Fantastic Fest has announced its final wave of programming for the 2012 lineup, with the festival set to begin in just over a week. The big inclusions in this wave are Brandon Cronenberg‘s Antiviral, which is the feature debut from David Cronenberg’s son; Berberian Sound Studio, which has been getting raves for Toby Jones‘ portrayal of a sound technician who experiences crazy stuff while working on an Italian horror film; and Wake in Fright, the Australian thriller that wowed audiences at Cannes in 1971 but never got a proper US release. I’ve got an import DVD of this one, and can say that it definitely earns its reputation as an effective knife-twisting thriller. Drafthouse Films will be releasing Wake in Fright properly later this year, but for now this is a good chance to catch it on the big screen.
All the film details are below. Fantastic Fest runs September 20-27 in Austin, TX, and more details about the programming and schedule can be found at the official website.
AMERICAN MARY (2011)
US Premiere
Directors – Jen and Sylvia Soska, 95 mins
Disillusioned with her chosen profession and perpetually broke, medical student Mary Mason finds herself drawn into a shady world of underground surgery and body modification.
ANTIVIRAL (2012)
US Premiere
Director – Brandon Cronenberg, 110 mins
Syd March makes people sick, infecting them with viruses harvested to order from celebrities, but gets more than he bargained for when his most famous source dies from a virus Syd has just infected himself with.
BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO (2012)
US Premiere
Director – Peter Strickland, 92 mins
Strange things occur after a British audio technician is summoned to Italy to work on a gory giallo film.
BESTIES (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Rebecca Perry Cutter, 91 mins
BESTIES tells the story of two high school girls—an awkward freshman and a sexy senior—who become immersed in a manipulative and deadly friendship.
BLACK OUT (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Arne Toonen, 73 mins
A splitting headache, a dead gangster, twenty kilos of missing coke and 24 hours to sort it all out before getting married. Jos is about to have a very bad day.
BRING ME THE HEAD OF THE MACHINE GUN WOMAN (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Ernesto Diaz Espinosa, 75 mins
Timid, video game-loving DJ Santiago seemingly digs his own grave when he agrees to bring a violent criminal kingpin the head of Machine Gun Woman.
THE COLLECTION (2012)
World Premiere with director/writer Marcus Dunstan, writer Patrick Melton and cast Josh Stewart and Emma Fitzpatrick in person
Directors – Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman
When Elena's friends take her to a secret party at an undisclosed location, she never imagined she would become the latest victim of The Collector, a psychopathic killer.
COME OUT AND PLAY (2012)
US Premiere
Director – Makinov, 95 mins
While on vacation, Beth and Francis visit a remote island that turns out to be almost solely inhabited by children. Unfortunately for them, these kids are far from well behaved.
DANGER 5 (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Dario Russo, 150 mins
It's World War II and there's nothing Hitler won't do to take over the world! Dinosaur men! Love potions! Giant robots! And all that stands in his way are the intrepid forces of the DANGER 5!
DOM – A RUSSIAN FAMILY (2011)
North American Premiere
Director – Oleg Pogodin, 109 mins
A Russian mobster returns to his ancestral home for a family reunion after years of living in the criminal underworld. Unbeknownst to him, his ruthless enemies follow close behind.
EXORCIST IN THE 21ST CENTURY, THE (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Fredrik Horn Akselsen, 80min
Norwegian documentarian Fredrik Horn Akselsen examines the work of Father Jose Antonio Fortea – an actual, Vatican-approved exorcist – in this balanced look at a largely hidden world within the Catholic church.
THE FINAL MEMBER (2012)
Regional Premiere
Directors – Jonah Bekhor and Zach Math, 75mins
A mind-blowing documentary about three men who are deeply obsessed with penises—human or otherwise.
THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER ROLLED (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Ryan Polito, 90 mins
Inspired by Morgan Spurlock's Greatest Movie Ever Sold, two comedians, Doug Benson and Graham Elwood, decide to finance a movie about going on tour by going on tour.
