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6:00pm CDT

Frankenweenie 3D

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:00pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003814

6:00pm CDT

Frankenweenie 3D

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:00pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003814

6:00pm CDT

Frankenweenie 3D

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:00pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003814

6:00pm CDT

Frankenweenie 3D

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:00pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003814

6:00pm CDT

Frankenweenie 3D

From creative genius Tim Burton (“Alice in Wonderland,” The Nightmare Before Christmas”) comes “Frankenweenie,” a heartwarming tale about a boy and his dog. After unexpectedly losing his beloved dog Sparky, young Victor harnesses the power of science to bring his best friend back to life—with just a few minor adjustments. He tries to hide his home-sewn creation, but when Sparky gets out, Victor’s fellow students, teachers and the entire town all learn that getting a new “leash on life” can be monstrous.

A stop-motion animated film, “Frankenweenie” was filmed in black and white and rendered in 3D. The talented voice cast includes: Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan, Atticus Shaffer, Robert Capron, Conchata Ferrell and Winona Ryder.

Presented by Disney, “Frankenweenie” is directed by Tim Burton, produced by Tim Burton and Allison Abbate, from a screenplay by John August, based on an original idea by Tim Burton. “Frankenweenie” releases in U.S. theaters on October 5, 2012.

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:00pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003814

6:20pm CDT

Doomsday Book

Kim Ji-Woon is one of Korea’s most fascinating directors, and a new movie from him is always an event. Whether it’s the stylized horror of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the intense action of A BITTERSWEET LIFE, the wild spaghetti western madhouse of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD or even the dark psychodrama I SAW THE DEVIL, he has consistently delivered some of the most challenging, gorgeously shot, innovative genre movies to come out of Korea.
Originally planned to be a three-part omnibus directed by Kim Ji-Woon, Yim Pil-Sung (director of HANSEL & GRETEL and ANTARCTIC JOURNAL) and Han Jae-Rim (THE SHOW MUST GO ON), production started on DOOMSDAY BOOK in 2006, and then fell apart when Han’s film (a retelling of an O. Henry short story) proved to be unworkable. With only two-thirds of the movie completed, it was shelved. Then, after a new influx of cash in 2010, Kim and Yim worked together to complete the movie’s third segment. Now their collaboration about the end of the world is finally ready for the big screen.
Outlining three ways in which the world ends, DOOMSDAY BOOK starts with Yim Pil-Sung’s “A Brave New World,” a rollicking, hilarious tale about rampant pollution that leads to an outbreak of zombie-ism that robs man of even his ability to choose to die. The second short, Kim Ji-Woon’s “The Heavenly Creature” is about a future where robots have become our main source of manual labor. One android, which resides at a Buddhist temple, achieves enlightenment, and the company that produces robot workers realizes that it’s got a crisis on its hands. The movie wraps up with the two directors collaborating on “Happy Birthday,” about a young girl whose wish results in a giant meteor heading straight for the planet Earth. Injecting welcome doses of comedy into three hard science fiction scenarios, this two-fisted dose of apocalypse is the smartest sci-fi flick to hit movie screens all summer. (NYAFF)

Thursday September 20, 2012 6:20pm - 8:28pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004024

8:35pm CDT

Antiviral

Director Brandon Cronenberg and actor Caleb Landry Jones LIVE in attendance!
The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.
Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.
Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 20, 2012 8:35pm - 10:40pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004007

8:50pm CDT

The Final Member

Directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math LIVE in attendance!
Since 1974, Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson has run the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s private collection runs the gamut from microscopic to gargantuan, including penises from whales, dogs, pigs, bears, bulls and hamsters. Siggi believes that his museum—and his legacy—will be incomplete without an important addition to his museum: a human penis of “legal length.” After years of searching, he tracks down two donors: an aging Icelandic philanderer and a weirdo from California who refers to his penis as “Elmo.” Siggi’s quest for penile perfection morphs into a race against time as the donors compete to become the first human to have their members severed and preserved for posterity.
With THE FINAL MEMBER, co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math have created one of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years. The film initially seems like a quaint exploration of a single man’s weird obsession, but evolves into a deep character study of three dudes who are pathologically obsessed with male genitalia—human or otherwise. Siggi uses his museum to break sexual taboos and educate the public. The Icelandic ladies’ man wants to preserve his rapidly aging penis before it shrinks down to the size of a raisin. Unlike his aging counterpart, the cowboy wants to chop his off before he dies. THE FINAL MEMBER delivers everything one could want from a documentary—it’s emotionally engaging, funny, and highly disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

Thursday September 20, 2012 8:50pm - 10:20pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004029

8:50pm CDT

The Final Member

Directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math LIVE in attendance!
Since 1974, Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson has run the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s private collection runs the gamut from microscopic to gargantuan, including penises from whales, dogs, pigs, bears, bulls and hamsters. Siggi believes that his museum—and his legacy—will be incomplete without an important addition to his museum: a human penis of “legal length.” After years of searching, he tracks down two donors: an aging Icelandic philanderer and a weirdo from California who refers to his penis as “Elmo.” Siggi’s quest for penile perfection morphs into a race against time as the donors compete to become the first human to have their members severed and preserved for posterity.
With THE FINAL MEMBER, co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math have created one of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years. The film initially seems like a quaint exploration of a single man’s weird obsession, but evolves into a deep character study of three dudes who are pathologically obsessed with male genitalia—human or otherwise. Siggi uses his museum to break sexual taboos and educate the public. The Icelandic ladies’ man wants to preserve his rapidly aging penis before it shrinks down to the size of a raisin. Unlike his aging counterpart, the cowboy wants to chop his off before he dies. THE FINAL MEMBER delivers everything one could want from a documentary—it’s emotionally engaging, funny, and highly disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

Thursday September 20, 2012 8:50pm - 10:20pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004029

9:05pm CDT

Dredd 3D

The future America is an irradiated waste land. On its East Coast, running from Boston to Washington DC, lies Mega City One - a vast, violent metropolis where criminals rule the chaotic streets. The only force of order lies with the urban cops called "Judges" who possess the combined powers of judge, jury and instant executioner. Known and feared throughout the city, Dredd is the ultimate Judge, challenged with ridding the city of its latest scourge - a dangerous drug epidemic that has users of "Slo-Mo" experiencing reality at a fraction of its normal speed. During a routine day on the job, Dredd is assigned to train and evaluate Cassandra Anderson, a rookie with powerful psychic abilities thanks to a genetic mutation. A heinous crime calls them to a neighborhood where fellow Judges rarely dare to venture - a 200 story vertical slum controlled by prostitute turned drug lord Ma-Ma and her ruthless clan. When they capture one of the clan's inner circle, Ma-Ma overtakes the compound's control center and wages a dirty, vicious war against the Judges that proves she will stop at nothing to protect her empire. With the body count climbing and no way out, Dredd and Anderson must confront the odds and engage in the relentless battle for their survival.

Thursday September 20, 2012 9:05pm - 10:58pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003753

9:15pm CDT

Black Out

Jos is about to have a very bad day. He knows this because he has just woken up with a splitting headache, a big blank where his previous days’ memories should be, a gun beneath his pillow and an unrecognizable corpse in bed next to him. There are, of course, also the gangsters who insist he has twenty kilograms of their cocaine, cocaine Jos neither remembers nor has in his possession. And, oh yes, there’s also the small matter of his fiancé calling to remind him of the final errands that need running before their wedding the next morning.

Jos is an ex-con who may not be quite so ex after all and if he can’t sort it all out within the next twenty four hours, his past life is going to spill out all over his future life with potentially deadly consequences.

Dutch director Arne Toonen takes a hard left turn with his sophomore feature – his first was a family comedy – delivering BLACK OUT, a brash and energetic crime caper. Laced with colorful characters, blue collar working class criminals and outbursts of extreme violence, BLACK OUT stands as a sort of Dutch response to Guy Ritchie.

Leading man Raymond Thiry brings a rumpled elegance and intelligence to the role of Jos – intelligence he’ll need if he’s going to sort out what’s really going on here and avoid being killed by his ballet-trained gangster nemesis. The entire cast is made up of solid industry veterans clearly loving the chance to get out and flex their muscles in something a bit different – acclaimed director Alex Van Warmerdam (GRIMM, WAITER) even gets in on the fun – and the solid cast makes all the difference, bringing a healthy dose of substance to Toonen’s abundance of style (Todd Brown).

Thursday September 20, 2012 9:15pm - 10:59pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004010

11:20pm CDT

Here Comes The Devil

Plays with "Videoboy": The relationship between 13 year old Hasse and Pål is tested the day they accept an offer to visit a boy who is famous for his collection of videofilms. The journey they take gets darker and darker, and the young boys are forced to meet boundaries that they never have been even close to. Nothing will ever be the same.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Producer Andrea Quiroz Hernandez, and Actor Francisco Barreiro will be LIVE in attendance!
Director Adrián García Bogliano is no stranger to Austin with his past films screening at Cine Las Americas (36 STEPS), SXSW (COLD SWEAT) and, most recently, at Fantastic Fest 2011 (PENUMBRA). Bogliano returns to Fantastic Fest this year with HERE COMES THE DEVIL, another horror pastiche sure to please and fans both old and new.
After a sexy and horrifying opening sets the mood at appropriately creepy, we are introduced to Felix and Sol- normal, young parents who are on vacation with their children, Sara and Adolfo, in Tijuana. On the way home, exhausted from the journey and also looking for a little alone time, the couple allows Sara and Adolfo to explore a hillside near the rest stop unattended. The pair enter a dark cave on the hill and disappear. Felix and Sol work with the local authorities to conduct a search and retreat back to their hotel room empty handed. Their nightmare appears to come to an end when the children are found and returned but it’s not long before they realize there’s something not quite right with the kids.
HERE COMES THE DEVIL displays many of Bogliano’s signatures including beautiful women in various stages of undress, brutal violence and clever ways to build tension on a budget. Like all of his other films, though, it’s completely unlike the one that came before it. As Sol and Felix become more and more convinced of something evil at work behind Sara and Adolfo’s disappearance, a palpable sense of dread builds as paranoia sinks in. There are plenty of twists along the way, keeping the audience off balance and unsure of what to make of various bits of information. When the end finally comes, the revelations are as horrific and shocking as we have come to expect from Bogliano. (Brian Kelley)

Thursday September 20, 2012 11:20pm - Friday September 21, 2012 1:45am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004036

11:35pm CDT

American Mary

Directors Jen and Sylvia Soska and actors Tristan Risk and Katie Isabelle LIVE in attendance!

Mary Mason appears to be on the verge of achieving the American Dream. Young, beautiful and intelligent, Mary is sailing through medical school with the aim of becoming a surgeon. There’s no doubt at all she’s got the skills to get there. The question is whether she has the cash. Perpetual debt and the questionable behavior of the teachers she idolizes and emulates combine to leave Mary disillusioned and questioning her path through life.

Then a very unusual opportunity arises, one that will pay her very well, indeed, to indulge her growing skills provided she is willing to set aside certain ethical considerations. So Mary plunges into a world of underground surgeries and extreme body modification.

Canadian twin directors Jen and Sylvia Soska made waves on the genre circuit a few years ago with their debut micro-budget feature, a grindhouse throwback titled DEAD HOOKER IN THE TRUNK that won the duo high profile fans around the world including Eli Roth. If DEAD HOOKER showed raw talent, then follow up AMERICAN MARY shows the results of that talent beginning to come of age. A major step forward in every respect, AMERICAN MARY features a stellar central performance from GINGER SNAPS star Katharine Isabelle as the titular Mary, drawn into this increasingly bizarre world. To bring that world to life the Soskas – better known as The Twisted Twins – descended into the body modification underground of Canada’s west coast, bringing the results to the screen without the use of any CGI. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 20, 2012 11:35pm - Friday September 21, 2012 1:25am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004005

11:45pm CDT

Memory of the Dead

Plays with "Le Lac Noir": In the far-off time of tales, Madeleine and Jean are living on the shores of an alpine lake. They have been together since Jean found the young girl lying in the forest unconscious and amnesic. One day, Jean catches a huge fish, and in the stomach he discovers a young boy asleep. So begin the events that will awaken Madeleine's memory.

Director Javier Diment, and writer Martin Blousson will be LIVE in attendance!
Alicia is devastated by the death of her beloved husband, Jorge. Not surprised, but devastated nonetheless. Not surprised because Jorge, a practitioner of the occult with remarkable powers, foresaw his own death and warned his beloved wife ahead of time. Warned her and left her with instructions on how to bring him back. And Alicia intends to follow those instructions to the letter.
And so, just a few days after Jorge’s death, Alicia has gathered their closest friends in their home to undertake the rite Jorge laid out for them. A rite that she tells her friends will send their love shining out like a beacon through the afterlife, a shining beacon to guide Jorge home. Yes, there will be difficulties. All involved may find themselves visited by the spirits of their own dead. But – and this is important – as long as all involved stay inside the house they will be perfectly safe. Nothing can harm them there.
Alicia is lying, of course, the ritual and its risks not exactly as she has presented them to her guests. And it quickly becomes clear that not everyone will survive until the morning.
A compelling fusion of visual bravado and reckless energy, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO announces the arrival of a major new talent in Argentina’s Valentin Javier Diment. Blending the DIY bravado and grotesque sense of humor of an EVIL DEAD II era Sam Raimi with the baroque sensibilities of classic giallo, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO is simply astounding in its ambitions and even moreso in its ability to accomplish those ambitions on a tiny budget. Diment is clearly some sort of gonzo genius and this the film that he packed all of his loves and obsessions into as though afraid he’ll never get the chance again. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 20, 2012 11:45pm - Friday September 21, 2012 1:49am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004043

11:45pm CDT

Memory of the Dead

Plays with "Le Lac Noir": In the far-off time of tales, Madeleine and Jean are living on the shores of an alpine lake. They have been together since Jean found the young girl lying in the forest unconscious and amnesic. One day, Jean catches a huge fish, and in the stomach he discovers a young boy asleep. So begin the events that will awaken Madeleine's memory.

Director Javier Diment, and writer Martin Blousson will be LIVE in attendance!
Alicia is devastated by the death of her beloved husband, Jorge. Not surprised, but devastated nonetheless. Not surprised because Jorge, a practitioner of the occult with remarkable powers, foresaw his own death and warned his beloved wife ahead of time. Warned her and left her with instructions on how to bring him back. And Alicia intends to follow those instructions to the letter.
And so, just a few days after Jorge’s death, Alicia has gathered their closest friends in their home to undertake the rite Jorge laid out for them. A rite that she tells her friends will send their love shining out like a beacon through the afterlife, a shining beacon to guide Jorge home. Yes, there will be difficulties. All involved may find themselves visited by the spirits of their own dead. But – and this is important – as long as all involved stay inside the house they will be perfectly safe. Nothing can harm them there.
Alicia is lying, of course, the ritual and its risks not exactly as she has presented them to her guests. And it quickly becomes clear that not everyone will survive until the morning.
A compelling fusion of visual bravado and reckless energy, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO announces the arrival of a major new talent in Argentina’s Valentin Javier Diment. Blending the DIY bravado and grotesque sense of humor of an EVIL DEAD II era Sam Raimi with the baroque sensibilities of classic giallo, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO is simply astounding in its ambitions and even moreso in its ability to accomplish those ambitions on a tiny budget. Diment is clearly some sort of gonzo genius and this the film that he packed all of his loves and obsessions into as though afraid he’ll never get the chance again. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 20, 2012 11:45pm - Friday September 21, 2012 1:49am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004043

11:30am CDT

Antiviral

Director Brandon Cronenberg and actor Caleb Landry Jones LIVE in attendance!
The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.
Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.
Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

Friday September 21, 2012 11:30am - 1:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004007

11:45am CDT

Here Comes The Devil

Plays with "Videoboy": The relationship between 13 year old Hasse and Pål is tested the day they accept an offer to visit a boy who is famous for his collection of videofilms. The journey they take gets darker and darker, and the young boys are forced to meet boundaries that they never have been even close to. Nothing will ever be the same.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Producer Andrea Quiroz Hernandez, and Actor Francisco Barreiro will be LIVE in attendance!
Director Adrián García Bogliano is no stranger to Austin with his past films screening at Cine Las Americas (36 STEPS), SXSW (COLD SWEAT) and, most recently, at Fantastic Fest 2011 (PENUMBRA). Bogliano returns to Fantastic Fest this year with HERE COMES THE DEVIL, another horror pastiche sure to please and fans both old and new.
After a sexy and horrifying opening sets the mood at appropriately creepy, we are introduced to Felix and Sol- normal, young parents who are on vacation with their children, Sara and Adolfo, in Tijuana. On the way home, exhausted from the journey and also looking for a little alone time, the couple allows Sara and Adolfo to explore a hillside near the rest stop unattended. The pair enter a dark cave on the hill and disappear. Felix and Sol work with the local authorities to conduct a search and retreat back to their hotel room empty handed. Their nightmare appears to come to an end when the children are found and returned but it’s not long before they realize there’s something not quite right with the kids.
HERE COMES THE DEVIL displays many of Bogliano’s signatures including beautiful women in various stages of undress, brutal violence and clever ways to build tension on a budget. Like all of his other films, though, it’s completely unlike the one that came before it. As Sol and Felix become more and more convinced of something evil at work behind Sara and Adolfo’s disappearance, a palpable sense of dread builds as paranoia sinks in. There are plenty of twists along the way, keeping the audience off balance and unsure of what to make of various bits of information. When the end finally comes, the revelations are as horrific and shocking as we have come to expect from Bogliano. (Brian Kelley)

Friday September 21, 2012 11:45am - 2:10pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004036

12:00pm CDT

The King of Pigs

South Korea’s very first animated film to screen at Cannes, THE KING OF PIGS is a time-tripping, soul-shattering mystery about the scars that make us, and the secrets we bleed to keep. Kyung-Min has just killed his wife, but it didn’t make him feel any better. His business is failing and he can’t stop thinking about his middle school days, back when he was one of the lowly, bullied “pigs”, the rock-bottom caste of the social animal kingdom, at the mercy of the popular “dogs”. His old school friend, Jong-Suk, agrees to meet, and each man tells the other polite lies about his wrecked life. But both of them have one thing on their minds: Chul-Yi, their old class comrade, the quiet, deadly boy in the hoodie who fought back against the bullies and became, for one blazing moment in time, The King of Pigs. “Be my friends,” he offered, “and you will never cry.”
THE KING OF PIGS animation style evokes memories of the great Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA), sinuous yet rippling with organic textures that mimic the flesh and failings of real, flawed human beings, with every tear, bruise and knuckle to the face meticulously rendered. One thing the film never allows us is too much room to breathe: these kids are suffering, and so must the audience. Every moment is tripwired, every scene is a time bomb. In keeping with the film’s thematic resonance, the adult and child Jong-Suk are voiced, respectively, by Yang Ik-June and Kim Kkobbi, the stars of NYAFF 2009’s harrowing, BREATHLESS.
Inspired by his own experiences in middle school, director Yeun Sang-Ho also drew upon recurring dreams to tell his dual-narrative story about the cycles of abuse and the bullied who become the bullies. THE KING OF PIGS is a meditation on the impotence and violence in the world of young adults, and the cancer of memory. In Yeun’s dark vision, Korea today is bound by an invisible web of resentment, classism, and persecution from birth to death, where souls are trapped by their hidden sins. The only way to break free is to face the ugly truth about where we’ve been and where we’re going. (NYAFF)

Friday September 21, 2012 12:00pm - 1:52pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004040

2:30pm CDT

Combat Girls

In many ways, Marisa is a normal working-class German teen. She lives with her mother and works at the family store. She also adores her sickly grandfather, an ex-Nazi soldier, and Adolf Hitler. Marisa, along with her brutal skinhead boyfriend Sandro, are fierce promoters of the Nazi cause—their bodies are adorned with elaborate Third Reich tattoos, they hurl racist epithets at strangers, and occasionally back up their hateful words with violent acts. In contrast, Svenja is an apolitical suburban girl. Her rebellious tendencies manifest in mostly benign ways like smoking cigarettes in secret. Svenja finds a boyfriend who travels in Marisa's circle of friends, and eventually Marisa and Svenja's paths intersect in ominous ways.
COMBAT GIRLS , which premiered at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival, represents a new wave of European films exploring the contemporary impact of the Nazi era. Specifically, the film explores young women's attempts to find their individuality amongst a set of competing generational influences. COMBAT GIRLS pulls no punches. The film submerges the audience in the underground world of skinheads and racist ideologues. Composer Johannes Repka even created faux Neo-Nazi punk music specifically for the film. This attention to authenticity is not done for the purpose of sensationalism, but to support the film's compelling story and complex characters. COMBAT GIRLS is a powerful nuanced work by a dynamic new voice in German cinema. (Rodney Perkins)

Friday September 21, 2012 2:30pm - 4:28pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004017
Tags A000004017

2:45pm CDT

The Warped Forest

Plays with "Crown": A gang of street kids turns an unassuming house into a haven for middle aged junkies hooked on a most bizarre narcotic. Doug, a habitual user, returns to experience a surreal high from which he may not return.
Director AG Rojas LIVE in attendance!

In 2005 a trio of directors combined to unleash one of the most deliriously silly, surreal, and psychedelic experiences ever witnessed on theater screens on to an unwitting audience. Loaded with absurdity and stylistic excess THE FUNKY FOREST was like a guided tour through the subconscious minds of its creators, a visual guide to the adolescent fantasies of a trio of immensely talented directors who refused to acknowledge any limitations whatsoever.
And now one of them is back to do it again.
Entirely self funded with money squirrelled away during a decade of directing high-end television commercials, Shunichiro Miki’s THE WARPED FOREST will delight and confuse – and delightfully confuse – fans of the esoteric and strange. Follow the adventures of a young girl tracking down the elusive Pinky-Panky with her trusty penis-rifle at her side! Marvel at the normal sized girl working in a Very Small Shop! Wonder at the psychic powers of the inverted pyramid hovering deep in the nearby forest, the strange pod-like growths that pop up throughout and the furry, nipple sucking creature on hire at the local brothel!
Just a touch less manic than its predecessor, THE WARPED FOREST is every bit as much a delicious sensory experience. There are narrative threads holding it all together, to be sure, but this is film as experience far more than film as story and what an experience it is. Fans of THE FUNKY FOREST will recognize Miki’s distinctive touch immediately while those walking into this bizarre world for the first time will want to seek out that earlier effort immediately. (Todd Brown)

Friday September 21, 2012 2:45pm - 4:32pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004064
Tags A000004064

3:15pm CDT

Dom - A Russian Family

Families are hell. That’s a given. There’s nobody closer and that special relationship translates into a special ability to wreak havoc when things turn sour. And things have very definitely turned sour for the Shamanov family. Four generations live in the same crowded farmhouse on the remote steppes. Four generations chafing at a lack of opportunity and their meager existence. Four generations of people who, as often as not, barely want to be in one another’s presence.
And yet that’s not going to stop them from celebrating grandpa’s birthday. No, brave faces shall be worn as the entire clan gets together to honor their eldest. The entire clan, including those few who have managed to escape the gravitational pull of the family home and make other lives for themselves. Everyone including eldest son Stepan, who left decades ago and has not been seen since. They may soon wish Stepan had not returned after all. You see, Stepan’s path to success involved some very unsavory activities. Away from the farm he has thrived in the criminal underworld, climbing through the ranks of the mafia and acquiring some dangerous enemies in the process. And now that he’s home, those enemies cannot be far behind.
After building a career as a director who essentially dressed up American action film tropes in Russian clothes for the local audience, helmer Oleg Pogodin turns in something far more unusual, far more distinctly Russian, and far, far better with his fourth feature film. Starting as a family drama laced with dark domestic overtones, DOM builds in threads of external menace before exploding into an ultra violent finale. Totally unique, totally compelling, there is nothing else quite like it. (Todd Brown)

Friday September 21, 2012 3:15pm - 5:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004023

5:30pm CDT

The Conspiracy

Plays with "88:88": Val has lost control of her life. Those around her deny the reality of the extraordinary experiences she feels powerless against. Realizing she must stand alone, she has only one remaining option - to find a way to fight back.

Director Christopher MacBride, producer Lee Kim, actor/producer Aaron Poole, cinematographer Ian Anderson, and actor Jim Gilbert LIVE in attendance!
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying...
And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)

Friday September 21, 2012 5:30pm - 7:23pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004019
Tags A000004019

5:45pm CDT

The Collection

Actress Emma Fitzpatrick LIVE in attendance!
Elena has always been a survivor. As a child, she and her father lived through a horrific car accident. That propensity toward survival may be what made her such an attractive specimen for the infamous serial killer known as The Collector. The Collector’s last find, a petty thief named Arkin, escapes during a massacre that lands Elena in his clutches. Arkin is then hired by a mysterious mercenary to return to the site of his captivity and save Elena. Will any of them make it out alive, or will they all become permanent fixtures in THE COLLECTION? (Brian Salisbury)

Friday September 21, 2012 5:45pm - 7:34pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004016

6:00pm CDT

The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled

Director Ryan Polito, star Doug Benson, producer Sharon Everitt, and cinematographer Will Deloney will be LIVE in attendance!
Comedian Doug Benson, the subject of SUPER HIGH ME, is back to answer one question: What is the subject of that cult hit pot-umentary up to now? He’s got three popular podcasts, 400,000 plus Twitter followers, a series on Comedy Central, and a new comedy doc: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER ROLLED. It’s a fast paced look at life on the road for a comic with a rabid following, as he travels with his buddy - clean-livin’, wound-up karate enthusiast, Graham Elwood - on a tour to raise money to make a movie about going on tour to raise money to make a movie. Yeah, so very Spurlock of him. Doug finds fun everywhere he goes, and he’d like to share it with you.

Pun intended, it is high time that Doug Benson made it to Fantastic Fest. Apart from his well-known herbal first love, Doug is almost as passionate about the movies. Not only will Doug be world-premiering his new feature film, he’ll be joining the Master Pancake team as a guest performer, recording a 4:20 edition of his podcast Doug Loves Movies, serving as the head of the jury for the Gutbusters comedy award and providing a steady anchor of film knowledge for the US team at the Fantastic Debates. Fantastic Fest 2012 might go down in the history books as “the year of Benson.” By the end of the festival I want one of two things to happen... for Doug to either deny his early film credit as the orange dancer from Captain EO or go all in and show us the dance.

Friday September 21, 2012 6:00pm - 7:47pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004108

6:30pm CDT

Graceland

Director Ron Morales and producer Rebecca Lundgren LIVE in attendance!
Marlon Villar is a typical working man, though as the driver for corrupt Congressman Manuel Changho, Marlon makes a little more than the average Filipino. Despite his good fortune, it's still not enough money to help his wife, who’s deathly ill and in need of an organ transplant. When Marlon has some trouble covering up Changho's latest impropriety, it sparks a series of events that will threaten to ruin him and everyone close to him. It begins when he goes to pick up Changho's daughter Sophia from school. The Congressman’s child has struck up a friendship with Marlon’s daughter Elvie, who’s also along for the ride. They’re pulled over by a “cop” that turns out to be a kidnapper, who makes off with Elvie (mistaking her for Sophia) and tells Marlon to pass along the ransom demands to Changho. Marlon, terrified and distraught, must find some way to get his daughter back.
Written and directed by Ron Morales, a key grip on several well-known Hollywood films, GRACELAND is a tense, taut thriller that drags the audience through some of the darkest parts of the Filipino underworld. Bribes and corruption are commonplace in GRACELAND's Manilla, and they're just the tip of the lurid iceberg. Morales borrows somewhat from Kurosawa's classic kidnapping thriller HIGH AND LOW, but continually puts his own spins on a familiar story. Arnold Reyes is particularly great in the difficult role of Marlon, communicating a plethora of emotions in a very real way as the web of deceit tightens around him. GRACELAND is a dark and dirty film, tense and occasionally unsettling, where no one makes it out completely clean. (Luke Mullen)

Friday September 21, 2012 6:30pm - 8:09pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004032
Tags A000004032

8:30pm CDT

Sinister

Director Scott Derrickson, Producer Jason Blum, 2nd unit director Matthew Tibbenham, and co-writer Chris Cargill will be LIVE in attendance!
Coming soon.

Friday September 21, 2012 8:30pm - 10:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003815

8:50pm CDT

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day's appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.
A film that's far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.
An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Friday September 21, 2012 8:50pm - 11:01pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004038
Tags A000004038

9:00pm CDT

Miami Connection

Actor/Producer Grandmaster YK and actors Joe Diamond, Maurice Smith, Angelo Jannotti, and Vince Hirsch will be LIVE in attendance!
THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN TAE KWON DO ANTI-SANITY! The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world’s smelliest underbelly. It’ll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can’t stop until they’ve completely destroyed the dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine”...and the entire MIAMI CONNECTION!!!

