Alamo Drafthouse’s very own Fantastic Fest 2019 has officially announced its second wave of films and boy, oh boy is it an impressive one.

The king of genre mountain celebrates its 15^th year this September with a bang. A couple of weeks back when the first wave of programming was announced we were given a heck of a lot to look forward to including Taika Watiti’s Jojo Rabbit and Ping Lumprapieng’s The Pool.

This time around, Fantastic Fest is blowing the socks off of our feet into the toilet and the socks are flushing themselves with the pure awesomeness of its second wave.

The Closing night film is the Rian Johnson, Agatha Christie inspired whodunit, Knives out starring the Queen herself, Jamie Lee Curtis. Another mind blower comes in the form of the Lovecraftian Nic Cage vehicle, Color Out of Space.

The Aussie doc, Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks sounds absolutely killer with its exploration of kung-fu films from The Shaw Bros. to The Matrix. Umm, yes please.

This year’s huge 15^th anniversary means the folks at Fantastic Fest are doing something extra special with their first themed celebration of Mexican genre film. This includes programming form Mexico’s City’s Mórbido Film Fest! This means we are getting rad films from director Fernando Méndez’s catalogue. These films were personal mainstays in my home growing up and it is going to be a blast to see these films with this crowd.

Abraham Castillo Flores, Mórbido Film Fest’s head of programming is set to give a lecture all about Mexican Fantasy and Horror Cinema.

“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.” Flores stated.

Added to an already great lineup, LGBTQ+ is bringing a heck of a lot of great stuff to Fantastic Fest as well, with the Mark Patton focused doc Screem, Queen! a live Horror Queers podcast and more.

There is so much to look forward to that, I’m pretty sure I have started bleeding from my eyes and ears in with the pure bewilderment of how frickin’ great this year is going to be.

If you haven’t secured your spot yet head over to Fantasticfest.com to pickup your badges for Sept. 19-26.

Please, check out the full second wave line up below and I hope to see you in Austin, Texas at Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Sept!

 

ABOU LEILA

Algeria, France, Qatar, 2019

North American Premiere, 139 min

Director – Amin Sidi-Boumédiène

In the midst of the Algerian Civil War, Lotfi ventures into the desert with his lifelong friend S., who hopes to find and kill the elusive, dangerous terrorist Abou Leila.

 

THE ANTENNA

Turkey, 2019

US Premiere, 115 min

Director – Orçun Behram

Somewhere within an unnamed city in Turkey, the residents of an apartment block await the installation of their new antenna as ordered by the central government. No one can prepare them for the evil that will be unleashed.

THE BLACK PIT OF DR. M

Mexico, 1959

Repertory Screening, 82 min

Director – Fernando Méndez

Two doctors make a pact on behalf of science: Whichever one dies first will return to share the secrets of the afterlife. This pact will not end well.

 

BLISS

USA, 2019

Texas Premiere, 80 min

Director – Joe Begos

While trying to complete her latest painting, a starving artist facing a lack of inspiration spirals out of control in a blaze of blood-soaked, drug-fueled glory. 

BLOOD MACHINES

France, USA, 2019

North American Premiere, 50 min

Director – Seth Ickerman

The wild sequel to the Carpenter Brut music video, “Turbo Killer,” shoots you into a turbulent psychedelic adventure of galactic hunters tracking down the soul of a spaceship set to a killer synthwave soundtrack.

 

BUTT BOY

USA, 2019

World Premiere, 100 min

Director – Tyler Cornack

In attendance – Director Tyler Cornack

Writer/director/comedian Tyler Cornack’s BUTT BOY introduces us to Chip, a middle-aged man whose first prostate exam stirs feelings deep inside leading to an addiction that can only be shown to Fantastic Fest audiences.

 

CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

USA, 2019

World Premiere, 90 min

Director – Mickey Reece

The “Soderbergh of the Sticks,” Mickey Reece, returns to Fantastic Fest with his 27th feature. Two beautiful sisters vie for the affections of a man who may or may not be a vampire.

COLOR OUT OF SPACE

USA, 2019

US Premiere, 111 min

Director – Richard Stanley

Unimaginable terrors befall the Gardner family after a meteorite lands on their front lawn in Richard Stanley’s entrancing, horrific adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story.

 

IRON FISTS AND KUNG FU KICKS

Australia, 2019

North American Premiere, 107 min

Director – Serge Ou

From the Shaw Brothers to THE MATRIX, this wild documentary tells the story of how kung fu films conquered the world from the 1960s to now.

KNIVES OUT

USA, 2019

Special Presentation, 130 min

Director – Rian Johnson 

In attendance – Director Rian Johnson

From acclaimed writer, director Rian Johnson comes KNIVES OUT, a fresh and modern take on the classic “whodunnit” mystery genre.

THE LODGE

USA, 2019

Texas Premiere, 108 min

Directors – Veronika Franz & Severin Fiala

Five years after GOODNIGHT MOMMY stunned Fantastic Fest audiences, Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala are back with another disturbing psychological twister about a brother and sister spending Christmas with their shadowy soon-to-be stepmother.

 

THE LONG WALK

Laos, Spain, Singapore, 2019

US Premiere, 115 min

Director – Mattie Do

In attendance – Director Mattie Do

An old Laotian hermit discovers that the ghost of a road accident victim can transport him back in time fifty years to the moment of his mother’s painful death..

