OBEX (2025)

OBEX
Directed by Albert Birney
Written by Albert Birney, Pete Ohs
Starring Albert Birney, Callie Hernandez, Paisley Isaacs, Frank Mosley, Dorothy
Running time 1 hour and 30 minutes
Currently unrated by the MPA

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

One of my favorite films from my time covering the 2021 Fantasia International Film Festival was a weird little piece of brain candy that got stuck somewhere in my mind called Strawberry Mansion. A near-future dystopia film where an omniscient megacorpo has the ability to audit dreams in order to draw more taxes, Strawberry Mansion highlighted a distinct visual and tonal style, a strong sense of individuality, and a touching message about love, art, and the importance of living a life. It stayed with me--enough so that I picked up the physical release as soon as I could--and firmly put filmmakers Albert Birney and Kentucker Audley on the map for me.

OBEX comes once again from director Birney, going solo on this one, though he co-wrote it with Pete Ohs. Themes about the ephemeral nature of life, as well as a fondness for VHS tapes, a fantastical story, and a melancholic bittersweetness mark OBEX as coming from one of the minds behind Strawberry Mansion, but as with any auteur (or auteur in the making) what really delights me is where the films differ from each other. In contrast to the brightly-colored and thematically sweeping Strawberry Mansion, OBEX is shot in black and white and, despite a third act trip into a sword-and-sorcery fantasyland, feels very intimate.

Conor (Birney) lives a very solitary life in a small home in the year 1987. Aside from his beloved dog Sandy (played by Dorothy), and the occasional through-the-closed-door interactions with neighbor Mary (Callie Hernandez) who does his grocery shopping for him, Conor does not interact with anyone. He watches a three-high stack of era-appropriate TVs, and offers his services as an ASCII artist for $5 a pop via magazine ad: "I will draw you with my computer". It's while checking out his latest ad in Personal Computing magazine that he sees an ad for a computer game called OBEX. Via the U.S. mail, also conducted like a dead-drop, Conor exchanges $20 and a self-shot VHS audition tape for a personalized OBEX disk (or perhaps it's a diskette?).

Initially the game experience is a bit of a letdown: overly simplistic gameplay with confusing objectives and rules, though the main character sprite looks just like Conor and his trusty steed is named Sandy. But after becoming frustrated and throwing the diskette (I'm going with diskette, it's a nice, vintage word) in the trash, things start to become a bit hazy. Odd, potentially supernatural events begin unfolding in small ways at first, and largely without Conor seeming too concerned, but as time wears on, it seems like the demon IXAROTH, the game's antagonist, may be affecting the real world.

If this sounds a bit like Brainscan (1994, dir. John Flynn) that's because it is, though OBEX pays homage to the ur-text for movies where a demonic entity manipulates reality: A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984, dir. Wes Craven). In NoES, Freddy Krueger is a visceral, vengeful creature acting out a punishment on the children of the townspeople who murdered him, while in Brainscan, The Trickster is a demon who obfuscates reality in pursuit of a more immersive gaming experience. IXAROTH falls somewhere in between these two in really interesting thematic ways.

[Spoilers to follow for both A Nightmare on Elm Street and Brainscan] 

Despite numerous characters' disbelief that "this can't be happening" throughout the Nightmare franchise, it is happening. Freddy is a real threat, so much so that the franchise's seventh installment, Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994, dir. Wes Craven), moves up one level of the reality, bringing Freddy into "the real world" where previously, he had only been a character in films. Conversely, all of Brainscan's threats and dangers are ultimately revealed to be The Trickster living up to his name--though to be fair, there is a reality-breaking mid-credit stinger that's just... wonderfully, delightfully confusing.

As events unfold in OBEX, we are given snapshots into Conor's backstory and subconscious through a series of dreams where he is driving with his sick mother in the backseat, taunting and almost haunting him. It becomes clear that Conor's unstated agoraphobia--an anxiety disorder signified by feeling unsafe in certain, usually unfamiliar locations--may be a response to his grief. When IXAROTH invades his home, through Conor's stack of TVs, and kidnaps Sandy, he takes away Conor's only safe space and threatens his only real remaining connection to his life. It's on his ensuing quest to rescue Sandy that Conor will be forced to confront his past traumas, go well outside of his comfort zone, and even address some uncomfortable truths about his childhood that he seemingly wished to avoid thinking about.

The last aspect of OBEX that I wanted to address is the use of, in my eyes, heavily thematically-relevant cicada imagery. Conor's home is surrounded by them, with a lone bug even invading his space from time to time, and once he sets off on his grand quest, he encounters them as obstacles and enemies in service of Conor's demonic nemesis. We're familiar with butterflies as a metaphor for personal growth and rebirth and it's obvious why they are the more commonly-found imagery, but I think the frequent insert shots of cicadas molting included in OBEX are meant to represent the same thing. To Conor, they're undesirable because they represent the kind of difficult forward motion in his life that he is avoiding making. On top of that, their constant chittering acts as a metaphor for the constant noise of distraction modern life and technology allows us.

As a film, OBEX is at times unsettling, at times thrilling, but always fascinating and made with a deliberateness that's extremely confident and self-assured. You can enjoy it on multiple levels; the technical aspects of the filmmaking, the engrossing horror/adventure story, or the emotional core, and get quite a lot out of it, but if you leave with one takeaway, let it be this: Albert Birney is a filmmaker to watch.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 - Week 2

Doc’s Fantasia Fest Journal
Week 2: Features
The Fantasia International Film Festival runs until August 3rd

Get tickets HERE 

By “Doc” Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

The Fantasia International Film Festival is always an amazing opportunity to sample films from around the world that might otherwise not be exhibited so prominently. Though there are exceptions--for instance Ari Aster’s latest film had its Canadian premier here on July 16th, and genre legend Takashi Miike is involved in three films at this year’s fest--most of the films here don’t have a built-in audience and generally lack the marquee names of Hollywood productions, but what they lack in mainstream recognizability, they more than make up for with creativity and unique filmmaking choices.

Below, I’ve chosen four films to highlight that I hope you’ll keep an eye out for in the future.