Real life martial arts grandmaster Y.K. Kim only made one film in his life, but it's without a doubt the most rampaging crowd-pleaser of the '80s, bursting with vibrance, violence, honor and hilarity. Completely lost for decades, a 35mm film print has been unearthed by the Alamo, and its first viewing opened a dimensional portal to pure, unstoppable FUN. After demolishing the crowd with it at select festivals, we’ve allied with writer/producer/star Y.K. Kim and the rest of the cast to detonate Fantastic Fest with the supreme synth-rock anti-ninja experience. Miss this epochal screening event and you’ll hate yourself for a thousand lifetimes...guaranteed!!! (Zack Carlson)

Friday September 21, 2012 9:00pm - 11:15pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004069

9:00pm CDT

Miami Connection

Actor/Producer Grandmaster YK and actors Joe Diamond, Maurice Smith, Angelo Jannotti, and Vince Hirsch will be LIVE in attendance!
THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN TAE KWON DO ANTI-SANITY! The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world’s smelliest underbelly. It’ll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can’t stop until they’ve completely destroyed the dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine”...and the entire MIAMI CONNECTION!!!

Real life martial arts grandmaster Y.K. Kim only made one film in his life, but it's without a doubt the most rampaging crowd-pleaser of the '80s, bursting with vibrance, violence, honor and hilarity. Completely lost for decades, a 35mm film print has been unearthed by the Alamo, and its first viewing opened a dimensional portal to pure, unstoppable FUN. After demolishing the crowd with it at select festivals, we’ve allied with writer/producer/star Y.K. Kim and the rest of the cast to detonate Fantastic Fest with the supreme synth-rock anti-ninja experience. Miss this epochal screening event and you’ll hate yourself for a thousand lifetimes...guaranteed!!! (Zack Carlson)

Friday September 21, 2012 9:00pm - 11:15pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004069

9:05pm CDT

Dead Sushi

Plays with "Meat Stick Man": A dark take on the "Snap in to a Slim Jim" ads. Meat Stick Man bursts into a young boy's room to personally "feed" his hunger, only to find the boy needs some convincing.
Producer Eric Storlie, Writer/Producer Darrin Scane, Producer Peter Rimac, and Director Jared Bentley LIVE in attendance!

Director Noboru Iguchi, producer Mana Fukui, and actress Rina Takeda in attendance!
Director Noboru Iguchi has brought audiences around the world machine gun schoolgirls, robot geishas, karate robots, and toilet zombies. Once you consider this fact, a “nature attacks”-type movie about flying killer sushi seems like the next logical step! Wait no longer, fans of nutbar Japanese cinema, for chef Iguchi has served up an omakase that will eat you, if you don’t eat it first.
Keiko, daughter of a famous sushi chef, leaves home to escape his overbearing training in both sushi-making and martial arts. Finding work at a rural inn, she is bullied by the staff and ridiculed by the guests, including the president of Komatsu Pharmaceuticals, who has come to the inn for a vacation with his associates. Little do they know, however, that disgruntled Komatsu researcher Yamada has followed them there with designs on revenge, using a serum he developed that can awaken the murderous instincts of fish on rice, creating…killer sushi! Bloodthirsty tuna and squid soon descend upon the humans, killing many and turning the remainder into zombie-like creatures. Keiko, joined by the inn’s former sushi chef Sawada, uses her fighting skills against the creatures in an attempt to escape with a handful of uninfected survivors. But Yamada has another deadly surprise for them…can Keiko and Sawada defeat both him and his flying killers?
Iguchi is no stranger to Fantastic Fest, but the big difference this time around is the presence of rising martial arts star Rina Takeda, still barely out of her teens when the movie was made. Takeda’s earlier films like HIGH KICK GIRL left a bit to be desired in the story department, but her first feature film collaboration with Iguchi delivers the goods. It helps, of course, that she’s backed up by Iguchi’s regular stock company of players, including faces familiar to Austin audiences like Asami and Demo Tanaka, plus the required presence of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s special effects to deliver the splatter. Bring your soy sauce and wasabi and plenty of beer—you’re on the menu tonight! (Marc Walkow)

Friday September 21, 2012 9:05pm - 10:54pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004022
Tags A000004022

9:20pm CDT

Vegetarian Cannibal

Plays with "The Recipe": After a boy is confronted with death for the first time, he turns to his imagination for protection and understanding.
Director Jason Noto and Producer Rory Kindersley LIVE in attendance!

Dr. Danko Babić (Rene Bitorajac) is a studly gynecologist with a lust for life. Snorting drugs, having sex, and playing the drums are as routine for him as delivering babies or performing abortions. A crooked cop (Leon Lučev) introduces Babić to a crime boss (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who offers him a sweet deal: perform illegal abortions to a stable of high-end prostitutes in exchange for fast cash. He accepts the offer and is soon faced with series of decisions that test the limits of his already questionable ethics.
Branko Schmidt’s VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is an indictment of corruption in Croatian society. Babić, whose profession is supposedly one of health and healing, is used as a prism through which analyze the ills of the entire nation. Babić is a cocky manipulator with a complete disregard for laws and ethics. Babić blasts his way through a series of dilemmas and makes the bad choice every time. It is hard to fault him however, because his transgressions are continually rewarded with money, power, and sex. Despite the film’s focus on social ills, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL isn’t simply dour agit-prop. It’s very affecting, albeit in an extremely negative way. What’s more, the film boasts some scenes that will test the tolerance of even the most hardened viewers. In other words, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is right at home at Fantastic Fest. (Rodney Perkins)

Friday September 21, 2012 9:20pm - 11:04pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004062

11:30pm CDT

New Kids Nitro

Plays with "Get Real!": A high school student is addicted to a computer game in which he portrays a bodyguard protecting a sexy female singer. He overcomes his obsession once a real girl in his class gives him his first kiss.

Directors Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil as well as actors Huub Smit and Wesley van Gaalen will be LIVE in attendance!
Our favorite mullet-heads from Masskantje—Gerrie, Richard, Rikkert, Robbie and Barry—are in the midst of a huge rivalry with a bunch of dudes from the neighboring village of Schinjdel. There is more than honor at stake: Rikkert is fighting for both his beloved car and the heart of his enemy's pregnant girlfriend. While the New Kids are warring with the Schinjndel schlubs, something strange is happening in the nearby farmlands of Friesland that might threaten the security of the entire country. Will the New Kids rise to the occasion?
NEW KIDS TURBO debuted in the Netherlands with the biggest box office opening in the country's history. Instead of messing with a successful formula for the sequel, co-directors/co-writers Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kull decided simply to escalate everything. The jokes are dumber and more offensive. The set pieces are bigger, louder, and gorier. Some may find the constant references to rivalries between Dutch villages—what’s up with the dudes from Woensel?—and deep-fried snacks perplexing. However, neither an intimate understanding of Dutch culture nor the original film is a requirement because NEW KIDS NITRO speaks the universal language of ultra-foul politically incorrect humor. (Rodney Perkins)

Friday September 21, 2012 11:30pm - Saturday September 22, 2012 1:15am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

film-id A000004045
Tags A000004045

11:45pm CDT

Doomsday Book

Kim Ji-Woon is one of Korea’s most fascinating directors, and a new movie from him is always an event. Whether it’s the stylized horror of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the intense action of A BITTERSWEET LIFE, the wild spaghetti western madhouse of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD or even the dark psychodrama I SAW THE DEVIL, he has consistently delivered some of the most challenging, gorgeously shot, innovative genre movies to come out of Korea.
Originally planned to be a three-part omnibus directed by Kim Ji-Woon, Yim Pil-Sung (director of HANSEL & GRETEL and ANTARCTIC JOURNAL) and Han Jae-Rim (THE SHOW MUST GO ON), production started on DOOMSDAY BOOK in 2006, and then fell apart when Han’s film (a retelling of an O. Henry short story) proved to be unworkable. With only two-thirds of the movie completed, it was shelved. Then, after a new influx of cash in 2010, Kim and Yim worked together to complete the movie’s third segment. Now their collaboration about the end of the world is finally ready for the big screen.
Outlining three ways in which the world ends, DOOMSDAY BOOK starts with Yim Pil-Sung’s “A Brave New World,” a rollicking, hilarious tale about rampant pollution that leads to an outbreak of zombie-ism that robs man of even his ability to choose to die. The second short, Kim Ji-Woon’s “The Heavenly Creature” is about a future where robots have become our main source of manual labor. One android, which resides at a Buddhist temple, achieves enlightenment, and the company that produces robot workers realizes that it’s got a crisis on its hands. The movie wraps up with the two directors collaborating on “Happy Birthday,” about a young girl whose wish results in a giant meteor heading straight for the planet Earth. Injecting welcome doses of comedy into three hard science fiction scenarios, this two-fisted dose of apocalypse is the smartest sci-fi flick to hit movie screens all summer. (NYAFF)

Friday September 21, 2012 11:45pm - Saturday September 22, 2012 1:53am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004024

12:00am CDT

Cold Blooded

Charged with the theft of a bag of precious diamonds and the murder of his partner in crime, Cordero is comatose and chained to a hospital bed on an isolated and otherwise empty overflow floor. Officer Jane is the stern, by-the-book policewoman guarding Cordero’s room when he wakes from his coma and immediately claims he was framed in the killing of his partner. The two quickly establish a playful rapport, which is broken when Cordero makes his first escape attempt. His efforts to slip away prove to be the least of Officer Jane’s worries as violent, no-nonsense crime kingpin Louis Holland arrives at the hospital looking for the jewels. Officer Jane finds herself trapped on an empty hospital floor guarding her prisoner and trying to find a way out while Holland is quick to prove he intends to maintain the upper hand.
Director Jason Lapeyre (who comes to Fantastic Fest with this and another film, I DECLARE WAR) squeezes every bit of excitement out of a setup that’s limited in scope but not in cleverness. Combining crime, thriller and some occasional humor elements, COLD BLOODED moves at an incredible pace and is smattered with some seriously violent moments proving that no character can ever be considered safe. Holland is a formidable baddie, a brash hulk of a man who’s unflinchingly evil when anyone stands in his way. Officer Jane is a refreshingly well-rounded female lead character, a woman intent on doing what is right and just, regardless of the cost to her own well being. As the two collide, COLD BLOODED shows how much fun a movie with just a handful of characters in a single location can really be. (Brian Kelley)

Saturday September 22, 2012 12:00am - 1:41am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004013

11:45am CDT

Everybody In Our Family

First and foremost, it should be clear that EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is a film best experienced blind. Innovative, daring and about as original as film can get, the latest offering from the Romanian new wave is something that is better experienced and than read about. If you’re interest is piqued, stop reading and start watching.
The story is simple. Marius, a single dad in his thirties, travels to his ex-wife’s house to pick up his daughter, Sofia, for their annual beach holiday. Upon arrival, he is told by her grandmother and her step father that Sofia is sick and must stay at home with her mother. As Marius’ insistence grows, so do tensions in the household, pushing the situation to unimaginable heights.
Shot in almost real time, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY shows how much can really change for someone over the course of one afternoon. Director Radu Jude’s hyperrealistic style helps to sets the stage for an intense discussion on family values. Drawing the most out of a plethora of incredible performances, he peppers the intensity with a dark and witty humor that resonates through the humanity of the film. As the action builds to a climax, Jude tries his best not to suffocate the audience, presenting the facts for a pure reaction. The result is often as humorous as it is horrific.
Breaking out of any mold that you could possibly put it in, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is not your typical Fantastic Fest fare. It is, however, simply too good and too unique to be ignored. (Michael Lerman)

Saturday September 22, 2012 11:45am - 1:55pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004027

12:00pm CDT

Paris By Night

Phillipe Lefebvre's PARIS BY NIGHT is a sleek French cop thriller that follows a pair of vice cops as they patrol the Parisian club scene over the course of a single evening. Simon Weiss (Roschdy Zem from SLEEPLESS NIGHT and POINT BLANK) plays a suave chain-smoking, hard-drinking cop with the brigade mondaine. Wiess' job is to make sure the Parisian night clubs operate legally, but his methods of enforcing the law are unorthodox. In exchange for cash and crime tips, he doles out favors to numerous club owners, including his friend Tony Garcia (Samuel Le Bihan from BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and FRONTIER(S)). Each night, a different colleague chauffeurs Weiss around Paris. On this particular evening, Sergeant Laurence Deray joins Weiss as his driver. A seemingly normal shift evolves into a long night of beat downs and shake downs.
PARIS BY NIGHT provides a behind-the-scenes look at the seductive and dangerous world of the Parisian club scene. The film is based on the experiences of co-writer Phillipe Asard, who worked with the Paris vice squad for fifteen years. In fact, PARIS BY NIGHT was shot entirely in the same clubs that Asard once worked as a cop. In the film, Weiss and Deray are constantly in motion, weaving in and out of tight-knit network of bars, brothels, and dives. Each stop on the beat introduces the audience to a motley array of characters, ranging from mobsters and drug dealers to hookers and drag queens. Over time, the seemingly routine trips reveal become parts of a puzzle that suggests that Weiss is involved in something far elaborate simple graft and bribery. PARIS BY NIGHT is an intoxicating ride through a seductive world of booze, drugs, and sleaze. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 12:00pm - 1:55pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004048

12:15pm CDT

Besties

Plays with "The Quiet Girl’s Guide to Violence": A victim of childhood bullying decides she will no longer suffer silently in this darkly comic story of revenge and Christmas.
Producer/Co-Writer Jennymarie Jemison and Director/Co-Writer Rafael Antonio Ruiz LIVE in attendance!

Writer/Director Rebecca Cutter Perry and Producers Katherine Hoagland and Linda Miller LIVE in Attendance!

Sandy (Olivia Croicchia) is a high school freshman. She is a self- described loser, an outcast. She is infatuated with a high school senior named Ashley (Madison Riley). Sandy convinces her dad (Corin Nemec) to let Ashley stay over while he is out of town. Ashley takes up the offer on the condition that they secretly hold a party at the house. As the party dies down, Ashley’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Backus) shows up. After a series of disastrous events, he ends up dead and the two girls have to clean up the mess.

BESTIES is the featured debut of writer-director Rebecca Perry Cutter and delivers a smart, clever twist on a familiar coming-of-age thriller formula. The film differentiates itself from the pack by rooting its story in the strange relationship between the two main characters. Ashley is manipulative and self-absorbed. On the other hand, Sandy is a confused naif. She knows that Ashley is manipulating her, but a mixture of admiration and sexual desire keeps her engaged. The film smartly plays off this dynamic to create an atmosphere of awkward tension and suspense. Cutter also injects issues of class into the mix, thus adding an additional layer of subtext to an already loaded scenario. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 12:15pm - 2:16pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004009

12:30pm CDT

Cold Steel

Director David Wu LIVE in attendance!
Bullets show no mercy! War has ravaged China and chaos has reigned in many parts. An elite group of snipers have been assembled to take out enemies and traitors. Mu (Peter Ho), a rather young and naïve hunter, has been drafted to be part of the 204th unit after heroically shooting down enemies during an ambush. Squad leader Zhang (Tony Leung) welcomes him into the brotherhood by assigning him his first official mission. His task is to join the team in taking out four enemy generals and a handful of Chinese traitors. Mu’s recklessness and soft heart begin to cloud his judgment, and even diminish his abilities - as the best snipers need to be emotionally detached. Meanwhile, General Masaya sends some of his best sharp-shooters to retaliate. Whose bullets will speak louder?
Lock and load! Frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu returns with a vengeance and directs one of the most dynamic war films in years. Wu hits bulls-eye after bulls-eye with fast and furious gunfire action with a heavy dose of the kinetic energy from the best 80s Hong Kong action that will undoubtedly kick your adrenaline gland into overdrive. Based on the famous and popular online Chinese novel, Wu improves upon original material with more humor and excitement. Wu is one of the most influential action editors for 40 years starting with Chang Cheh and Lau Kar Leung at Shaw Brothers to Tsui Hark, Ronny Yu and of course John Woo(A BETTER TOMORROW, HARD BOILED is back to assault action cinema. Newcomer actor Peter Ho(upcoming MONKEY KING) brings a breath of fresh air as a leading actor to look forward to in the future, he keeps his performance intense yet funny and charismatic. (King-Wei Chu, Fantasia International Film Festival)

Saturday September 22, 2012 12:30pm - 2:32pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004014

12:45pm CDT

Unit 7

The year is 1987. The location is the Spanish city of Seville. In a few years, people from all over the world will descend on the city for Expo '92. In anticipation of the international publicity, Seville's government initiates wide-sweeping changes, including a plan to flush the streets of drugs and prostitution. Angel (Mario Casas from NEON FLESH), a young cop trying to rise in the ranks, is assigned to the anti-drug squad: the titular Unit 7. Angel is a rube amongst a group of rough vets, including Rafeal (Antonio De La Torre from THE LAST CIRCUS and VOLVER); Miguel (Jose Manuel Poga); and Matthew. The group takes up the mandate to clean up Seville's slums with zealous brutality. Their smash-mouth tactics yield big successes but also create serious problems that may prove beyond the group's ability to control.
Based on real events, UNIT 7 successfully invokes the gritty, character-driven American police thrillers of the 70s. However, instead of simply mimicking other films, Rodriguez adds a fresh spin on the formula. At its core, UNIT 7 is an exploration of the dynamic between four wildly differing personalities operating in an intense pressurized environment. Angel wants to build a career so he can care for his wife and child. Rafael is deeply religious yet extremely violent. Miguel is a bigoted hot head; Matthew is a hypocrite. This intense group dynamic is the source of the film's explosive energy and violence. UNIT 7 is a confident powerful work from a talented director. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 12:45pm - 2:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004060

2:45pm CDT

Hail

Danny (Daniel P. Jones) is released from a Melbourne jail and immediately returns home to his girlfriend Leanne (Jone’s real life partner Leanne Campbell). Though his relationship with Leanne picks right back up where it left off, Danny’s attempts to reintegrate into society are met with resistance at every step of the way. Haunted by the mental and emotional demons of prison and the lifestyle that put him there, he soon resorts to the familiar crutches of alcohol and outbursts of anger to alleviate tension. Danny is able to maintain some amount of control until things begin to fall off the rails, triggered by a visit from Leanne’s heroin dealing friend Anthony.
HAIL is a startling and brutal hybrid film, a semi-autobiographical pastiche of events from Jones’ life and from those of his acquaintances in the criminal world he used to inhabit. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson worked with Jones to piece together a narrative from his memories and cast Jones, Campbell and other real life characters to create HAIL. The result is a gripping experimental film full of a palpable reality. The narrative is as free-flowing and surreal as it is straightforward with scenes of intense grit inter-cut with those of arresting artistic beauty all coupled with an inventive and unforgettable score. It all works thanks to stunning performances from everyone, especially Jones who has spent his entire life preparing for this role.
We at Fantastic Fest certainly do love our crime dramas but HAIL is certain to defy attendees’ expectations of what a film of its kind can be. Like other ultra-realistic films coming out of Australia, HAIL will take you uncomfortably close to the mind and misdeeds of people who have actually lived the kind of lives most of us only see in movies. (Brian Kelley)

Saturday September 22, 2012 2:45pm - 4:58pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004033

3:00pm CDT

Berberian Sound Studio

Gilderoy (Toby Jones) is a fragile audio technician who mostly works on nature documentaries. In 1976, he is summoned from his home in England to work for an Italian production company on an unspecified project. Upon his arrival, Gilderoy learns that has been hired to work on an ultra-violent giallo film called THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX. Under the supervision of director Giancarlo Santini (Antonio Mancino) and producer Francesco Coraggio (Cosimo Fusco), Gilderoy creates audio landscapes full of gibbering goblins, orgasmic witches, and squished heads. Gilderoy’s sense of unease about his job is raised to unbearable levels as his life becomes increasingly similar to THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX.
Films that attempt to replicate the lurid style of Italian giallo films from the ‘60s and ‘70s often mimic the obvious details—colored gel lighting, psychedelic soundscapes and black gloved killers—without going
any deeper. Peter Strickland’s BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO takes an entirely different approach. This is a bizarre atmospheric thriller that digs deep beneath the skin to probe giallo’s bloody beating heart. The titular sound studio provides Strickland with both a means of paying homage to the esoteric details of giallo—particularly the genre’s unique approach to sound design—and a context for Gilderoy’s collapse into madness. Toby Jones delivers an exceptional performance as a naif who is thrust into bizarre world where cinematic horror and reality are inexplicably fused. BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO is truly one of the most unique films of 2012. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 3:00pm - 4:47pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004008

3:15pm CDT

No Rest for the Wicked

Santos Trinidad (José Coronado) is a dirty cop with a violent streak and a serious thirst for rum and Coke. During a drunken binge, he murders three people in a bar. A witness escapes from the building before Santos can catch him. While Santos sets out to kill the witness and cover up his crimes, a judge and the police conduct a investigation into the murders. Santos' hunt for the witness and the parallel police investigation slowly converge to reveal a massive criminal conspiracy that no one involved could have ever anticipated.
Enrique Urbizu's NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) is a briskly paced thriller that deftly juggles intertwining plot lines with surprising and explosive results. The film swept the 2012 Goya Awards—the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars—with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound. The accolades are well deserved because NO REST FOR THE WICKED is amongst the strongest thrillers to emerge from Spain—or anywhere else—in the past few years. The film's secret weapon is José Coronado, who delivers an award-winning performance as a completely despicable cop. Focusing a film on such an unlikeable character is a risky move, but Coronado handles the role with menacing precision. An American remake of the film is already in the works—Sylvester Stallone has expressed serious interest—so now is the time to get ahead of the curve and experience the power of the original NO REST FOR THE WICKED. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 3:15pm - 5:14pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004046

3:15pm CDT

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day's appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.
A film that's far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.
An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Saturday September 22, 2012 3:15pm - 5:26pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004038

3:45pm CDT

Taped

Plays with "Crush the Skull": It's too familiar of a scenario for a young couple who break down on a desolate road and an ominous stranger shows up out of nowhere to assist them.
Director/Co-Writer Viet Nguyen and Producer/Co-Writer Chris Dinh LIVE in attendance!

Johan and Saar are a couple in trouble. Their marriage on the rocks, the couple have left their daughter at home and hit the road, returning to the site of the Argentinean honeymoon in a desperate last attempt to recapture the spirit of their relationship and save their marriage. This is it for them. Should this trip fail their marriage is at an end. What Johan and Saar never suspected, however, is that this trip could be the end of them, period.
In a classic case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ the couple not only witness a shooting, they capture it on camera. Even worse, the shooter is a police officer and his target left dead in the street. Worse still, they were spotted on the scene. And suddenly their idyllic vacation spot has become a terrifying trap, the couple chased through a hostile environment unable to communicate with the locals and unable to trust any of the authorities they would normally be able to turn to for help. If they do not find their way to safety before being tracked down by the shooter then Johan and Saar will surely become his next victims.
A lean, taut thriller anchored by stellar performances from Barry Atsma and Susan Visser, TAPED takes a simple premise and works it out to its logical extreme. It is a film that takes the primal, irrational fear of being someplace unknown and suggests that the fear may not be irrational after all. Director Diederik Van Rooijen finds just the right balance between style and grit, tension and character as he delivers a thriller that Hollywood has already snapped up for remake. Here’s your chance to see the original version first. (Todd Brown)

Saturday September 22, 2012 3:45pm - 5:29pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004057

5:45pm CDT

Outrage Beyond

In the five years that have passed since the events of Takeshi Kitano’s OUTRAGE, the Sanno crime family has grown into a huge organization, expanding its power into politics and legitimate big business. Exasperated at the Sanno’s rapidly increasing eminence, the police force prepares for a full-scale crackdown on this huge yakuza syndicate. The Sanno’s upper ranks are now dominated by young executives, and the old-guard members are filled with resentment while being pushed to the sidelines. This vulnerable spot in the Sanno hierachy is exactly what anti-gang detective Kataoka has been looking for.
The police decide to take advantage of a situation concerning them and their supposed ally in the western region, the Hanabishi. Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata), devises a plot to set the delicately balanced allies against each other. He also reveals an appalling truth about Otomo (Beat Takeshi), a yakuza who was supposedly killed in jail during the last war, but is indeed alive. Kataoka plans to use Otomo as his trump card and arranged his early release on parole to be used as leverage to annihilate the yakuza. As the police force carrying out their plot and two organizations plunging themselves into a conflict, what move will Otomo make?

Saturday September 22, 2012 5:45pm - 7:52pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004047

6:00pm CDT

My Amityville Horror

Plays with "Séance": Alice and Daniel are married and expecting their first child. They just bought nice little house for their new family. Chris, Alice's sister, has just moved in as well. Unfortunately, the house appears to be haunted. They host a seance party to cast the spirit out. It awakens something...
Director Zachary Beckler and Producer Susan Williams LIVE in attendance!

Director Eric Walter and Producers Andrea Adams and Christine Irons will be LIVE in attendance!
One of the most famous hauntings in American paranormal lore is that of the Lutz family home in Amityville, New York. In addition to the forensic facts of the catalytic DeFeo murders, the supernatural particulars of what befell the Lutz family in that twenty-eight day period in 1975 have been sensationalized and immortalized on film, a but doubts have lingered as to the validity of the Lutz’s claims. My Amityville Horror offers to the curious the extremely rare privilege of a firsthand account of life inside the Lutz house during those fateful days. Daniel Lutz, a man whose entire life has been inexorably altered by his brief stay in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, finally speaks. His words of contempt for his stepfather George pour with icy conviction like the reported blood from the walls of the house. He is reunited with the mediums who investigated the haunting and even walks the streets of his old neighborhood once more; still pursued by the ghosts of bad memories. To date, he is the only child of the ill-fated Lutz family to come forward. Through a combination of interviews and archival footage and photographs, My Amityville Horror explores a familiar story with fresh perspective.
There is a temptation as an audience member to approach My Amityville Horror as a fleeting thrill, a chance to mine the last goosebumps of a gimmicky campfire story. Director Eric Walter is not possessed of so exploitative an intent. My Amityville Horror is an intensely human story about how the demons of our past, be they of this world or the next, fundamentally shape our futures. Daniel Lutz’s shattered world, his perpetually darkening outlook, and his violent resentment of his own existence is every bit as frightening as his stories of levitating beds and ghostly visions. (Brian Salisbury)

Saturday September 22, 2012 6:00pm - 7:58pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004044

6:15pm CDT

Plan C

Plays with "Sugar":

Director Max Porcelijn, Actor Ruben van der Meer, and DP Coen Stroeve will be LIVE in attendance!
Detective Ronald Plasmeyer is good at coming up with plans. The problem is that he’s bad at coming up with good plans. This is a particularly significant problem given the large Asian men who turned up for a ‘chat’ with Ronald’s estranged wife and young son over the money he owes them.
It’s not that Ronald doesn’t want to repay the debt, it’s just that ten thousand Euro is a lot on a policeman’s salary. Plan A involved winning at poker. But poker is how he racked up the debt in the first place so – no surprise – Plan A just makes the problem worse. Plan B? Well, since Ronald can’t win at poker why not steal a tournament’s worth of poker winnings, instead? But Ronald is even worse at hiring henchmen than he is at making plans and that goes spectacularly badly. And now Ronald is on the run and desperately in need of a good Plan C.
A deliciously dry and slyly absurd comedy, Max Porcelijn’s PLAN C captures a train wreck in slow motion, a Coen-esque tale of criminal ineptitude. Ruben van der Meer anchors the film with his nuanced, understated, and very funny central performance as Plasmeyer.
A weak willed and deeply passive man Plasmeyer as played by van der Meer is the world’s least likely criminal mastermind. This is, of course, entirely the point and Porcelijn takes great delight in letting the dominos fall as this incompetent cop proves to be an equally incompetent robber. As the chaos swirls ever higher Plasmeyer remains in the eye of the hurricane, not so much a beacon of strength but an icon of confusion and indecision. (Todd Brown)

Saturday September 22, 2012 6:15pm - 8:14pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004049

6:30pm CDT

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning 3D

Saturday September 22, 2012 6:30pm - 8:39pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004071

6:45pm CDT

Come Out And Play

Beth and Francis, a young married couple, are on holiday together when they venture to a beautiful, but highly remote, island. Beth is pregnant and the two are hoping to enjoy their last vacation before their baby is born. When they arrive, they notice that while there are plenty of children present, the adults all seem to be missing. Initially attributing this to the after effects of a recent festival, they quickly realize something far more sinister is afoot. The two will face terror and unsettling difficult decisions in their quest to make it off the island alive.
Makinov’s remake of the 1976 Spanish horror film WHO CAN KILL A CHILD upholds much of the disturbing content and genuinely affecting narrative subtleties of the original film without muddying its own identity. In remaking the film, Makinov skillfully captures the timeless horror of the original story’s stark, deeply morally troubling themes. It makes us FEEL the ethical questions posed throughout the narrative, that pit our survival instinct against our sense of decency.
Likewise, the underlying tensions and ambivalences of impending parenthood, explored so deftly in the original are upheld in this translation, counterbalancing that which could otherwise play as exploitation. However, COME OUT AND PLAY simultaneously delivers the goods in terms of shocks and gore. There is plenty here to appeal to both the reasoned and primitive sides of our brains. The performances by leads Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Vinessa Shaw are sincere and empathetic to the point of palpable heartache. We watch them commit heinous acts of violence, but for all of it we cannot muster judgment given their unbearable circumstances. Tension blossoms from unexpected places and grows at a rapid pace until it achieves an absolute stranglehold on the audience. COME OUT AND PLAY is a sterling example of a horror remake done right and its final moments are a testament to the genre’s continuing ability to shock and challenge us. (Brian Salisbury)

Saturday September 22, 2012 6:45pm - 8:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004018

9:00pm CDT

The ABC’s Of Death

Directors Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Ernesto Diaz Espinosa, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Ti West, Yudai Yamaguchi and Thomas Malling LIVE in attendance!

