Director Pat Tremblay’s previous feature, Hellacious Acres: The Case of John Glass, is one of the most perplexing movies I’ve ever seen. It plays out sort of like watching someone LARPing a Fallout game for a couple of hours, with no idea what they’re doing. I was confounded by the film when I first saw it, but the more I’ve thought about it over the years, the more I’ve wanted to revisit it. Tremblay’s new feature, Atmo HorroX, is insane on a totally different level. It makes Hellacious Acres look like an episode of Friends. There’s no decipherable dialogue—characters speak in either unintelligible nonsense syllables or screeching walls of noise—and while eventually something like a narrative emerges from its absurd repetition, it’s almost impossible to say what the “story” here might be from just one viewing. Most audiences are probably going to find this to be unwatchable, but anyone willing to embrace the film’s utterly unique style and Tremblay and his actors’ fearless dedication to such a peculiar vision will find Atmo HorroX to be hilariously absurd and unnerving in equal measure. I’m very sad I didn’t get to see this with the audience at Fantasia; I’d love to have seen how they would react to something this bizarre!
Fantasia 2016 Part 5: July 26-30
Originally published on Daily Grindhouse
July 26:
Creepy (Japan, dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Police detective Takakura (Hidetoshi Nishijima) retires following an incident with a vicious murderer in his precinct house and takes a job at an academy teaching about the psychology of serial killers. One of his former co-workers comes to him with information regarding a case with some disturbing loose ends and Takakura reluctantly agrees to join the unofficial investigation. Meanwhile, his wife Yasuko (Yûko Takeuchi) has some unsettling interactions with their new neighbor Nishino (Teruyuki Kagawa) and suspects that Nishino and his family may not be exactly what they appear to be. Based on a novel by Yutaka Maekawa, Creepy has the kind of oppressive atmosphere of dread Kurosawa is best known for—it’s very aptly titled. Kagawa is seriously unnerving as Nishino, a man who may just be socially awkward or could just as possibly be a soulless murderer. The film does show some bumps in the transition from the page to the screen, mostly in the character arc of Yasuko. The latter half of the film requires her to undergo a major change in personality that doesn’t seem to make much sense. However, that feels like a minor complaint in what is otherwise a masterful slow-burning thriller that teeters into full-blown insanity by its finale.
We Go On (USA, dir. Jesse Holland & Andy Mitton)
Miles (Clark Freeman) has become paralyzed by his fear of death to the point that he can barely leave his apartment. In a moment of desperation, he puts out an ad offering $30,000 to anyone who can give him verifiable proof of any kind of afterlife. His mother Charlotte (Annette O’Toole) comes to stay with him and help him sort through the applications, narrowing down the possibilities in their search. After some dead ends, Miles may find what he’s looking for in a way he never could have guessed or wanted. Co-directors Andy Mitton and Jesse Holland previously directed the 2010 horror film Yellowbrickroad, a unique and fascinating movie that showed serious promise. We Go On is another very unique story, especially in that its center is an adult mother-son relationship. The cast is great, and their interactions help enable some seriously creepy moments and set pieces. It stumbles a bit at the very end, but overall this is a solid, interesting horror drama well worth a look.
July 27:
Therapy (France, dir. Nathan Ambrosioni)
Following the discovery of a cache of video and film cameras at a crime scene, two profoundly incompetent police detectives—including a female cop constantly on the verge of hysterics—watch the footage recovered from the cameras and edited by… a police editor? Who cuts out all the boring parts and adds a score and sound effects? Anyway, that footage shows a bunch of young people who wandered out into the woods and then into an abandoned mental asylum (in “found footage” style, of course) who are up against an axe-wielding madman. You don’t need me to tell you what happens next. Therapy is a grindingly dull, utterly generic horror film that proves France can crank out a shrill, near-incoherent “found footage” horror movie just as well as we can here in the States. This is roughly equivalent to watching 96 minutes of home video footage of teenagers hanging out in the woods and an abandoned building while someone occasionally sets off a cherry bomb three feet behind where you’re sitting—it’s never scary, but it’s frequently startling, and like many modern horror films it doesn’t seem to understand these are not the same thing. If you prefer your horror movies packed with characters making stupid decisions and arbitrary noises blaring on the soundtrack in place of actual scares, you might want to give this a look. Anyone else should steer well clear.