Transcending Dimensions
Written and directed by Toshiaki Toyoda

A mysterious disappearance, a finger-chopping cult, a hired killer, and a conch shell that opens the path to higher planes of existence all collide under the stylish direction of Toshiaki Toyoda as the film Transcending Dimensions. In a story where nothing and no one is exactly what it seems, or at least not for the reasons you might think, you’re forced to be patient and allow it to reveal its secrets around you. Transcending Dimensions feels like a Kiyoshi Kurosawa mystery with a dash of David Lynch, aided by a legitimately fantastic soundtrack (no lie; this flick turned me on to the amazing band Sons of Kemet) and some truly dazzling visuals. I can’t say I fully understood all of it, but I loved going along for the ride.

Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey (Kakukaku Shikajika)
Written by Date-san, Akiko Higashimura
Directed by Kazuaki Seki

Akiko Higashimura’s autobiographical manga series comes to the big screen as an emotionally engaging bit of melodrama that’s as much about the struggles of the creative process and issues of self-worth as it is about the Gruff Mentor cliché. Mei Nagano anchors the piece with a light but magnetic performance as Akiko and plays incredibly well off of the, at times, comedically hard-nosed painting instructor Hidaka, played by Yô Ôizumi who you’re as likely to know from his voice work as his live-action appearances. Somehow, despite never really throwing any huge curves my way, I was fully engrossed in this simple, sweet, personal story. Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey is one of the more purely heartwarming things I’ve seen at Fantasia this year.

Stuntman
Written by Anastasia Tsang, Oliver Yip
Directed by Albert Leung, Herbert Leung

I quite liked this debut feature from the Leung Bros., while I acknowledge that it’s a little messy. In that way, the experience of watching Stuntman is a lot like watching the stunts of the era that it holds in such high esteem: maybe not quite perfect, or painless, but impactful and decidedly real-feeling. Stuntman follows a once-renowned director and stunt coordinator, “Heartless” Sam Lee (Wei Tung) as he takes one last job which calls into stark relief his lifetime of issues both on-set and in his personal life. It is at times unpleasant to watch, not for any graphic or triggering reasons but because you want to like Sam and watching him torpedo his good will in ways that feel almost deliberate is just heartbreaking, but ultimately a fitting love letter to the gonzo stunts of the 1980s and the performers who embodied the “Hong Kong spirit”. Imagine Sammo Hung making The Wrestler (2008, dir. Darren Aronofsky) about stunts and you’ll have a decent idea of the sense of humor and character pathos this flick delivers alongside the stuntwork.

Rewrite
Written by Makoto Ueda, based on the novel by Haruka Hôjô
Directed by Daigo Matsui

One of the films I caught during the 2023 Fantasia Fest was River, which introduced me to writer Makoto Ueda’s interest in the “tiny loop” concept--he collaborated with director Junta Yamaguchi on two films exploring the idea of small scale time loop adventures, the aforementioned River, and Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020)--leading to Rewrite being very high on my Want To Watch list. Ueda, working this time with a new director and adapting someone else’s story, is still in the playground he seems to enjoy so much. One day in the school library, high schooler Miyuki (Elaiza Ikeda) discovers that new transfer student Yasuhiko (Kei Adachi) is actually from 300 years in the future! Over the next 20 days, as she shows him the sights of her era and finds out that he was drawn there after reading a young adult romance novel set at the time, they begin to fall awkwardly, tenderly in love and Miyuki vows to write the novel that he will one day find in the future: The Perfect Loop. But ten years later, on the day she expects a timey-wimey visit from her younger self, young Miyuki never shows. Now, with her high school reunion looming ever closer, Miyuki must figure out exactly what really happened in that halcyon summer all those years ago. Ueda’s familiarity with the tropes of time travel allows Rewrite to play in that space while focusing on telling an effective emotional story, one about personal growth, about being happy with what you have, and learning to accept the past. 

MOTHER OF FLIES (2025)

Mother of Flies

Written and directed by John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Starring John Adams, Zelda Adams, Toby Poser
Running time 1 hour and 32 minutes
Currently unrated by the MPA

Mother of Flies comes to Shudder some time in 2026

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

The Adams Family (with one 'D') may not be the household name that The Addams Family (two 'D's) is, but they have a much better track record when it comes to making me excited for their next movie. Parents John Adams and Toby Poser, and daughter Zelda Adams currently have five feature films under their belt--though John & Toby have other credits pre-dating their current configuration--as well as writing, performing and recording music as the band H6LLB6ND6R, which also features daughter Lulu Adams. Think of them as a spooky Partridge Family.

To me, the Adams clan ARE the Fantasia International Film Festival. Starting in 2021 with Hellbender, every Fantasia I've covered has had an Adams Family film screening or premiering at it, with this year's Fantasia Fest being no exception. Hellbender hooked me, and hard. A lonely teen (Zelda) pushes the boundaries of her sheltered life and slowly comes to realize the magical necessity of being so divorced from the wider world, all made with the style and aesthetic of an acid trip in a haunted wood. While follow-up features Where the Devil Roams (2023) and Hell Hole (2024) each had elements I enjoyed, their latest, the eerie slow burn Mother of Flies feels like a return to form in the best way.

Dropping the audience into events close enough to the story's beginning to draw you in, but still with enough occultation to keep you guessing, the film follows Mickey (Zelda) and her dad Jake (John) on a semi-impromptu road trip to meet Solveig (Toby), a solitary naturalist and healer who lives in a kind of harmony with nature. Her home is a tree house that's more tree than house, she claims not to eat aside from "...the air as I speak...", and when we are given insight into her POV, she speaks in poetry as though her entire life is an incantation.

The exact details of how and why Mickey has come to Solveig is the film's first mystery, but not an overly hearty one. Just when your creeping suspicions are proved correct, the focal mystery switches to exactly what is actually happening out there in the woods. The film's grandest narrative magic trick however, is making you focus so much on this facet that you ignore other mysteries unfolding right in front of you. This is supported by excellent direction, editing (by John), creative and well-realized visual effects (Trey Lindsay is credited with digital, John & Toby with practical & makeup), and of course, a moody and atmospheric score from the family band.