Twenty-six directors. Twenty-six ways to die. And now...it’s finally here! Featuring a heavy-hitting lineup of Fantastic Fest alumni, THE ABC’S OF DEATH will make its long-awaited debut in what promises to be one of the biggest events in the history of the festival! Inspired by old-timey children’s alphabet primers, this anthology—the most ambitious ever produced—assigns one letter and one method of death each to 26 leading filmmakers, from 15 different countries. Given free creative reign and a fixed budget to design whatever method of death they liked, the resulting films are hilarious, viscerally shocking, ridiculous, and incredibly original, with nearly every inappropriate subject you can imagine. Baby death? Got it. Genital trauma? Sure.

Mass murder? Definitely. Animal abuse? Uh-huh. Dismemberment? Oh, yeah. Nudity? More than you probably want to see. Child abuse? Of course! Defecation? Just a wee bit. Plus...Nazis, serial killers, insects, earthquakes, monsters, arterial blood-sprays, robots, samurai, and more toilets than should probably be in any one movie. And the filmmaking styles? Everything you could hope for: animation, slow motion, fast motion, first-person storytelling, heavy dialogue, dialogue-free, furry cosplay and everything in-between. You will not find a wilder, more diverse, vibrant and exciting collection of films on a film festival program this year.

We’re extremely excited to unveil our new baby on our home turf, since it’s the first original project Drafthouse Films has ever co-produced, along with partners Magnet Releasing and Timpson Films. Join us in the dark, grab a beverage, and prepare to learn your alphabet all over again. THE ABC’S OF DEATH is intended to be a shocking, over-the- top roller coaster ride of a movie, and a truly international project, bringing to the world the best of genre filmmaking with all boundaries removed and sick, twisted creativity given free reign. We hope you like it. And we hope you teach your children about it, too. (Marc Walkow)

Saturday September 22, 2012 9:00pm - 11:24pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004004

9:15pm CDT

Wake in Fright

Director Ted Kotcheff will be LIVE in attendance!
When Mark Hartley’s Oz-ploitation documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD was making the festival rounds a couple years back, there were many salacious titles that sent collectors scurrying for their P2P sites. But one in particular, one that Hartley claimed was the impetus for Australia’s signature brand of outback horror, would prove especially elusive... until now! Long considered a lost film due to its unavailability on home video or broadcast, this new 35mm print from the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia lets contemporary audiences see why WAKE IN FRIGHT is such a pioneering cornerstone in the development of the Australian genre film.
John Grant (Gary Bond) is a schoolteacher stationed reluctantly in a desolate outback town. As the Christmas holiday approaches, his dreams of a surfing vacation back in Sydney with his beach-bunny girlfriend are disrupted when he stops over for the night in the one-horse mining community of Bundanyabba , or “the Yabba” — a town that won’t be so easy to leave. It’s clear from the outset that the Yabba moves to its own rules and rhythms, a rhythm punctuated by the sputtering of draught pumps, clinking beer glasses, the ringing of cash registers and gruff, bawdy sing-songs. John’s determination to remain aloof is challenged at every turn by sweaty country folk for whom not sharing in loud displays of drunken idiocy is considered a grave slight. When he relents, participating in a penny-tossing gambling match in which he quickly loses all his money, he finds himself at the mercy of the town’s “aggressive hospitality,” effectively stranded there. He falls in with the town’s most boisterous good ol’ boys, including then-unknown Jack Thompson (on the verge of regional stardom) and a disturbingly sex-obsessed Donald Pleasence. During one of many drunken binges, John brags about being a target-shooting medalist, which leads to the film’s epic, highly controversial kangaroo-hunting sequence, which utilizes graphic footage from an actual licensed pursuit. While dread is palpable throughout the film, it is through these scenes that John’s physical and moral degradation is cemented. (Kier-la Janisse)

Saturday September 22, 2012 9:15pm - 11:24pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003833

9:30pm CDT

The Exorcist in the 21st Century

Director Fredrik Horn and producer Christian Falch LIVE in attendance!
It has been done so many times now that it has become cliché, eyes simply rolling and glazing over when the ‘Based on a true story’ tag scrolls across the screen to add gravity to the latest Hollywood concocted tale of demonic possession. But THE EXORCIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY really is the true story, a detailed and nuanced documentary of highly specialized priests – real life Vatican-approved exorcists – and the people who seek out their services.
Filmmaker Fredrik Horn Akselsen has been granted a remarkable degree of access to tell this story, presenting information and first hand experiences in a steady, even hand that leaves the audience free to draw their own conclusions. He meets with believers in the phenomenon as well as skeptics, both inside and outside of the church. But mostly he tells his story through two people.
First, there is Father Jose Antonio Fortea, a Roman Catholic priest based in Madrid. Father Fortea first rose to prominence as the author of Summa Daemoniaca, a treatise on the history of demonology throughout Catholic history including, yes, a manual of Catholic rites of exorcism. Father Fortea has become known around the world as an expert on the topic, traveling to speak about demonology around the world and – as one of a small group of Catholic priests approved by the Vatican to perform exorcisms – he very definitely practices what he preaches.
And then there is Constanza - an articulate, university educated Colombian woman who sincerely believes she is demon possessed and is seeking out the help of Fortea or any other priest who may free her of her affliction.
Akselsen tells these stories with a minimum of fuss and bother, choosing to let the day to day life of the men who live out this very unusual vocation be the story rather than attempting to embellish for shock value. It makes for fascinating viewing. (Todd Brown)

Saturday September 22, 2012 9:30pm - 11:05pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004028

9:30pm CDT

Pusher

Director Luis Prieto and actor Agyness Deyn will be LIVE in attendance!

Saturday September 22, 2012 9:30pm - 11:14pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004050

9:35pm CDT

Crave

Plays with "Chilly": As the heat rises in a stuffy hotel room, a talking ice cube pitches the wonders of modern refrigeration to a strangely distracted man.
Director Dylan Kohler LIVE in attendance!

Director Charles de Lauzirika and actor Josh Lawson LIVE in attendane!
Aiden is a crime scene photographer who trolls the streets of Detroit in search of prime subjects with the help of a hardened homicide cop named Pete. In addition to being obsessed with photos of dead women, Aiden is prone to perverse revenge fantasies. Despite his unhinged behavior, he stumbles into a tryst with his neighbor Virginia, who is on the rebound from a relationship with a dirtbag named Ravi. As Aiden tries to keep his tenuous relationship with Emma alive, his delusions become more pronounced and he begins to act out his fantasies in the streets of Detroit.
CRAVE is an impressive first feature from Charles de Lauzirika, who cut his teeth directing and producing content for numerous DVDs such as BLADE RUNNER and ALIEN3. With CRAVE, Lauzirika turns his considerable skills to crafting a multi-layered, darkly humorous thriller. The screenplay is based on a story by Robert Lawton, and recalls a twisted mix of Chuck Palahniuk and Paul Schrader. Although there are numerous precedents for this kind of story, CRAVE molds these ideas into something fresh and original. In depicting Aiden's demented world view, CRAVE pierces the fourth wall numerous times, relies heavily on fractured internal dialogue, and deploys tricky tonal shifts. Lauzirika pulls off this complex high-wire act with confidence and style. (Rodney Perkins)

Saturday September 22, 2012 9:35pm - 11:48pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004020

10:00pm CDT

The Conspiracy

Plays with "88:88": Val has lost control of her life. Those around her deny the reality of the extraordinary experiences she feels powerless against. Realizing she must stand alone, she has only one remaining option - to find a way to fight back.

Director Christopher MacBride, producer Lee Kim, actor/producer Aaron Poole, cinematographer Ian Anderson, and actor Jim Gilbert LIVE in attendance!
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying...
And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)

Saturday September 22, 2012 10:00pm - 11:53pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004019

12:00am CDT

Vegetarian Cannibal

Plays with "The Recipe": After a boy is confronted with death for the first time, he turns to his imagination for protection and understanding.
Director Jason Noto and Producer Rory Kindersley LIVE in attendance!

Dr. Danko Babić (Rene Bitorajac) is a studly gynecologist with a lust for life. Snorting drugs, having sex, and playing the drums are as routine for him as delivering babies or performing abortions. A crooked cop (Leon Lučev) introduces Babić to a crime boss (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who offers him a sweet deal: perform illegal abortions to a stable of high-end prostitutes in exchange for fast cash. He accepts the offer and is soon faced with series of decisions that test the limits of his already questionable ethics.
Branko Schmidt’s VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is an indictment of corruption in Croatian society. Babić, whose profession is supposedly one of health and healing, is used as a prism through which analyze the ills of the entire nation. Babić is a cocky manipulator with a complete disregard for laws and ethics. Babić blasts his way through a series of dilemmas and makes the bad choice every time. It is hard to fault him however, because his transgressions are continually rewarded with money, power, and sex. Despite the film’s focus on social ills, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL isn’t simply dour agit-prop. It’s very affecting, albeit in an extremely negative way. What’s more, the film boasts some scenes that will test the tolerance of even the most hardened viewers. In other words, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is right at home at Fantastic Fest. (Rodney Perkins)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:00am - 1:44am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004062

12:05am CDT

Tai Chi 0

Set during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), when China’s once mighty empire was temporarily overshadowed by the scientific and technological innovations of the West, Tai Chi 0 is a funky, steampunk-infused chronicle of the origins of Tai Chi. Reinventing the martial arts genre with a style influenced by the dazzling colours and dynamism of Japanese animation and videogame graphics, actor-turned-director Stephen Fung gathers an all-star cast (including Shu Qi and Tony Leung Kar-fai) to tell the tale of Yang Luchuan, the master who developed the "Yang style" form of tai chi.

Cursed with an abnormal, fleshy bulge protruding from his forehead, Yang Luchuan (played by the spectacular new martial arts star Yuan Xiaochao, gold medalist at the 2006 Asian Games) is considered the town fool. Following the wishes of his late mother (Shu Qi), Yang travels to the remote village of Chen to learn tai chi, the only thing that can stop the growth on his forehead from developing into a life-threatening affliction. Although met with hostility from the villagers, Yang is determined to become a disciple of the legendary Master Chen (Tony Leung Kar-fai), and engages in a series of combat trials to prove his worth — only to be defeated by everyone in the village (including old ladies and children), as well as Chen’s beautiful daughter Yuniang (Angelababy).

But Yang gets another chance to display his courage to Yuniang by taking on another challenge: not a human opponent but a steam-powered machine, a Western invention that threatens to bring a railroad through the village and annihilate its sacred cultural heritage. The first installment of a trilogy designed to revisit the fundamentals of Chinese culture, Tai Chi 0 combines spectacular visuals and stunning fight choreography (courtesy of the great Sammo Hung) with a delightful retro-futuristic twist on the traditional martial arts hero narrative. The result is a rollercoaster ride of a movie, a cheeky tribute to tradition that boldly revolutionizes the genre for the twenty-first century. (Giovanna Fulvi, program note courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:05am - 2:00am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004056

12:15am CDT

Tebana Sankichi: Snot Rockets

Director Yudai Yamaguchi and Producer Masaru Yabe wil be LIVE in attendance!
In 1995, before they joined forces to help create the low-budget Japanese action classic Versus, writer / director Yudai Yamaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Cromartie High School, Meatball Machine, Yakuza Weapon) and actor / action choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Death Trance, Shinobi) teamed up to create a crazy, independent short film called Snot Rockets & Super Detective. Now, 17 years later, the pair have joined forces again to reboot a brand-new, feature-length version of the short, and it’s even more lunatic and unpredictable than what came before.
Tak stars as Tebana Sankichi—lover of women, rescuer of the fallen, sometime private detective, wayward son, homeless bum, celebrity, bullied child, spoiled rich kid, and fighting master. In what can politely be described as a “loose episodic comedy,” we follow Sankichi’s increasingly bizarre adventures across space and time, and his long-suffering partnership with “Twice” Shiro, his bespectacled, put-upon partner, as well as the efforts of a hard-working postman trying to deliver a very important letter to him.
Shot across the globe in Tokyo, Yubari, Philadelphia, New York, and even in Austin during Fantastic Fest 2011, TEBANA SANKICHI: SNOT ROCKETS is now bigger, longer, and packs more power per inch than ever before. Careening recklessly from suicide humor to Tora-san references to traditional New Year’s Day television greetings to horror homage and yakuza movie references, it’s a film guaranteed to wear the audience out with its relentless pace, and make you cry "mercy!" A radical departure from anything the filmmakers have done in the past few years, and produced on a shoestring budget, TEBANA SANKICHI is a demonstration of how much Yudai and Tak continue to push the boundaries of the action/comedy film, and is their latest shot across the bow of good taste and good judgment. Watch it if you dare! (Marc Walkow)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:15am - 1:49am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004058

11:45am CDT

No Rest for the Wicked

Santos Trinidad (José Coronado) is a dirty cop with a violent streak and a serious thirst for rum and Coke. During a drunken binge, he murders three people in a bar. A witness escapes from the building before Santos can catch him. While Santos sets out to kill the witness and cover up his crimes, a judge and the police conduct a investigation into the murders. Santos' hunt for the witness and the parallel police investigation slowly converge to reveal a massive criminal conspiracy that no one involved could have ever anticipated.
Enrique Urbizu's NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) is a briskly paced thriller that deftly juggles intertwining plot lines with surprising and explosive results. The film swept the 2012 Goya Awards—the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars—with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound. The accolades are well deserved because NO REST FOR THE WICKED is amongst the strongest thrillers to emerge from Spain—or anywhere else—in the past few years. The film's secret weapon is José Coronado, who delivers an award-winning performance as a completely despicable cop. Focusing a film on such an unlikeable character is a risky move, but Coronado handles the role with menacing precision. An American remake of the film is already in the works—Sylvester Stallone has expressed serious interest—so now is the time to get ahead of the curve and experience the power of the original NO REST FOR THE WICKED. (Rodney Perkins)

Sunday September 23, 2012 11:45am - 1:44pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004046

11:45am CDT

Hail

Danny (Daniel P. Jones) is released from a Melbourne jail and immediately returns home to his girlfriend Leanne (Jone’s real life partner Leanne Campbell). Though his relationship with Leanne picks right back up where it left off, Danny’s attempts to reintegrate into society are met with resistance at every step of the way. Haunted by the mental and emotional demons of prison and the lifestyle that put him there, he soon resorts to the familiar crutches of alcohol and outbursts of anger to alleviate tension. Danny is able to maintain some amount of control until things begin to fall off the rails, triggered by a visit from Leanne’s heroin dealing friend Anthony.
HAIL is a startling and brutal hybrid film, a semi-autobiographical pastiche of events from Jones’ life and from those of his acquaintances in the criminal world he used to inhabit. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson worked with Jones to piece together a narrative from his memories and cast Jones, Campbell and other real life characters to create HAIL. The result is a gripping experimental film full of a palpable reality. The narrative is as free-flowing and surreal as it is straightforward with scenes of intense grit inter-cut with those of arresting artistic beauty all coupled with an inventive and unforgettable score. It all works thanks to stunning performances from everyone, especially Jones who has spent his entire life preparing for this role.
We at Fantastic Fest certainly do love our crime dramas but HAIL is certain to defy attendees’ expectations of what a film of its kind can be. Like other ultra-realistic films coming out of Australia, HAIL will take you uncomfortably close to the mind and misdeeds of people who have actually lived the kind of lives most of us only see in movies. (Brian Kelley)

Sunday September 23, 2012 11:45am - 1:58pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004033

12:00pm CDT

Vanishing Waves

Lukas's life is going pretty well. He's living with Lina, his girlfriend of several years and she's supportive of Lukas's work despite the grueling schedule. His hard work is paying off as the research team he's a part of is getting ready to start its first human trials with a new technology he helped to develop; one that will allow thoughts to be transferred digitally from one person to another. Lukas has volunteered to be the receiver, having already completed experiments receiving thought signals from a computer. But this is the real test; an actual transfer of thoughts from a comatose patient directly into Lukas's brain. The reduced brain activity of a comatose patient should offer a more manageable amount data for the system to track and transfer. The experiment is setup as a double blind test, meaning that Lukas will have no knowledge of the comatose patient, just as the patient has no knowledge of Lukas. The digital system is set up like a one-way street. Information passes from the source to Lukas but cannot go the opposite direction, meaning that interactivity is not possible. Instead it simply serves as a window through which Lukas can view the patient's thoughts.
Despite a few false starts, the system works perfectly, though the presence of another person in the thoughts is a surprise, one that Lukas decides to keep to himself to avoid controversy that could terminate the experiments. He's fascinated and awe-struck by the clarity and depth of the brain activity he is experiencing, though it's unclear if they're current thoughts or dreams or memories. The other person he continues to see is also a mystery, though an enticing one that slowly takes over Lukas's every waking thought. As he is drawn more and more into the life of the patient, he finds himself willing to sacrifice almost anything to continue the experiments and discover the truth.
Vanishing Waves is a powerful sci-fi drama, with roots in films like The Cell and Inception while also calling to mind elements of Almodovar's Talk to Her. The film features beautiful cinematography along with a fantastic score that perfectly underscore a great story. Modern, slick and stylish, VANISHING WAVES is an incredible cinematic journey that will draw you in and keep you wanting more. (Luke Mullen)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:00pm - 2:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004061

12:15pm CDT

Young Gun in the Time

Step aside Dirk Gently, there’s a new private eye in town. There’s no case too big, too small or too odd for Young Gun. The frizzy haired, wispy moustached, Hawaiian shirted PI takes his work seriously. Pay no mind to his tarted up secretary/taskmaster or to the fact that his master of gadgets also happens to run a sex shop. Ignore also that his choice of attire hints at a deep admiration for MAGNUM PI. When you hire Young Gun the job gets done.
Which is precisely why Song Hyun – a cute young museum researcher – wants to hire him. There’s a watch that needs finding and it’s possessor needs killing. He turns the girl down of course – Young Gun is no hitman – but his curiosity is piqued enough for Young Gun to follow Song out of the office, witnessing her attempted kidnapping and subsequent death in the street. But when he visits the museum where Song works, Young Gun finds her there very much alive. Clearly there is only one explanation: The Song who came to Young Gun’s office was a future Song, having traveled back in time. And that seals it. Young Gun is on the job.
Director Oh Young-doo created something of a sensation with his debut feature, a sci-fi comedy titled INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI that won acclaim and awards around the world despite being shot on a budget of just five thousand dollars. Bigger job offers rolled in following the success of BIKINI but Oh turned them all down, preferring to tell his own stories with his own cast and crew. Having boosted the budget of his sophomore film up to a whopping thirty grand Oh has brought back the entire ALIEN BIKINI cast for a rollicking, incredibly ambitious second go-round that firmly cements his reputation as an auteur of low budget sci-fi. While the budget may be small the ideas and talent are huge. (Todd Brown)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:15pm - 2:05pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004065

12:30pm CDT

Lee’s Adventure

Li Xianje is a video game-loving slacker, who coasts through life at his own pace, thanks to a rare condition known as Temporal Dilation Disorder. TDD causes time to pass more slowly than for everybody else - minutes feel like days, a day like an entire lifetime. It proves a lonely existence until he meets the beautiful Wang Qian, who shares his affliction. However, when a tragic car accident snatches her away, Li will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the woman he loves. Perhaps a mysterious video game is the answer - a game rumoured to hold the secret to time travel. If he can beat the game, he might just be able to save Wang Qian.
Adapted from a hit animated short that appeared online in 2009, director Li Yang teams up with TV ad man Frant Gwo to expand his unique, frenetic vision into a feature-length blend of live action, hand drawn animation, epic CGI landscapes, crude cut-outs and East-meets-West pop culture iconography. Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts legend Jackie Chan, stars as bewildered, heart-broken "Devotion Lee", who must become the kind of ass-kicking name-taking hero he's only experienced in video games, if he is to succeed in his mission.
The result is a wholly unique and exhilarating experience, a gorgeous visual odyssey packed with comedy and adventure, that remains, at its core, a beautifully touching quest for love played out with the unabashed romanticism only Asian Cinema can get away with. At a time when China is spewing out nothing but nationalistic period dramas and crass consumerist rom-coms, LEE’S ADVENTURE proves fantasy, sci-fi and imagination are still alive and kicking in the Mainland. (James Marsh)

Sunday September 23, 2012 12:30pm - 2:16pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004041

2:30pm CDT

Room 237

Director Rodney Ascher will be LIVE in attendance!
Stanley Kubrick's Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's novel THE SHINING is rightly regarded as one of the best horror films ever made. While cinephiles admire THE SHINING for its iconic performances, dread-inducing atmospherics, and technical precision, others appreciate the film on an entirely different level. These fans see the film as a subversive commentary on such disparate topics as: the mass murder of the American Indians, Nazism, numerology, the rise of Western civilization, Freudian analysis, and the Apollo 11 moon landing "hoax." Rodney Ascher's ROOM 237 gathers five of these Kubrick obsessives and weaves their bizarre—and often incredulous—ideas into a thought-provoking exploration of the extreme boundaries of subtextual analysis and conspiratorial thinking.
ROOM 237 is radical in both content and construction. The film deploys a style that has more in common with the work of Chris Marker and other experimentalists than traditional documentaries. ROOM 237 is structured in nine parts, each of which is built around a specific theme invoked by the interviewees. The film's five subjects are identified by name but never physically appear onscreen. We only hear their voices as they relay their thoughts. In addition to using original footage, Ascher appropriates clips from numerous films—including Kubrick's works—, cartoons, and newsreels. This mélange of material is expertly edited into a hypnotic flurry of wild ideas and startling images that challenges the limits of the audience's belief.
ROOM 237 raises provocative questions about THE SHINING and Kubrick's overall artistic—and perhaps political—goals. What really lies behind the door to Room 237? This is a question that may never be fully answered. (Rodney Perkins)

Sunday September 23, 2012 2:30pm - 4:27pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004051

2:45pm CDT

Errors of the Human Body

Plays with "Advantageous": Gwen is the spokesperson for a radical technology allowing people to overcome their natural disadvantages. But when her job and family are in crisis, will she undergo the procedure herself?
Director Jennifer Phang, Actor/Co-Producer Jacqueline Kim, and Technical Director Jon Destoppeleire will be LIVE in attendance!

Director Eron Sheean and actor Michael Eklund LIVE in attendance!
While it is very tempting to refer to Eron Sheean’s ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY as a sci-fi thriller, that would simply not be accurate. Because while it is very much a fictional story that revolves around science, the science in this film – shot on location at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – is all as real as can be. Call it a scientific thriller, if you will, with all of the science grounded in reality.
THE DIVIDE screenwriter Sheean makes his feature directing debut following a string of acclaimed shorts with ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, the story of geneticist Dr Geoff Burton obsessively struggling to find a cure for the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son years before. Though brilliant, his obsessions and often unorthodox working methods have left Burton’s career in a shambles, forcing him to relocate to Germany to continue his work.
It seems a promising move at first, a well equipped lab with a sympathetic administration and a former student in a key position, but Burton is soon swept up into a web of deceit and jealousy when he discovers that his former student may have found the solution he has searched for – and another researcher may be stealing it.
An icily precise thriller anchored by a subtle, nuanced performance from Michael Eklund (THE DIVIDE, THE DAY), with support from indie faves Karoline Herfurth (PERFUME, WE ARE THE NIGHT) and Tomas Lemarquis (NOI THE ALBINO), ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY offers up a surprisingly human take on science, a story ultimately more concerned with its characters than the tools they wield. It is a refreshing, yet challenging approach. (Todd Brown)

Sunday September 23, 2012 2:45pm - 5:04pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004026

3:00pm CDT

Flicker

Backberga has gone dark, its power supply crashing to the ground – literally – just outside of town. This has been happening a lot lately. Not by any fault of the local electrical engineers or struggling local telecom company Unicom. No, it’s the group of radical, anti-radiowave anarchists who keep blowing things up. Not even Unicom’s freshly created superhero mascot can stop them.
Swedish writer-director Patrik Eklund has won international acclaim – and an Oscar nomination – for his previous short films thanks to his wickedly sharp wit and drily understated sense of humor. Those factors are once again in full effect with Eklund’s debut feature, FLICKER.
Though the plot of FLICKER has plenty to draw you in, the real strength of the film lies in its characters. The put-upon accountant who dreams of a more romantic, Ted Danson-style love life. The cleaning woman terrified of spiders. Unicom’s hysterically incompetent IT department. Eklund is an absolute master of wedding the mundane to the absurd because, to his eyes, there is little to no difference between the two. But Eklund is not content to just poke fun. No, as silly as these people are he loves them all and FLICKER accomplishes the remarkable task of finding the humanity in each of them.
A slyly observed gem of a film, FLICKER announces Eklund as a director who could be a sort of surrogate Coen Brother, should he ever choose to go that route. Eklund certainly shares the Coen’s gift for observation and their appreciation of the absurd, but Eklund’s obvious love for his characters stands in stark contrast to the lurking cynicism of most who walk this road, and marks him as a truly unique voice. (Todd Brown)

Sunday September 23, 2012 3:00pm - 4:54pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004030

3:20pm CDT

I Declare War

Director Rob Wilson and producer Lewin Webb will be LIVE in attendance!
Every afternoon, several 13-year-olds congregate in the woods to play the game of “war.” Using their imaginations, they transform sticks into sub-machine guns and water balloons into grenades to practice their combat abilities. Legendary for his tactical mind, the young PK is a pure General in the making. The only thing he cares more about than winning a battle is his best friend Kwon, a long time ally who frequents PK’s house for sleepovers and screenings of PATTON after their various victories. In an effort to defeat the illustrious PK, the ruthless General Skinner kidnaps Kwon with the intention and torturing him for information. Little does Skinner know that PK will do anything to get his best friend back and before they know it, a diverse band of soldiers that includes a priest, a bully and a mysterious girl sets off for battle in the war to end all wars.
If this sounds like a joke, it’s not. Director Jason Lapeyre treats what could quickly become a dismissive satire with incredible sincerity. Putting us inside of the minds of his young protagonists, Lapeyre creates a world in which we see children attack each other with everything from heavy artillery to laser eyeballs, while all the while keeping the focus on their basic adolescent conflicts. Utilizing a cast of extremely talented child actors, the film contains very real depictions of bullying, teenage crushes and fickle friendships, making the movie as much about adolescence as it is about warfare. Winner of the top prize at this year’s Action Fest, I DECLARE WAR is a one-of-a-kind action pic with an incredible twist. (Michael Lerman)

Sunday September 23, 2012 3:20pm - 5:06pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004039

3:30pm CDT

Henge + The Big Gun

A double shot from one of Japan’s brightest – and strangest – young directors, THE BIG GUN and HENGE prove that the country that spawned iconic talents like Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinya Tsukamoto isn’t done yet.
With his twenty minute short film THE BIG GUN, Ohata captures Japan at its economic worst, the crumbling economy leaving the residents of a small town completely on their own as employer after employer shuts down. In the face of financial ruin, the owner of a local ironworks and his brother have no choice but to accept an offer from local gangsters to design and construct bargain handguns. Things do not end well.
Ohata was silent for some time following THE BIG GUN’s completion in 2008 but returned to screens this year with the longer, more ambitious offering HENGE. Part domestic drama, part creature feature, HENGE wears its influences on its blood-soaked sleeve, and while some parts may feel familiar, the way they’re assembled is utterly unique.
HENGE tells the story of a marriage on the rocks, the husband afflicted with strange fits that he says feels as if some strange creature is trying to burst out of him. This bad scenario becomes even worse when the wife must acknowledge that she cannot care for her husband – who she still loves – and must send him away. But when he escapes and returns – looking not for vengeance but for shelter – both must confront the truth that his description of his fits is in fact a reality and his days as a human are rapidly coming to an end. An enormously ambitious micro budget effort, HENGE shows the sort of raw power that hasn’t been seen from Japan since the original TETSUO. (Todd Brown)

Sunday September 23, 2012 3:30pm - 5:31pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004035

5:45pm CDT

The Shining: Forwards and Backwards

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel than a complete reimagining of it from the inside out. In King's book, the Overlook Hotel is a haunted place that takes possession of its off-season caretaker and provokes him to murderous rage against his wife and young son. Kubrick's movie is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer, who's settled in for a long winter's hibernation. As many have pointed out, King's protagonist goes mad, but Kubrick's Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is Looney Tunes from the moment we meet him--all arching eyebrows and mischievous grin. (Both Nicholson and Shelley Duvall reach new levels of hysteria in their performances, driven to extremes by the director's fanatical demands for take after take after take.) The Shining is terrifying--but not in the way fans of the novel might expect. When it was redone as a TV miniseries (reportedly because of King's dissatisfaction with the Kubrick film), the famous topiary-animal attack (which was deemed impossible to film in 1980) was there--but the deeper horror was lost. Kubrick's The Shining gets under your skin and chills your bones; it stays with you, inhabits you, haunts you. And there's no place to hide...

