenkamp, Chaz Bono) to help bring their nightmarish visions to life. (You can catch Little Bites in the latest issue of FANGORIA.)
Our Sunday evening movie was A24's A Different Man. The story surprisingly delves into psychological and body horror territory, with shining performances from stars Adam Pearson, Sebastian Stan, and Renate Reinsve. Director Aaron Schimberg reunites with Pearson to further invert the trope on society's perception of disfigurement.
Before our late-night screening, I popped in for a one-song karaoke cameo, but not before I had the honor of watching When Evil Lurks director (and festival judge) Demián Rugna belt out an impressive rendition of Aerosmith's “Cryin.”
Prying my eyes open Clockwork Orange style, it was time for the late-night screening of the much-anticipated Daddy's Head. Maybe the heady late hour of it all lent itself to the nightmarish quality of Benjamin Barfoot's creation. The monster is something I knew I would go to bed thinking about. And I was not wrong. I saw Daddy's Head lurking in the dark corners of my rented bedroom, and I suppose that's one of the highest compliments one can pay to a horror movie director. I was able to tell him as much the next morning, but we'll save that for part two (or is it technically part three?).
A quick editor's note here: I am not being intentionally vague about these movies, we just have so many great in-depth interviews coming your way that I'm saving the devilish details for those pieces. In the meantime, I wanted to bring you along for an inside peek at our journey and give you a little taste of our time at Fantastic Fest.
All the sit-down interviews mentioned above and red carpet moments are coming your way soon. For more, check out the 5 new horror video games we played at Fantastic Fest. Thanks for coming along for our continued coverage!
