News
Fantastic Fest Second Wave Brings ‘Halloween’ with Jamie Lee Curtis in Attendance
Fantastic Fest’s first wave announcement was stellar with awesome titles like J.J. Abram’s Overlord and Gareth Evans’ Apostle. Our minds were already about to implode from innate excitement. The second wave announcement pretty much solidifies the suspicion that Fantastic Fest programmers are trying to destroy us through pure joy.
For starters, Halloween is set for opening night with none other than Jamie Lee Curtis in attendance to talk all things Shape. Added to that, Jeremy Saulnier’s Hold the Dark is looking to blow our fandom fuses out, considering his last film Green Room rocked audiences at FF a couple of years back and remains one of my all time fave genre films.
High on my list of anticipation is Deadly games with director René Manzor in attendance. This French gem is intense. This is Home Alone meets Saw in a bloody home invasion thriller that has a little kid setting up traps to try to thwart a demented Santa Clause’s plans of slaughtering the poor lad on X-mas. It’s amazing, and seriously shouldn’t be missed.
“2018 is proving to be a remarkable year for genre cinema. It is a constant delight to be able to discover both seasoned directors and newcomers pushing the boundaries of what genre can mean, using cinematic language to bring incisive, intelligent commentary on the current state of the world and still find enough ingenious methods to terrify, thrill and twist! This second wave represents the best genre filmmaking talent on the planet, and it is all crashing into Austin next month!” said Festival Creative Director, Evrim Ersoy.
Tons here to be excited about folks! Check out the full second wave list below and head over to fantasticfest.com to attend Fantastic Fest 2018.
THE ANGEL
Argentina, Spain, 2018
US Premiere, 120 min
Director – Luis Ortega
In 1971 Argentina, Carlitos is a baby-faced youth whose good looks match his confident swagger. Carlitos’ passion is stealing; the things he covets, he takes. But when he meets Ramon at his school, he embarks on his true calling: armed robberies and violent crimes.
THE BASTARDS’ FIG TREE
Spain, 2017
Texas Premiere, 103 min
Director – Ana Murugarren
In Attendance – Director Ana Murugarren and Producer Joaquin Trincado
In Ana Murugarren’s whimsical THE BASTARDS’ FIG TREE, a fascist soldier in the Spanish Civil War becomes a fig-tree obsessed hermit after looking into the vengeful eyes of a young boy whose father and brother he had violently executed.
BLOODLINE
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 95 min
Director – Henry Jacobson
In Attendance – Director Henry Jacobson, Actor Seann William Scott, Producer Adam Hendricks, and Writer Avra Fox-Lerne
Evan (Seann William Scott) values family above all else, and anyone who gets between him, his wife, and newborn son learns that the hard way. But when it comes to violent tendencies, it seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
THE BOAT
Malta, United Kingdom, 2018
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Winston Azzopardi
In Attendance – Director/Co-Writer Winston Azzopardi and Actor/Co-Writer Joe Azzopardi
A lone fisherman on his daily run finds himself lost in a thick fog which proves impossible to navigate. The worst is yet to come when his encounter with a seemingly abandoned sailboat becomes a fight for survival against an enemy unknown.
BORDER
Sweden, Denmark, 2018
Texas Premiere, 108 min
Director – Ali Abbasi
When a border guard with a sixth sense for identifying smugglers encounters the first person she cannot prove is guilty, she is forced to confront terrifying revelations about herself and humankind.
CHAINED FOR LIFE
USA, 2018
Regional Premiere, 91 min
Director – Aaron Schimberg
In Attendance – Director Aaron Schimberg and Producer Vanessa McDonnell
Mabel (Jess Weixler, TEETH) and Rosenthal (Adam Pearson, UNDER THE SKIN) – both hired for their looks – meet on the set of a horror movie in this surreal examination of how those with physical differences are portrayed on film.
CLIMAX
France, 2018
US Premiere, 96 min
Director – Gaspar Noé
Consistent provocateur Gaspar Noé outdoes himself with his latest feature CLIMAX, a trippy horror-musical featuring twenty sensuous dancers partying hard and living their best lives, until a bad batch of sangria plunges them into insanity.
DEADLY GAMES
France, 1990
North American Premiere, 90 min
Director – René Manzor
In Attendance – René Manzor
DEADLY GAMES (3615 CODE PÈRE NOËL) is the terror version of HOME ALONE. A 9-year old kid in his house, tormented by a demented Santa Claus, fights for his survival by setting traps. Christmas will never be the same again.
DOGMAN
Italy, France, 2018
Texas Premiere, 102 min
Director – Matteo Garrone
Marcello is a gentle dog groomer whose tumultuous friendship with violent neighbourhood thug Simone engulfs him in a violent series of events that will leave him forever scarred.