Sunday September 23, 2012 5:45pm - 8:22pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004055

6:00pm CDT

Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman

Director Ernesto Diaz LIVE in attendance!

Santiago Fernandez is an aimless young man content with spending hours on the couch playing Grand Theft Auto and fantasizing about an exciting life of crime and gun fights. By night he DJs at a club owned by ruthless Argentinian kingpin Che Longana. One evening, Santiago finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall as Longana holds a secret meeting to make known his offer of $300 million pesos for the head of Machine Gun Woman, an ex-girlfriend turned hitwoman who has it out for him. When he is discovered eavesdropping on the conversation, Santiago’s only choice to avoid being executed is to lie, claim he knows Machine Gun Woman and offer to bring her in. When he is given 24 hours to make good on his claim, Santiago’s life turns into a violent video game of its own complete with missions, guns, sexy women and brutal violence.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF MACHINE GUN WOMAN is that latest film from Chile’s Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, a man who is no stranger to Fantastic Fest. His first three features (KILTRO, MIRAGEMAN and MANDRILL) have blown audiences away in years past and he also has a segment in this year’s THE ABCS OF DEATH. In a departure from his string of Marko Zaror actioners, Espinoza has crafted an incredibly entertaining exploitation film all centered around a beautiful Chilean goddess clad in small swaths of leather and, of course, machine guns. As Santiago tracks down the killer, he is thrust into a strange criminal underworld that frequently erupts in unexpected violence and when he comes face-to-face with her, all bets are off. Espinoza keeps BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN fast and fun from sexy start to explosive finish. (Brian Kelley)

Sunday September 23, 2012 6:00pm - 7:30pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004011

6:15pm CDT

Looper

Director Rian Johnson LIVE in person!

Sunday September 23, 2012 6:15pm - 8:28pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003737

6:15pm CDT

Looper

Director Rian Johnson LIVE in person!

Sunday September 23, 2012 6:15pm - 8:28pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003737

6:30pm CDT

Danger 5

It’s World War II and the forces of Goodness and Right are in a pickle. Hitler is on the rise and the little Fuhrer’s deviousness knows no bounds. There is no scheme too outlandish, no plan too far-fetched. No, he means to rule the world and if stealing international landmarks will help him do it, then that’s what he’s going to do. Radio controlled dinosaurs? Of course! Solid gold weaponry? Sterling!
All that stands between Hitler and total world domination are the intrepid forces of DANGER 5. A collection of the free world’s top secret agents, DANGER 5 unite for one simple task: To kill Hitler. And they’ll go to the ends of the earth to do it. From Australia: Tucker. From England: Claire. From Russia: Ilsa. From France: Pierre. And from the USA: Jackson. Together they will put an end to Hitler’s nefarious schemes.
From the demented minds of Dario Russo and David Ashby – who also plays Jackson – DANGER 5 is a hilarious spin on THUNDERBIRDS-style spy adventures. There is no mission too dangerous, no plan too outlandish for this team.
Director Russo’s love for the period DANGER 5 recreates is matched only by his astounding ability to actually recreate it, the series executed so flawlessly using period techniques ranging from miniatures and matte paintings to models and prosthetics that it could very nearly be an artifact from the time rather than a recreation. Only the slyly deconstructionist sense of humor gives the ruse away. DANGER 5 originally aired as a six part television series in Australia. Fantastic Fest is proud to present all six parts in a single, uninterrupted orgy of dinosaur-headed excess (Todd Brown).

Sunday September 23, 2012 6:30pm - 9:00pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004021

6:45pm CDT

Wrong

Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others: a pizza-delivering nymphomaniac, a jogging-addict neighbor in search of completeness, an opportunistic French-Mexican gardener, and an off-kilter pet detective. In his journey to find Paul, Dolph may lose something even more vital: his mind.

Sunday September 23, 2012 6:45pm - 8:34pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004072

8:45pm CDT

The American Scream

Director Michael Paul Stephenson, producer Lindsay Stephenson and haunters Manny Souza and Victor Bariteau LIVE in attendance!

Chances are you’ve come across one in your lifetime. Your neighbor may be one. Your co-worker may be one. There could even be one in your family. Sometimes they operate alone and sometimes they involve their loved ones. The moment they wait for is over in what seems like the blink of an eye but there can be months of planning, designing and building leading up to a night of terror.
These people are home haunters.
The idyllic East Coast town of Fairhaven, MA is the home of several home haunters, individuals who are obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles every Halloween. THE AMERICAN SCREAM follows three of them - a perfectionist IT professional whose wife and children help out with varying levels of enthusiasm, a friend inspired to create his own haunt, and a father and son duo- as they prepare for the big day. Their passion is immediately apparent and their methods are varied with some opting for obsessive attention to detail and others more concerned with overall effect. The common link between them all is an artistic genius bred from the love of scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors.
Director Michael Stephenson (BEST WORST MOVIE) has crafted another extraordinarily entertaining and heartwarming documentary with THE AMERICAN SCREAM. Despite bumps along the way in the days leading up to Halloween, the payoff captured is something truly special. In the end all the mishaps, slips, spills, scrapes and creative differences don’t matter. What really matters is the sense of pride a home haunter feels by bringing together his or her community to experience the product of months of hard work. That and the look of frozen terror on the faces of men, women and children alike. (Brian Kelley)
There will be a special haunted house event following the world premiere of The American Scream - check it out here!

Sunday September 23, 2012 8:45pm - 10:21pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Premiere Status World Premiere
Tags A000004006

9:05pm CDT

Fuck Up

Director Oystein Karlsen, producer Anders Tangen, Cinematographer Pal Bugge Haagenrud, and actor Jon Oigarden LIVE in attendance!
Jack is not what you would consider a high quality human being. He drinks too much, does drugs constantly and has never been one to hold down a job. He also has a tendency to fuck anything that moves, a pattern of behavior that Jack puts no particular effort into hiding from anybody – not even his live-in girlfriend and mother of his child. Jack is, in short, the titular FUCK UP in Øystein Karlsen’s feature debut.
Jack has only two things in his favor. He has a certain natural charm, and he’s intensely loyal to his three childhood best friends. It is, of course, one of Jack’s good traits that gets him in trouble when one of these friends crashes his car into a moose and ends up in hospital, the clock ticking on just how long it will take for the police to realize there’s two and a half kilos of cocaine hidden in his trunk. The people who were waiting to receive said cocaine know it’s there, of course, and they’re less than pleased that it hasn’t been delivered. The clock is ticking for Jack to get the drugs out of the car without the police noticing and complete the transaction himself while hopefully keeping everybody alive in the process.
Though FUCK UP is Karlsen’s first feature, it is a reunion project of sorts, realigning the entire cast and creative team of hugely popular Norwegian sitcom DAG – currently in development for a US version at Fox – for a wickedly black action comedy. The friends on screen are friends in real life, and the established rapport – to say nothing of the fact that all of them are hugely talented – elevates FUCK UP into rare territory. If you take your comedy darker than pitch then this is a treat, indeed. (Todd Brown)

Sunday September 23, 2012 9:05pm - 10:55pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004031

9:15pm CDT

Tower Block

Director Ronnie Thompson will be LIVE in attendance!
In the years following World War II, England, in a period of rebuilding constructed tower blocks, the forefathers of today's high-rise apartment buildings. Initially desirable for their excellent views, they have deteriorated in the years since their inception, becoming dirty, squalid low-cost housing riddled with crime. One such tower block is on the verge of demolition, with only the top floor of stubborn tenants remaining. The tenants are an odd bunch. There's Paul, the alcoholic. Jenny, the single mom who screams and beats her two kids just before hitting the clubs every night. Neville and Violet, the elderly couple. Daniel, the teenager addicted to video games who lives with his mom and dad. Mark and Gary, two gangster wannabe 20-something best mates sharing a flat. Kurtis, the local bad boy who shakes down each of the tenants for 20 quid a week as insurance so he won't break in and tear their flats to shreds. And finally Becky, the cute blonde girl with a good heart.
One night, a young man comes tearing through the top floor, screaming for help and banging on each door, only to be greeted by the sound of deadbolts slamming home and chains rattling across door frames as lights are switched off. His two assailants have little trouble rounding him and beating him senseless in front of one of the flats. Unable to ignore his screams for help any longer, Becky, the flat's occupant attempts to help, only to be beaten herself for her troubles. The assailants beat their victim to death and escape with ease. When the police arrive to question the tenants, they're met with the same closed doors and closed mouths that the victim found. A year later, the tenants wake up to find a killer has set up shop on a nearby rooftop, using a high-powered sniper riffle to pick them off one by one through the windows of their flats. Like so many cinematic groups before them, the tenants must band together to survive.
TOWER BLOCK is a taut thriller with a score full of synth and bass underscoring the tension and frantic pace. While the story is basic, the execution is spot on avoiding many of the pitfalls to which similar thrillers succumb. The tension from the ever-present threat couples with the mystery of who and why to create a film fraught with peril and intrigue. Written by SEVERENCE scribe and friend of the fest, James Moran, TOWER BLOCK is a fast-paced tale of urban survival, pitting normal folks against a brutal and seemingly omnipotent foe. (Luke Mullen)

Sunday September 23, 2012 9:15pm - 10:57pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004059

9:30pm CDT

The History of Future Folk

Plays with "Spacewrecked": After witnessing the total destruction of planet Earth 20 years earlier, two Norwegian astronauts must fight extreme boredom while living inside a cramped space station.
Director Kalle Doniselli Gulbrandsen, Cinematographer Martin Larsen, and Producer Espen Pettersen LIVE in attendance!

Producer/Co-Director Jeremy Kipp Walker, Writer/Co-Director John Mitchell, and Actors Nil d-Aulaire and Jay Klaitz will be LIVE in attendance!
When a comet threatens to destroy their planet, the citizens of Hondo send General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) to find a new planet on which they can live. After landing on Earth somewhere near Brooklyn, General Trius chooses to ignore his mission to eliminate the indigenous peoples after wandering into a megastore and hearing music for the first time. He assumes the name Bill and starts a family and one-man bluegrass act.
His peaceful life is disrupted when the Hondorians send a representative- a bumbling fool named Kevin (Jay Klaitz)- to Earth to assassinate General Trius and clear the way for an invasion. Bill finds it easy to subdue Kevin with music and the two form a band called Future Folk that becomes popular in New York bars. The problem is, though, the Hondorians have no intention of calling off their plan to eliminate mankind.
THE HISTORY FUTURE FOLK, the feature debut of directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, is the impossibly charming and clever origin story of the real life “Acoustic Space Aliens” who have been perfecting their act for more than 6 years in the New York City area. For all of its sci-fi elements, at the heart of the film is the immediately lovable personality of Future Folk, whose songs are enormously catchy and lyrics are full of the wit on which the movie the built. The deep love d’Aulaire and Klaitz have for music is apparent in every scene and while watching their musical performances in the film one starts to believe that two guys with a banjo and a guitar (along with some fancy red spacesuits) really could save the world through sheer charisma. (Brian Kelley)

Sunday September 23, 2012 9:30pm - 11:24pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004037

9:45pm CDT

Vulgaria

You may only know Pang Ho Cheung from his famously over-the-top violent social commentary slasher DREAM HOUSE. While he has bounced around between genres, he certainly seems particularly at home working in comedy. From his breakout hit MEN SUDDENLY IN BLACK to LOVE IN A PUFF and its sequel LOVE IN THE BUFF he has proven time and again he has a slick sense of humor and a knack for satire. In his latest film, VULGARIA, he turns his wit towards the movie industry.
Champan To plays To Wai Cheung, a movie producer invited to speak in front of a class of film students with the aim of explaining the hard sacrifices these unsung heroes of cinema must make. He relates the story of the making of his latest film and its roots in a deal with a gangster named Brother Tyrannosaur. Lacking money to pay the alimony needed to maintain shared custody of his daughter, To’s desperation forces him to agree to Brother Tyrannosaur’s demands that the movie be a sequel to a Shaw Brothers softcore and that he use original star Susan Shaw Yin Yin.
To’s quest to make a movie is filled with obstacles at every corner- a lackluster assistant that sues him for sexual harassment, a director who turns his office into a Mahjohng parlor, a body double with whom he starts a relationship, cow vagina feasts, candy-coated fellatio and much more.
While some of Pang stabs are at the Hong Kong movie industry in particular (with a direct target being the recent hit 3D SEX AND ZEN), one quickly realizes making fun of making movies is universally hilarious when done this well. In the end you’ll agree with To, producers really are the all-important pubes in the filmmaking machine. (Brian Kelley)

Sunday September 23, 2012 9:45pm - 11:30pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004063

11:40pm CDT

Two Rabbits (Dois Coehlos)

Edgar is a prodigy, showing a vast proficiency for computer and mechanical engineering from a young age. Building on his natural talents through college, he emerged a genius, but like so many highly intelligent abstract thinkers, couldn't adjust to typical 9-5 work. When a terrible accident forces him to leave the country, he spends two years in Miami hatching a revenge plot to enact upon his return to Brazil.

In the tradition of great complicated crime thrillers, the most important pieces in the puzzle of TWO RABBITS are the players. The major player is Maicon, a local gangster kingpin, who has greased enough pockets to operate without interference from law enforcement. Then there are the brothers Geush, gay siblings making a fortune with their Shopping Network-style program, selling jewelry to old women over the phone. Their assistant Celia is the only person entrusted with the combination to the Geush’s safe and her only vulnerability is her daughter, who is snatched in a scheme to convince Celia to steal from her employers. There's Julia, the young, beautiful prosecutor working her way up in the DA's office while feeding information to her husband Henrique, who just so happens to be a criminal lawyer with a single client...Maicon. And this is just the tip of the bloody iceberg.

TWO RABBITS is a black comedy and a crime thriller where everyone has a price as well as a few skeletons in their closet. Corruption, kidnapping, and murder are all on the menu alongside traditional servings of sex, money and drugs. The film is hyper-stylized and lightning fast, but with a labyrinthine, darkly funny plot worthy of the Coen brothers. An odd mix to be sure, but writer/director Afonso Poyart manages to pull it off and make it look easy in the process, despite the fact that this is his first feature film. An impressive accomplishment, TWO RABBITS is exactly the type of off the radar gem you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Sunday September 23, 2012 11:40pm - Monday September 24, 2012 1:43am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004109

11:55pm CDT

Berberian Sound Studio

Gilderoy (Toby Jones) is a fragile audio technician who mostly works on nature documentaries. In 1976, he is summoned from his home in England to work for an Italian production company on an unspecified project. Upon his arrival, Gilderoy learns that has been hired to work on an ultra-violent giallo film called THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX. Under the supervision of director Giancarlo Santini (Antonio Mancino) and producer Francesco Coraggio (Cosimo Fusco), Gilderoy creates audio landscapes full of gibbering goblins, orgasmic witches, and squished heads. Gilderoy’s sense of unease about his job is raised to unbearable levels as his life becomes increasingly similar to THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX.
Films that attempt to replicate the lurid style of Italian giallo films from the ‘60s and ‘70s often mimic the obvious details—colored gel lighting, psychedelic soundscapes and black gloved killers—without going
any deeper. Peter Strickland’s BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO takes an entirely different approach. This is a bizarre atmospheric thriller that digs deep beneath the skin to probe giallo’s bloody beating heart. The titular sound studio provides Strickland with both a means of paying homage to the esoteric details of giallo—particularly the genre’s unique approach to sound design—and a context for Gilderoy’s collapse into madness. Toby Jones delivers an exceptional performance as a naif who is thrust into bizarre world where cinematic horror and reality are inexplicably fused. BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO is truly one of the most unique films of 2012. (Rodney Perkins)

Sunday September 23, 2012 11:55pm - Monday September 24, 2012 1:42am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004008

12:00am CDT

Cockneys vs. Zombies

Plays with "Brains?": Four sociable Zombies enjoy a meal of delicious brains, but are confronted by terrifying, yet tasty-smelling humanity, which will change their un-dead existence forever.

Director Matthias Hoene and writer James Moran LIVE in attendance!

Andy and Terry are two clueless brothers with hearts of gold. Spending their days delivering meals-on-wheels and their nights picking fights in bars, the pair of misfits seem to care for nothing more than then their aging grandfather, Ray. In a desperate attempt to save Ray’s retirement home pension, the duo hatch a half witted plan to rob a bank. When the heist is bungled by the arrival of the cops, the team is forced to take two hostages and flee the scene, not realizing there are even bigger problems than the authorities in store for them. A mysterious virus has been let loose in East London and is rapidly turning all the inhabitants into good ol’ foot-dragging, flesh-eating zombies.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Ray begins to mount an elderly army, determined to save themselves from the cockney undead. Ranging from the very ornery to the downright horny, Ray’s geriatric band of soldiers, armed with wheelchairs and crutches, barricade themselves inside their home, awaiting the impending bloodbath. One zombie at a time, Ray is out to prove that determination runs deep in the blood lines and that family should always stick together.
Commercial director Matthias Hoene comes out strong with his first feature, a zany, bloody comedy that has as much fun playing with culture as it does playing with guts. Peppering the story with quirky flashbacks and hilarious asides, Hoene creates fast-paced atmosphere,full of blood-soaked quick wit, along with kills crazy enough to satisfy the most gore-thirsty viewer. Reminiscent of the best zombie comedies like SHAUN OF THE DEAD and DEAD ALIVE, COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES is an outrageously good time. (Michael Lerman)

Monday September 24, 2012 12:00am - 1:49am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004012

11:30am CDT

Errors of the Human Body

Plays with "Advantageous": Gwen is the spokesperson for a radical technology allowing people to overcome their natural disadvantages. But when her job and family are in crisis, will she undergo the procedure herself?
Director Jennifer Phang, Actor/Co-Producer Jacqueline Kim, and Technical Director Jon Destoppeleire will be LIVE in attendance!

Director Eron Sheean and actor Michael Eklund LIVE in attendance!
While it is very tempting to refer to Eron Sheean’s ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY as a sci-fi thriller, that would simply not be accurate. Because while it is very much a fictional story that revolves around science, the science in this film – shot on location at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – is all as real as can be. Call it a scientific thriller, if you will, with all of the science grounded in reality.
THE DIVIDE screenwriter Sheean makes his feature directing debut following a string of acclaimed shorts with ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, the story of geneticist Dr Geoff Burton obsessively struggling to find a cure for the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son years before. Though brilliant, his obsessions and often unorthodox working methods have left Burton’s career in a shambles, forcing him to relocate to Germany to continue his work.
It seems a promising move at first, a well equipped lab with a sympathetic administration and a former student in a key position, but Burton is soon swept up into a web of deceit and jealousy when he discovers that his former student may have found the solution he has searched for – and another researcher may be stealing it.
An icily precise thriller anchored by a subtle, nuanced performance from Michael Eklund (THE DIVIDE, THE DAY), with support from indie faves Karoline Herfurth (PERFUME, WE ARE THE NIGHT) and Tomas Lemarquis (NOI THE ALBINO), ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY offers up a surprisingly human take on science, a story ultimately more concerned with its characters than the tools they wield. It is a refreshing, yet challenging approach. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 11:30am - 1:49pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004026

12:00pm CDT

Memory of the Dead

Plays with "Le Lac Noir": In the far-off time of tales, Madeleine and Jean are living on the shores of an alpine lake. They have been together since Jean found the young girl lying in the forest unconscious and amnesic. One day, Jean catches a huge fish, and in the stomach he discovers a young boy asleep. So begin the events that will awaken Madeleine's memory.

Director Javier Diment, and writer Martin Blousson will be LIVE in attendance!
Alicia is devastated by the death of her beloved husband, Jorge. Not surprised, but devastated nonetheless. Not surprised because Jorge, a practitioner of the occult with remarkable powers, foresaw his own death and warned his beloved wife ahead of time. Warned her and left her with instructions on how to bring him back. And Alicia intends to follow those instructions to the letter.
And so, just a few days after Jorge’s death, Alicia has gathered their closest friends in their home to undertake the rite Jorge laid out for them. A rite that she tells her friends will send their love shining out like a beacon through the afterlife, a shining beacon to guide Jorge home. Yes, there will be difficulties. All involved may find themselves visited by the spirits of their own dead. But – and this is important – as long as all involved stay inside the house they will be perfectly safe. Nothing can harm them there.
Alicia is lying, of course, the ritual and its risks not exactly as she has presented them to her guests. And it quickly becomes clear that not everyone will survive until the morning.
A compelling fusion of visual bravado and reckless energy, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO announces the arrival of a major new talent in Argentina’s Valentin Javier Diment. Blending the DIY bravado and grotesque sense of humor of an EVIL DEAD II era Sam Raimi with the baroque sensibilities of classic giallo, LA MEMORIA DEL MUERTO is simply astounding in its ambitions and even moreso in its ability to accomplish those ambitions on a tiny budget. Diment is clearly some sort of gonzo genius and this the film that he packed all of his loves and obsessions into as though afraid he’ll never get the chance again. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 12:00pm - 2:04pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004043

12:05pm CDT

Black Out

Jos is about to have a very bad day. He knows this because he has just woken up with a splitting headache, a big blank where his previous days’ memories should be, a gun beneath his pillow and an unrecognizable corpse in bed next to him. There are, of course, also the gangsters who insist he has twenty kilograms of their cocaine, cocaine Jos neither remembers nor has in his possession. And, oh yes, there’s also the small matter of his fiancé calling to remind him of the final errands that need running before their wedding the next morning.

Jos is an ex-con who may not be quite so ex after all and if he can’t sort it all out within the next twenty four hours, his past life is going to spill out all over his future life with potentially deadly consequences.

Dutch director Arne Toonen takes a hard left turn with his sophomore feature – his first was a family comedy – delivering BLACK OUT, a brash and energetic crime caper. Laced with colorful characters, blue collar working class criminals and outbursts of extreme violence, BLACK OUT stands as a sort of Dutch response to Guy Ritchie.

Leading man Raymond Thiry brings a rumpled elegance and intelligence to the role of Jos – intelligence he’ll need if he’s going to sort out what’s really going on here and avoid being killed by his ballet-trained gangster nemesis. The entire cast is made up of solid industry veterans clearly loving the chance to get out and flex their muscles in something a bit different – acclaimed director Alex Van Warmerdam (GRIMM, WAITER) even gets in on the fun – and the solid cast makes all the difference, bringing a healthy dose of substance to Toonen’s abundance of style (Todd Brown).

Monday September 24, 2012 12:05pm - 1:49pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004010

12:20pm CDT

The Final Member

Directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math LIVE in attendance!
Since 1974, Sigurdur “Siggi” Hjartarson has run the Icelandic Phallological Museum, which houses the world’s largest collection of mammalian penises. Siggi’s private collection runs the gamut from microscopic to gargantuan, including penises from whales, dogs, pigs, bears, bulls and hamsters. Siggi believes that his museum—and his legacy—will be incomplete without an important addition to his museum: a human penis of “legal length.” After years of searching, he tracks down two donors: an aging Icelandic philanderer and a weirdo from California who refers to his penis as “Elmo.” Siggi’s quest for penile perfection morphs into a race against time as the donors compete to become the first human to have their members severed and preserved for posterity.
With THE FINAL MEMBER, co-directors Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math have created one of the most unique and memorable documentaries in recent years. The film initially seems like a quaint exploration of a single man’s weird obsession, but evolves into a deep character study of three dudes who are pathologically obsessed with male genitalia—human or otherwise. Siggi uses his museum to break sexual taboos and educate the public. The Icelandic ladies’ man wants to preserve his rapidly aging penis before it shrinks down to the size of a raisin. Unlike his aging counterpart, the cowboy wants to chop his off before he dies. THE FINAL MEMBER delivers everything one could want from a documentary—it’s emotionally engaging, funny, and highly disturbing. (Rodney Perkins)

Monday September 24, 2012 12:20pm - 1:50pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004029

2:15pm CDT

Dom - A Russian Family

Families are hell. That’s a given. There’s nobody closer and that special relationship translates into a special ability to wreak havoc when things turn sour. And things have very definitely turned sour for the Shamanov family. Four generations live in the same crowded farmhouse on the remote steppes. Four generations chafing at a lack of opportunity and their meager existence. Four generations of people who, as often as not, barely want to be in one another’s presence.
And yet that’s not going to stop them from celebrating grandpa’s birthday. No, brave faces shall be worn as the entire clan gets together to honor their eldest. The entire clan, including those few who have managed to escape the gravitational pull of the family home and make other lives for themselves. Everyone including eldest son Stepan, who left decades ago and has not been seen since. They may soon wish Stepan had not returned after all. You see, Stepan’s path to success involved some very unsavory activities. Away from the farm he has thrived in the criminal underworld, climbing through the ranks of the mafia and acquiring some dangerous enemies in the process. And now that he’s home, those enemies cannot be far behind.
After building a career as a director who essentially dressed up American action film tropes in Russian clothes for the local audience, helmer Oleg Pogodin turns in something far more unusual, far more distinctly Russian, and far, far better with his fourth feature film. Starting as a family drama laced with dark domestic overtones, DOM builds in threads of external menace before exploding into an ultra violent finale. Totally unique, totally compelling, there is nothing else quite like it. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 2:15pm - 4:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004023

2:30pm CDT

Vulgaria

You may only know Pang Ho Cheung from his famously over-the-top violent social commentary slasher DREAM HOUSE. While he has bounced around between genres, he certainly seems particularly at home working in comedy. From his breakout hit MEN SUDDENLY IN BLACK to LOVE IN A PUFF and its sequel LOVE IN THE BUFF he has proven time and again he has a slick sense of humor and a knack for satire. In his latest film, VULGARIA, he turns his wit towards the movie industry.
Champan To plays To Wai Cheung, a movie producer invited to speak in front of a class of film students with the aim of explaining the hard sacrifices these unsung heroes of cinema must make. He relates the story of the making of his latest film and its roots in a deal with a gangster named Brother Tyrannosaur. Lacking money to pay the alimony needed to maintain shared custody of his daughter, To’s desperation forces him to agree to Brother Tyrannosaur’s demands that the movie be a sequel to a Shaw Brothers softcore and that he use original star Susan Shaw Yin Yin.
To’s quest to make a movie is filled with obstacles at every corner- a lackluster assistant that sues him for sexual harassment, a director who turns his office into a Mahjohng parlor, a body double with whom he starts a relationship, cow vagina feasts, candy-coated fellatio and much more.
While some of Pang stabs are at the Hong Kong movie industry in particular (with a direct target being the recent hit 3D SEX AND ZEN), one quickly realizes making fun of making movies is universally hilarious when done this well. In the end you’ll agree with To, producers really are the all-important pubes in the filmmaking machine. (Brian Kelley)

Monday September 24, 2012 2:30pm - 4:15pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004063

2:45pm CDT

My Amityville Horror

Plays with "Séance": Alice and Daniel are married and expecting their first child. They just bought nice little house for their new family. Chris, Alice's sister, has just moved in as well. Unfortunately, the house appears to be haunted. They host a seance party to cast the spirit out. It awakens something...
Director Zachary Beckler and Producer Susan Williams LIVE in attendance!

