Editorials
[Fantastic Fest] 10 Horror Films to Keep on Your Radar!
The last week of September is a busy one for horror fans in Austin, Texas because of Fantastic Fest, a film festival that focuses on screening horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, Asian and cult films. The 8-day festival takes place at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar and sees over 70 feature films screened for attendees. Each day has five time slots, with five or six films playing during each time slot. It’s an exhausting but incredibly fun week.
I managed to see 26 films this year, 23 of which belonged to the horror or thriller genres.* There were a few amazing films, a lot of decent (or as I like to call them, “meh”) ones and only one total dud (seriously though, that one is bad).
The 10 horror films listed below were among the strongest present at Fantastic Fest this year and should absolutely be on your radar. You won’t want to miss these when they eventually get released. Of course, it’s possible you may have to wait a while for some of these to get distribution. Some of my “Best Of” list from last year are either just now getting released (Better Watch Out) or have yet to see a release (Another WolfCop).
*Despite my best efforts, I was not able to catch every single horror or thriller film this year. The ones I missed were: Cold Hell, Let the Corpses Tan, Radius, Super Dark Times, The Originals and Les Affamés.
1. The Killing of a Sacred Deer
My favorite film of the Fantastic Fest was actually one that our own Benedict Seal gave a negative review (1 out of 5 skulls, to be exact) to just four months ago when it screened at Cannes. What can I say? I’m a glutton for misery. As I said in my own review, Yorgos Lanthimos’ (The Lobster, Dogtooth) latest film is most certainly not a film for everyone (there were quite a few walkouts at my screening), but I loved all 120 of its excruciatingly unsettling minutes. It will receive a limited theatrical release from A24 on October 20, 2017.
2. Good Manners
As I state in my 4.5-skull review for Good Manners: don’t read anything about it and don’t watch a trailer for it. Go in as blind a possible and you will most likely fall in love with it the same way I did. The Brazilian-French production is a heartwarming fairy tale that has plenty of surprises in store for patient viewers (at 135 minutes, it is a little too long). Good Manners is still seeking distribution but with any luck it will get snatched up soon because it’s a real gem.
3. Gerald’s Game
Mike Flanagan does the seemingly impossible and adapts Stephen King’s “unfilmable” novel Gerald’s Game into one helluva film. Carla Gugino gives a bravura performance in a film which sees a woman talking to herself while handcuffed to a bed for the majority of its runtime. The best part? It’s already streaming on Netflix so you can watch it now!
4. Anna and the Apocalypse
Who doesn’t love a good Christmas-themed zombie movie musical? Made with love by the friends of the creator (who sadly died from osteosarcoma before filming could begin), Anna and the Apocalypse is a joyous time at the movies, filled with buckets of blood, exciting dance numbers and a killer soundtrack. It is currently seeking a distributor, but I’m betting it won’t take long for someone to snatch this up. It’s simply that good.
5. My Friend Dahmer
Anyone expecting Marc Meyers’ adaptation of John Backderf’s graphic novel My Friend Dahmer to be a serial killer slasher film may find it to be a bit of a tease. The film is a quietly chilling slice-of-life film chronicling Jeffrey Dahmer’s senior year of high school. It’s a slow burn that doesn’t necessarily build up to anything, but it features a phenomenal performance from Disney Channel alum Ross Lynch as Dahmer as well as a strong supporting turn from Anne Heche as his mother Joyce. My Friend Dahmer will get a limited theatrical release on November 3, 2017.
6. Thoroughbreds
This film will garner a lot of attention for being Anton Yelchin’s (R.I.P.) final film role, and while he is a hoot in newcomer Cory Finley’s viciously dark comedy (think Heathers), Olivia Cooke (Bates Motel) and Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch, Split) are the standouts as former childhood friends who hatch a plan to murder the latter’s stepfather. It drags a bit in the middle, but there are enough dark little treats for viewers to merit a watch. Thoroughbreds is was picked up for distribution by Focus Features and is set for a limited theatrical release on March 9, 2018.
7. Tigers are Not Afraid
Issa López brings us another horror fairy tale in the form of Tigers Are Not Afraid, a lovely and tragic story about a young girl who, after losing her mother, joins a gang of children who find themselves up against dangerous members of a drug cartel. Reminiscent of Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth, Tigers Are Not Afraid is a confident and soul-crushing third feature from López. It wasn’t really on my radar, but after hearing about all of the festival-goers walking out sobbing I had to give it a shot. I’m so glad I did. Tigers are Not Afraid is still seeking distribution.
8. Rift
The second feature from Child Eater director Erlingur Thoroddsen is a slow burn if there ever was one, which may turn off more impatient viewers, but it certainly pays off in the third act. The film manages to be a horror film about a gay couple without it being about their sexuality, a refreshing quality in this age of cinema. It wasn’t my absolute favorite of the festival, but our own Ari Drew writes in his review that Rift is “a cohesive, subversive, and effectively emotional narrative experience. That it also features two exceptionally multi-dimensional gay protagonists while tackling themes of love, loss, guilt, and fear in the context of same-sex relationships is absolutely refreshing, in the name of both Icelandic horror and queer horror cinema alike.” Rift was acquired by Breaking Glass Pictures back in June for North American distribution. It will be getting a concurrent VOD and DVD release with a mini theatrical run in November.
9. The Endless
If there’s one thing you should do before seeing The Endless, the third feature from writing/directing duo Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (who also star in the film), it’s seek out their debut feature Resolution (our review) and watch it immediately. As Brad mentioned in his review out of Tribeca, The Endless will fuck your mind (his words, not mine). The film sees two brothers (Benson and Moorhead) return to the cult that they escaped years ago, and that’s really all you need to know about this slow burn chiller. It was acquired for distribution by Well Go USA and should see a release sometime in early 2018 so be on the lookout!
10. Rabbit
Rabbit is the debut feature from Australian-born Luke Shanahan, but you wouldn’t know it just from watching it. Rabbit, which tells the story of a young woman (Adelaide Clemens, ) searching for her presumed-dead twin sister, is an impressive debut from the filmmaker. Like so many other films on this list, it is a slow burn that will likely test the patience of many a viewer (there were a lot of those at Fantastic Fest this year…..), but as I said in my review its gorgeous cinematography and compelling lead performance from Clemens make it worth the watch alone.
Honorable Mention: Bodied
I couldn’t include Joseph Kahn’s (Detention, Torque) Bodied on the list since it is far from horror, but it was my second favorite film of the festival (after Sacred Deer) and won the Audience Award at Fantastic Fest. It is an incendiary film about such hot-button issues as racism and stereotyping that will undoubtedly spark plenty of heated debates. Set in the underground world of rap battling, the film follows Adam (Calum Worthy) on his journey to becoming a competitive rapper while writing his graduate thesis on the subject. It is refreshing to see Kahn tone down his music video rapid-editing style after the all-over-the-place (in the best way) Detention, but the film belongs to Worthy, who turns in a star-making performance (The Flash‘s Grant Gustin, who backed out of filming a month prior to shooting, is probably kicking himself right now). Bodied is currently shopping to distributors, and whichever company gets it has a surefire hit on their hands.
Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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