Watching this little tribe of creatives continue to evolve as a unit is the greatest treat for me. Where Hellbender felt very adolescent, with its skewed examination of young adulthood, Mother of Flies is much more mature with themes of mortality, belief, and motherhood. Zelda Adams especially has grown as an actor, and really digs deep here offering one true standout, emotionally raw scene. John Adams and Toby Poser play to what I think of as their strengths: Jake is a slightly no-nonsense dad who means well, but is in over his head and Solveig is a mystical cipher. Toby manages to convey and imply so much with just looks and the occasional verse of narration. It's a really captivating performance.

I think the Adams Family's films work best for me when they're making spooky, ghost story pictures and Mother of Flies is certainly that. The gorgeous cinematography accentuates the tranquility of the woods, heightening the disquieting undercurrent that hums underneath everything, allowing for scares that bloom before you like a dark flower rather jump out of the underbrush like a frightened animal. Though there are some truly visceral moments, none of them ever feels gratuitous and the film ultimately has something to say about the power and importance of faith.

Making a movie of any scale is an impressive endeavor, and even though the Adams' like to keep their productions pretty minimal, the fact that they've managed to Daffy Duck four films in five years (as well as other projects besides) is an admirable testament to their creative spirit. I hope they keep making films together for as long as they all want to, and I hope each flick invites more people to sit around the campfire.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2025 - Preview

FANTASIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL returns for its 29th year

by "Doc" Hunter Bush, Staff Writer and Podcast Director

In the last 29 years, the Mission:Impossible franchise has released eight espionage action films of varying quality, while, despite the title, there are only 23 years between zombie flick 28 Years Later and its franchise originator. In 29 years you could experience almost an entire year on Saturn, which equals 29.4 Earth years, though interestingly the days on Saturn only last a little over ten and a half hours. If you had money to burn, you could build an elaborate and expensive 500,000 gallon pool in your backyard in Covington, Tennessee like this guy, or circumnavigate the globe in the exact path and manners of travel as in Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days approximately 132 and a half times! Or you could be like the Fantasia International Film Festival and grow into a renowned exhibition of films from around the world!

Founded in 1996, the Fantasia International Film Festival has evolved from merely celebrating Asian genre cinema--a noble pursuit in itself, certainly--into an annual destination for genre films and filmmakers of all stripes from around the world. It has become a place to seek out highly anticipated films from the more independent-minded creators in the industry, and to see world premieres of films great and small! To still be around after 29 years is an amazing feat.

In my past experiences with the festival I’ve discovered some truly amazing films, and this year’s crop of films is as exciting as you could hope. There’s an animated zombie-style film from legend Takashi Miike with cats in place of the zombies (as in: if you get bitten by a cat, you turn into a cat) called Nyaight of the Living Cat; there’s Ari Aster’s cognitive dissonance COVID conflict film Eddington; there are pictures about stalkers, screenlife, stop-motion, and Smurfs! Truly, there’s something for probably everyone.

To that end, while the following films are the ones I am most excited for, that doesn’t make the others any less worthwhile. One of my favorite aspects of film festivals is watching something you were only medium-eager to see and having it be one of your favorite films of the year. It’s happened to me many times, and I’m always so grateful for it. With that in mind, let’s take a look at just some of what will be available at this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival.

Dog of God
Directed by Lauris Abele, Raitis Abele
Canadian Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Apparently based on “the most famous werewolf trial”, this rotoscope animated film capitalizes on the attention that Academy Award winning feature Flow has brought to animation from Latvia, but to very different stylistic ends. Brother directors Lauris and Raitis Abele have made something with fascinating and tantalizing visuals that tells a story about the struggle for power between a priest and a baron involving witchcraft, hedonistic frenzy, violent madness, and *checks notes* the Devil’s testicles! Aside from the incredibly unique animation, the sex and the violence, there’s something special about Dog of God that immediately made me think “I bet Ken Russell would have loved this”. As a diehard Ken Russell appreciator, I can’t wait to check it out.

Anything That Moves
Directed by Alex Phillips
World Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Having not even seen a trailer for this film yet, I can say it is high on my Want To Watch list. Director Alex Phillips’ previous film, 2022’s All Jacked Up and Full of Worms, caught me by surprise--I would never have imagined that a film about being able to get high by stuffing worms under your skin would be as sweet and as genuinely funny as it was--and made me very excited for whatever Phillips made next. Turns out it’s Anything That Moves, apparently a loving throwback to the earnestness of 1970s era pornography about a bike courier / sex worker and his various clients. Shot on Super 16mm to better emulate the feel of the films which inspired it, I’m curious to see what, no pun intended, comes from this.

ChaO
Directed by Yasuhiro Aoki
North American Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

As an appreciator of animation, I’m a fan of Studio 4ºC who have been involved with numerous very singular projects--Tekkonkinkreet, MFKZ (a.k.a. Mutafukaz), several segments from The Animatrix, among many others--so their credit in this trailer immediately grabbed my attention. Beyond that, this take on a star-crossed love story uniting the differing worlds of mankind and fish-folk looks sweet, stirring, and genuinely hilarious. A reimagining of The Little Mermaid that seems focused on mankind learning to live more harmoniously with nature, ChaO really seems like my kind of flick. Fun fact: Another Studio 4ºC feature, All You Need is Kill has its North American Premiere at Fantasia as well!

Ya Boy Kongming! The Movie
Directed by Shuhei Shibue
North American Premiere
Acquire tickets HERE

Though I am unfamiliar with the manga this is adapted from, it sounds like something I’d enjoy reading: As he lay dying in battle in 234, military strategist Zhuge Kongming wished that his next life would be one of peace, and he is reincarnated in modern Tokyo where he is adopted by club kids and falls in love. The trailer mainly showcases Kongming’s day job as a DoorDash delivery courier, and his getting involved with a popstar, encouraging her to enter a contest to win a record contract. It might not be the most original plot, but the heightened nature of the characters, along with the lushness of the feature’s visuals, it all projects “FUN”! I’m looking forward to checking it out.