Director Eric Walter and Producers Andrea Adams and Christine Irons will be LIVE in attendance!
One of the most famous hauntings in American paranormal lore is that of the Lutz family home in Amityville, New York. In addition to the forensic facts of the catalytic DeFeo murders, the supernatural particulars of what befell the Lutz family in that twenty-eight day period in 1975 have been sensationalized and immortalized on film, a but doubts have lingered as to the validity of the Lutz’s claims. My Amityville Horror offers to the curious the extremely rare privilege of a firsthand account of life inside the Lutz house during those fateful days. Daniel Lutz, a man whose entire life has been inexorably altered by his brief stay in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, finally speaks. His words of contempt for his stepfather George pour with icy conviction like the reported blood from the walls of the house. He is reunited with the mediums who investigated the haunting and even walks the streets of his old neighborhood once more; still pursued by the ghosts of bad memories. To date, he is the only child of the ill-fated Lutz family to come forward. Through a combination of interviews and archival footage and photographs, My Amityville Horror explores a familiar story with fresh perspective.
There is a temptation as an audience member to approach My Amityville Horror as a fleeting thrill, a chance to mine the last goosebumps of a gimmicky campfire story. Director Eric Walter is not possessed of so exploitative an intent. My Amityville Horror is an intensely human story about how the demons of our past, be they of this world or the next, fundamentally shape our futures. Daniel Lutz’s shattered world, his perpetually darkening outlook, and his violent resentment of his own existence is every bit as frightening as his stories of levitating beds and ghostly visions. (Brian Salisbury)

Monday September 24, 2012 2:45pm - 4:43pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004044

3:00pm CDT

Besties

Plays with "The Quiet Girl’s Guide to Violence": A victim of childhood bullying decides she will no longer suffer silently in this darkly comic story of revenge and Christmas.
Producer/Co-Writer Jennymarie Jemison and Director/Co-Writer Rafael Antonio Ruiz LIVE in attendance!

Writer/Director Rebecca Cutter Perry and Producers Katherine Hoagland and Linda Miller LIVE in Attendance!

Sandy (Olivia Croicchia) is a high school freshman. She is a self- described loser, an outcast. She is infatuated with a high school senior named Ashley (Madison Riley). Sandy convinces her dad (Corin Nemec) to let Ashley stay over while he is out of town. Ashley takes up the offer on the condition that they secretly hold a party at the house. As the party dies down, Ashley’s ex-boyfriend (Christopher Backus) shows up. After a series of disastrous events, he ends up dead and the two girls have to clean up the mess.

BESTIES is the featured debut of writer-director Rebecca Perry Cutter and delivers a smart, clever twist on a familiar coming-of-age thriller formula. The film differentiates itself from the pack by rooting its story in the strange relationship between the two main characters. Ashley is manipulative and self-absorbed. On the other hand, Sandy is a confused naif. She knows that Ashley is manipulating her, but a mixture of admiration and sexual desire keeps her engaged. The film smartly plays off this dynamic to create an atmosphere of awkward tension and suspense. Cutter also injects issues of class into the mix, thus adding an additional layer of subtext to an already loaded scenario. (Rodney Perkins)

Monday September 24, 2012 3:00pm - 5:01pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004009

3:00pm CDT

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day's appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.
A film that's far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.
An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Monday September 24, 2012 3:00pm - 5:11pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004038

5:15pm CDT

Everybody In Our Family

First and foremost, it should be clear that EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is a film best experienced blind. Innovative, daring and about as original as film can get, the latest offering from the Romanian new wave is something that is better experienced and than read about. If you’re interest is piqued, stop reading and start watching.
The story is simple. Marius, a single dad in his thirties, travels to his ex-wife’s house to pick up his daughter, Sofia, for their annual beach holiday. Upon arrival, he is told by her grandmother and her step father that Sofia is sick and must stay at home with her mother. As Marius’ insistence grows, so do tensions in the household, pushing the situation to unimaginable heights.
Shot in almost real time, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY shows how much can really change for someone over the course of one afternoon. Director Radu Jude’s hyperrealistic style helps to sets the stage for an intense discussion on family values. Drawing the most out of a plethora of incredible performances, he peppers the intensity with a dark and witty humor that resonates through the humanity of the film. As the action builds to a climax, Jude tries his best not to suffocate the audience, presenting the facts for a pure reaction. The result is often as humorous as it is horrific.
Breaking out of any mold that you could possibly put it in, EVERYBODY IN OUR FAMILY is not your typical Fantastic Fest fare. It is, however, simply too good and too unique to be ignored. (Michael Lerman)

Monday September 24, 2012 5:15pm - 7:25pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004027

5:30pm CDT

Unit 7

The year is 1987. The location is the Spanish city of Seville. In a few years, people from all over the world will descend on the city for Expo '92. In anticipation of the international publicity, Seville's government initiates wide-sweeping changes, including a plan to flush the streets of drugs and prostitution. Angel (Mario Casas from NEON FLESH), a young cop trying to rise in the ranks, is assigned to the anti-drug squad: the titular Unit 7. Angel is a rube amongst a group of rough vets, including Rafeal (Antonio De La Torre from THE LAST CIRCUS and VOLVER); Miguel (Jose Manuel Poga); and Matthew. The group takes up the mandate to clean up Seville's slums with zealous brutality. Their smash-mouth tactics yield big successes but also create serious problems that may prove beyond the group's ability to control.
Based on real events, UNIT 7 successfully invokes the gritty, character-driven American police thrillers of the 70s. However, instead of simply mimicking other films, Rodriguez adds a fresh spin on the formula. At its core, UNIT 7 is an exploration of the dynamic between four wildly differing personalities operating in an intense pressurized environment. Angel wants to build a career so he can care for his wife and child. Rafael is deeply religious yet extremely violent. Miguel is a bigoted hot head; Matthew is a hypocrite. This intense group dynamic is the source of the film's explosive energy and violence. UNIT 7 is a confident powerful work from a talented director. (Rodney Perkins)

Monday September 24, 2012 5:30pm - 7:20pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004060

6:00pm CDT

Cold Steel

Director David Wu LIVE in attendance!
Bullets show no mercy! War has ravaged China and chaos has reigned in many parts. An elite group of snipers have been assembled to take out enemies and traitors. Mu (Peter Ho), a rather young and naïve hunter, has been drafted to be part of the 204th unit after heroically shooting down enemies during an ambush. Squad leader Zhang (Tony Leung) welcomes him into the brotherhood by assigning him his first official mission. His task is to join the team in taking out four enemy generals and a handful of Chinese traitors. Mu’s recklessness and soft heart begin to cloud his judgment, and even diminish his abilities - as the best snipers need to be emotionally detached. Meanwhile, General Masaya sends some of his best sharp-shooters to retaliate. Whose bullets will speak louder?
Lock and load! Frequent John Woo collaborator David Wu returns with a vengeance and directs one of the most dynamic war films in years. Wu hits bulls-eye after bulls-eye with fast and furious gunfire action with a heavy dose of the kinetic energy from the best 80s Hong Kong action that will undoubtedly kick your adrenaline gland into overdrive. Based on the famous and popular online Chinese novel, Wu improves upon original material with more humor and excitement. Wu is one of the most influential action editors for 40 years starting with Chang Cheh and Lau Kar Leung at Shaw Brothers to Tsui Hark, Ronny Yu and of course John Woo(A BETTER TOMORROW, HARD BOILED is back to assault action cinema. Newcomer actor Peter Ho(upcoming MONKEY KING) brings a breath of fresh air as a leading actor to look forward to in the future, he keeps his performance intense yet funny and charismatic. (King-Wei Chu, Fantasia International Film Festival)

Monday September 24, 2012 6:00pm - 8:02pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004014

6:10pm CDT

Antiviral

Director Brandon Cronenberg and actor Caleb Landry Jones LIVE in attendance!
The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.
Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.
Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 6:10pm - 8:15pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004007

6:15pm CDT

Cold Blooded

Charged with the theft of a bag of precious diamonds and the murder of his partner in crime, Cordero is comatose and chained to a hospital bed on an isolated and otherwise empty overflow floor. Officer Jane is the stern, by-the-book policewoman guarding Cordero’s room when he wakes from his coma and immediately claims he was framed in the killing of his partner. The two quickly establish a playful rapport, which is broken when Cordero makes his first escape attempt. His efforts to slip away prove to be the least of Officer Jane’s worries as violent, no-nonsense crime kingpin Louis Holland arrives at the hospital looking for the jewels. Officer Jane finds herself trapped on an empty hospital floor guarding her prisoner and trying to find a way out while Holland is quick to prove he intends to maintain the upper hand.
Director Jason Lapeyre (who comes to Fantastic Fest with this and another film, I DECLARE WAR) squeezes every bit of excitement out of a setup that’s limited in scope but not in cleverness. Combining crime, thriller and some occasional humor elements, COLD BLOODED moves at an incredible pace and is smattered with some seriously violent moments proving that no character can ever be considered safe. Holland is a formidable baddie, a brash hulk of a man who’s unflinchingly evil when anyone stands in his way. Officer Jane is a refreshingly well-rounded female lead character, a woman intent on doing what is right and just, regardless of the cost to her own well being. As the two collide, COLD BLOODED shows how much fun a movie with just a handful of characters in a single location can really be. (Brian Kelley)

Monday September 24, 2012 6:15pm - 7:56pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004013

8:30pm CDT

Paris By Night

Phillipe Lefebvre's PARIS BY NIGHT is a sleek French cop thriller that follows a pair of vice cops as they patrol the Parisian club scene over the course of a single evening. Simon Weiss (Roschdy Zem from SLEEPLESS NIGHT and POINT BLANK) plays a suave chain-smoking, hard-drinking cop with the brigade mondaine. Wiess' job is to make sure the Parisian night clubs operate legally, but his methods of enforcing the law are unorthodox. In exchange for cash and crime tips, he doles out favors to numerous club owners, including his friend Tony Garcia (Samuel Le Bihan from BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF and FRONTIER(S)). Each night, a different colleague chauffeurs Weiss around Paris. On this particular evening, Sergeant Laurence Deray joins Weiss as his driver. A seemingly normal shift evolves into a long night of beat downs and shake downs.
PARIS BY NIGHT provides a behind-the-scenes look at the seductive and dangerous world of the Parisian club scene. The film is based on the experiences of co-writer Phillipe Asard, who worked with the Paris vice squad for fifteen years. In fact, PARIS BY NIGHT was shot entirely in the same clubs that Asard once worked as a cop. In the film, Weiss and Deray are constantly in motion, weaving in and out of tight-knit network of bars, brothels, and dives. Each stop on the beat introduces the audience to a motley array of characters, ranging from mobsters and drug dealers to hookers and drag queens. Over time, the seemingly routine trips reveal become parts of a puzzle that suggests that Weiss is involved in something far elaborate simple graft and bribery. PARIS BY NIGHT is an intoxicating ride through a seductive world of booze, drugs, and sleaze. (Rodney Perkins)

Monday September 24, 2012 8:30pm - 10:25pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004048

8:45pm CDT

The Warped Forest

Plays with "Crown": A gang of street kids turns an unassuming house into a haven for middle aged junkies hooked on a most bizarre narcotic. Doug, a habitual user, returns to experience a surreal high from which he may not return.
Director AG Rojas LIVE in attendance!

In 2005 a trio of directors combined to unleash one of the most deliriously silly, surreal, and psychedelic experiences ever witnessed on theater screens on to an unwitting audience. Loaded with absurdity and stylistic excess THE FUNKY FOREST was like a guided tour through the subconscious minds of its creators, a visual guide to the adolescent fantasies of a trio of immensely talented directors who refused to acknowledge any limitations whatsoever.
And now one of them is back to do it again.
Entirely self funded with money squirrelled away during a decade of directing high-end television commercials, Shunichiro Miki’s THE WARPED FOREST will delight and confuse – and delightfully confuse – fans of the esoteric and strange. Follow the adventures of a young girl tracking down the elusive Pinky-Panky with her trusty penis-rifle at her side! Marvel at the normal sized girl working in a Very Small Shop! Wonder at the psychic powers of the inverted pyramid hovering deep in the nearby forest, the strange pod-like growths that pop up throughout and the furry, nipple sucking creature on hire at the local brothel!
Just a touch less manic than its predecessor, THE WARPED FOREST is every bit as much a delicious sensory experience. There are narrative threads holding it all together, to be sure, but this is film as experience far more than film as story and what an experience it is. Fans of THE FUNKY FOREST will recognize Miki’s distinctive touch immediately while those walking into this bizarre world for the first time will want to seek out that earlier effort immediately. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 8:45pm - 10:32pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004064

9:00pm CDT

Taped

Plays with "Crush the Skull": It's too familiar of a scenario for a young couple who break down on a desolate road and an ominous stranger shows up out of nowhere to assist them.
Director/Co-Writer Viet Nguyen and Producer/Co-Writer Chris Dinh LIVE in attendance!

Johan and Saar are a couple in trouble. Their marriage on the rocks, the couple have left their daughter at home and hit the road, returning to the site of the Argentinean honeymoon in a desperate last attempt to recapture the spirit of their relationship and save their marriage. This is it for them. Should this trip fail their marriage is at an end. What Johan and Saar never suspected, however, is that this trip could be the end of them, period.
In a classic case of ‘wrong place, wrong time’ the couple not only witness a shooting, they capture it on camera. Even worse, the shooter is a police officer and his target left dead in the street. Worse still, they were spotted on the scene. And suddenly their idyllic vacation spot has become a terrifying trap, the couple chased through a hostile environment unable to communicate with the locals and unable to trust any of the authorities they would normally be able to turn to for help. If they do not find their way to safety before being tracked down by the shooter then Johan and Saar will surely become his next victims.
A lean, taut thriller anchored by stellar performances from Barry Atsma and Susan Visser, TAPED takes a simple premise and works it out to its logical extreme. It is a film that takes the primal, irrational fear of being someplace unknown and suggests that the fear may not be irrational after all. Director Diederik Van Rooijen finds just the right balance between style and grit, tension and character as he delivers a thriller that Hollywood has already snapped up for remake. Here’s your chance to see the original version first. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 9:00pm - 10:44pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004057

9:00pm CDT

Crave

Plays with "Chilly": As the heat rises in a stuffy hotel room, a talking ice cube pitches the wonders of modern refrigeration to a strangely distracted man.
Director Dylan Kohler LIVE in attendance!

Director Charles de Lauzirika and actor Josh Lawson LIVE in attendane!
Aiden is a crime scene photographer who trolls the streets of Detroit in search of prime subjects with the help of a hardened homicide cop named Pete. In addition to being obsessed with photos of dead women, Aiden is prone to perverse revenge fantasies. Despite his unhinged behavior, he stumbles into a tryst with his neighbor Virginia, who is on the rebound from a relationship with a dirtbag named Ravi. As Aiden tries to keep his tenuous relationship with Emma alive, his delusions become more pronounced and he begins to act out his fantasies in the streets of Detroit.
CRAVE is an impressive first feature from Charles de Lauzirika, who cut his teeth directing and producing content for numerous DVDs such as BLADE RUNNER and ALIEN3. With CRAVE, Lauzirika turns his considerable skills to crafting a multi-layered, darkly humorous thriller. The screenplay is based on a story by Robert Lawton, and recalls a twisted mix of Chuck Palahniuk and Paul Schrader. Although there are numerous precedents for this kind of story, CRAVE molds these ideas into something fresh and original. In depicting Aiden's demented world view, CRAVE pierces the fourth wall numerous times, relies heavily on fractured internal dialogue, and deploys tricky tonal shifts. Lauzirika pulls off this complex high-wire act with confidence and style. (Rodney Perkins)

Monday September 24, 2012 9:00pm - 11:13pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004020

11:15pm CDT

Tower Block

Director Ronnie Thompson will be LIVE in attendance!
In the years following World War II, England, in a period of rebuilding constructed tower blocks, the forefathers of today's high-rise apartment buildings. Initially desirable for their excellent views, they have deteriorated in the years since their inception, becoming dirty, squalid low-cost housing riddled with crime. One such tower block is on the verge of demolition, with only the top floor of stubborn tenants remaining. The tenants are an odd bunch. There's Paul, the alcoholic. Jenny, the single mom who screams and beats her two kids just before hitting the clubs every night. Neville and Violet, the elderly couple. Daniel, the teenager addicted to video games who lives with his mom and dad. Mark and Gary, two gangster wannabe 20-something best mates sharing a flat. Kurtis, the local bad boy who shakes down each of the tenants for 20 quid a week as insurance so he won't break in and tear their flats to shreds. And finally Becky, the cute blonde girl with a good heart.
One night, a young man comes tearing through the top floor, screaming for help and banging on each door, only to be greeted by the sound of deadbolts slamming home and chains rattling across door frames as lights are switched off. His two assailants have little trouble rounding him and beating him senseless in front of one of the flats. Unable to ignore his screams for help any longer, Becky, the flat's occupant attempts to help, only to be beaten herself for her troubles. The assailants beat their victim to death and escape with ease. When the police arrive to question the tenants, they're met with the same closed doors and closed mouths that the victim found. A year later, the tenants wake up to find a killer has set up shop on a nearby rooftop, using a high-powered sniper riffle to pick them off one by one through the windows of their flats. Like so many cinematic groups before them, the tenants must band together to survive.
TOWER BLOCK is a taut thriller with a score full of synth and bass underscoring the tension and frantic pace. While the story is basic, the execution is spot on avoiding many of the pitfalls to which similar thrillers succumb. The tension from the ever-present threat couples with the mystery of who and why to create a film fraught with peril and intrigue. Written by SEVERENCE scribe and friend of the fest, James Moran, TOWER BLOCK is a fast-paced tale of urban survival, pitting normal folks against a brutal and seemingly omnipotent foe. (Luke Mullen)

Monday September 24, 2012 11:15pm - Tuesday September 25, 2012 12:57am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004059

11:30pm CDT

Tai Chi 0

Set during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), when China’s once mighty empire was temporarily overshadowed by the scientific and technological innovations of the West, Tai Chi 0 is a funky, steampunk-infused chronicle of the origins of Tai Chi. Reinventing the martial arts genre with a style influenced by the dazzling colours and dynamism of Japanese animation and videogame graphics, actor-turned-director Stephen Fung gathers an all-star cast (including Shu Qi and Tony Leung Kar-fai) to tell the tale of Yang Luchuan, the master who developed the "Yang style" form of tai chi.

Cursed with an abnormal, fleshy bulge protruding from his forehead, Yang Luchuan (played by the spectacular new martial arts star Yuan Xiaochao, gold medalist at the 2006 Asian Games) is considered the town fool. Following the wishes of his late mother (Shu Qi), Yang travels to the remote village of Chen to learn tai chi, the only thing that can stop the growth on his forehead from developing into a life-threatening affliction. Although met with hostility from the villagers, Yang is determined to become a disciple of the legendary Master Chen (Tony Leung Kar-fai), and engages in a series of combat trials to prove his worth — only to be defeated by everyone in the village (including old ladies and children), as well as Chen’s beautiful daughter Yuniang (Angelababy).

But Yang gets another chance to display his courage to Yuniang by taking on another challenge: not a human opponent but a steam-powered machine, a Western invention that threatens to bring a railroad through the village and annihilate its sacred cultural heritage. The first installment of a trilogy designed to revisit the fundamentals of Chinese culture, Tai Chi 0 combines spectacular visuals and stunning fight choreography (courtesy of the great Sammo Hung) with a delightful retro-futuristic twist on the traditional martial arts hero narrative. The result is a rollercoaster ride of a movie, a cheeky tribute to tradition that boldly revolutionizes the genre for the twenty-first century. (Giovanna Fulvi, program note courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.)

Monday September 24, 2012 11:30pm - Tuesday September 25, 2012 1:25am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004056

11:35pm CDT

Here Comes The Devil

Plays with "Videoboy": The relationship between 13 year old Hasse and Pål is tested the day they accept an offer to visit a boy who is famous for his collection of videofilms. The journey they take gets darker and darker, and the young boys are forced to meet boundaries that they never have been even close to. Nothing will ever be the same.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Producer Andrea Quiroz Hernandez, and Actor Francisco Barreiro will be LIVE in attendance!
Director Adrián García Bogliano is no stranger to Austin with his past films screening at Cine Las Americas (36 STEPS), SXSW (COLD SWEAT) and, most recently, at Fantastic Fest 2011 (PENUMBRA). Bogliano returns to Fantastic Fest this year with HERE COMES THE DEVIL, another horror pastiche sure to please and fans both old and new.
After a sexy and horrifying opening sets the mood at appropriately creepy, we are introduced to Felix and Sol- normal, young parents who are on vacation with their children, Sara and Adolfo, in Tijuana. On the way home, exhausted from the journey and also looking for a little alone time, the couple allows Sara and Adolfo to explore a hillside near the rest stop unattended. The pair enter a dark cave on the hill and disappear. Felix and Sol work with the local authorities to conduct a search and retreat back to their hotel room empty handed. Their nightmare appears to come to an end when the children are found and returned but it’s not long before they realize there’s something not quite right with the kids.
HERE COMES THE DEVIL displays many of Bogliano’s signatures including beautiful women in various stages of undress, brutal violence and clever ways to build tension on a budget. Like all of his other films, though, it’s completely unlike the one that came before it. As Sol and Felix become more and more convinced of something evil at work behind Sara and Adolfo’s disappearance, a palpable sense of dread builds as paranoia sinks in. There are plenty of twists along the way, keeping the audience off balance and unsure of what to make of various bits of information. When the end finally comes, the revelations are as horrific and shocking as we have come to expect from Bogliano. (Brian Kelley)

Monday September 24, 2012 11:35pm - Tuesday September 25, 2012 2:00am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004036

11:50pm CDT

American Mary

Directors Jen and Sylvia Soska and actors Tristan Risk and Katie Isabelle LIVE in attendance!

Mary Mason appears to be on the verge of achieving the American Dream. Young, beautiful and intelligent, Mary is sailing through medical school with the aim of becoming a surgeon. There’s no doubt at all she’s got the skills to get there. The question is whether she has the cash. Perpetual debt and the questionable behavior of the teachers she idolizes and emulates combine to leave Mary disillusioned and questioning her path through life.

Then a very unusual opportunity arises, one that will pay her very well, indeed, to indulge her growing skills provided she is willing to set aside certain ethical considerations. So Mary plunges into a world of underground surgeries and extreme body modification.

Canadian twin directors Jen and Sylvia Soska made waves on the genre circuit a few years ago with their debut micro-budget feature, a grindhouse throwback titled DEAD HOOKER IN THE TRUNK that won the duo high profile fans around the world including Eli Roth. If DEAD HOOKER showed raw talent, then follow up AMERICAN MARY shows the results of that talent beginning to come of age. A major step forward in every respect, AMERICAN MARY features a stellar central performance from GINGER SNAPS star Katharine Isabelle as the titular Mary, drawn into this increasingly bizarre world. To bring that world to life the Soskas – better known as The Twisted Twins – descended into the body modification underground of Canada’s west coast, bringing the results to the screen without the use of any CGI. (Todd Brown)

Monday September 24, 2012 11:50pm - Tuesday September 25, 2012 1:40am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004005

11:35am CDT

Lee’s Adventure

Li Xianje is a video game-loving slacker, who coasts through life at his own pace, thanks to a rare condition known as Temporal Dilation Disorder. TDD causes time to pass more slowly than for everybody else - minutes feel like days, a day like an entire lifetime. It proves a lonely existence until he meets the beautiful Wang Qian, who shares his affliction. However, when a tragic car accident snatches her away, Li will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the woman he loves. Perhaps a mysterious video game is the answer - a game rumoured to hold the secret to time travel. If he can beat the game, he might just be able to save Wang Qian.
Adapted from a hit animated short that appeared online in 2009, director Li Yang teams up with TV ad man Frant Gwo to expand his unique, frenetic vision into a feature-length blend of live action, hand drawn animation, epic CGI landscapes, crude cut-outs and East-meets-West pop culture iconography. Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts legend Jackie Chan, stars as bewildered, heart-broken "Devotion Lee", who must become the kind of ass-kicking name-taking hero he's only experienced in video games, if he is to succeed in his mission.
The result is a wholly unique and exhilarating experience, a gorgeous visual odyssey packed with comedy and adventure, that remains, at its core, a beautifully touching quest for love played out with the unabashed romanticism only Asian Cinema can get away with. At a time when China is spewing out nothing but nationalistic period dramas and crass consumerist rom-coms, LEE’S ADVENTURE proves fantasy, sci-fi and imagination are still alive and kicking in the Mainland. (James Marsh)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 11:35am - 1:21pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004041

12:10pm CDT

The King of Pigs

South Korea’s very first animated film to screen at Cannes, THE KING OF PIGS is a time-tripping, soul-shattering mystery about the scars that make us, and the secrets we bleed to keep. Kyung-Min has just killed his wife, but it didn’t make him feel any better. His business is failing and he can’t stop thinking about his middle school days, back when he was one of the lowly, bullied “pigs”, the rock-bottom caste of the social animal kingdom, at the mercy of the popular “dogs”. His old school friend, Jong-Suk, agrees to meet, and each man tells the other polite lies about his wrecked life. But both of them have one thing on their minds: Chul-Yi, their old class comrade, the quiet, deadly boy in the hoodie who fought back against the bullies and became, for one blazing moment in time, The King of Pigs. “Be my friends,” he offered, “and you will never cry.”
THE KING OF PIGS animation style evokes memories of the great Satoshi Kon (PAPRIKA), sinuous yet rippling with organic textures that mimic the flesh and failings of real, flawed human beings, with every tear, bruise and knuckle to the face meticulously rendered. One thing the film never allows us is too much room to breathe: these kids are suffering, and so must the audience. Every moment is tripwired, every scene is a time bomb. In keeping with the film’s thematic resonance, the adult and child Jong-Suk are voiced, respectively, by Yang Ik-June and Kim Kkobbi, the stars of NYAFF 2009’s harrowing, BREATHLESS.
Inspired by his own experiences in middle school, director Yeun Sang-Ho also drew upon recurring dreams to tell his dual-narrative story about the cycles of abuse and the bullied who become the bullies. THE KING OF PIGS is a meditation on the impotence and violence in the world of young adults, and the cancer of memory. In Yeun’s dark vision, Korea today is bound by an invisible web of resentment, classism, and persecution from birth to death, where souls are trapped by their hidden sins. The only way to break free is to face the ugly truth about where we’ve been and where we’re going. (NYAFF)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 12:10pm - 2:02pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004040

12:30pm CDT

Outrage Beyond

In the five years that have passed since the events of Takeshi Kitano’s OUTRAGE, the Sanno crime family has grown into a huge organization, expanding its power into politics and legitimate big business. Exasperated at the Sanno’s rapidly increasing eminence, the police force prepares for a full-scale crackdown on this huge yakuza syndicate. The Sanno’s upper ranks are now dominated by young executives, and the old-guard members are filled with resentment while being pushed to the sidelines. This vulnerable spot in the Sanno hierachy is exactly what anti-gang detective Kataoka has been looking for.
The police decide to take advantage of a situation concerning them and their supposed ally in the western region, the Hanabishi. Detective Kataoka (Fumiyo Kohinata), devises a plot to set the delicately balanced allies against each other. He also reveals an appalling truth about Otomo (Beat Takeshi), a yakuza who was supposedly killed in jail during the last war, but is indeed alive. Kataoka plans to use Otomo as his trump card and arranged his early release on parole to be used as leverage to annihilate the yakuza. As the police force carrying out their plot and two organizations plunging themselves into a conflict, what move will Otomo make?