HAIL (2012)
Regional Premiere
Director – Amiel Courtin-Wilson, 104 mins
Real life ex-con Daniel P. Jones stars in this haunting and unflinchingly realistic film crafted from over 500 pages of his own memories and experiences.
HELLFJORD (2012)
World Premiere
Directors – Patrik Syversen, Kenneth Olaf Hjellum, Ole Giæver, Sebastian Dalén, Vegar Hoel and Roar Uthaug, 203 mins
Seven of Norway's finest directors team up for writer / producer Tommy Wirkola's fusion of HOT FUZZ and TWIN PEAKS. A seven part TV series from the director of DEAD SNOW.
HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK (2012)
Regional Premiere
Directors – J. Anderson Mitchell and Jeremy Kipp Walker, 85 mins
Real life bluegrass band Future Folk use a banjo and a guitar to save mankind in this sci-fi comedy origin story.
LEE'S ADVENTURE (2011)
North American Premiere
Director – Frant Gwo, 91 mins
When Li Xianje’s beautiful girlfriend dies in a tragic accident, he attempts to harness his temporal dilation disorder in order to travel back in time and save her.
MIAMI CONNECTION (1987)
Repertory screening
Directors – Y.K. Kim and Woo-sang Park, 120 mins
The legendary long-lost ’80s thunder-rager! Martial arts rock band Dragon Sound throw down in the ultimate conflict against an army of cocaine-powered motorcycle ninjas. The BEST unseen movie in HISTORY!
PUSHER (2012)
US Premiere
Director – Luis Prieto, 89 mins
A small time drug dealer gets in way over his head when a big deal goes bad in Luis Prieto's British remake of Nicolas Winding Refn’s debut feature film.
TAI CHI 0 (2012)
US Premiere
Director – Stephen Fung, 100 mins
Martial arts meets steampunk in Hong Kong actor-director Stephen Fung’s slick, stylish pop-art take on the life of Yang-lu Chan (played by new martial-arts sensation Yuan Xiaochao), founder of the Yang school of tai chi.
TAPED (2012)
Regional Premiere
Director – Diederik van Rooijen, 80min
A trip meant to save their marriage turns into a nightmare when Johan and Saar accidentally videotape a police shooting in the streets of Argentina.
TEBANA SANKICHI: SNOT ROCKETS (2012)
World Premiere
Director – Yudai Yamaguchi, 79 mins
Tak Sakaguchi stars in Yudai Yamaguchi's feature-length reboot of an original indie short film made in 1995. Follow the ridiculous adventures of sometime private detective and fighting master Tebana "Snot Rockets" Sankichi, and his loyal sidekick "Twice" Shiro. An episodic, nonsense comedy that flies like a rocket and lands like a wet loogie.
TWO RABBITS (DOIS COEHLOS) (2012)
International Premiere
Director – Afonso Poyart, 108 mins
Edgar returns to Brazil after two years in Miami, focused on enacting a complicated revenge plot and hoping to find absolution for his sins in the process.
VEGETARIAN CANNIBAL (2012)
North American Premiere
Director – Branko Schmidt, 84 mins
A corrupt gynecologist provides illegal abortions to prostitutes working for the Croatian mafia.
VULGARIA (2012)
Regional Premiere
Director – Pang Ho-Cheung, 90 mins
What do pubic hair, pop rocks, cow vaginas and sex with mules have in common? They are all part of moviemaking in Hong Kong.
WAKE IN FRIGHT (1971)
Repertory screening
Director – Ted Kotcheff, 114mins
A Palme D'Or nominee based on the 1961 book of the same name by Kenneth Cook and directed by FIRST BLOOD's Ted Kotcheff, WAKE IN FRIGHT is an uncompromisingly brutal look at what happens when men are left alone together in the outback with guns and a lot of beer. This is going to be a mind-blower on the big screen. Get ready.
