The calendar has flipped to September, which means fall is in the air, pumpkin spice lattes are all the rage, and Fantastic Fest is once again set to unleash great genre films from around the world. This will be my tenth year attending the fest, which I consider a week of movie heaven. Every year, I get excited about the films playing, and this year’s focus on rising filmmakers from around the world has me especially hyped. The lineup is some seventy-three movies strong, but I picked out twelve that really got me excited. And (drum roll) here they are, in no particular order.
Wild Horse Nine (Director: Martin McDonagh)
A Martin McDonagh movie always feels like a Fantastic Fest movie to me, and Wild Horse Nine is his second movie to play the fest. This one stars John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi as CIA officials around the time of the 1973 Chilean coup. McDonagh has reached the automatic stage for me, as in I will see anything he does, no matter what. Wild Horse Nine looks like a darkly comedic good time.
Victorian Psycho (Director: Zachary Wigon)
I love how certain actors or directors will pull you into a movie regardless of what it’s about, and Maika Monroe is one of those actors for me. This time, she plays an eccentric governess who shows up at a remote Victorian manor as members of the household start to disappear. The film is adapted from Virginia Feito’s novel and also stars Jason Isaacs and the always great Thomasin McKenzie. Words that will get me into a theater: “Maika Monroe is in a bloody Gothic horror movie.” I am all here for a nasty and unhinged time, and Victorian Psycho looks ready to deliver.
5 More Minutes (Director: Javier Ruiz Caldera)
Think of the situations you’d least like to be stuck in. Reliving the same five minutes in an isolated country house while your relationship is struggling would be pretty high on that list. I love a good time-loop movie, and 5 More Minutes puts a fun spin on the genre by trapping a couple dealing with their problems in the same five minutes over and over. That sounds like my kind of clever dark comedy, with the chance to turn into something much stranger than I expect.
Beware Boiúna (Director: Mike P. Nelson)
Who here loves a good giant snake movie? This one draws from the legend of the Boiúna, a giant snake terrorizing a medical mission deep in the Amazon. Beware Boiúna stars Logan Marshall-Green, Jessica Rothe, and Kiana Madeira in what is bound to be a slithery good time. This is definitely a case of Fantastic Fest giving its audience exactly what it wants. Having Mike P. Nelson directing is a plus, as he knows his way around brutal survival horror. Festival crowds are the best crowds to watch a movie with, and this one looks like the perfect movie to see with them.
The Face of Horror (Director: Anna Biller)
I love a movie shot on 35mm, and Biller has chosen to film The Face of Horror as a tribute to classic Technicolor horror. Inspired by the famous Japanese ghost story Yotsuya Kaidan, it follows a murdered woman who returns from the grave to get revenge on the husband who betrayed her. This sounds like a beautiful, romantic, and strange good time that probably also has its fair share of blood.
Full Phil (Director: Quentin Dupieux)
It would not be Fantastic Fest without a Quentin Dupieux movie, and this year we get two. The one that caught my attention the most was Full Phil, which stars Woody Harrelson and Kristen Stewart. The setup involves a wealthy businessman trying to reconnect with his daughter during a trip to Paris that keeps taking increasingly bizarre turns. I am not going to lie: at this point, if you told me Dupieux directed a movie about a person waiting for an elevator for eighty minutes, I’d watch it. Full Phil, though, has Kristen Stewart and Woody Harrelson, French food, and plenty of Dupieux weirdness, so that’s enough for me.
Ghost in the Cell (Director: Joko Anwar)
Joko Anwar loves to tell stories with supernatural elements, and now he’s bringing them inside a prison, which sounds like a terrific combination. It has all the pieces of a good prison movie, including rival gangs and corrupt guards. Only this time, they have to stop fighting each other to fight an invisible entity that is gruesomely killing prisoners.
Half (Director: Samjad)
This Indian action/horror film follows two half-human, half-vampire siblings on a revenge mission. If that didn’t get your attention already, it has vampires, big action, and some creative kills. It feels uniquely designed for Fantastic Fest and its audience, and it sets up Half as one of those movies you leave with a grin on your face.
Ürei (Director: Yerkezhan Baizhan)
Two years ago, Baizhan brought Ürei to the fest as a six-minute short, and now she is back with her feature debut. Ürei is a story where ordinary family care turns into something much darker. I feel like this is one of the quieter titles on this list, but I love me a good old-fashioned, slow-burn folk horror movie, and this has all the makings of just that.
River (Director: Joshua Giliano)
This is Giliano’s feature debut, and it sounds fantastic. The story follows three estranged siblings who travel down a remote river to scatter their father’s ashes, only to become stranded and hunted by a mythic masked killer. I love a simple slasher setup, and River sounds like it has a good one. Three estranged siblings, the middle of nowhere, a broken boat, and a killer hunting them. Add Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe, and I, my friends, am already seated for this one.
The Glorious Dead (Directors: John Adams & Toby Poser)
This is another film from the Adams filmmaking family, who brought us Hellbender. Here, a small-town sheriff wakes up to a world where blood is coming from faucets, people are disappearing, and the dead are beginning to rise. I love the Adams family and their movies because they are always willing to go somewhere strange. The Glorious Dead sounds like they have gone all in. It’s everything you want in a horror movie thrown into a blender, and I can’t wait to see where they go with it.
Godmother (Director: John Veron)
Dee Wallace and Bruce Davison play seemingly friendly retirees with some pretty dark intentions who disrupt a young couple’s romantic high-desert getaway. With Davison and Wallace in these roles, you have my attention. Add the sinister direction things take, and it sounds like a great night at Fantastic Fest.
Member of the North Texas Film Critics Association, and lover of all things Cinema
Brian Taylor
Member of the North Texas Film Critics Association, and lover of all things Cinema