Tuesday September 25, 2012 12:30pm - 2:37pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004047

12:40pm CDT

The Exorcist in the 21st Century

Director Fredrik Horn and producer Christian Falch LIVE in attendance!
It has been done so many times now that it has become cliché, eyes simply rolling and glazing over when the ‘Based on a true story’ tag scrolls across the screen to add gravity to the latest Hollywood concocted tale of demonic possession. But THE EXORCIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY really is the true story, a detailed and nuanced documentary of highly specialized priests – real life Vatican-approved exorcists – and the people who seek out their services.
Filmmaker Fredrik Horn Akselsen has been granted a remarkable degree of access to tell this story, presenting information and first hand experiences in a steady, even hand that leaves the audience free to draw their own conclusions. He meets with believers in the phenomenon as well as skeptics, both inside and outside of the church. But mostly he tells his story through two people.
First, there is Father Jose Antonio Fortea, a Roman Catholic priest based in Madrid. Father Fortea first rose to prominence as the author of Summa Daemoniaca, a treatise on the history of demonology throughout Catholic history including, yes, a manual of Catholic rites of exorcism. Father Fortea has become known around the world as an expert on the topic, traveling to speak about demonology around the world and – as one of a small group of Catholic priests approved by the Vatican to perform exorcisms – he very definitely practices what he preaches.
And then there is Constanza - an articulate, university educated Colombian woman who sincerely believes she is demon possessed and is seeking out the help of Fortea or any other priest who may free her of her affliction.
Akselsen tells these stories with a minimum of fuss and bother, choosing to let the day to day life of the men who live out this very unusual vocation be the story rather than attempting to embellish for shock value. It makes for fascinating viewing. (Todd Brown)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 12:40pm - 2:15pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004028

2:40pm CDT

I Declare War

Director Rob Wilson and producer Lewin Webb will be LIVE in attendance!
Every afternoon, several 13-year-olds congregate in the woods to play the game of “war.” Using their imaginations, they transform sticks into sub-machine guns and water balloons into grenades to practice their combat abilities. Legendary for his tactical mind, the young PK is a pure General in the making. The only thing he cares more about than winning a battle is his best friend Kwon, a long time ally who frequents PK’s house for sleepovers and screenings of PATTON after their various victories. In an effort to defeat the illustrious PK, the ruthless General Skinner kidnaps Kwon with the intention and torturing him for information. Little does Skinner know that PK will do anything to get his best friend back and before they know it, a diverse band of soldiers that includes a priest, a bully and a mysterious girl sets off for battle in the war to end all wars.
If this sounds like a joke, it’s not. Director Jason Lapeyre treats what could quickly become a dismissive satire with incredible sincerity. Putting us inside of the minds of his young protagonists, Lapeyre creates a world in which we see children attack each other with everything from heavy artillery to laser eyeballs, while all the while keeping the focus on their basic adolescent conflicts. Utilizing a cast of extremely talented child actors, the film contains very real depictions of bullying, teenage crushes and fickle friendships, making the movie as much about adolescence as it is about warfare. Winner of the top prize at this year’s Action Fest, I DECLARE WAR is a one-of-a-kind action pic with an incredible twist. (Michael Lerman)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 2:40pm - 4:26pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004039

2:55pm CDT

The Conspiracy

Plays with "88:88": Val has lost control of her life. Those around her deny the reality of the extraordinary experiences she feels powerless against. Realizing she must stand alone, she has only one remaining option - to find a way to fight back.

Director Christopher MacBride, producer Lee Kim, actor/producer Aaron Poole, cinematographer Ian Anderson, and actor Jim Gilbert LIVE in attendance!
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying...
And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 2:55pm - 4:48pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004019

3:30pm CDT

Bring Me the Head of Machine Gun Woman

Director Ernesto Diaz LIVE in attendance!

Santiago Fernandez is an aimless young man content with spending hours on the couch playing Grand Theft Auto and fantasizing about an exciting life of crime and gun fights. By night he DJs at a club owned by ruthless Argentinian kingpin Che Longana. One evening, Santiago finds himself trapped in a bathroom stall as Longana holds a secret meeting to make known his offer of $300 million pesos for the head of Machine Gun Woman, an ex-girlfriend turned hitwoman who has it out for him. When he is discovered eavesdropping on the conversation, Santiago’s only choice to avoid being executed is to lie, claim he knows Machine Gun Woman and offer to bring her in. When he is given 24 hours to make good on his claim, Santiago’s life turns into a violent video game of its own complete with missions, guns, sexy women and brutal violence.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF MACHINE GUN WOMAN is that latest film from Chile’s Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, a man who is no stranger to Fantastic Fest. His first three features (KILTRO, MIRAGEMAN and MANDRILL) have blown audiences away in years past and he also has a segment in this year’s THE ABCS OF DEATH. In a departure from his string of Marko Zaror actioners, Espinoza has crafted an incredibly entertaining exploitation film all centered around a beautiful Chilean goddess clad in small swaths of leather and, of course, machine guns. As Santiago tracks down the killer, he is thrust into a strange criminal underworld that frequently erupts in unexpected violence and when he comes face-to-face with her, all bets are off. Espinoza keeps BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN fast and fun from sexy start to explosive finish. (Brian Kelley)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 3:30pm - 5:00pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004011

3:45pm CDT

Graceland

Director Ron Morales and producer Rebecca Lundgren LIVE in attendance!
Marlon Villar is a typical working man, though as the driver for corrupt Congressman Manuel Changho, Marlon makes a little more than the average Filipino. Despite his good fortune, it's still not enough money to help his wife, who’s deathly ill and in need of an organ transplant. When Marlon has some trouble covering up Changho's latest impropriety, it sparks a series of events that will threaten to ruin him and everyone close to him. It begins when he goes to pick up Changho's daughter Sophia from school. The Congressman’s child has struck up a friendship with Marlon’s daughter Elvie, who’s also along for the ride. They’re pulled over by a “cop” that turns out to be a kidnapper, who makes off with Elvie (mistaking her for Sophia) and tells Marlon to pass along the ransom demands to Changho. Marlon, terrified and distraught, must find some way to get his daughter back.
Written and directed by Ron Morales, a key grip on several well-known Hollywood films, GRACELAND is a tense, taut thriller that drags the audience through some of the darkest parts of the Filipino underworld. Bribes and corruption are commonplace in GRACELAND's Manilla, and they're just the tip of the lurid iceberg. Morales borrows somewhat from Kurosawa's classic kidnapping thriller HIGH AND LOW, but continually puts his own spins on a familiar story. Arnold Reyes is particularly great in the difficult role of Marlon, communicating a plethora of emotions in a very real way as the web of deceit tightens around him. GRACELAND is a dark and dirty film, tense and occasionally unsettling, where no one makes it out completely clean. (Luke Mullen)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 3:45pm - 5:24pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004032

5:25pm CDT

Room 237

Director Rodney Ascher will be LIVE in attendance!
Stanley Kubrick's Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's novel THE SHINING is rightly regarded as one of the best horror films ever made. While cinephiles admire THE SHINING for its iconic performances, dread-inducing atmospherics, and technical precision, others appreciate the film on an entirely different level. These fans see the film as a subversive commentary on such disparate topics as: the mass murder of the American Indians, Nazism, numerology, the rise of Western civilization, Freudian analysis, and the Apollo 11 moon landing "hoax." Rodney Ascher's ROOM 237 gathers five of these Kubrick obsessives and weaves their bizarre—and often incredulous—ideas into a thought-provoking exploration of the extreme boundaries of subtextual analysis and conspiratorial thinking.
ROOM 237 is radical in both content and construction. The film deploys a style that has more in common with the work of Chris Marker and other experimentalists than traditional documentaries. ROOM 237 is structured in nine parts, each of which is built around a specific theme invoked by the interviewees. The film's five subjects are identified by name but never physically appear onscreen. We only hear their voices as they relay their thoughts. In addition to using original footage, Ascher appropriates clips from numerous films—including Kubrick's works—, cartoons, and newsreels. This mélange of material is expertly edited into a hypnotic flurry of wild ideas and startling images that challenges the limits of the audience's belief.
ROOM 237 raises provocative questions about THE SHINING and Kubrick's overall artistic—and perhaps political—goals. What really lies behind the door to Room 237? This is a question that may never be fully answered. (Rodney Perkins)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 5:25pm - 7:22pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004051

5:45pm CDT

The ABC’s Of Death

Directors Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Ernesto Diaz Espinosa, Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Ti West, Yudai Yamaguchi and Thomas Malling LIVE in attendance!

Twenty-six directors. Twenty-six ways to die. And now...it’s finally here! Featuring a heavy-hitting lineup of Fantastic Fest alumni, THE ABC’S OF DEATH will make its long-awaited debut in what promises to be one of the biggest events in the history of the festival! Inspired by old-timey children’s alphabet primers, this anthology—the most ambitious ever produced—assigns one letter and one method of death each to 26 leading filmmakers, from 15 different countries. Given free creative reign and a fixed budget to design whatever method of death they liked, the resulting films are hilarious, viscerally shocking, ridiculous, and incredibly original, with nearly every inappropriate subject you can imagine. Baby death? Got it. Genital trauma? Sure.

Mass murder? Definitely. Animal abuse? Uh-huh. Dismemberment? Oh, yeah. Nudity? More than you probably want to see. Child abuse? Of course! Defecation? Just a wee bit. Plus...Nazis, serial killers, insects, earthquakes, monsters, arterial blood-sprays, robots, samurai, and more toilets than should probably be in any one movie. And the filmmaking styles? Everything you could hope for: animation, slow motion, fast motion, first-person storytelling, heavy dialogue, dialogue-free, furry cosplay and everything in-between. You will not find a wilder, more diverse, vibrant and exciting collection of films on a film festival program this year.

We’re extremely excited to unveil our new baby on our home turf, since it’s the first original project Drafthouse Films has ever co-produced, along with partners Magnet Releasing and Timpson Films. Join us in the dark, grab a beverage, and prepare to learn your alphabet all over again. THE ABC’S OF DEATH is intended to be a shocking, over-the- top roller coaster ride of a movie, and a truly international project, bringing to the world the best of genre filmmaking with all boundaries removed and sick, twisted creativity given free reign. We hope you like it. And we hope you teach your children about it, too. (Marc Walkow)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 5:45pm - 8:09pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004004

6:00pm CDT

Berberian Sound Studio

Gilderoy (Toby Jones) is a fragile audio technician who mostly works on nature documentaries. In 1976, he is summoned from his home in England to work for an Italian production company on an unspecified project. Upon his arrival, Gilderoy learns that has been hired to work on an ultra-violent giallo film called THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX. Under the supervision of director Giancarlo Santini (Antonio Mancino) and producer Francesco Coraggio (Cosimo Fusco), Gilderoy creates audio landscapes full of gibbering goblins, orgasmic witches, and squished heads. Gilderoy’s sense of unease about his job is raised to unbearable levels as his life becomes increasingly similar to THE EQUESTRIAN VORTEX.
Films that attempt to replicate the lurid style of Italian giallo films from the ‘60s and ‘70s often mimic the obvious details—colored gel lighting, psychedelic soundscapes and black gloved killers—without going
any deeper. Peter Strickland’s BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO takes an entirely different approach. This is a bizarre atmospheric thriller that digs deep beneath the skin to probe giallo’s bloody beating heart. The titular sound studio provides Strickland with both a means of paying homage to the esoteric details of giallo—particularly the genre’s unique approach to sound design—and a context for Gilderoy’s collapse into madness. Toby Jones delivers an exceptional performance as a naif who is thrust into bizarre world where cinematic horror and reality are inexplicably fused. BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO is truly one of the most unique films of 2012. (Rodney Perkins)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 6:00pm - 7:47pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004008

6:15pm CDT

No Rest for the Wicked

Santos Trinidad (José Coronado) is a dirty cop with a violent streak and a serious thirst for rum and Coke. During a drunken binge, he murders three people in a bar. A witness escapes from the building before Santos can catch him. While Santos sets out to kill the witness and cover up his crimes, a judge and the police conduct a investigation into the murders. Santos' hunt for the witness and the parallel police investigation slowly converge to reveal a massive criminal conspiracy that no one involved could have ever anticipated.
Enrique Urbizu's NO REST FOR THE WICKED (NO HABRÁ PAZ PARA LOS MALVADOS) is a briskly paced thriller that deftly juggles intertwining plot lines with surprising and explosive results. The film swept the 2012 Goya Awards—the Spanish equivalent of the Oscars—with wins for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, and Best Sound. The accolades are well deserved because NO REST FOR THE WICKED is amongst the strongest thrillers to emerge from Spain—or anywhere else—in the past few years. The film's secret weapon is José Coronado, who delivers an award-winning performance as a completely despicable cop. Focusing a film on such an unlikeable character is a risky move, but Coronado handles the role with menacing precision. An American remake of the film is already in the works—Sylvester Stallone has expressed serious interest—so now is the time to get ahead of the curve and experience the power of the original NO REST FOR THE WICKED. (Rodney Perkins)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 6:15pm - 8:14pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004046

6:30pm CDT

Hail

Danny (Daniel P. Jones) is released from a Melbourne jail and immediately returns home to his girlfriend Leanne (Jone’s real life partner Leanne Campbell). Though his relationship with Leanne picks right back up where it left off, Danny’s attempts to reintegrate into society are met with resistance at every step of the way. Haunted by the mental and emotional demons of prison and the lifestyle that put him there, he soon resorts to the familiar crutches of alcohol and outbursts of anger to alleviate tension. Danny is able to maintain some amount of control until things begin to fall off the rails, triggered by a visit from Leanne’s heroin dealing friend Anthony.
HAIL is a startling and brutal hybrid film, a semi-autobiographical pastiche of events from Jones’ life and from those of his acquaintances in the criminal world he used to inhabit. Director Amiel Courtin-Wilson worked with Jones to piece together a narrative from his memories and cast Jones, Campbell and other real life characters to create HAIL. The result is a gripping experimental film full of a palpable reality. The narrative is as free-flowing and surreal as it is straightforward with scenes of intense grit inter-cut with those of arresting artistic beauty all coupled with an inventive and unforgettable score. It all works thanks to stunning performances from everyone, especially Jones who has spent his entire life preparing for this role.
We at Fantastic Fest certainly do love our crime dramas but HAIL is certain to defy attendees’ expectations of what a film of its kind can be. Like other ultra-realistic films coming out of Australia, HAIL will take you uncomfortably close to the mind and misdeeds of people who have actually lived the kind of lives most of us only see in movies. (Brian Kelley)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 6:30pm - 8:43pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004033

8:20pm CDT

Vanishing Waves

Lukas's life is going pretty well. He's living with Lina, his girlfriend of several years and she's supportive of Lukas's work despite the grueling schedule. His hard work is paying off as the research team he's a part of is getting ready to start its first human trials with a new technology he helped to develop; one that will allow thoughts to be transferred digitally from one person to another. Lukas has volunteered to be the receiver, having already completed experiments receiving thought signals from a computer. But this is the real test; an actual transfer of thoughts from a comatose patient directly into Lukas's brain. The reduced brain activity of a comatose patient should offer a more manageable amount data for the system to track and transfer. The experiment is setup as a double blind test, meaning that Lukas will have no knowledge of the comatose patient, just as the patient has no knowledge of Lukas. The digital system is set up like a one-way street. Information passes from the source to Lukas but cannot go the opposite direction, meaning that interactivity is not possible. Instead it simply serves as a window through which Lukas can view the patient's thoughts.
Despite a few false starts, the system works perfectly, though the presence of another person in the thoughts is a surprise, one that Lukas decides to keep to himself to avoid controversy that could terminate the experiments. He's fascinated and awe-struck by the clarity and depth of the brain activity he is experiencing, though it's unclear if they're current thoughts or dreams or memories. The other person he continues to see is also a mystery, though an enticing one that slowly takes over Lukas's every waking thought. As he is drawn more and more into the life of the patient, he finds himself willing to sacrifice almost anything to continue the experiments and discover the truth.
Vanishing Waves is a powerful sci-fi drama, with roots in films like The Cell and Inception while also calling to mind elements of Almodovar's Talk to Her. The film features beautiful cinematography along with a fantastic score that perfectly underscore a great story. Modern, slick and stylish, VANISHING WAVES is an incredible cinematic journey that will draw you in and keep you wanting more. (Luke Mullen)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 8:20pm - 10:39pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004061

8:45pm CDT

Aftershock

Director Nicholas Lopez and actor Eli Roth in attendance
Chile has it all: gorgeous landscapes, smokin’- hot women, cool dudes, great wine, and the wildest parties. For a hapless American tourist, nicknamed Gringo (Eli Roth) by his two Chilean pals Ariel (Ariel Levy) and Pollo (Nicolás Martínez), the trip has been heaven on earth — except that he just can’t hook up with the ladies. Gringo’s luck seems to change when the group meets a trio of babes — Russian model Irina (Natasha Yarovenko), non-stop party girl Kylie (Lorenza Izzo) and her serious sister Monica (Andrea Osvárt) — who agree to accompany them on a trip to the coastal town of Valparaíso. The new friends are having the best of times whooping it up in a dance club, until a violent earthquake brings the entire city down around them. With this one- time paradise now a landscape of death and destruction that’s seething with terror and panic, our unlucky heroes must run for their lives from looters, escaped convicts, and the inevitable aftershocks.

Tuesday September 25, 2012 8:45pm - 10:30pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004171

9:00pm CDT

Secret Screening

Tuesday September 25, 2012 9:00pm - 11:00pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000002740

9:00pm CDT

Secret Screening

Tuesday September 25, 2012 9:00pm - 11:00pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000002740

9:15pm CDT

The Mafu Cage

One of the most compelling and uniquely dark films of the psychotic woman subgenre, Karen Arthur’s adaptation of Eric Westphal’s play You and Your Clouds stars Lee Grant as Ellen, an astronomer who lives with her feral sister Cissy (Carol Kane) in the large house left to them by their now-deceased anthropologist father. The distinction between the two sisters – one a caregiver with social responsibilities, the other an angry pet - is illustrated through aural cues: weird harpsichord music accompanies Ellen’s limited private life while pounding tribal percussion underscores Cissy’s fanciful existence alone in the house, which is decked out in exotic African textiles, pelts and artifacts. Sissy herself prefers to go around unclothed, or to wear ceremonial African vestments brought back from her father’s many expeditions. The centerpiece of their livingroom is a large cage, where Cissy keeps her rotating queue of ‘mafus’ (monkeys) who live as long as she will let them before she loses patience and sentences them to death.
Cissy is not just a ‘wild thing’, she’s completely nuts: she hyperventilates and screams like a dangerous, and when Ellen refuses to get her another Mafu on account of the fates of the previous ones, Cissy is alternately spiteful and conciliatory, demanding “You get me what I want or I will assassinate myself right now!”. But as much as Ellen wants Cissy to be normal, ‘normalcy’ is relative: Ellen is an enabler, and things only get this far out of hand because she allows them to. She sacrifices everything to Cissy – her work, her personal life – she even hates animals and yet she repeatedly acquiesces to Cissy’s demands for a large unruly pet that will inevitably be buried in the backyard before long. When Ellen is courted by a co-worker, Cissy’s bubble is threatened and the interloper finds himself at the centre of a violent sacrificial ceremony. (Kier-la Janisse)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 9:15pm - 11:12pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004042

11:30pm CDT

Dead Sushi

Plays with "Meat Stick Man": A dark take on the "Snap in to a Slim Jim" ads. Meat Stick Man bursts into a young boy's room to personally "feed" his hunger, only to find the boy needs some convincing.
Producer Eric Storlie, Writer/Producer Darrin Scane, Producer Peter Rimac, and Director Jared Bentley LIVE in attendance!

Director Noboru Iguchi, producer Mana Fukui, and actress Rina Takeda in attendance!
Director Noboru Iguchi has brought audiences around the world machine gun schoolgirls, robot geishas, karate robots, and toilet zombies. Once you consider this fact, a “nature attacks”-type movie about flying killer sushi seems like the next logical step! Wait no longer, fans of nutbar Japanese cinema, for chef Iguchi has served up an omakase that will eat you, if you don’t eat it first.
Keiko, daughter of a famous sushi chef, leaves home to escape his overbearing training in both sushi-making and martial arts. Finding work at a rural inn, she is bullied by the staff and ridiculed by the guests, including the president of Komatsu Pharmaceuticals, who has come to the inn for a vacation with his associates. Little do they know, however, that disgruntled Komatsu researcher Yamada has followed them there with designs on revenge, using a serum he developed that can awaken the murderous instincts of fish on rice, creating…killer sushi! Bloodthirsty tuna and squid soon descend upon the humans, killing many and turning the remainder into zombie-like creatures. Keiko, joined by the inn’s former sushi chef Sawada, uses her fighting skills against the creatures in an attempt to escape with a handful of uninfected survivors. But Yamada has another deadly surprise for them…can Keiko and Sawada defeat both him and his flying killers?
Iguchi is no stranger to Fantastic Fest, but the big difference this time around is the presence of rising martial arts star Rina Takeda, still barely out of her teens when the movie was made. Takeda’s earlier films like HIGH KICK GIRL left a bit to be desired in the story department, but her first feature film collaboration with Iguchi delivers the goods. It helps, of course, that she’s backed up by Iguchi’s regular stock company of players, including faces familiar to Austin audiences like Asami and Demo Tanaka, plus the required presence of Yoshihiro Nishimura’s special effects to deliver the splatter. Bring your soy sauce and wasabi and plenty of beer—you’re on the menu tonight! (Marc Walkow)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 11:30pm - Wednesday September 26, 2012 1:19am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004022

11:35pm CDT

Miami Connection

Actor/Producer Grandmaster YK and actors Joe Diamond, Maurice Smith, Angelo Jannotti, and Vince Hirsch will be LIVE in attendance!
THE ULTIMATE ACHIEVEMENT IN TAE KWON DO ANTI-SANITY! The year is 1987. Motorcycle ninjas tighten their grip on Florida’s narcotics trade, viciously annihilating anyone who dares move in on their turf. Multi-national martial arts rock band Dragon Sound have had enough, and embark on a roundhouse wreck-wave of crime-crushing justice. When not chasing beach bunnies or performing their hit song “Against the Ninja,” Mark (kung-fu master/inspirational speaker Y.K. Kim) and the boys are kicking and chopping at the drug world’s smelliest underbelly. It’ll take every ounce of their blood and courage, but Dragon Sound can’t stop until they’ve completely destroyed the dealers, the drunk bikers, the kill-crazy ninjas, the middle-aged thugs, the “stupid cocaine”...and the entire MIAMI CONNECTION!!!

Real life martial arts grandmaster Y.K. Kim only made one film in his life, but it's without a doubt the most rampaging crowd-pleaser of the '80s, bursting with vibrance, violence, honor and hilarity. Completely lost for decades, a 35mm film print has been unearthed by the Alamo, and its first viewing opened a dimensional portal to pure, unstoppable FUN. After demolishing the crowd with it at select festivals, we’ve allied with writer/producer/star Y.K. Kim and the rest of the cast to detonate Fantastic Fest with the supreme synth-rock anti-ninja experience. Miss this epochal screening event and you’ll hate yourself for a thousand lifetimes...guaranteed!!! (Zack Carlson)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 11:35pm - Wednesday September 26, 2012 1:50am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004069

11:40pm CDT

Flicker

Backberga has gone dark, its power supply crashing to the ground – literally – just outside of town. This has been happening a lot lately. Not by any fault of the local electrical engineers or struggling local telecom company Unicom. No, it’s the group of radical, anti-radiowave anarchists who keep blowing things up. Not even Unicom’s freshly created superhero mascot can stop them.
Swedish writer-director Patrik Eklund has won international acclaim – and an Oscar nomination – for his previous short films thanks to his wickedly sharp wit and drily understated sense of humor. Those factors are once again in full effect with Eklund’s debut feature, FLICKER.
Though the plot of FLICKER has plenty to draw you in, the real strength of the film lies in its characters. The put-upon accountant who dreams of a more romantic, Ted Danson-style love life. The cleaning woman terrified of spiders. Unicom’s hysterically incompetent IT department. Eklund is an absolute master of wedding the mundane to the absurd because, to his eyes, there is little to no difference between the two. But Eklund is not content to just poke fun. No, as silly as these people are he loves them all and FLICKER accomplishes the remarkable task of finding the humanity in each of them.
A slyly observed gem of a film, FLICKER announces Eklund as a director who could be a sort of surrogate Coen Brother, should he ever choose to go that route. Eklund certainly shares the Coen’s gift for observation and their appreciation of the absurd, but Eklund’s obvious love for his characters stands in stark contrast to the lurking cynicism of most who walk this road, and marks him as a truly unique voice. (Todd Brown)

Tuesday September 25, 2012 11:40pm - Wednesday September 26, 2012 1:34am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004030

12:05am CDT

New Kids Nitro

Plays with "Get Real!": A high school student is addicted to a computer game in which he portrays a bodyguard protecting a sexy female singer. He overcomes his obsession once a real girl in his class gives him his first kiss.

Directors Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil as well as actors Huub Smit and Wesley van Gaalen will be LIVE in attendance!
Our favorite mullet-heads from Masskantje—Gerrie, Richard, Rikkert, Robbie and Barry—are in the midst of a huge rivalry with a bunch of dudes from the neighboring village of Schinjdel. There is more than honor at stake: Rikkert is fighting for both his beloved car and the heart of his enemy's pregnant girlfriend. While the New Kids are warring with the Schinjndel schlubs, something strange is happening in the nearby farmlands of Friesland that might threaten the security of the entire country. Will the New Kids rise to the occasion?
NEW KIDS TURBO debuted in the Netherlands with the biggest box office opening in the country's history. Instead of messing with a successful formula for the sequel, co-directors/co-writers Steffen Haars and Flip Van der Kull decided simply to escalate everything. The jokes are dumber and more offensive. The set pieces are bigger, louder, and gorier. Some may find the constant references to rivalries between Dutch villages—what’s up with the dudes from Woensel?—and deep-fried snacks perplexing. However, neither an intimate understanding of Dutch culture nor the original film is a requirement because NEW KIDS NITRO speaks the universal language of ultra-foul politically incorrect humor. (Rodney Perkins)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 12:05am - 1:50am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004045

11:00am CDT

The American Scream

Director Michael Paul Stephenson, producer Lindsay Stephenson and haunters Manny Souza and Victor Bariteau LIVE in attendance!

Chances are you’ve come across one in your lifetime. Your neighbor may be one. Your co-worker may be one. There could even be one in your family. Sometimes they operate alone and sometimes they involve their loved ones. The moment they wait for is over in what seems like the blink of an eye but there can be months of planning, designing and building leading up to a night of terror.
These people are home haunters.
The idyllic East Coast town of Fairhaven, MA is the home of several home haunters, individuals who are obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles every Halloween. THE AMERICAN SCREAM follows three of them - a perfectionist IT professional whose wife and children help out with varying levels of enthusiasm, a friend inspired to create his own haunt, and a father and son duo- as they prepare for the big day. Their passion is immediately apparent and their methods are varied with some opting for obsessive attention to detail and others more concerned with overall effect. The common link between them all is an artistic genius bred from the love of scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors.
Director Michael Stephenson (BEST WORST MOVIE) has crafted another extraordinarily entertaining and heartwarming documentary with THE AMERICAN SCREAM. Despite bumps along the way in the days leading up to Halloween, the payoff captured is something truly special. In the end all the mishaps, slips, spills, scrapes and creative differences don’t matter. What really matters is the sense of pride a home haunter feels by bringing together his or her community to experience the product of months of hard work. That and the look of frozen terror on the faces of men, women and children alike. (Brian Kelley)
There will be a special haunted house event following the world premiere of The American Scream - check it out here!