 

LYLE

2014, USA

Repertory Screening, 65 min

Director – Stewart Thorndike

In attendance – Director Stewart Thorndike

After the loss of her child, a young woman begins to suspect that her neighbors might be part of a satanic cult and that she might be their next target.

 

A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE

USA, 1985

Repertory Screening, 87 min

Director – Jack Sholder

In attendance – Actors Mark Patton and Kim Myers

Jesse (Mark Patton) is the new kid on Elm Street and Freddy Krueger might not be the only monster in the closet in this much discussed but under-appreciated queer horror classic.

 

NOBADI

Austria, 2019

US Premiere, 90 min

Director – Karl Markovics

In a retirement allotment in Vienna, a crabby 91-year-old finds both himself and his humanity when he hires an Afghani refugee to help him in Karl Markovics’ remarkable and poignant third feature.

 

PARASITE

South Korea, 2019

Texas Premiere, 131 min

Director – Bong Joon-ho

In attendance – Director Bong Joon-ho

Bong Joon-ho’s seventh feature — about an unemployed Korean family conning their way out of their basement apartment — is a roller coaster ride of laughs, gasps, horror, tears, and perfection.

 

PATRICK

Belgium, 2019

North American Premiere, 97 min

Director – Tim Mielants

Patrick is not having an easy time. First his domineering father passed away and now his favorite hammer is missing. Before the day is out, Patrick’s search will lead him to discover answers to the questions he didn’t even know existed.

 

PHIL TIPPETT – MAD DREAMS AND MONSTERS

France, 2019

International Premiere, 80 min

Directors – Gilles Penso & Alexandre Poncet

After their documentary CREATURE DESIGNERS – THE FRANKENSTEIN COMPLEX, French journalist Alexandre Poncet and filmmaker Gilles Penso deliver an in-depth, sad, and beautiful documentary about the stop motion and VFX artist Phil Tippett, a man who changed the landscape of visual effects in film.

 

THE PLATFORM

Spain, 2019

US Premiere, 90 min

Director – Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

In attendance – Director Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

Somewhere in the future exists THE PLATFORM, a vertically tiered prison where the upper levels have access to exquisite food and the lower levels fight for survival. Level assignments are random, but how long can a prisoner’s luck hold? One man is about to find out.

 

PREY

1977, United Kingdom

Repertory Screening, 78 min

Director – Norman J. Warren

Jessica and Josephine find more than their relationship at stake when they’re chosen by a shape-shifting alien as his target for an observational study.

 

SCREAM, QUEEN! MY NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

USA, 2019

US Premiere, 100 min

Directors – Roman Chimienti & Tyler Jensen

In attendance – Directors Roman Chimienti and Tyler Jensen

More than thirty years after its release and his departure from Hollywood, Mark Patton (star of A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2: FREDDY’S REVENGE), sets the record straight on the famously queer horror sequel in this fabulous, surprising, and eye-opening documentary.

 

THE SHIP OF MONSTERS

Mexico, 1960

Repertory Screening, 81 min

Director – Rogelio A. González

Two Venusian women and their robot servant are on a mission to find suitable candidates to repopulate their planet. Soon their ship is filled with bizarre specimens from across the universe, leading to an adventure like no other!

 

SYNCHRONIC

USA, 2019

US Premiere, 96 min

Directors – Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead

In attendance – Directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead

Two paramedics find their world ripped apart when they start encountering deaths linked to the otherworldly effects of a new designer drug called Synchronic.

TRAMPA INFERNAL

Mexico, 1989

Repertory Screening, 77 min

Director – Pedro Galindo III

In Mexico’s most notorious unseen video-era masterblast, a crew of toxically masculine bear murderers runs afoul of a forest-dwelling war veteran wearing a mannequin mask and Freddy Krueger glove. Entertainment ensues!!

 

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF WOLFBOY

USA, 2019

North American Premiere, 88 min

Director – Martin Krejčí

Suffering from hypertrichosis — which covers him with animal-like fur — Paul knows he’s not like other kids. But a seemingly random package from his estranged mother will send him on a journey of self-discovery alongside extraordinary characters.

 

THE VAST OF NIGHT 

USA, 2019

Texas Premiere, 90 min

Director – Andrew Patterson

A rural 1950s radio DJ and a telephone operator uncover a strange signal that could change everything in this stunning science fiction debut feature.

 

VFW

USA, 2019

World Premiere, 92 min

Director – Joe Begos

In attendance – Director Joe Begos

In the near future, a new drug called Hype has turned America into a war zone. The addicted are more mutant than human, and they’ve set their sights on assaulting a VFW post in Joe Begos’ star-studded latest.

 

VHYES

USA, 2019

World Premiere, 71 min

Director – Jack Henry Robbins

In attendance – Director Jack Henry Robbins

This bizarre retro comedy, shot entirely on VHS and Beta, takes us back to when 12-year-old Ralph, over one formative week, mistakenly records home videos and his favorite late night shows over his parents’ wedding tape.

VIVARIUM

Ireland, Belgium, Denmark, 2019

US Premiere, 98 min

Director – Lorcan Finnegan

When young couple Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) drive out to a maze of temptingly affordable houses in the suburbs, they find themselves unable to leave.