DONNYBROOK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 101 min
Director – Tim Sutton
In Attendance – Tim Sutton
Frank Grillo and Jamie Bell are just two of the desperate men and women headed for “The Donnybrook” – a no-holds-barred bare-knuckle fight contest with a $100,000 prize – in this midwestern gothic journey into a heartland of darkness.
DRUG STORIES! NARCOTIC NIGHTMARES AND HALLUCINOGENIC HELLRIDES, FEATURING THE TRIP BACK – PRESENTED BY AGFA AND SOMETHING WEIRD
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 80 min
In Attendance – Something Weird Video’s Lisa Petrucci
AGFA and Something Weird present a compilation of classroom scare films about boozers, users and losers, all in brand new 2K preservations and featuring the legendary anti-drug diatribe known as THE TRIP BACK.
FERAL
Mexico, 2018
World Premiere, 97 min
Director – Andrés Kaiser
In Attendance – Andrés Kaiser
The mountains of Oaxaca harbor the remains of a ravaged and burnt shelter, once home to a psychoanalyst priest who used it to look after savage children, trying to re-integrate them into society. Through videotape diaries and interviews, the truth of what happened is shockingly revealed.
FP2: BEATS OF RAGE
USA, 2018
World Premiere, 89 min
Director – Jason Trost
In Attendance – Jason Trost
JTRO gave Frazier Park everything he had, but his challenges aren’t over. Now he must journey into the destruction of The Waste to rekindle the passion he needs to win the ultimate Beat-Beat Revelation tournament and fulfill his destiny.
GIRLS WITH BALLS
France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, 2018
World Premiere, 77 min
Director – Olivier Afonso
After winning a competition, a women’s volleyball team heads home aboard their minibus. Forced to take a shortcut, they end up at a tavern where they upset the local degenerate rednecks… and then the hunt begins.
HALLOWEEN
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 105 min
Director – David Gordon Green
In Attendance – Jamie Lee Curtis and Producers Malek Akkad, Jason Blum and Bill Block
Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago.
HOLD THE DARK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 125 min
Director – Jeremy Saulnier
In- Attendance – Director Jeremy Saulnier and Co-Writer/Actor Macon Blair
A gripping psychological thriller unfolds in the treacherous Alaskan wilderness when a retired wolf expert is summoned to investigate a child’s disappearance.
IN FABRIC
United Kingdom, 2018
US Premiere, 118 min
Director – Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland (THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY; BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO) returns to Fantastic Fest in full, flourishing style with IN FABRIC, a film that’s part surreal thriller, part giallo love letter, part fashion collage, and all hypnotic originality.
THE INNOCENT
Switzerland, Germany, 2018
US Premiere, 113 min
Director – Simon Jaquemet
In this dark and fantastical tale about religion versus science and good versus evil, a woman’s faith is being tested as her ex-lover reappears in her life after twenty years in jail.
KNIFE + HEART
France, 2018
North American Premiere, 102 min
Director – Yann Gonzalez
In Attendance – Director Yann Gonzalez
In Yann Gonzalez’s second feature, a masked serial killer stalks a producer and her film company in this love letter to European giallo, American grindhouse cinema, and ’70s gay porn.
MAY THE DEVIL TAKE YOU
Indonesia, 2018
North American Premiere, 110 min
Director – Timo Tjahjanto
At her father’s deathbed, Alfie learns that she and her family must give the Devil his due when he comes to collect on the pact made years before in this electrifying horror film from Indonesian master storyteller Timo Tjahjanto.
SAVAGE
France, 2018
World Premiere, 83 min
Director – Vincent Mariette
In Attendance – Director Vincent Mariette
Summer is in full swing and men are going missing. People are talking about a leopard on the loose in the area. A mysterious horror writer is in the bungalow next door. And Laura’s most disturbing summer has only just begun.
THE STANDOFF AT SPARROW CREEK
USA, 2018
US Premiere, 88 min
Director – Henry Dunham
Over the course of one grueling night, a militia tears itself apart as it searches for the perpetrator of a mass shooting among its own.
STARFISH
United Kingdom, USA, 2018
World Premiere, 99 min
Director – A.T. White
A girl. A mixtape. And Armageddon. A uniquely honest portrayal of loss as a young woman struggles with the death of her best friend while dealing with the horrific Lovecraftian end of the world, driven by a beautiful indie music soundtrack.
SUDDEN FURY
Canada, 1975
World Premiere of New Restoration, 91 min
Director – Brian Damude
When a well-intentioned bystander rushes to the scene of a violent car wreck, he finds himself embroiled in a hot mess of desperate homicide in this wickedly taut and unpredictable thriller, recently rescued from Canadian obscurity and restored by exploitation video label Vinegar Syndrome.