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:00am - 12:36pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004006

11:05am CDT

Graceland

Director Ron Morales and producer Rebecca Lundgren LIVE in attendance!
Marlon Villar is a typical working man, though as the driver for corrupt Congressman Manuel Changho, Marlon makes a little more than the average Filipino. Despite his good fortune, it's still not enough money to help his wife, who’s deathly ill and in need of an organ transplant. When Marlon has some trouble covering up Changho's latest impropriety, it sparks a series of events that will threaten to ruin him and everyone close to him. It begins when he goes to pick up Changho's daughter Sophia from school. The Congressman’s child has struck up a friendship with Marlon’s daughter Elvie, who’s also along for the ride. They’re pulled over by a “cop” that turns out to be a kidnapper, who makes off with Elvie (mistaking her for Sophia) and tells Marlon to pass along the ransom demands to Changho. Marlon, terrified and distraught, must find some way to get his daughter back.
Written and directed by Ron Morales, a key grip on several well-known Hollywood films, GRACELAND is a tense, taut thriller that drags the audience through some of the darkest parts of the Filipino underworld. Bribes and corruption are commonplace in GRACELAND's Manilla, and they're just the tip of the lurid iceberg. Morales borrows somewhat from Kurosawa's classic kidnapping thriller HIGH AND LOW, but continually puts his own spins on a familiar story. Arnold Reyes is particularly great in the difficult role of Marlon, communicating a plethora of emotions in a very real way as the web of deceit tightens around him. GRACELAND is a dark and dirty film, tense and occasionally unsettling, where no one makes it out completely clean. (Luke Mullen)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:05am - 12:44pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004032

11:25am CDT

Plan C

Plays with "Sugar":

Director Max Porcelijn, Actor Ruben van der Meer, and DP Coen Stroeve will be LIVE in attendance!
Detective Ronald Plasmeyer is good at coming up with plans. The problem is that he’s bad at coming up with good plans. This is a particularly significant problem given the large Asian men who turned up for a ‘chat’ with Ronald’s estranged wife and young son over the money he owes them.
It’s not that Ronald doesn’t want to repay the debt, it’s just that ten thousand Euro is a lot on a policeman’s salary. Plan A involved winning at poker. But poker is how he racked up the debt in the first place so – no surprise – Plan A just makes the problem worse. Plan B? Well, since Ronald can’t win at poker why not steal a tournament’s worth of poker winnings, instead? But Ronald is even worse at hiring henchmen than he is at making plans and that goes spectacularly badly. And now Ronald is on the run and desperately in need of a good Plan C.
A deliciously dry and slyly absurd comedy, Max Porcelijn’s PLAN C captures a train wreck in slow motion, a Coen-esque tale of criminal ineptitude. Ruben van der Meer anchors the film with his nuanced, understated, and very funny central performance as Plasmeyer.
A weak willed and deeply passive man Plasmeyer as played by van der Meer is the world’s least likely criminal mastermind. This is, of course, entirely the point and Porcelijn takes great delight in letting the dominos fall as this incompetent cop proves to be an equally incompetent robber. As the chaos swirls ever higher Plasmeyer remains in the eye of the hurricane, not so much a beacon of strength but an icon of confusion and indecision. (Todd Brown)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:25am - 1:24pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004049

11:40am CDT

Wake in Fright

Director Ted Kotcheff will be LIVE in attendance!
When Mark Hartley’s Oz-ploitation documentary NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD was making the festival rounds a couple years back, there were many salacious titles that sent collectors scurrying for their P2P sites. But one in particular, one that Hartley claimed was the impetus for Australia’s signature brand of outback horror, would prove especially elusive... until now! Long considered a lost film due to its unavailability on home video or broadcast, this new 35mm print from the National Film and Sound Archives of Australia lets contemporary audiences see why WAKE IN FRIGHT is such a pioneering cornerstone in the development of the Australian genre film.
John Grant (Gary Bond) is a schoolteacher stationed reluctantly in a desolate outback town. As the Christmas holiday approaches, his dreams of a surfing vacation back in Sydney with his beach-bunny girlfriend are disrupted when he stops over for the night in the one-horse mining community of Bundanyabba , or “the Yabba” — a town that won’t be so easy to leave. It’s clear from the outset that the Yabba moves to its own rules and rhythms, a rhythm punctuated by the sputtering of draught pumps, clinking beer glasses, the ringing of cash registers and gruff, bawdy sing-songs. John’s determination to remain aloof is challenged at every turn by sweaty country folk for whom not sharing in loud displays of drunken idiocy is considered a grave slight. When he relents, participating in a penny-tossing gambling match in which he quickly loses all his money, he finds himself at the mercy of the town’s “aggressive hospitality,” effectively stranded there. He falls in with the town’s most boisterous good ol’ boys, including then-unknown Jack Thompson (on the verge of regional stardom) and a disturbingly sex-obsessed Donald Pleasence. During one of many drunken binges, John brags about being a target-shooting medalist, which leads to the film’s epic, highly controversial kangaroo-hunting sequence, which utilizes graphic footage from an actual licensed pursuit. While dread is palpable throughout the film, it is through these scenes that John’s physical and moral degradation is cemented. (Kier-la Janisse)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:40am - 1:49pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003833

11:55am CDT

Come Out And Play

Beth and Francis, a young married couple, are on holiday together when they venture to a beautiful, but highly remote, island. Beth is pregnant and the two are hoping to enjoy their last vacation before their baby is born. When they arrive, they notice that while there are plenty of children present, the adults all seem to be missing. Initially attributing this to the after effects of a recent festival, they quickly realize something far more sinister is afoot. The two will face terror and unsettling difficult decisions in their quest to make it off the island alive.
Makinov’s remake of the 1976 Spanish horror film WHO CAN KILL A CHILD upholds much of the disturbing content and genuinely affecting narrative subtleties of the original film without muddying its own identity. In remaking the film, Makinov skillfully captures the timeless horror of the original story’s stark, deeply morally troubling themes. It makes us FEEL the ethical questions posed throughout the narrative, that pit our survival instinct against our sense of decency.
Likewise, the underlying tensions and ambivalences of impending parenthood, explored so deftly in the original are upheld in this translation, counterbalancing that which could otherwise play as exploitation. However, COME OUT AND PLAY simultaneously delivers the goods in terms of shocks and gore. There is plenty here to appeal to both the reasoned and primitive sides of our brains. The performances by leads Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Vinessa Shaw are sincere and empathetic to the point of palpable heartache. We watch them commit heinous acts of violence, but for all of it we cannot muster judgment given their unbearable circumstances. Tension blossoms from unexpected places and grows at a rapid pace until it achieves an absolute stranglehold on the audience. COME OUT AND PLAY is a sterling example of a horror remake done right and its final moments are a testament to the genre’s continuing ability to shock and challenge us. (Brian Salisbury)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:55am - 1:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004018

2:15pm CDT

Room 237

Director Rodney Ascher will be LIVE in attendance!
Stanley Kubrick's Kubrick's 1980 adaptation of Stephen King's novel THE SHINING is rightly regarded as one of the best horror films ever made. While cinephiles admire THE SHINING for its iconic performances, dread-inducing atmospherics, and technical precision, others appreciate the film on an entirely different level. These fans see the film as a subversive commentary on such disparate topics as: the mass murder of the American Indians, Nazism, numerology, the rise of Western civilization, Freudian analysis, and the Apollo 11 moon landing "hoax." Rodney Ascher's ROOM 237 gathers five of these Kubrick obsessives and weaves their bizarre—and often incredulous—ideas into a thought-provoking exploration of the extreme boundaries of subtextual analysis and conspiratorial thinking.
ROOM 237 is radical in both content and construction. The film deploys a style that has more in common with the work of Chris Marker and other experimentalists than traditional documentaries. ROOM 237 is structured in nine parts, each of which is built around a specific theme invoked by the interviewees. The film's five subjects are identified by name but never physically appear onscreen. We only hear their voices as they relay their thoughts. In addition to using original footage, Ascher appropriates clips from numerous films—including Kubrick's works—, cartoons, and newsreels. This mélange of material is expertly edited into a hypnotic flurry of wild ideas and startling images that challenges the limits of the audience's belief.
ROOM 237 raises provocative questions about THE SHINING and Kubrick's overall artistic—and perhaps political—goals. What really lies behind the door to Room 237? This is a question that may never be fully answered. (Rodney Perkins)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 2:15pm - 4:12pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004051

2:15pm CDT

Crave

Plays with "Chilly": As the heat rises in a stuffy hotel room, a talking ice cube pitches the wonders of modern refrigeration to a strangely distracted man.
Director Dylan Kohler LIVE in attendance!

Director Charles de Lauzirika and actor Josh Lawson LIVE in attendane!
Aiden is a crime scene photographer who trolls the streets of Detroit in search of prime subjects with the help of a hardened homicide cop named Pete. In addition to being obsessed with photos of dead women, Aiden is prone to perverse revenge fantasies. Despite his unhinged behavior, he stumbles into a tryst with his neighbor Virginia, who is on the rebound from a relationship with a dirtbag named Ravi. As Aiden tries to keep his tenuous relationship with Emma alive, his delusions become more pronounced and he begins to act out his fantasies in the streets of Detroit.
CRAVE is an impressive first feature from Charles de Lauzirika, who cut his teeth directing and producing content for numerous DVDs such as BLADE RUNNER and ALIEN3. With CRAVE, Lauzirika turns his considerable skills to crafting a multi-layered, darkly humorous thriller. The screenplay is based on a story by Robert Lawton, and recalls a twisted mix of Chuck Palahniuk and Paul Schrader. Although there are numerous precedents for this kind of story, CRAVE molds these ideas into something fresh and original. In depicting Aiden's demented world view, CRAVE pierces the fourth wall numerous times, relies heavily on fractured internal dialogue, and deploys tricky tonal shifts. Lauzirika pulls off this complex high-wire act with confidence and style. (Rodney Perkins)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 2:15pm - 4:28pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004020

2:30pm CDT

Fuck Up

Director Oystein Karlsen, producer Anders Tangen, Cinematographer Pal Bugge Haagenrud, and actor Jon Oigarden LIVE in attendance!
Jack is not what you would consider a high quality human being. He drinks too much, does drugs constantly and has never been one to hold down a job. He also has a tendency to fuck anything that moves, a pattern of behavior that Jack puts no particular effort into hiding from anybody – not even his live-in girlfriend and mother of his child. Jack is, in short, the titular FUCK UP in Øystein Karlsen’s feature debut.
Jack has only two things in his favor. He has a certain natural charm, and he’s intensely loyal to his three childhood best friends. It is, of course, one of Jack’s good traits that gets him in trouble when one of these friends crashes his car into a moose and ends up in hospital, the clock ticking on just how long it will take for the police to realize there’s two and a half kilos of cocaine hidden in his trunk. The people who were waiting to receive said cocaine know it’s there, of course, and they’re less than pleased that it hasn’t been delivered. The clock is ticking for Jack to get the drugs out of the car without the police noticing and complete the transaction himself while hopefully keeping everybody alive in the process.
Though FUCK UP is Karlsen’s first feature, it is a reunion project of sorts, realigning the entire cast and creative team of hugely popular Norwegian sitcom DAG – currently in development for a US version at Fox – for a wickedly black action comedy. The friends on screen are friends in real life, and the established rapport – to say nothing of the fact that all of them are hugely talented – elevates FUCK UP into rare territory. If you take your comedy darker than pitch then this is a treat, indeed. (Todd Brown)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 2:30pm - 4:20pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004031

3:00pm CDT

Flicker

Backberga has gone dark, its power supply crashing to the ground – literally – just outside of town. This has been happening a lot lately. Not by any fault of the local electrical engineers or struggling local telecom company Unicom. No, it’s the group of radical, anti-radiowave anarchists who keep blowing things up. Not even Unicom’s freshly created superhero mascot can stop them.
Swedish writer-director Patrik Eklund has won international acclaim – and an Oscar nomination – for his previous short films thanks to his wickedly sharp wit and drily understated sense of humor. Those factors are once again in full effect with Eklund’s debut feature, FLICKER.
Though the plot of FLICKER has plenty to draw you in, the real strength of the film lies in its characters. The put-upon accountant who dreams of a more romantic, Ted Danson-style love life. The cleaning woman terrified of spiders. Unicom’s hysterically incompetent IT department. Eklund is an absolute master of wedding the mundane to the absurd because, to his eyes, there is little to no difference between the two. But Eklund is not content to just poke fun. No, as silly as these people are he loves them all and FLICKER accomplishes the remarkable task of finding the humanity in each of them.
A slyly observed gem of a film, FLICKER announces Eklund as a director who could be a sort of surrogate Coen Brother, should he ever choose to go that route. Eklund certainly shares the Coen’s gift for observation and their appreciation of the absurd, but Eklund’s obvious love for his characters stands in stark contrast to the lurking cynicism of most who walk this road, and marks him as a truly unique voice. (Todd Brown)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 3:00pm - 4:54pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004030

5:15pm CDT

Hellfjord

Please do not ask Sergeant Salmander about Gunnar. He loved that horse dearly and nobody feels worse about what happened to Salmander’s noble steed than Salmander himself. Yes, he understands that there were children present at the Independence Day parade who may require significant, long term counseling to come to terms with what they witnessed that fateful day but still, he feels bad, okay?<p>Sergeant Salmander’s journey may begin with a horse in Oslo, but it ends with a posting in HELLFJORD – a tiny town in the ass end of Norway where Salmander will serve as the district sheriff for the three month notification period labor law requires before he is summarily fired from the police force. Can he save his job by doing an exceptionally good job during his months in the far north? Probably not, but he intends to give it all he’s got.
The distinctive – and distinctively odd – world of HELLFJORD could only have come from the mind of one man, writer-producer Tommy Wirkola (DEAD SNOW). The seven episode television series introduces a world just slightly out of synch with the one you may know - a world where family restaurants double as strip clubs, the average age is sixty seven and the sun never, ever goes down. Wirkola and his all star team of directors – among them YOU SAID WHAT helmer Patrik Syversen and COLD PREY’s Roar Uthaug – have created a world that falls into the sweet spot between HOT FUZZ and TWIN PEAKS and Fantastic Fest is proud to present the World Premiere of the complete series. (Todd Brown)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 5:15pm - 8:53pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004034

5:30pm CDT

The Shining: Forwards and Backwards

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining is less an adaptation of Stephen King's bestselling horror novel than a complete reimagining of it from the inside out. In King's book, the Overlook Hotel is a haunted place that takes possession of its off-season caretaker and provokes him to murderous rage against his wife and young son. Kubrick's movie is an existential Road Runner cartoon (his steadicam scurrying through the hotel's labyrinthine hallways), in which the cavernously empty spaces inside the Overlook mirror the emptiness in the soul of the blocked writer, who's settled in for a long winter's hibernation. As many have pointed out, King's protagonist goes mad, but Kubrick's Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is Looney Tunes from the moment we meet him--all arching eyebrows and mischievous grin. (Both Nicholson and Shelley Duvall reach new levels of hysteria in their performances, driven to extremes by the director's fanatical demands for take after take after take.) The Shining is terrifying--but not in the way fans of the novel might expect. When it was redone as a TV miniseries (reportedly because of King's dissatisfaction with the Kubrick film), the famous topiary-animal attack (which was deemed impossible to film in 1980) was there--but the deeper horror was lost. Kubrick's The Shining gets under your skin and chills your bones; it stays with you, inhabits you, haunts you. And there's no place to hide...

Wednesday September 26, 2012 5:30pm - 8:07pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004055

5:45pm CDT

Secret Screening

Wednesday September 26, 2012 5:45pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000002740

5:45pm CDT

Secret Screening

Wednesday September 26, 2012 5:45pm - 7:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000002740

6:00pm CDT

Errors of the Human Body

Plays with "Advantageous": Gwen is the spokesperson for a radical technology allowing people to overcome their natural disadvantages. But when her job and family are in crisis, will she undergo the procedure herself?
Director Jennifer Phang, Actor/Co-Producer Jacqueline Kim, and Technical Director Jon Destoppeleire will be LIVE in attendance!

Director Eron Sheean and actor Michael Eklund LIVE in attendance!
While it is very tempting to refer to Eron Sheean’s ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY as a sci-fi thriller, that would simply not be accurate. Because while it is very much a fictional story that revolves around science, the science in this film – shot on location at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics – is all as real as can be. Call it a scientific thriller, if you will, with all of the science grounded in reality.
THE DIVIDE screenwriter Sheean makes his feature directing debut following a string of acclaimed shorts with ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY, the story of geneticist Dr Geoff Burton obsessively struggling to find a cure for the rare genetic ailment that killed his infant son years before. Though brilliant, his obsessions and often unorthodox working methods have left Burton’s career in a shambles, forcing him to relocate to Germany to continue his work.
It seems a promising move at first, a well equipped lab with a sympathetic administration and a former student in a key position, but Burton is soon swept up into a web of deceit and jealousy when he discovers that his former student may have found the solution he has searched for – and another researcher may be stealing it.
An icily precise thriller anchored by a subtle, nuanced performance from Michael Eklund (THE DIVIDE, THE DAY), with support from indie faves Karoline Herfurth (PERFUME, WE ARE THE NIGHT) and Tomas Lemarquis (NOI THE ALBINO), ERRORS OF THE HUMAN BODY offers up a surprisingly human take on science, a story ultimately more concerned with its characters than the tools they wield. It is a refreshing, yet challenging approach. (Todd Brown)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 6:00pm - 8:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004026

6:20pm CDT

I Declare War

Director Rob Wilson and producer Lewin Webb will be LIVE in attendance!
Every afternoon, several 13-year-olds congregate in the woods to play the game of “war.” Using their imaginations, they transform sticks into sub-machine guns and water balloons into grenades to practice their combat abilities. Legendary for his tactical mind, the young PK is a pure General in the making. The only thing he cares more about than winning a battle is his best friend Kwon, a long time ally who frequents PK’s house for sleepovers and screenings of PATTON after their various victories. In an effort to defeat the illustrious PK, the ruthless General Skinner kidnaps Kwon with the intention and torturing him for information. Little does Skinner know that PK will do anything to get his best friend back and before they know it, a diverse band of soldiers that includes a priest, a bully and a mysterious girl sets off for battle in the war to end all wars.
If this sounds like a joke, it’s not. Director Jason Lapeyre treats what could quickly become a dismissive satire with incredible sincerity. Putting us inside of the minds of his young protagonists, Lapeyre creates a world in which we see children attack each other with everything from heavy artillery to laser eyeballs, while all the while keeping the focus on their basic adolescent conflicts. Utilizing a cast of extremely talented child actors, the film contains very real depictions of bullying, teenage crushes and fickle friendships, making the movie as much about adolescence as it is about warfare. Winner of the top prize at this year’s Action Fest, I DECLARE WAR is a one-of-a-kind action pic with an incredible twist. (Michael Lerman)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 6:20pm - 8:06pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004039

8:50pm CDT

Danger 5

It’s World War II and the forces of Goodness and Right are in a pickle. Hitler is on the rise and the little Fuhrer’s deviousness knows no bounds. There is no scheme too outlandish, no plan too far-fetched. No, he means to rule the world and if stealing international landmarks will help him do it, then that’s what he’s going to do. Radio controlled dinosaurs? Of course! Solid gold weaponry? Sterling!
All that stands between Hitler and total world domination are the intrepid forces of DANGER 5. A collection of the free world’s top secret agents, DANGER 5 unite for one simple task: To kill Hitler. And they’ll go to the ends of the earth to do it. From Australia: Tucker. From England: Claire. From Russia: Ilsa. From France: Pierre. And from the USA: Jackson. Together they will put an end to Hitler’s nefarious schemes.
From the demented minds of Dario Russo and David Ashby – who also plays Jackson – DANGER 5 is a hilarious spin on THUNDERBIRDS-style spy adventures. There is no mission too dangerous, no plan too outlandish for this team.
Director Russo’s love for the period DANGER 5 recreates is matched only by his astounding ability to actually recreate it, the series executed so flawlessly using period techniques ranging from miniatures and matte paintings to models and prosthetics that it could very nearly be an artifact from the time rather than a recreation. Only the slyly deconstructionist sense of humor gives the ruse away. DANGER 5 originally aired as a six part television series in Australia. Fantastic Fest is proud to present all six parts in a single, uninterrupted orgy of dinosaur-headed excess (Todd Brown).

Wednesday September 26, 2012 8:50pm - 11:20pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004021

9:00pm CDT

Vegetarian Cannibal

Plays with "The Recipe": After a boy is confronted with death for the first time, he turns to his imagination for protection and understanding.
Director Jason Noto and Producer Rory Kindersley LIVE in attendance!

Dr. Danko Babić (Rene Bitorajac) is a studly gynecologist with a lust for life. Snorting drugs, having sex, and playing the drums are as routine for him as delivering babies or performing abortions. A crooked cop (Leon Lučev) introduces Babić to a crime boss (Emir Hadžihafizbegović) who offers him a sweet deal: perform illegal abortions to a stable of high-end prostitutes in exchange for fast cash. He accepts the offer and is soon faced with series of decisions that test the limits of his already questionable ethics.
Branko Schmidt’s VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is an indictment of corruption in Croatian society. Babić, whose profession is supposedly one of health and healing, is used as a prism through which analyze the ills of the entire nation. Babić is a cocky manipulator with a complete disregard for laws and ethics. Babić blasts his way through a series of dilemmas and makes the bad choice every time. It is hard to fault him however, because his transgressions are continually rewarded with money, power, and sex. Despite the film’s focus on social ills, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL isn’t simply dour agit-prop. It’s very affecting, albeit in an extremely negative way. What’s more, the film boasts some scenes that will test the tolerance of even the most hardened viewers. In other words, VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL is right at home at Fantastic Fest. (Rodney Perkins)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 9:00pm - 10:44pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004062

9:15pm CDT

Two Rabbits (Dois Coehlos)

Edgar is a prodigy, showing a vast proficiency for computer and mechanical engineering from a young age. Building on his natural talents through college, he emerged a genius, but like so many highly intelligent abstract thinkers, couldn't adjust to typical 9-5 work. When a terrible accident forces him to leave the country, he spends two years in Miami hatching a revenge plot to enact upon his return to Brazil.

In the tradition of great complicated crime thrillers, the most important pieces in the puzzle of TWO RABBITS are the players. The major player is Maicon, a local gangster kingpin, who has greased enough pockets to operate without interference from law enforcement. Then there are the brothers Geush, gay siblings making a fortune with their Shopping Network-style program, selling jewelry to old women over the phone. Their assistant Celia is the only person entrusted with the combination to the Geush’s safe and her only vulnerability is her daughter, who is snatched in a scheme to convince Celia to steal from her employers. There's Julia, the young, beautiful prosecutor working her way up in the DA's office while feeding information to her husband Henrique, who just so happens to be a criminal lawyer with a single client...Maicon. And this is just the tip of the bloody iceberg.

TWO RABBITS is a black comedy and a crime thriller where everyone has a price as well as a few skeletons in their closet. Corruption, kidnapping, and murder are all on the menu alongside traditional servings of sex, money and drugs. The film is hyper-stylized and lightning fast, but with a labyrinthine, darkly funny plot worthy of the Coen brothers. An odd mix to be sure, but writer/director Afonso Poyart manages to pull it off and make it look easy in the process, despite the fact that this is his first feature film. An impressive accomplishment, TWO RABBITS is exactly the type of off the radar gem you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 9:15pm - 11:18pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004109

9:45pm CDT

Secret Ceremony

On the way to the graveyard for a visit one day, prostitute Leonora is accosted on a city bus by a waifish weirdo named Cenci (Mia Farrow) who insists that Leonora is her ‘missing’ mother. Cenci’s pleading eyes remind her of her dead daughter, and she concedes to follow the girl to her giant London house, where she immediately spies a picture of the mother in question and understands the confusion – the two women are nearly identical. But in all the family photos, the image of the father is suspiciously blackened out.
Leonora sizes up the situation: a young girl alone in a big house who wants her dead mommy back, and a childless mother living in poverty who could get quite used to being doted on by a young daughter-figure and living a life of opulence. Within minutes the two are playing out a scenario of domestic damage, wherein Cenci recounts the events that led up to her father’s absence: he was caught doing something ‘scandalous’ to Cenci in the kitchen – something that left her permanently deranged. Leonora has to decide whether or not to use the girl’s neurosis to her own advantage, knowing that to get sucked into Cenci’s perverse game could mean risking her own sanity as well. (Kier-la Janisse)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 9:45pm - 11:45pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004054

11:20pm CDT

Aftershock

Director Nicholas Lopez and actor Eli Roth in attendance
Chile has it all: gorgeous landscapes, smokin’- hot women, cool dudes, great wine, and the wildest parties. For a hapless American tourist, nicknamed Gringo (Eli Roth) by his two Chilean pals Ariel (Ariel Levy) and Pollo (Nicolás Martínez), the trip has been heaven on earth — except that he just can’t hook up with the ladies. Gringo’s luck seems to change when the group meets a trio of babes — Russian model Irina (Natasha Yarovenko), non-stop party girl Kylie (Lorenza Izzo) and her serious sister Monica (Andrea Osvárt) — who agree to accompany them on a trip to the coastal town of Valparaíso. The new friends are having the best of times whooping it up in a dance club, until a violent earthquake brings the entire city down around them. With this one- time paradise now a landscape of death and destruction that’s seething with terror and panic, our unlucky heroes must run for their lives from looters, escaped convicts, and the inevitable aftershocks.

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:20pm - Thursday September 27, 2012 1:05am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 5 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004171

11:50pm CDT

Doomsday Book

Kim Ji-Woon is one of Korea’s most fascinating directors, and a new movie from him is always an event. Whether it’s the stylized horror of A TALE OF TWO SISTERS, the intense action of A BITTERSWEET LIFE, the wild spaghetti western madhouse of THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE WEIRD or even the dark psychodrama I SAW THE DEVIL, he has consistently delivered some of the most challenging, gorgeously shot, innovative genre movies to come out of Korea.
Originally planned to be a three-part omnibus directed by Kim Ji-Woon, Yim Pil-Sung (director of HANSEL & GRETEL and ANTARCTIC JOURNAL) and Han Jae-Rim (THE SHOW MUST GO ON), production started on DOOMSDAY BOOK in 2006, and then fell apart when Han’s film (a retelling of an O. Henry short story) proved to be unworkable. With only two-thirds of the movie completed, it was shelved. Then, after a new influx of cash in 2010, Kim and Yim worked together to complete the movie’s third segment. Now their collaboration about the end of the world is finally ready for the big screen.
Outlining three ways in which the world ends, DOOMSDAY BOOK starts with Yim Pil-Sung’s “A Brave New World,” a rollicking, hilarious tale about rampant pollution that leads to an outbreak of zombie-ism that robs man of even his ability to choose to die. The second short, Kim Ji-Woon’s “The Heavenly Creature” is about a future where robots have become our main source of manual labor. One android, which resides at a Buddhist temple, achieves enlightenment, and the company that produces robot workers realizes that it’s got a crisis on its hands. The movie wraps up with the two directors collaborating on “Happy Birthday,” about a young girl whose wish results in a giant meteor heading straight for the planet Earth. Injecting welcome doses of comedy into three hard science fiction scenarios, this two-fisted dose of apocalypse is the smartest sci-fi flick to hit movie screens all summer. (NYAFF)

Wednesday September 26, 2012 11:50pm - Thursday September 27, 2012 1:58am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004024

12:00am CDT

Paranormal Activity 4 (work in progress print)

Thursday September 27, 2012 12:00am - 1:50am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000003822

12:20am CDT

Tebana Sankichi: Snot Rockets

Director Yudai Yamaguchi and Producer Masaru Yabe wil be LIVE in attendance!
In 1995, before they joined forces to help create the low-budget Japanese action classic Versus, writer / director Yudai Yamaguchi (Battlefield Baseball, Cromartie High School, Meatball Machine, Yakuza Weapon) and actor / action choreographer Tak Sakaguchi (Death Trance, Shinobi) teamed up to create a crazy, independent short film called Snot Rockets & Super Detective. Now, 17 years later, the pair have joined forces again to reboot a brand-new, feature-length version of the short, and it’s even more lunatic and unpredictable than what came before.
Tak stars as Tebana Sankichi—lover of women, rescuer of the fallen, sometime private detective, wayward son, homeless bum, celebrity, bullied child, spoiled rich kid, and fighting master. In what can politely be described as a “loose episodic comedy,” we follow Sankichi’s increasingly bizarre adventures across space and time, and his long-suffering partnership with “Twice” Shiro, his bespectacled, put-upon partner, as well as the efforts of a hard-working postman trying to deliver a very important letter to him.
Shot across the globe in Tokyo, Yubari, Philadelphia, New York, and even in Austin during Fantastic Fest 2011, TEBANA SANKICHI: SNOT ROCKETS is now bigger, longer, and packs more power per inch than ever before. Careening recklessly from suicide humor to Tora-san references to traditional New Year’s Day television greetings to horror homage and yakuza movie references, it’s a film guaranteed to wear the audience out with its relentless pace, and make you cry "mercy!" A radical departure from anything the filmmakers have done in the past few years, and produced on a shoestring budget, TEBANA SANKICHI is a demonstration of how much Yudai and Tak continue to push the boundaries of the action/comedy film, and is their latest shot across the bow of good taste and good judgment. Watch it if you dare! (Marc Walkow)

Thursday September 27, 2012 12:20am - 1:54am CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004058

11:30am CDT

The Conspiracy

Plays with "88:88": Val has lost control of her life. Those around her deny the reality of the extraordinary experiences she feels powerless against. Realizing she must stand alone, she has only one remaining option - to find a way to fight back.

Director Christopher MacBride, producer Lee Kim, actor/producer Aaron Poole, cinematographer Ian Anderson, and actor Jim Gilbert LIVE in attendance!
When two young filmmakers select a crazed conspiracy theorist as the subject of their new work, the task seems simple enough: Befriend him, gain his trust, and let his theories speak for themselves. But things prove much more complicated than that. Despite his wild street preaching, their subject proves to be an articulate and intelligent man; one prone to seeing patterns others don’t, sure, but hardly the expected lunatic. Listen long enough and his arguments even start to make a certain sort of sense. It’s enough to make you wonder if maybe, somewhere, there’s some basis to what he’s saying...
And then he simply disappears. No word. No trace. Just gone.
While one of the filmmaking duo is prepared to walk away, the other becomes obsessed. This should not be possible. People don’t just disappear. Not unless someone wants them to. What if he was correct? What if he was on the verge of exposing some greater scheme? And what if he was taken? And so begins an obsessive effort to reconstruct his work, an effort that points the duo to a hidden society, a high powered retreat and networking organization for the political and business elite.
A meticulously researched and cannily constructed bit of work, THE CONSPIRACY systematically blurs the lines between fact and fiction, deconstructing the distinction between facts and news, news and propaganda. Using one of the most persistent memes of our time – the conspiracy theory – to create a fact-based thriller, THE CONSPIRACY is more than just entertainment. It’s a sly commentary on a world in which the medium really has become the message, a world in which the most important question is not “What happened?” but “Who is telling us?” (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 27, 2012 11:30am - 1:23pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004019

11:45am CDT

The American Scream

Director Michael Paul Stephenson, producer Lindsay Stephenson and haunters Manny Souza and Victor Bariteau LIVE in attendance!