I am Frankelda
Directed by Arturo Ambriz, Roy Ambriz
North American Premier
Acquire tickets HERE

Another animated feature from another pair of brothers, Arturo and Roy Ambriz--proteges of Fantasia supporter, Oscar winner, and big ol’ monster-loving sweetie Guillermo del Toro--bring Mexico’s first stop-motion animated feature! When author Francisca Imelda attracts the attention of the owl-boy prince of the world her stories describe, he attempts to break the membrane between the worlds to be with her at the same time that his parents are actively endangering both worlds! Previously appearing in a series of Cartoon Network interstitial shorts, the characters and world of I am Frankelda appear as a carefully crafted love letter to fantasy and the arts. I am thoroughly ready to be enchanted.

What do you think? Do any of these titles jump out at you? I encourage you to visit Fantasia’s site for titles and updates, and see which other films pique your interest. I’m sure there will be at least a few. If you’re able to attend in person, Fantasia offers numerous live events including a book launch for MovieJawn contributor Payton McCarty-Simas’ new book That Very Witch: Fear, Feminism, and the American Witch Film, talks from industry professionals like producer Anne-Marie Gélinas, composer Danny Elfman, or Troma head Lloyd Kaufman, and even an opportunity to see the I am Frankelda puppets in person!

The festival has an especially robust Fantasia Retro lineup as well. This batch of restorations and 35mm repertory screenings is frequently only available in-person. This year’s titles include angelpunk anime Angel’s Egg (a collaboration between Ghost in the Shell director Mamoru Oshii & Final Fantasy artist Yoshitaka Amano), John Woo’s previously hard to find Bullet in the Head, J-Horror classic Noroi: The Curse, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and the 1980s sleaze-revenge flick Night of the Juggler starring James Brolin, among many more!

Stay tuned to MovieJawn for further coverage of the Fantasia International Film Festival from myself and fellow MJ contributor Rachel Shatto, and as always: Long Live the Movies!

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Closer

It's Fantasia International Film Festival's final week!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

This is it, folks! My time at this year's Fantasia International Film Festival is winding to a close. I saw some films I genuinely loved, a lot that I liked, and above all I saw films I might never have been exposed to at all! In a landscape where films are so often judged on profitability over content, and profitability relies more on audience familiarity than any promise of quality, the movies we love so dearly are becoming reduced to something like fast food commodities in the popular view. While there's nothing wrong with the occasional Big Buford burger or Frosty milkshake, you should make sure to keep your palate diverse, and I view my time at Fantasia like wandering through an international buffet: flavors and textures that might otherwise go overlooked.

To give my Fantasia coverage a proper send-off, I'm adding an additional feature and short below.

Features:

A Samurai in Time

Written & directed by Jun'ichi Yasuda
Running time 2 hours, 11 minutes

A very simple premise, given a few clever tweaks, and performances that are honestly much better than they needed to be has made A Samurai in Time one of my hands-down favorite films from Fantasia 2024. When he is struck by lightning during a sword fight in Edo period Japan, samurai Shinzaemon Kosaka (Makiya Yamaguchi) awakens in the modern day, but on the set of a jidaigeki ("period drama") TV series set in the exact time he came from! Yamaguchi's performance is powerfully funny sometimes in very subtle ways, and at others truly charming. Watching a samurai 400 years out of his time slowly become a well-loved TV star is the surprisingly enchanting, heartwarming story I didn't know I needed. Plus: sword fights!

Sunburnt Unicorn

Written & directed by Nick Johnson
Running time 1 hour, 21 minutes

Between the narrative of a young man wandering into the desert on a journey of self-discovery, the unique visual aesthetic, and the silly yet evocative title, Sunburnt Unicorn may sound like something cooked up in a tent at Burning Man (and Hell, what do I know, maybe it was) but it's much more satisfying than you might expect. I frequently kickflip up onto my soapbox to preach that I think children's entertainment should be ever so slightly challenging, because kids deserve it, and with its ominous tonal undercurrent, I think this scratches that itch. I can only imagine how long it took to create something of this scale and this level of creativity, but I hope it isn't too long until we see more from Nick Johnson.

Mash Ville

Written by Lim Dong-min, Wook Hwang
Directed by Wook Hwang
Running time 2 hour, 6 minutes

Described as "an eastern comedy with western action", Mash Ville follows a handful of interconnected chararters' storylines, all revolving around a tainted batch of moonshine and a small village under assault from a religious cult. The characters are at times cartoonish, but the performances do a great job of grounding them as well as could be expected. The tonal whiplash can be a bit difficult to parse from moment to moment, but the direction and the pure look of this film put it high on my recommendation list.

The Umbrella Fairy

Written by Youcong Li, Min Liu
Directed by Jie Shen
Running time 1 hour, 30 minutes

From the opening moments of The Umbrella Fairy, I knew this would end up being a somewhat melancholy tale, centered around the fairies that inhabit two royal items now consigned to the Hall of Relics, never to be used again. Qingdai, the titular fairy spirit of the imperial umbrella, is sad but willing to accept this new fate, while her partner Wanggui, the spirit of the Black Jade sword, is defiantly not. When Wanggui somehow escapes, Qingdai and the human apprentice keeper of the Hall set off to investigate how and why. This beautifully animated literal fairy tale is sweet, emotionally gripping, and full of creative magical worldbuilding, inventive sequences, and delightfully designed characters. Melancholy but ultimately hopeful, and truly beautiful; add this one to your watchlists.

Salute your Shorts:

Escape Attempt

Written by Christina Lazaridi, Daniel Shapiro, Alex Topaller (based on the novel by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky)
Directed by Daniel Shapiro, Alex Topaller
Running time 29 minutes

So often, a film will remind me of the old adage "Less is more". Usually they do this by overstaying their welcome, or explaining something that makes less sense when they're finished, but this adaptation of the Strugatsky Bros. novel, Escape Attempt left me genuinely wanting more. More time in its worlds, more discussion about what's happening. Not because it lacks logic, but because all of it was so fascinating to me. With shockingly high production values, this half hour short stacks up against the best short-form sci-fi we've gotten in recent years.

