Fantastic Fest is proud to announce its second wave of programming, led by a closing night screening of writer-director Rian Johnson’s hotly anticipated new Lionsgate and MRC mysteryKnives Out. A tribute to the work of Agatha Christie,Knives Outstars Daniel Craig as debonair Detective Benoit Blanc, sent to investigate the death of a renowned crime novelist played by Christopher Plummer.Knives Outwill be Fantastic Fest 2019’s closing night film with Johnson in attendance for a special presentation at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX on Thursday, September 26th.
“Rian Johnson is a consistently thrilling and brilliant director whose work has enthralled Fantastic Fest audiences for the past 15 years,” said Fantastic Fest Creative Director Evrim Ersoy. “The chance to close out the festival with his unique and ingenious murder mystery was too good an offer to pass up!”
Cannes Palme d’Or winnerParasitewill also play this year’s Fantastic Fest with director Bong Joon-ho (SNOWPIERCER, OKJA) in attendance. Reaping near-universal acclaim around the world,Parasiteis a darkly comic tale of two very different families who find their lives inexplicably intertwined.
This year,Fantastic Fest celebratesthe rich and varied history of Mexican genre film with a trio of rarely seen repertory titles, programmed in association with Mexico City’s Mórbido Film Fest. InThe Black Pit of Dr. M(Misterios De Ultratumba), two doctors make an unholy bet to discover just what’s in the afterlife; inThe Ship of Monsters(La Nave De Los Monstruos), two extraterrestrials traverse the universe collecting sample species to repopulate their planet resulting in the wildest spaceship ever with a wide array of characters from singing cowboys to Martian princes and other otherworldly beings starring none other than the brilliant Lorena Velázquez; and finally,Trampa Infernal(a.k.a.Hell’s Trap) sees a group of young people go after a bear, only to find themselves terrorized by a crazed Vietnam vet in a mannequin mask and Freddy Krueger glove, combining the best of slasher traditions with an incredible visual style and ’80s fashions galore! A dedicated shorts program exploring up and coming young Mexican filmmakers will be presented as part of the program, as well, which will be announced at a later date.
Mórbido Film Fest’s head of programming Abraham Castillo Flores will give a lecture titled “The Mórbido Crypt’s Guide to Mexican Fantasy and Horror Cinema,” a co-presentation with The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, founded by film writer/programmer/producer Kier-La Janisse. The sidebar is also supported by Cine Las Americas, the Mexican Film Institute (IMCINE), the Consulate General of Mexico in Austin, Fundación Televisa, Alameda Films, and Grupo Galindo.
“As Mórbido continues its primal mission to promote Mexican fantasy and horror cinema throughout the world, we are proud to collaborate with Fantastic Fest to highlight three unique films that represent peculiar moments in our complex national film history,” says Flores.
Fantastic Fest shows its full (rainbow) colors with a sidebar dedicated to LGBTQ+ representation in genre cinema, including the US Premiere ofScream, Queen: My Nightmare on Elm Street, a documentary focusing on the journey Mark Patton’s life took from actor to activist after starring inA Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge, as well as a rep screening of that seminal title with the cast in attendance. There will be a very special presentation of Norman J. Warren’sPrey(1977), which focuses on the disintegration of a relationship amidst a very real alien threat. The sidebar wraps up with a screening ofLylewith director Stewart Thorndike in attendance, where the grief of a mother turns to abject paranoia when she suspects her neighbors of being part of a satanic cult.
“The two most unwavering pieces of my identity - my queerness and my love of horror - come together in some fascinating and unexpected ways over the course of film history,” says Fantastic Fest programmer Brian Kelley. “I can’t think of a better group of people to explore and celebrate some of the crazy, frequently daring and often challenging films that make up the universe of queer horror with than myFantastic Festfamily.”
The witching hour arriveth at Fantastic Fest and with it brings titles that promise the audience all those forbidden sights that the daytime can’t handle. In the World Premiere of Joe Begos’VFW, a group of veterans find themselves in a deadly showdown against a gang of punk mutants dead-set on killing them. Also from Begos isBliss, where a creative mental block threatens to tip an artist into uncontrollable bloodbath in a very special 35mm screening. Seth Ickerman expands the unique vision of a neon sci-fi universe first presented within his astounding shortTurbo Killerand teams up once again with synth master Carpenter Brut in the North American premiere ofBlood Machines. And Richard Stanley recruits the help of Nicolas Cage to explore just what mysteriesColor Out of Spaceholds in an adaptation of the seminal Lovecraft story in the US premiere of the highly-anticipated title.
Science fiction and visions of the future are represented at the festival with a trio of titles that run the gamut of all fears. Aaron Moorhead and Justin Benson return to the festival for the US Premiere of their newest fever-dreamSynchronicstarring Anthony Mackie and Jamie Dornan as a pair of paramedics in the throes of a losing battle against a brand new designer drug. Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots are a couple who find themselves moving into their dream house, only to discover a trap in Lorcan Finnegan’s Cannes hitVivarium. And in a small town in 1950s New Mexico, a mysterious radio signal sends a pair of teenagers on an exciting journey to discover its source in the masterful debutThe Vast of Nightfrom director Andrew Patterson.
Cinema itself is explored at Fantastic Fest with a duo of documentaries that focus on wildly varied subjects. Gilles Penso & Alexandre Poncet’sPhil Tippet - Mad Dreams and Monsterstakes an extensive look at the great genius behind the visual effects of films such asRobocop,Star WarsandJurassic ParkwhileIron Fists and Kung Fu Kicksexplores the history of kung fu cinema from 1960s Hong Kong through ’70s 42nd Street and beyond with the help of experts, historians, kung fu stars and more! Prior to the festival, Alamo Drafthouse will be running a series to prep for the screening titled Fists of Iron, Wheels of Steel where Texas DJs will be live-scoring some of the most beloved Kung Fu classics, includingMaster of the Flying Guillotinewith DJ Jester the Filipino Fist,Police Storywith DJ Catwalk, and more!
The world at large is explored through a genre lens with films that take aim at topical subjects. In the US Premiere of Karl Markovics’Nobadi, the unlikely friendship between an old German man and a migrant worker will show them the true horror of their existence, while the US Premiere ofThe Platformsees society use a very new and unique punishment for criminals and those in need. InAbou Leila, two men hunt for a vicious terrorist leader while trying to hide from the bloodstains in their soul, and in the US Premiere of Orçun Behram’sThe Antenna, a sinister government broadcast in Turkey corrupts the very nature of everything it touches.
Worldwide, weird and wonderful genre films return with a selection of titles that refuse to be categorized. In Martin Krejčí’sThe True Adventure of Wolfboy, an unusual young man goes on a journey of discovery with a roster of eccentric characters in a film that mixes the best of fairy-tales and Czech magical realism. InVhyes, the discovery of a video camcorder leads a 12-year-old boy to create a unique time capsule. InPatrick, a young man goes to extreme lengths to find his lost hammer in his father’s nudist colony. Finally, inButt Boy, a man discovers he has a fetish of the most extraordinary kind during a routine prostate examination.
More FF alumni return to the festival with new and exciting titles. Mickey Reece uses the cold backdrop of a New England winter to explore a homecoming of a very weird kind in the astoundingClimate of the Hunter. In Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz’sThe Lodge, the relationship between two children and their stepmother gets strained to its murderous limit when the trio are trapped in a cabin. And Mattie Do explores the power of mistakes, choices, and consequences in the stunning and unique Laotian science-fiction explorationThe Long Walk.