Chances are you’ve come across one in your lifetime. Your neighbor may be one. Your co-worker may be one. There could even be one in your family. Sometimes they operate alone and sometimes they involve their loved ones. The moment they wait for is over in what seems like the blink of an eye but there can be months of planning, designing and building leading up to a night of terror.
These people are home haunters.
The idyllic East Coast town of Fairhaven, MA is the home of several home haunters, individuals who are obsessed with turning their properties into elaborate and horrifying spectacles every Halloween. THE AMERICAN SCREAM follows three of them - a perfectionist IT professional whose wife and children help out with varying levels of enthusiasm, a friend inspired to create his own haunt, and a father and son duo- as they prepare for the big day. Their passion is immediately apparent and their methods are varied with some opting for obsessive attention to detail and others more concerned with overall effect. The common link between them all is an artistic genius bred from the love of scaring the pants off their friends and neighbors.
Director Michael Stephenson (BEST WORST MOVIE) has crafted another extraordinarily entertaining and heartwarming documentary with THE AMERICAN SCREAM. Despite bumps along the way in the days leading up to Halloween, the payoff captured is something truly special. In the end all the mishaps, slips, spills, scrapes and creative differences don’t matter. What really matters is the sense of pride a home haunter feels by bringing together his or her community to experience the product of months of hard work. That and the look of frozen terror on the faces of men, women and children alike. (Brian Kelley)
There will be a special haunted house event following the world premiere of The American Scream - check it out here!

Thursday September 27, 2012 11:45am - 1:21pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Premiere Status World Premiere
Tags A000004006

12:00pm CDT

The History of Future Folk

Plays with "Spacewrecked": After witnessing the total destruction of planet Earth 20 years earlier, two Norwegian astronauts must fight extreme boredom while living inside a cramped space station.
Director Kalle Doniselli Gulbrandsen, Cinematographer Martin Larsen, and Producer Espen Pettersen LIVE in attendance!

Producer/Co-Director Jeremy Kipp Walker, Writer/Co-Director John Mitchell, and Actors Nil d-Aulaire and Jay Klaitz will be LIVE in attendance!
When a comet threatens to destroy their planet, the citizens of Hondo send General Trius (Nils d'Aulaire) to find a new planet on which they can live. After landing on Earth somewhere near Brooklyn, General Trius chooses to ignore his mission to eliminate the indigenous peoples after wandering into a megastore and hearing music for the first time. He assumes the name Bill and starts a family and one-man bluegrass act.
His peaceful life is disrupted when the Hondorians send a representative- a bumbling fool named Kevin (Jay Klaitz)- to Earth to assassinate General Trius and clear the way for an invasion. Bill finds it easy to subdue Kevin with music and the two form a band called Future Folk that becomes popular in New York bars. The problem is, though, the Hondorians have no intention of calling off their plan to eliminate mankind.
THE HISTORY FUTURE FOLK, the feature debut of directors John Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, is the impossibly charming and clever origin story of the real life “Acoustic Space Aliens” who have been perfecting their act for more than 6 years in the New York City area. For all of its sci-fi elements, at the heart of the film is the immediately lovable personality of Future Folk, whose songs are enormously catchy and lyrics are full of the wit on which the movie the built. The deep love d’Aulaire and Klaitz have for music is apparent in every scene and while watching their musical performances in the film one starts to believe that two guys with a banjo and a guitar (along with some fancy red spacesuits) really could save the world through sheer charisma. (Brian Kelley)

Thursday September 27, 2012 12:00pm - 1:54pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004037

12:15pm CDT

Tower Block

Director Ronnie Thompson will be LIVE in attendance!
In the years following World War II, England, in a period of rebuilding constructed tower blocks, the forefathers of today's high-rise apartment buildings. Initially desirable for their excellent views, they have deteriorated in the years since their inception, becoming dirty, squalid low-cost housing riddled with crime. One such tower block is on the verge of demolition, with only the top floor of stubborn tenants remaining. The tenants are an odd bunch. There's Paul, the alcoholic. Jenny, the single mom who screams and beats her two kids just before hitting the clubs every night. Neville and Violet, the elderly couple. Daniel, the teenager addicted to video games who lives with his mom and dad. Mark and Gary, two gangster wannabe 20-something best mates sharing a flat. Kurtis, the local bad boy who shakes down each of the tenants for 20 quid a week as insurance so he won't break in and tear their flats to shreds. And finally Becky, the cute blonde girl with a good heart.
One night, a young man comes tearing through the top floor, screaming for help and banging on each door, only to be greeted by the sound of deadbolts slamming home and chains rattling across door frames as lights are switched off. His two assailants have little trouble rounding him and beating him senseless in front of one of the flats. Unable to ignore his screams for help any longer, Becky, the flat's occupant attempts to help, only to be beaten herself for her troubles. The assailants beat their victim to death and escape with ease. When the police arrive to question the tenants, they're met with the same closed doors and closed mouths that the victim found. A year later, the tenants wake up to find a killer has set up shop on a nearby rooftop, using a high-powered sniper riffle to pick them off one by one through the windows of their flats. Like so many cinematic groups before them, the tenants must band together to survive.
TOWER BLOCK is a taut thriller with a score full of synth and bass underscoring the tension and frantic pace. While the story is basic, the execution is spot on avoiding many of the pitfalls to which similar thrillers succumb. The tension from the ever-present threat couples with the mystery of who and why to create a film fraught with peril and intrigue. Written by SEVERENCE scribe and friend of the fest, James Moran, TOWER BLOCK is a fast-paced tale of urban survival, pitting normal folks against a brutal and seemingly omnipotent foe. (Luke Mullen)

Thursday September 27, 2012 12:15pm - 1:57pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004059

12:45pm CDT

I Declare War

Director Rob Wilson and producer Lewin Webb will be LIVE in attendance!
Every afternoon, several 13-year-olds congregate in the woods to play the game of “war.” Using their imaginations, they transform sticks into sub-machine guns and water balloons into grenades to practice their combat abilities. Legendary for his tactical mind, the young PK is a pure General in the making. The only thing he cares more about than winning a battle is his best friend Kwon, a long time ally who frequents PK’s house for sleepovers and screenings of PATTON after their various victories. In an effort to defeat the illustrious PK, the ruthless General Skinner kidnaps Kwon with the intention and torturing him for information. Little does Skinner know that PK will do anything to get his best friend back and before they know it, a diverse band of soldiers that includes a priest, a bully and a mysterious girl sets off for battle in the war to end all wars.
If this sounds like a joke, it’s not. Director Jason Lapeyre treats what could quickly become a dismissive satire with incredible sincerity. Putting us inside of the minds of his young protagonists, Lapeyre creates a world in which we see children attack each other with everything from heavy artillery to laser eyeballs, while all the while keeping the focus on their basic adolescent conflicts. Utilizing a cast of extremely talented child actors, the film contains very real depictions of bullying, teenage crushes and fickle friendships, making the movie as much about adolescence as it is about warfare. Winner of the top prize at this year’s Action Fest, I DECLARE WAR is a one-of-a-kind action pic with an incredible twist. (Michael Lerman)

Thursday September 27, 2012 12:45pm - 2:31pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004039

2:15pm CDT

Holy Motors

Mr. Oscar is a busy man. Obviously quite wealthy and important, he bids his young daughter good day while walking from his expansive home to his limousine to start the day's appointments, as his bodyguards follow in a BMW. Seemingly exhausted already, he speaks with his driver, Celine, who informs him that he has 9 appointments scheduled for the day. But it quickly becomes apparent that these are not normal appointments and Mr. Oscar is not your normal businessman.
A film that's far better to experience than to read about, Holy Motors is a wild ride down the proverbial rabbit hole. Directed by Leos Carax, a Frenchman perhaps best known for his 1999 film Pola X, and starring Denis Lavant in an unbelievably difficult and demanding role, Holy Motors is a film that is constantly changing and evolving into something different. Carax and Lavant previously collaborated on Merde, the triumphant centerpiece of the anthology film Tokyo!, a Fantastic Fest alum from 2008. Fans of that film will find an extra layer of appreciation for Holy Motors.
An absurdist adventure featuring everything from a random musical number to an impromptu fashion show in the Paris sewers, Holy Motors is crazy but not without purpose. It is hilarious and completely insane yet strangely brilliant at the same time. An incredibly astute and acute meditation on acting and identity and the needs we have as audience members as well as the increasingly blurry line between fantasy and reality, Holy Motors is exactly the type of film you hope to discover at Fantastic Fest. (Luke Mullen)

Thursday September 27, 2012 2:15pm - 4:26pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004038

2:30pm CDT

Wrong

Dolph Springer wakes up one morning to realize he has lost the love of his life, his dog, Paul. During his quest to get Paul (and his life) back, Dolph radically changes the lives of others: a pizza-delivering nymphomaniac, a jogging-addict neighbor in search of completeness, an opportunistic French-Mexican gardener, and an off-kilter pet detective. In his journey to find Paul, Dolph may lose something even more vital: his mind.

Thursday September 27, 2012 2:30pm - 4:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004072

2:50pm CDT

Henge + The Big Gun

A double shot from one of Japan’s brightest – and strangest – young directors, THE BIG GUN and HENGE prove that the country that spawned iconic talents like Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Shinya Tsukamoto isn’t done yet.
With his twenty minute short film THE BIG GUN, Ohata captures Japan at its economic worst, the crumbling economy leaving the residents of a small town completely on their own as employer after employer shuts down. In the face of financial ruin, the owner of a local ironworks and his brother have no choice but to accept an offer from local gangsters to design and construct bargain handguns. Things do not end well.
Ohata was silent for some time following THE BIG GUN’s completion in 2008 but returned to screens this year with the longer, more ambitious offering HENGE. Part domestic drama, part creature feature, HENGE wears its influences on its blood-soaked sleeve, and while some parts may feel familiar, the way they’re assembled is utterly unique.
HENGE tells the story of a marriage on the rocks, the husband afflicted with strange fits that he says feels as if some strange creature is trying to burst out of him. This bad scenario becomes even worse when the wife must acknowledge that she cannot care for her husband – who she still loves – and must send him away. But when he escapes and returns – looking not for vengeance but for shelter – both must confront the truth that his description of his fits is in fact a reality and his days as a human are rapidly coming to an end. An enormously ambitious micro budget effort, HENGE shows the sort of raw power that hasn’t been seen from Japan since the original TETSUO. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 27, 2012 2:50pm - 4:51pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004035

3:00pm CDT

Combat Girls

In many ways, Marisa is a normal working-class German teen. She lives with her mother and works at the family store. She also adores her sickly grandfather, an ex-Nazi soldier, and Adolf Hitler. Marisa, along with her brutal skinhead boyfriend Sandro, are fierce promoters of the Nazi cause—their bodies are adorned with elaborate Third Reich tattoos, they hurl racist epithets at strangers, and occasionally back up their hateful words with violent acts. In contrast, Svenja is an apolitical suburban girl. Her rebellious tendencies manifest in mostly benign ways like smoking cigarettes in secret. Svenja finds a boyfriend who travels in Marisa's circle of friends, and eventually Marisa and Svenja's paths intersect in ominous ways.
COMBAT GIRLS , which premiered at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival, represents a new wave of European films exploring the contemporary impact of the Nazi era. Specifically, the film explores young women's attempts to find their individuality amongst a set of competing generational influences. COMBAT GIRLS pulls no punches. The film submerges the audience in the underground world of skinheads and racist ideologues. Composer Johannes Repka even created faux Neo-Nazi punk music specifically for the film. This attention to authenticity is not done for the purpose of sensationalism, but to support the film's compelling story and complex characters. COMBAT GIRLS is a powerful nuanced work by a dynamic new voice in German cinema. (Rodney Perkins)

Thursday September 27, 2012 3:00pm - 4:58pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004017

3:15pm CDT

The Greatest Movie Ever Rolled

Director Ryan Polito, star Doug Benson, producer Sharon Everitt, and cinematographer Will Deloney will be LIVE in attendance!
Comedian Doug Benson, the subject of SUPER HIGH ME, is back to answer one question: What is the subject of that cult hit pot-umentary up to now? He’s got three popular podcasts, 400,000 plus Twitter followers, a series on Comedy Central, and a new comedy doc: THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER ROLLED. It’s a fast paced look at life on the road for a comic with a rabid following, as he travels with his buddy - clean-livin’, wound-up karate enthusiast, Graham Elwood - on a tour to raise money to make a movie about going on tour to raise money to make a movie. Yeah, so very Spurlock of him. Doug finds fun everywhere he goes, and he’d like to share it with you.

Pun intended, it is high time that Doug Benson made it to Fantastic Fest. Apart from his well-known herbal first love, Doug is almost as passionate about the movies. Not only will Doug be world-premiering his new feature film, he’ll be joining the Master Pancake team as a guest performer, recording a 4:20 edition of his podcast Doug Loves Movies, serving as the head of the jury for the Gutbusters comedy award and providing a steady anchor of film knowledge for the US team at the Fantastic Debates. Fantastic Fest 2012 might go down in the history books as “the year of Benson.” By the end of the festival I want one of two things to happen... for Doug to either deny his early film credit as the orange dancer from Captain EO or go all in and show us the dance.

Thursday September 27, 2012 3:15pm - 5:02pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004108

5:15pm CDT

My Amityville Horror

Plays with "Séance": Alice and Daniel are married and expecting their first child. They just bought nice little house for their new family. Chris, Alice's sister, has just moved in as well. Unfortunately, the house appears to be haunted. They host a seance party to cast the spirit out. It awakens something...
Director Zachary Beckler and Producer Susan Williams LIVE in attendance!

Director Eric Walter and Producers Andrea Adams and Christine Irons will be LIVE in attendance!
One of the most famous hauntings in American paranormal lore is that of the Lutz family home in Amityville, New York. In addition to the forensic facts of the catalytic DeFeo murders, the supernatural particulars of what befell the Lutz family in that twenty-eight day period in 1975 have been sensationalized and immortalized on film, a but doubts have lingered as to the validity of the Lutz’s claims. My Amityville Horror offers to the curious the extremely rare privilege of a firsthand account of life inside the Lutz house during those fateful days. Daniel Lutz, a man whose entire life has been inexorably altered by his brief stay in the house at 112 Ocean Avenue, finally speaks. His words of contempt for his stepfather George pour with icy conviction like the reported blood from the walls of the house. He is reunited with the mediums who investigated the haunting and even walks the streets of his old neighborhood once more; still pursued by the ghosts of bad memories. To date, he is the only child of the ill-fated Lutz family to come forward. Through a combination of interviews and archival footage and photographs, My Amityville Horror explores a familiar story with fresh perspective.
There is a temptation as an audience member to approach My Amityville Horror as a fleeting thrill, a chance to mine the last goosebumps of a gimmicky campfire story. Director Eric Walter is not possessed of so exploitative an intent. My Amityville Horror is an intensely human story about how the demons of our past, be they of this world or the next, fundamentally shape our futures. Daniel Lutz’s shattered world, his perpetually darkening outlook, and his violent resentment of his own existence is every bit as frightening as his stories of levitating beds and ghostly visions. (Brian Salisbury)

Thursday September 27, 2012 5:15pm - 7:13pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004044

5:30pm CDT

Cockneys vs. Zombies

Plays with "Brains?": Four sociable Zombies enjoy a meal of delicious brains, but are confronted by terrifying, yet tasty-smelling humanity, which will change their un-dead existence forever.

Director Matthias Hoene and writer James Moran LIVE in attendance!

Andy and Terry are two clueless brothers with hearts of gold. Spending their days delivering meals-on-wheels and their nights picking fights in bars, the pair of misfits seem to care for nothing more than then their aging grandfather, Ray. In a desperate attempt to save Ray’s retirement home pension, the duo hatch a half witted plan to rob a bank. When the heist is bungled by the arrival of the cops, the team is forced to take two hostages and flee the scene, not realizing there are even bigger problems than the authorities in store for them. A mysterious virus has been let loose in East London and is rapidly turning all the inhabitants into good ol’ foot-dragging, flesh-eating zombies.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the city, Ray begins to mount an elderly army, determined to save themselves from the cockney undead. Ranging from the very ornery to the downright horny, Ray’s geriatric band of soldiers, armed with wheelchairs and crutches, barricade themselves inside their home, awaiting the impending bloodbath. One zombie at a time, Ray is out to prove that determination runs deep in the blood lines and that family should always stick together.
Commercial director Matthias Hoene comes out strong with his first feature, a zany, bloody comedy that has as much fun playing with culture as it does playing with guts. Peppering the story with quirky flashbacks and hilarious asides, Hoene creates fast-paced atmosphere,full of blood-soaked quick wit, along with kills crazy enough to satisfy the most gore-thirsty viewer. Reminiscent of the best zombie comedies like SHAUN OF THE DEAD and DEAD ALIVE, COCKNEYS VS. ZOMBIES is an outrageously good time. (Michael Lerman)

Thursday September 27, 2012 5:30pm - 7:19pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004012

5:45pm CDT

Young Gun in the Time

Step aside Dirk Gently, there’s a new private eye in town. There’s no case too big, too small or too odd for Young Gun. The frizzy haired, wispy moustached, Hawaiian shirted PI takes his work seriously. Pay no mind to his tarted up secretary/taskmaster or to the fact that his master of gadgets also happens to run a sex shop. Ignore also that his choice of attire hints at a deep admiration for MAGNUM PI. When you hire Young Gun the job gets done.
Which is precisely why Song Hyun – a cute young museum researcher – wants to hire him. There’s a watch that needs finding and it’s possessor needs killing. He turns the girl down of course – Young Gun is no hitman – but his curiosity is piqued enough for Young Gun to follow Song out of the office, witnessing her attempted kidnapping and subsequent death in the street. But when he visits the museum where Song works, Young Gun finds her there very much alive. Clearly there is only one explanation: The Song who came to Young Gun’s office was a future Song, having traveled back in time. And that seals it. Young Gun is on the job.
Director Oh Young-doo created something of a sensation with his debut feature, a sci-fi comedy titled INVASION OF ALIEN BIKINI that won acclaim and awards around the world despite being shot on a budget of just five thousand dollars. Bigger job offers rolled in following the success of BIKINI but Oh turned them all down, preferring to tell his own stories with his own cast and crew. Having boosted the budget of his sophomore film up to a whopping thirty grand Oh has brought back the entire ALIEN BIKINI cast for a rollicking, incredibly ambitious second go-round that firmly cements his reputation as an auteur of low budget sci-fi. While the budget may be small the ideas and talent are huge. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 27, 2012 5:45pm - 7:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004065

6:00pm CDT

Red Dawn

Guests in Attendance: Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki, Dan Bradley (director), Tripp Vinson (producer), Beau Flynn (producer)
In RED DAWN, a city in Washington state awakens to the surreal sight of foreign paratroopers dropping from the sky – shockingly, the U.S. has been invaded and their hometown is the initial target. Quickly and without warning, the citizens find themselves prisoners and their town under enemy occupation. Determined to fight back, a group of young patriots seek refuge in the surrounding woods, training and reorganizing themselves into a guerilla group of fighters. Taking inspiration from their high school mascot, they call themselves the Wolverines, banding together to protect one another, liberate their town from its captors, and take back their freedom.

Thursday September 27, 2012 6:00pm - 8:09pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004070

6:15pm CDT

Lee’s Adventure

Li Xianje is a video game-loving slacker, who coasts through life at his own pace, thanks to a rare condition known as Temporal Dilation Disorder. TDD causes time to pass more slowly than for everybody else - minutes feel like days, a day like an entire lifetime. It proves a lonely existence until he meets the beautiful Wang Qian, who shares his affliction. However, when a tragic car accident snatches her away, Li will do whatever it takes to be reunited with the woman he loves. Perhaps a mysterious video game is the answer - a game rumoured to hold the secret to time travel. If he can beat the game, he might just be able to save Wang Qian.
Adapted from a hit animated short that appeared online in 2009, director Li Yang teams up with TV ad man Frant Gwo to expand his unique, frenetic vision into a feature-length blend of live action, hand drawn animation, epic CGI landscapes, crude cut-outs and East-meets-West pop culture iconography. Jaycee Chan, son of martial arts legend Jackie Chan, stars as bewildered, heart-broken "Devotion Lee", who must become the kind of ass-kicking name-taking hero he's only experienced in video games, if he is to succeed in his mission.
The result is a wholly unique and exhilarating experience, a gorgeous visual odyssey packed with comedy and adventure, that remains, at its core, a beautifully touching quest for love played out with the unabashed romanticism only Asian Cinema can get away with. At a time when China is spewing out nothing but nationalistic period dramas and crass consumerist rom-coms, LEE’S ADVENTURE proves fantasy, sci-fi and imagination are still alive and kicking in the Mainland. (James Marsh)

Thursday September 27, 2012 6:15pm - 8:01pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004041

8:10pm CDT

Here Comes The Devil

Plays with "Videoboy": The relationship between 13 year old Hasse and Pål is tested the day they accept an offer to visit a boy who is famous for his collection of videofilms. The journey they take gets darker and darker, and the young boys are forced to meet boundaries that they never have been even close to. Nothing will ever be the same.

Director Adrian Garcia Bogliano, Producer Andrea Quiroz Hernandez, and Actor Francisco Barreiro will be LIVE in attendance!
Director Adrián García Bogliano is no stranger to Austin with his past films screening at Cine Las Americas (36 STEPS), SXSW (COLD SWEAT) and, most recently, at Fantastic Fest 2011 (PENUMBRA). Bogliano returns to Fantastic Fest this year with HERE COMES THE DEVIL, another horror pastiche sure to please and fans both old and new.
After a sexy and horrifying opening sets the mood at appropriately creepy, we are introduced to Felix and Sol- normal, young parents who are on vacation with their children, Sara and Adolfo, in Tijuana. On the way home, exhausted from the journey and also looking for a little alone time, the couple allows Sara and Adolfo to explore a hillside near the rest stop unattended. The pair enter a dark cave on the hill and disappear. Felix and Sol work with the local authorities to conduct a search and retreat back to their hotel room empty handed. Their nightmare appears to come to an end when the children are found and returned but it’s not long before they realize there’s something not quite right with the kids.
HERE COMES THE DEVIL displays many of Bogliano’s signatures including beautiful women in various stages of undress, brutal violence and clever ways to build tension on a budget. Like all of his other films, though, it’s completely unlike the one that came before it. As Sol and Felix become more and more convinced of something evil at work behind Sara and Adolfo’s disappearance, a palpable sense of dread builds as paranoia sinks in. There are plenty of twists along the way, keeping the audience off balance and unsure of what to make of various bits of information. When the end finally comes, the revelations are as horrific and shocking as we have come to expect from Bogliano. (Brian Kelley)

Thursday September 27, 2012 8:10pm - 10:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 4 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004036

8:25pm CDT

The Entity

Carla Moran (Barbara Hershey) is a single mother whose struggle to get by is aggravated by the presence of an extremely violent, foul-smelling and distinctly masculine ghost. The entity threatens her body as much as her sanity; it repeatedly and brutally rapes her, in one instance in front of her children, and another while she is fast asleep. Her boyfriend Jerry (Alex Rocco) is talked about more than seen; he is away on business trips for most of the film.
As the entity's attacks intensify, Carla dons the role of the abused housewife, which is especially fitting since the absence of a patriarch in the home leaves room for the entity itself to function as a sort of drunk, violent husband. Furthermore, the entity attacks her in a friend's home, and in her car, which causes her to retreat into the physical and emotional isolation that is characteristic of many victims of domestic abuse. Close-ups of her increasingly vacant, detached gaze signify her resignation to the violence. When she visits a psychiatrist and later invites a team of parapsychologists in to monitor her home, the two opposing schools of thought clash, with Carla as the defeated victim in the middle. (Kier-la Janisse)

Thursday September 27, 2012 8:25pm - 10:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 1 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004025

8:30pm CDT

Antiviral

Director Brandon Cronenberg and actor Caleb Landry Jones LIVE in attendance!
The Lucas Clinic exists to serve – or prey upon, depending upon your perspective – the most celebrity obsessed elements of our society. Striking exclusive deals with major celebrities to harvest their illnesses, the Clinic offers a most intimate communion between the famous and their admirers. For a price you can be infected with the very same viruses that grew within their very cells. What was part of them can be part of you.
Syd March is an up and comer within Lucas, a salesman adept at capitalizing on patients’ yearning for connection. He’ll tell you exactly what you want to hear as he injects herpes into your lip or influenza into your veins. But Lucas isn’t enough for Syd. Whether for boredom or greed Syd is playing both sides of this particular game, peddling Lucas’ wares by day but also infecting himself with their most rare and elusive offering so that he can incubate them within his own body, break the patented copy protection and sell them on the black market. So when he sees the opportunity to harvest a new virus from the famed Hannah Geist – Lucas’ top seller – Syd sees a chance to profit and injects himself with Hannah’s blood. And then Hannah dies.
Brandon Cronenberg makes his feature debut with ANTIVIRAL, a film that would do his father David proud. A jet black satire of celebrity obsession run through with enough needles and body fluids to make even the most hardened squirm, ANTIVIRAL is an icily precise affair. Star Caleb Landry Jones (THE LAST EXORCISM, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS) delivers a mesmerizing performance as the inscrutable March, his physical breakdown as the virus takes hold an alarming yet compelling sight to behold. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 27, 2012 8:30pm - 10:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 3 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004007

8:45pm CDT

American Mary

Directors Jen and Sylvia Soska and actors Tristan Risk and Katie Isabelle LIVE in attendance!

Mary Mason appears to be on the verge of achieving the American Dream. Young, beautiful and intelligent, Mary is sailing through medical school with the aim of becoming a surgeon. There’s no doubt at all she’s got the skills to get there. The question is whether she has the cash. Perpetual debt and the questionable behavior of the teachers she idolizes and emulates combine to leave Mary disillusioned and questioning her path through life.

Then a very unusual opportunity arises, one that will pay her very well, indeed, to indulge her growing skills provided she is willing to set aside certain ethical considerations. So Mary plunges into a world of underground surgeries and extreme body modification.

Canadian twin directors Jen and Sylvia Soska made waves on the genre circuit a few years ago with their debut micro-budget feature, a grindhouse throwback titled DEAD HOOKER IN THE TRUNK that won the duo high profile fans around the world including Eli Roth. If DEAD HOOKER showed raw talent, then follow up AMERICAN MARY shows the results of that talent beginning to come of age. A major step forward in every respect, AMERICAN MARY features a stellar central performance from GINGER SNAPS star Katharine Isabelle as the titular Mary, drawn into this increasingly bizarre world. To bring that world to life the Soskas – better known as The Twisted Twins – descended into the body modification underground of Canada’s west coast, bringing the results to the screen without the use of any CGI. (Todd Brown)

Thursday September 27, 2012 8:45pm - 10:35pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 6 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004005

9:05pm CDT

Tai Chi 0

Set during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), when China’s once mighty empire was temporarily overshadowed by the scientific and technological innovations of the West, Tai Chi 0 is a funky, steampunk-infused chronicle of the origins of Tai Chi. Reinventing the martial arts genre with a style influenced by the dazzling colours and dynamism of Japanese animation and videogame graphics, actor-turned-director Stephen Fung gathers an all-star cast (including Shu Qi and Tony Leung Kar-fai) to tell the tale of Yang Luchuan, the master who developed the "Yang style" form of tai chi.

Cursed with an abnormal, fleshy bulge protruding from his forehead, Yang Luchuan (played by the spectacular new martial arts star Yuan Xiaochao, gold medalist at the 2006 Asian Games) is considered the town fool. Following the wishes of his late mother (Shu Qi), Yang travels to the remote village of Chen to learn tai chi, the only thing that can stop the growth on his forehead from developing into a life-threatening affliction. Although met with hostility from the villagers, Yang is determined to become a disciple of the legendary Master Chen (Tony Leung Kar-fai), and engages in a series of combat trials to prove his worth — only to be defeated by everyone in the village (including old ladies and children), as well as Chen’s beautiful daughter Yuniang (Angelababy).

But Yang gets another chance to display his courage to Yuniang by taking on another challenge: not a human opponent but a steam-powered machine, a Western invention that threatens to bring a railroad through the village and annihilate its sacred cultural heritage. The first installment of a trilogy designed to revisit the fundamentals of Chinese culture, Tai Chi 0 combines spectacular visuals and stunning fight choreography (courtesy of the great Sammo Hung) with a delightful retro-futuristic twist on the traditional martial arts hero narrative. The result is a rollercoaster ride of a movie, a cheeky tribute to tradition that boldly revolutionizes the genre for the twenty-first century. (Giovanna Fulvi, program note courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival.)

Thursday September 27, 2012 9:05pm - 11:00pm CDT
Alamo South Lamar - Theater 2 1120 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704

Tags A000004056

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