Dirty Bad Wrong

Written and directed by Erica Orofino
Running time 14 minutes

A single mother sex worker finds herself in a situation where the only way to deliver a promised birthday party to her your son is for her to agree to do something unsavory with a repeat customer. This set-up is sure to set some people on edge right from the get-go, and while it all plays out in just under 15 minutes, the emotional weight and the expansive feel from subtle worldbuilding make this horror-adjacent character piece feel much deeper. Lead actress Michaela Kurimsky conveys a lot through very small actions, and really sells the core concept of how far we'll go for those we love.

HI! YOU ARE CURRENTLY BEING RECORDED

Written and directed by Kyle Garrett Greenberg, Anna Maguire
Running Time 8 minutes

Light on narrative and dialogue, this one-woman show (co-writer/co-director Anna Maguire stars) isn't telling a story so much as asking a question: What is the line where being constantly monitored goes from unnerving to comforting? While checking out her new neighborhood Anna quickly realizes the neighborhood is checking her out too. The mix of footage styles, changing between digital, videotape, and film with increasing frenzy, really conveys an indifference and an alienness that makes Anna's mounting paranoia feel justified. Also shout out to her very cool jacket.

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Week 2

The Fantasia International Film Festival, week 2!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

My second week of Fantasia International Film Festival offerings has been incredible. I've been lucky enough to watch some films I've been eagerly anticipating, and been caught off-guard by films I'd underestimated - remember, kids: You Can't Trust the Trailers. below are just a few feature and short film recommendations. Check back with MovieJawn next week for a wrap-up round-up with a few more, and I'll also be doing a full write-up of Tilman Singer's Cuckoo, so if you're interested in that one, stay tuned.

Features:

Párvulos

Written by Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes, Isaac Ezban
Directed by Isaac Ezban
Running time 1 hour, 58 minutes

Párvulos ("Little ones") is the film I've been most excited to tell everyone about. Director Issac Ezban (co-writing with Ricardo Aguado-Fentanes) takes the zombie movie - a genre which at this point seems as past-its-prime as the zombies themselves - and actually manages to inject new life (no pun intended) into it. With characters that are easy to care about, interesting world building with a tone akin to Amblin at times, and a unique twist on the desaturated visuals (where you can just see the color underneath, like remembering the world that was) Párvulos is absolutely dynamite. Don't let the surprisingly lighthearted first half fool you though, this film has sharp teeth just waiting for you to let your guard down.

The Silent Planet
Written and directed by Jeffrey St. Jules
Running time 1 hour, 35 minutes

If I can be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect with The Silent Planet. I knew the underappreciated Elias Koteas was playing a man imprisoned on a penal planet alone until a ship carrying a new prisoner (Briana Middleton) lands. I was not prepared for what is essentially a classic episode of Dr. Who! Between the lived-in worldbuilding, moral and socio-political analogies, character-defining monologues, and occasionally cheesy special effects (complimentary), I was in old school sci-fi heaven. The above-listed qualities, and measured pace may not work for everyone but them most assuredly worked for me.

The Soul Eater
Written by Annelyse Batrel, Ludovic Lefebvre, based on the work of Alexis Laipsker
Directed by Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury
Running time 1 hour, 48 minutes

The Soul Eater stood out to me from this year's Fantasia features because it managed to be something unique and apart from anything I've watched so far, and to manage a tone that feels, similarly, just a mite different from anything else this year. A French crime procedural with potentially supernatural undercurrents and the general feeling of overturning a rock in the forest and seeing what scurries out from underneath, The Soul Eater is an unsettling watch to say the least. With some shocking violence, and other even more disturbing crimes (mercifully implied indirectly) at its fringes, the film feels like an adaptation that will appeal to fans of the Jack Reacher series, or maybe Laird Barron's Isaiah Coleridge novels.

Salute your Shorts:

Berta
Written by Lucía Forner Segarra
Directed by Lucía Forner Segarra
Running time 17 minutes

Berta is the third in a thematic trilogy of feminist horror shorts from Spanish writer/director Lucía Forner Segarra. The subject matter is relatively dark, but the tone has a populist sensibility that almost feels akin to the type of revenge thrillers that see broad theatrical release. The world build around Berta (Nerea Barros) and her victim Alex (Elías González) feels real, reasoned, and fully conceived. In just under 20 minutes Segarra delivers something that could, and does, function as a complete story, but that you wouldn't mind spending more time with. I'll be looking for somewhere to watch the two previous thematic installments - Marta and Dana - ASAP.

FACES
Written by Blake Simon
Directed by Blake Simon
Running Time 14 minutes

Like Párvulos above, I've been dying to spread the word about this short from Blake Simon. "I wanted to explore something that I had been witnessing around me that nobody was openly talking about" Simon says in the press materials "...that search for identity that lies under the surface of all of us." But before you get the wrong idea, this insight into the human experience didn't lead Simon to creating an austere drama, but a genuinely unsettling supernaturally-tinged urban legend of a horror short. Supported by solid performances (notably Ethan Daniel Corbett) and the excellent, creative cinematography of Andrew Fronczak, FACES is a really intriguing short-form chiller.

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Week 1

The Fantasia International Film festival kicks off its 28th year this week!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

This year's Fantasia International Film Festival is off to a great start, for me at least! Everyone's experiences will differ, surely - your mileage may vary, as the the saying goes - but I can say that I'm having a blast. Below are just a few of the titles screening this year for you to keep an eye on, and there are more coming (which I'm not allowed to mention quite yet, so keep your eyes out for future updates):

Features:

Vulcanizadora
Directed & Written by Joel Potrykus
Starring Joshua Burge & Joel Potrykus
Running time 1 hour, 25 minutes

Two friends calmly walking into the woods, one laden with camping gear and the other in jeans and a hoodie. The over-prepared friend realizes that he left all his keys on the bus and the other man asks him "What does it matter? It's not like you're gonna need them anymore." while the soundtrack blasts (what might be) thrash metal at the audience. This is, essentially, the opening to writer/director Joel Potrykus' latest film, Vulcanizadora, a film which explores friendship, guilt, aging, responsibility, and the fear that a person can ruin their life - or someone else's - in the blink of an eye. "It has a weird tone that I've been trying to hit for a long time... which should be sad, funny, and scary—oftentimes hitting all three in the same scene" Potrykus says in the press materials, and I'm inclined to agree with him. A mounting dread, sometimes building to a crescendo, sometimes diminishing to almost nothing, was my companion as I watched these two friends (Potrykus & Joshua Burge, both excellent) trudge through the Michigan woods to make good on some obscure pact, then deal with the repercussions. The (what might be) slowcore build of the first half of the film might not be for everyone, but if you stick with Vulcanizadora, you'll be rewarded.