Women Who Kill (USA, dir. Ingrid Jungermann)
Morgan (writer/director Ingrid Jungermann) and her ex Jean (Ann Carr) have a popular podcast on female serial killers called “Women Who Kill.” One day at the food co-op where Morgan volunteers, she meets the mysterious Simone (Sheila Vand) and unexpectedly finds an instantaneous mutual attraction. While Morgan and Simone start spending more time together and a tragic event occurs at the co-op, Jean starts to suspect that Simone may be more than just a fan of the podcast—and that Morgan’s life may be in danger. Women Who Kill is a sharply written, wryly observed comic thriller that is more about the characters and their relationships than any genre trappings that surround them. Buoyed by a great supporting cast including Annette O’Toole (in her second strong showing at this year’s Fantasia!), Jungermann, Vand, and Carr provide a strong emotional center for the increasingly dark territory into which the film moves in its final act. It’s understated but frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and it’s a strong feature debut for Jungermann.
July 28:
Under the Shadow (Iran, dir. Babak Anvari)
Shideh (Narges Rashidi) is left alone in her Tehran apartment with her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) when her doctor husband is sent to work on the front lines of the Iran-Iraq war. A medical student before the revolution, Shideh already barely recognizes the oppressive world in which she now lives. When her building takes a direct hit in one of the endless evenings of constant bombing, the fear under which she lives becomes literalized. Possibly worse is Dorsa’s interactions with an ominous imaginary friend, which may be a supernatural creature called a djinn or could possibly be a manifestation of her fear and stress. Under the Shadow is a well-mounted horror film that explores a time and place not very well known outside the Middle East, and it works best when it primarily focuses on the surreal horror of day-to-day life for Shideh and her family in a world that has changed so drastically as to be unrecognizable as the same they used to live in. There are some masterfully crafted and expertly deployed jump scares in the film’s first hour, but as the film moves toward its final act the mysterious nature of the force menacing Shideh and Dorsa becomes more clearly defined and less compelling. Still, this is an intelligent, beautifully directed and acted film that no horror fan should miss.
July 29:
The Arbalest (USA, dir. Adam Pinney)
In 1968, inventor Foster Kalt (Mike Brune) presented at the biggest toy convention in the world and became one of the richest men alive from “The Kalt Cube.” Ten years later, an investigative journalist and her crew join Foster at his isolated home in the woods for his first interview in four years and the unveiling of his new invention. But Foster wanders away, still wearing his lapel mic, and begins spinning the tale of how the mysterious Sylvia (Tallie Medel) has figured into his life. The Arbalest is the debut feature from Adam Pinney, who worked as cinematographer and editor on the horror/comedy Blood Car (a cult classic in waiting) as well as shooting Joe Swanberg’s 24 Exposures and the Adult Swim short “Too Many Cooks.” While those previous titles may give a rough idea of where Pinney’s film lands, it’s even more perplexing than they might suggest. Mike Brune, star of Blood Car, is very funny as Kalt, but the show really belongs to Tallie M
edel as Sylvia. She’s hilarious and compelling, giving the film yet another unexpected facet in her deadpan performance as a woman whose apathy towards Foster is nearly matched by his dangerous obsession with her. The film looks gorgeous, and the period design and costuming are excellent, as is the appropriately dreamy score.
July 30:
The Dwarvenaut (USA, dir. Josh Bishop)
Stefan Pokorny is the artist and mastermind behind Dwarven Forge, a company that specializes in intricately detailed miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons. The Dwarvenaut focuses on Dwarven Forge’s ambitious Kickstarter campaign to create modules and pieces for the city of Valoria, the imaginary city where the games of Pokorny and his friends have taken place for decades. While his previous campaigns have been wildly successful, this time the future of the company is riding on reaching their goal. Director Josh Bishop spends a lot of time with Pokorny and the employees at Dwarven Forge, delving into Pokorny’s fascinating upbringing and how it brought him to his love of art and D&D. Pokorny’s energy is so infectious it’s great fun just watching him work and interact with his friends and colleagues, so it’s forgivable that there’s not really much suspense riding on the Kickstarter part of the film.