TUMBBAD
India, 2018
US Premiere, 108 min
Directors – Rahi Anil Barve & Adesh Prasad
In Attendance – Co-Director/Writer Adesh Prasad
In the rural village of Tumbbad, a decaying castle hides an immeasurable ancestral fortune guarded by something ancient, sinister, and monstrous. Vinayak thinks he can control it, but how long will it be until his own greed destroys everything he’s built?
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Editorial
Yay or Nay: What’s Good and Bad in Horror This Week
Welcome to Yay or Nay a weekly mini post about what I think is good and bad news in the horror community written in bite-sized chunks.
Yay:
Mike Flanagan talking about directing the next chapter in the Exorcist trilogy. That might mean he saw the last one and realized there were two left and if he does anything well it’s draw out a story.
Yay:
To the announcement of a new IP-based film Mickey Vs Winnie. It’s fun to read comical hot takes from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.
Nay:
The new Faces of Death reboot gets an R rating. It’s not really fair — Gen-Z should get an unrated version like past generations so they can question their mortality the same as the rest of us did.
Yay:
Russell Crowe is doing another possession movie. He’s quickly becoming another Nic Cage by saying yes to every script, bringing the magic back to B-movies, and more money into VOD.
Nay:
Putting The Crow back in theaters for its 30th anniversary. Re-releasing classic movies at the cinema to celebrate a milestone is perfectly fine, but doing so when the lead actor in that film was killed on set due to neglect is a cash grab of the worst kind.
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Lists
The Top-Searched Free Horror/Action Movies on Tubi This Week
The free streaming service Tubi is a great place to scroll when you’re unsure what to watch. They are not sponsored or affiliated with iHorror. Still, we really appreciate their library because it’s so robust and has many obscure horror movies so rare you can’t find them anywhere in the wild except, if you’re lucky, in a moist cardboard box at a yard sale. Other than Tubi, where else are you going to find Nightwish (1990), Spookies (1986), or The Power (1984)?
We take a look at the most searched horror titles on the platform this week, hopefully, to save you some time in your endeavor to find something free to watch on Tubi.
Interestingly at the top of the list is one of the most polarizing sequels ever made, the female-led Ghostbusters reboot from 2016. Perhaps viewers have seen the latest sequel Frozen Empire and are curious about this franchise anomaly. They will be happy to know it’s not as bad as some think and is genuinely funny in spots.
So take a look at the list below and tell us if you are interested in any of them this weekend.
1. Ghostbusters (2016)
An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.An otherworldly invasion of New York City assembles a pair of proton-packed paranormal enthusiasts, a nuclear engineer and a subway worker for battle.
2. Rampage
When a group of animals becomes vicious after a genetic experiment goes awry, a primatologist must find an antidote to avert a global catastrophe.
3. The Conjuring The Devil Made Me Do It
Paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren uncover an occult conspiracy as they help a defendant argue that a demon forced him to commit murder.
4. Terrifier 2
After being resurrected by a sinister entity, Art the Clown returns to Miles County, where his next victims, a teenage girl and her brother, await.
5. Don’t Breathe
A group of teens breaks into a blind man’s home, thinking they’ll get away with the perfect crime but get more than they bargained for once inside.
6. The Conjuring 2
In one of their most terrifying paranormal investigations, Lorraine and Ed Warren help a single mother of four in a house plagued by sinister spirits.
7. Child’s Play (1988)
A dying serial killer uses voodoo to transfer his soul into a Chucky doll which winds up in the hands of a boy who may be the doll’s next victim.
8. Jeepers Creepers 2
When their bus breaks down on a deserted road, a team of high school athletes discovers an opponent they cannot defeat and may not survive.
9. Jeepers Creepers
After making a horrific discovery in the basement of an old church, a pair of siblings find themselves the chosen prey of an indestructible force.
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News
Morticia & Wednesday Addams Join Monster High Skullector Series
Believe it or not, Mattel’s Monster High doll brand has an immense following with both young and not-so-young collectors.
In that same vein, the fan base for The Addams Family is also very large. Now, the two are collaborating to create a line of collectible dolls that celebrate both worlds and what they have created is a combination of fashion dolls and goth fantasy. Forget Barbie, these ladies know who they are.
The dolls are based on Morticia and Wednesday Addams from the 2019 Addams Family animated movie.
As with any niche collectibles these aren’t cheap they bring with them a $90 price tag, but it’s an investment as a lot of these toys become more valuable over time.
“There goes the neighborhood. Meet the Addams Family’s ghoulishly glamorous mother-daughter duo with a Monster High twist. Inspired by the animated movie and clad in spiderweb lace and skull prints, the Morticia and Wednesday Addams Skullector doll two-pack makes for a gift that’s so macabre, it’s downright pathological.”
If you want to pre-purchase this set check out The Monster High website.
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