Adrianne & the Castle
Directed by Shannon Walsh
Written by Little Scream & Shannon Walsh
Starring Alan St-George, Nathan McDonald, SLee
Running time 1 hour, 26 minutes

If you've previously read my kickoff Curtain Riser article, you may remember that I was really looking forward to the experience of Adrianne & the Castle. The documentary uses artist and entrepreneur Alan St-George's house, Havencrest Castle, as a lens through which to examine his relationship with and love for his dearly departed wife Adrianne. Only tangentially familiar with Havencrest, I referred to it as "like a benevolent Winchester Mystery House", and I could not be happier to have been correct. Through re-enactments, Alan explains the circumstances both biographical and emotional, through which he met, fell in love with, married, and spent a lifetime with his beloved. Havencrest itself was born out of a desire for Adrianne to feel at home in their new home, and its fanciful evolution continues to this day. "When it's finally done, if it's ever done," Alan says "I don't know what I'll do." I truly loved this experience, watching Alan interacting with the performers playing his & Adrianne's younger selves, almost being interrogated by his memories. There's a lot of cleverness on display in Adrianne & the Castle, thanks to director Shannon Walsh and co-writer Little Scream, a lot of being made aware of the art and artifice of making the documentary itself. It almost functions in the same way as the house, a living document; a testament to a great love. Seek this out. I can't recommend it strongly enough.

Dark Match
Directed & Written by Lowell Dean
Starring Ayisha Issa, Steven Ogg, Chris Jericho
Running time 1 hour, 34 minutes

Professional wrestling and horror movies go together like ...well, I dunno, but a lot of people sure do enjoy both things - including me! Why then am I having such a hard time thinking of a better wrestling horror movie than Dark Match? (*) When the small independent wrestling promotion S.A.W. get offered a sizable payday to put on a show for a religious group in the middle of nowhere, they can hardly afford to pass up the opportunity. But the group turn out to be a nefarious cult lead by former wrestler The Prophet (Chris Jericho) with a grudge against one of S.A.W.'s star performers, Mean Joe Lean (Steven Ogg)! Dark Match combines all the colorful showmanship of pro-wrestling with the sinister undercurrent of occult ritual, anchored by engaging performances, notably Ayisha Issa as Miss Behave. The central concept here is so fun that I was totally hooked, and the pace is excellent. Dare I say Dark Match might be the best wrestling horror movie? If you can think of a better one, let me know!

(*) Disclaimer: They Live is the best horror movie featuring a wrestler - Rowdy Roddy Piper as Nada - but it's not a horror movie about wrestling.

Salute your Shorts:

Hell is a Teenage Girl
Directed and Written by Stephen Sawchuk
Starring Skylar Radzion, Faly Mevamanana, Kevin Osea
Running time 15 minutes

Screening at Fantasia 2024 with the above-mentioned Dark Match is this sharp, meta-horror short. What if you were a teenage girl and your father was the local Michael Myers / Jason Voorhees type who appears every Halloween to eradicate any teens who break The Rules: Don't Drink, Don't do Drugs, and Don't have Sex? How would you feel? More importantly, what would you do? That's exactly Parker (Skylar Radzion)'s situation. Radzion is damned good here, maintaining a decently grounded tone in a film world that is heightened but not quite farcical, all within the slim runtime allotted. 

AstroNots
Directed by Andrew Seaton
Written by Adam Dunn, Aaron Glenane
Starring Adam Dunn, Aaron Glenane
Running Time 11 minutes

Like a less unhinged I Think You Should Leave sketch, AstroNots presents the unenviable position of being Commander Thomas Collins (Adam Dunn), grandson of Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins - the guy who went to the moon with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin that nobody remembers - about to make his family proud by being one of the first men on Mars. The only problem is, the other guy in the cockpit, Pilot Abraham Adams (Aaron Glenane) admits that he has no idea what he's doing and he just kind of bullshitted his way and failed upwards into being mere moments from an historic space launch. Amusing as that concept is, the performances are what make AstroNots really take flight. This incredibly tense, potentially disastrous situation is handled with delicate levity, and directed with an eye for the excellent production design. I have heard a rumor that the team is working on future installments, and I'm genuinely excited for them. Blast off!

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.

Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 - Preview

The Fantasia International Film festival returns for its thrilling 28th year!

by: "Doc" Hunter Bush, contributor & podcast czar

Let me take you back. It's 1996: Looney Tunes t-shirts are all the rage. Professional wrestler MJF is born, presumably to a chorus of boos. Chess champion Garry Kasparov defeats his computer opponent Deep Blue, beginning a war with artificial intelligence that rages to this day. But most importantly (as far as this article is concerned) the first ever Fantasia International Film Festival launches in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The program is entirely Asian cinema, with a focus on the films of Chow Yun-fat and Jet Li.

From these impressive, but comparatively humble beginnings has grown a destination for both filmmakers and film lovers that has hosted the premieres of movies from filmmakers like Satoshi Kon, Stuart Gordon, Dario Argento, and Tobe Hooper, among an actual legion of others. Today, nearly 30 years later, the festival is still going strong, having recently signed a 10 year partnership with Concordia University, which has hosted the festival since 2003.

This year's festival has a lineup of over 120 feature films and 25 themed collections of shorts including ones dedicated to various genres (animation, sci-fi, horror), to showcasing certain creators (women, outsider art), or geared towards specific audiences (children). Below, I've highlighted a handful of the films that jumped out at me and made me particularly excited to cover this year's Fantasia.

Kizumonogatari: Koyomi Vamp
Directed by Tatsuya Oishi

I've been on a bit of a vampire kick recently and, well, I'm always a sucker for animation. Koyomi Vamp is the prequel to the Kizumonogatari trilogy of animated films (themselves based on the second in a series of "light novels" in Japan), following lone wolf teenager Koyomi as he is inducted into a twilight realm of vampires. The animation showcases stunning motion and light effects, and some eye-popping visuals. I'm unfamiliar with the Monogatari stories, so hopefully this is as good a jumping on point as I've heard.