Miruthan (India, dir. Shakti Soundar Rajan)
Karthik (Jeyam Ravi) is a traffic cop trying to raise his little sister Vidhya (Baby Anikha), who is constantly trying to find him a wife. Things are looking up in that department when Karthik meets Renuka (Lakshmi Menon), but soon thereafter their city is the site of a zombie outbreak caused by chemicals leaking into the local water supply. Before anyone knows what’s happening, the city is overrun and Karthik must save Vidhya and Renuka from the zombie hordes. Miruthan is the first Tamil zombie movie and it’s pretty fun, but the language is really the biggest thing that sets it apart from any other similar zombie movies. There are some songs and moments of ridiculous action typical of modern Indian action films, but for the most part Miruthan sticks to the “Zombie Apocalypse” playbook pretty closely. It’s worth a look for being the first film of its kind, and it’s solid entertainment, but it’s not terribly memorable.
Fantasia 2016 Part 6: July 31-August 3
Originally published on Daily Grindhouse
July 31:
Another Evil (USA, dir. Carson D. Mell)
Dan (Steve Zissis) is a successful artist who has unfortunately seen a terrifying ghost in his vacation home. His wife Mary (Jennifer Irwin) brings in a specialist in such things who informs them they are in no danger from the entities who share their living space. Dan isn’t so sure, and a friend refers him to Os (Mark Proksch), a “ghost assassin.” Dan stays at the vacation house while Mary and their son Jazz (Dax Flame) are back at home and hires Os in hopes they can rid the house of ghosts before Mary returns, but it turns out Os is as profoundly lonely and weird as he is effective at ghost trapping. Debut feature writer/director Carson D. Mell previously worked as a producer and writer for the HBO series Silicon Valley and wrote episodes of Eastbound & Down, a track record which gives a pretty good idea of the approach taken to exorcism tropes in Another Evil. Instead of focusing on the supernatural, the film’s center is the uneasy relationship between Dan and Os, two very different guys who find themselves unexpectedly having to share close quarters. Steve Zissis and Mark Proksch are excellent in the lead roles, wringing a lot of deeply uncomfortable laughs out of their predicament. It becomes a bit less interesting as it moves into the third act and the situation spirals out of control, but overall Another Evil is a very funny film that takes a fresh approach to some familiar material.
Americana (USA, dir. Zachary Shedd)
Severely depressed alcoholic Avery (David Call) finds himself in a strange situation after he is removed from the isolated cabin where he’s been drinking himself to death and forced sober in a well-appointed home. Calib (Jack Davenport), a film producer, has enlisted Avery to edit a shelved feature starring Avery’s sister Kate (Kelli Garner) into a releasable film to recoup its investors’ money. Kate’s star is on the rise despite being in the car during the tragic accident that sent Avery spiraling into depression and left a little boy dead. When the boy’s cousin guns down Kate and commits suicide, Avery suspects there’s more than simple revenge at work and decides to investigate when he’s not too drunk to get out of the house. Expanded from a 2008 short of the same name by writer/director Zachary Shedd, Americana is a bleak mystery/drama that recalls film noir both in its focus on a lost man trapped by circumstances and conspiracy and in its flat-out gorgeous cinematography by Justin Charles Foster. It feels freezing cold in its technical precision, suggesting these guys would absolutely nail a Bret Easton Ellis adaptation, but that coldness may also ward off viewers looking for a point of entry into the beautiful but distant world of these largely unlikeable characters. This may be a film easier to admire than really enjoy, but its museum piece feel sets it well apart from the typical “rough around the edges” technical quality of many independent films at its level.
August 1:
A Bride for Rip Van Winkle (Japan, dir. Shunji Iwai)
Nanami (Haru Kuroki) has spent her entire life floating directionless, drifting into a part-time teaching job that she doesn’t really care about and a relationship that seems headed for marriage more out of mutual obligation than any real emotion. Her only connection to anything outside of herself seems to be her anonymous blog where she posts her most intimate secrets and feelings. When her fiancée balks at the small number of guests Nanami will be inviting to their wedding, she panics and decides to hire a service that provides fake family members for just such occasions. This decision leads to a number of situations that lead Nanami down unforeseen paths in her life and toward a relationship she could never have imagined. Writer/director Shunji Iwai’s career has followed a strange and unpredictable trajectory, including directing his first English-language film (Vampire) in 2011 only to see it shelved for years before returning to Japan to direct a documentary about the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima earthquake (Friends After 3.11), an animated prequel to one of his earlier films (The Murder Case of Hana & Alice), and now this sprawling 3-hour drama that touches on some major themes of his previous work. Like Iwai’s film All About Lily Chou-Chou’s characters, Nanami is almost cripplingly dependent on her online interactions, and at the center of this film is a strong bond between a pair of female friends (like in Iwai’s Hana & Alice films). Iwai is a fascinating artist whose films are unmistakable for anyone else’s, and A Bride for Rip Van Winkle is no exception.
Tower (USA, dir. Keith Maitland)
On August 1st, 1966, Charles Whitman killed his wife and mother and then took an arsenal to the observation deck of the clock tower at the University of Texas at Austin, where he began to shoot people on the ground seemingly at random. Approximately an hour and a half later, police inside the tower gunned down Whitman, who had in the meantime shot nearly fifty people. Tower takes interviews with people who were there on the day and translates them into animated dramatizations of their experiences in one of the deadliest mass shootings in history. It’s a harrowing, powerful examination of what at the time was an isolated incident but now 50 years later has become depressingly commonplace in the United States. Director Keith Maitland brings together some of the victims of the massacre for the first time since that Summer day, some of them talking about their experiences for the first time. Tower is frequently difficult and overwhelming to watch, but as such it should also be required viewing. Too often after mass shootings, we learn a lot about the perpetrators but little about their victims; this film takes completely the opposite approach—Whitman is never even seen on screen--and the result is deeply affecting.
August 3:
Judge Archer (China, dir. Haofeng Xu)
Following a brutal attack on his sister by powerful men in their village, a young man (Yang Song) is sent nameless over the wall of the monastery where they took refuge. He is commanded to take the first words he hears as his new name and start a new
life, but somewhat unfortunately, those words are “Judge Archer.” This is the title of a man who acts as arbiter between martial arts schools settling their disputes, and who is frequently a target of revenge and potential assassination for his dispensation of justice. The current Judge Archer takes the young man under his wing and trains him as a replacement. Years later this new Judge Archer finds himself embroiled in a complicated web of political and personal conflicts between a number of dangerous parties. Haofeng Xu’s debut feature The Sword Identity is one of the best and most unusual martial arts films in recent memory, something like what one might imagine the Coen Brothers might do with this type of film. Judge Archer, originally produced in 2012 and not seen since a handful of festival screenings in 2012-2013, received its North American premiere at Fantasia after Xu’s third film The Final Master had already received a limited theatrical release in the States. It’s disappointing but not surprising that the film’s Chinese studio wasn’t sure what to do with it: like The Sword Identity, Judge Archer is a film that gleefully confounds expectations of what constitutes a “martial arts” movie. It’s masterfully directed, acted, choreographed, and edited, with its placid surface and energetic bursts of action seemingly prefiguring Hsiao-Hsien Hou’s approach to the form in The Assassin. Unlike that film, though, Judge Archer is shot through with Xu’s odd sense of humor, giving it a much less self-serious tone than many films in this genre. Here’s hoping its warm reception at Fantasia coupled with the release of The Final Master will help gain Xu the reputation he deserves as one of the most intriguing artists working in international cinema.
Don’t Breathe (USA, dir. Fede Alvarez)
The Unrepentant Cinephile Page 116