The Chapel (original title La ermita)
Directed by Carlota Pereda 

Young girl Emma (Maia Zaitegi) wants to learn to speak to the ghost of a girl confined to the local chapel for centuries because she believes that learning to speak with spirits will help her stay in contact with her dying mother. She recruits sham medium Carol (Belen Rueda) to teach her, but it seems to Carol that Emma has true power and may need her help. This comes from Carlota Pereda, writer/director of 2022's fantastic Piggy, which I very much enjoyed and I'm always down for a well-told ghost yarn.

Adrianne & the Castle
Directed by Shannon Walsh

This documentary about sculptor and artist Alan St. George and the castle he built as a celebration of love for his wife seems absolutely magical. Like a benevolent version of the Winchester Mystery House, Alan and Adrianne St. George's unarguably eccentric Havencrest Castle was designed with purpose by Alan as an ongoing declaration of his love. The documentary seems to blend interview segments and reenactments in a very unique way, almost having projections from his past interrogate Alan about key moments in his life. I love artists, oddballs, and lovers, and this hooked me right from the get-go. Adrianne sadly passed in 2006, so while I'm sure viewing this will demand I have a hanky nearby, I get the impression that this will leave me feeling more inspired than depressed.

Electrophilia (original title Los Impactados)
Directed by Lucía Puenzo

Veterinarian Ada (Mariana Di Girólamo) wakes up from a six week coma after being struck by lightning to realize that her life is inexplicably different. The trailer for Electrophilia features absolutely gorgeous cinematography (by Nicolás Puenzo), enigmatic imagery, lots of steamy stuff both textual and subtextual, and a reclusive society of people who have been struck by lightning! Though what information I can find about the film is relatively light on plot, literally every other aspect of this film leaves it very, very high on my To Watch list.

Cuckoo
Directed by Tilman Singer

The first of the trailers I watched for this curtain riser that genuinely made me say "Hell yes" out loud. Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) moves in with her dad in the German Alps and gets a job at the local spa, working with Herr König (Dan Stevens) only to find herself increasingly drawn into the orbit of a maniacal woman-thing that's been terrorizing the area. Whatever this creature ends up being, natural or otherwise, it is extremely unsettling; moving in that jangly j-horror style, eyes and mouth horribly wide, creeping at a steady pace yet suddenly right over your shoulder. I am positively foaming at the mouth for this one.

There are literally dozens of films that I was tempted to spotlight here, and whittling them down for brevity's sake was an arduous task. Other points of interest include a new Jackie Chan film called A Legend which reunites him with director Stanley Tong, director of Rumble in the Bronx - a sentimental fave of mine -, new films from the respective directors of films like Caveat (Damian Mc Carthy), Psycho Goreman (Steven Kostanski), and Mad Fate (Soi Cheang); a new adaptation of The Count of Monte-Cristo (a favorite story of mine); and a film called Steppenwolf that's being described as John Ford by way of George Miller (and vice versa) and it's all just so ...exciting!

This year's Fantasia Fest also includes a number of film and culture-related events for in-person festival-goers. Filmmaker Mike Flanagan (Doctor Sleep, recently Fall of the House of Usher), duo Taylor Ramos and Tony Zhou (Every Frame a Painting), artist Gary Pullin, and film historian and critic Heidi Honeycutt all have individual presentations on various days, as well as a separate event to celebrate the release of Honeycutt's new book "I Spit on Your Celluloid: The History of Women Directing Horror Movies". A live recording of the Colors of the Dark Podcast with guest Chuck Russell (A Nightmare on Elm St. 4: Dream Warriors) coincides with the Fantasia world premier of Russell's remake of 1986's cult hit Witchboard, and there are several events focused on introducing Korean culture to a wider audience, from fashion to food, including a rice wine called Makgeolli.

I hope you'll follow along over the next few weeks while I post updates of my Fantasia Fest viewing adventures here on MovieJawn about the films I've seen.

The 28th Fantasia International Film Festival runs from July 18th to August 4th in Montreal. Get tickets HERE.

FANTASIA 27 - Week 2

Fantasia International Film Festival
27th Edition
Week 2

By “Doc” Hunter Bush, staff writer and podcast czar

This year’s Fantasia International Film Festival is rolling right along and I’m just trying to hold on, y’know? With a staggering amount of feature films, and almost a dozen short film blocks, there’s more than enough to keep anyone entertained. And trust me when I tell you that I am being entertained.

This 2nd week has been very surprising for me. You never know what you’ll be getting with a movie, but especially at a festival. Some of these films have only the briefest of descriptions to go by, and though sometimes they don’t live up to the expectation, sometimes (the better times) they exceed them! Below are a couple of recommended flicks from Fantasia week 2!

#Manhole

Written by Michitaka Okada

Directed by Kazuyoshi Kumakiri

Starring Yûzo Nakajima, Nao, Kento Nagayama

When a film’s title has a hashtag in it, I am less likely to take it seriously. I’m gonna say the word “hashtag” in my head at every applicable moment, which can severely damage your film’s tension. That’s just how it is. And when the film’s plot is as simple-seeming as “a man falls down an open hashtag-manhole and becomes trapped”, I am likely to think I know what this film has in store for me. In this instance, I could not have been more wrong.

A man absolutely does become trapped after falling down an open hashtag-manhole, and yes, some of the runtime is him exploring the space, trying to devise clever ways out, as expected. But when #Manhole bucks my expectations, it really threw me in the best way. If like I did, you think you know where this film is going, I can assure you: You do not! This sits comfortably alongside Crawl (2019), Fall (2022), and (even though it’s not quite as good a film as the others) The Pool (2018) as simple-seeming concepts that wring every ounce of entertainment from their set-ups.

Blackout

Written by Larry Fessenden

Directed by Larry Fessenden

Starring Alex Hurt, Motell Gyn Foster, Marshall Bell

In Blackout from writer/director Larry Fessenden, the acclaimed genre mainstay finally gets to tackle the werewolf mythos, and as he usually does when treading in seemingly familiar waters, he manages to approach the subject from a unique direction. Sure we have a protagonist who believes he is the unknown beast committing the killings in Talbot township (nice reference btw), but Fessenden makes his story about the emotional arc as well as contrasting the townsfolk’s reactions with a very timely commentary on xenophobia.

These parallel through-lines give the story both a macro and micro focus that’s interesting for a classic monster movie. What’s more, this may be Fessenden’s best shot, strongest directed film. The use of Charley (Alex Hurt)’s own paintings to help tell his story is incredibly effective and feels surprisingly fresh, even though the first time it happens I wondered why this isn’t done in more films.

River

Written by Makoto Ueda

Directed by Junta Yamaguchi

Starring Riko Fujitani, Manami Hanjô, Gôta Ishida

The story of a small inn located in the mountains of Kyoto which becomes stuck in a two-minute loop of which only those in the immediate area are aware, River sounded like a “cute” idea, but I didn’t expect to as thoroughly enjoy it as I ultimately did, or to be as drawn into the handful of characters’ stories as I was.

Without resorting to much broad comedy, and even while skirting dark emotional territory, I was laughing out loud multiple times. There is a Wes Anderson quality to the directness of the characters’ approach, the matter-of-fact way they accept the strangeness of what’s happening, as well as the overall curated diorama quality of each character’s small-stake storylines that I think would appeal to wider audiences. It’s also notably a film without a villain, of which there are shockingly few, which also lends it no small amount of charm.

Aporia

Written by Jared Moshe

Directed by Jared Moshe

Starring Judy Greer, Payman Maadi, Edi Gathegi

With its strong emotional core and bold story moves, Aporia is a modern bit of science fiction that falls somewhere between Primer (2004) and Something in the Dirt (2022). When a scientist (Edi Gathegi)’s widow (Judy Greer) and physicist best friend (Payman Maadi) use an experimental device to correct his death, they begin a chain of events with unforeseeable consequences for them. As much a film about guilt and personal responsibility as it is about quantum theory, Aporia hits surprisingly hard.

It should come as no surprise when I say Judy Greer is great in this (when isn’t she?) but she’s rarely given the chance to anchor a film with such emotional complexity and she shines here. My one quibble is that the direction here is a bit matter-of-fact and could have used an extra hit of emotionality or sentimentality. Still, Aporia is a modern take on the monkey’s paw concept that will leave you with an appreciation for everything and everyone you have in your life.

Skin Deep

Written by Dimitrij Schaad, Alex Schaad

Directed by Alex Schaad

Starring Mala Emde, Jonas Dassler, Thomas Wodianka

Similar to something like The Lobster (2015), Alex Schaad’s Skin Deep takes a science fictional conceit and uses it to examine very common concerns. When couple Leyla and Tristan (Mala Emde and Jonas Dassler respectively) visit a secretive island commune to try out the body-swapping technology offered there, they’re forced to reexamine not just their relationship, or their places in it, but themselves and each other as people.

Skin Deep is a profoundly affecting examination of empathy and love. The old maxim about walking a mile in another’s shoes is meant to give us a concept of empathy and what Skin Deep does is give us a deeper level to contemplate: What if you could walk that proverbial mile in another person’s body? Imagine how much deeper you could learn to love them.

Hundreds of Beavers

Written by Mike Cheslik

Directed by Mike Cheslik, Ryland Brickson Cole Tews

Starring Ryland Brickson Cole Tews, Olivia Graves, Wes Tank

A few years back, I was lucky enough to see The Lake Michigan Monster, a silent sci-fi monster movie epic made with a love of 1950s b-movies and the aesthetic of a Saturday morning kids’ show. It’s an absolute blast, so when I heard that the same creative group were behind Hundreds of Beavers, I was beside myself with anticipation.

When a former applejack distiller (Ryland Brickson Cole Tews) is forced to live off of the land, he falls in love with the local trader’s daughter (Olivia Graves) and will have to defeat the titular amount of semi-aquatic rodents to win her hand. And he’ll do so in the style of a (nearly) silent film with healthy doses of Looney Tunes, Sid & Marty Krofft and just a pinch of Jackass. The film falls firmly into both the So Dumb It’s Genius and So Smart It’s Hilarious categories and I can not recommend it enough.

With Love and a Major Organ

Written by Julia Lederer

Directed by Kim Albright

Starring Anna Maguire, Hamza Haq, Veena Sood

Another in the illustrious history of science fiction being used to examine human nature, With Love and a Major Organ takes place in a near future (or possibly alternate now) where most people use an app to make all of their major life decisions. Most people that is, aside from painter Anabel (Anna Maguire) who fully embraces the chaos and messiness of being truly human, until a string of bad fortune and heartbreak drives her to remove her own heart - which, it should be noted, is just a thing that a person can do here.

Yes, it’s a strange world. One that asks the audience to buy into a lot of odd conceits, but beneath them is a truly touching film that creatively visualizes emotional states and examines numerous aspects of love: not only love for yourself and others, but also the dangers of never opening yourself up to love for fear of being hurt. With Love and a Major Organ is quirky, which can turn some people off, but for those willing to commit, it’s a unique and moving experience.

Where the Devil Roams

Written by the Adams family

Directed by the Adams family

Starring Toby Poser, John Adams, Zelda Adams

The follow up to Hellbender from mother/father/daughter writing/directing/starring collective the Adams family, Where the Devil Roams follows circus performers Maggie (Toby Poser), Seven (John Adams), and their daughter Eve (Zelda Adams) as they try to make ends meet in a raggedy sideshow traveling from town to town through Depression-era America.

Driven to increasingly extreme ends by a combination of desperation and Maggie’s own violent tendencies, the family set themselves on a path to their own dismantling and eventual reassembly via supernatural means. From the grainy feel of the entire carny aesthetic to the occult tensions bubbling under the surface as the family leave a trail of bodies in their wake, this one, as the kids say, is all about the spooky vibe.

Fantasia International Film Festival runs until August 9th in Montreal, Quebec. Tickets are available HERE.