Each year Fantasia showcases a ton, almost a literal ton, of shorts films. Reviewing them can be a bit demanding, so it has been decided to review them in groupings. The following shorts were attached to feature films that played the fest and were viewed on the big screen.
Author Archives: Emilie Black
Savage Dog (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
In 1959 Indochina, a legend is born. A man fights his way out of jail and to make money until he is forced to fight for revenge. Through this, he learns a lot about himself and what he is ready to do.
Written and directed by Jesse V. Johnson, Savage Dog is a decent fight film with a bit of story created with the purpose of setting up fights for star Scott Adkins and co-star Marko Zaror. The story is decent enough but not exactly fascinating, something that should not bother fans of fight films as this one has a few very good fights and some side ones that are also interesting. The dialogue is decent while the setting is interesting, but not used to its full potential. The characters are almost all created with a purpose relating to Adkins’ character, making him the center of just about everything. The story is not bad as it develops in ways that keep the attention and introduces fights in a manner that makes sense.
It’s Alive (1974) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
A family expecting their second born is surprised to have a mutant child as it arrives in this world and kills all in its path when scared. As a baby, being scared is something that happens quite a bit, creating a mounting body count for this tiny tot.
Written and directed by Larry Cohen, It’s Alive is a tale inspired by pollution and environmental effects on humans’ reproductive systems, eventually leading to a damaged progeny trying to survive when it’s scared and ready to kill for survival. The film takes this and turns it into an easy to watch horror film about a newborn mutant monster that can easily be taken as just that, a monster film, but is much more once one delves into the environmental message. Here Cohen creates a tale that is deeper than it seems and works with monster film tropes to pass along its message and entertain at the same time.
Footnotes (Sur quel pied danser) (2016)
A young woman begins working in an old school shoe factory as it is under closure threat from the company trying to save a buck and move the production to a less expensive country. Through the fight to save the factory and the jobs, she and her co-workers learn a lot about themselves, each other, and life in general.
After Love (2017)
A couple divorcing after 15 years together is navigating life and its changes while still living together and trying to find a way to make things work as best they can.
Written by Fanny Burdino, Joachim Lafosse, and Mazarine Pingeot, with collaboration by Thomas van Zuyken, After Love is directed by Joachim Lafosse who navigates through this divorce story with an unflinching look at how a couple that is no longer functioning as such try and make things work through their separation, divorce, and division of assets. The film created here is an honest look into the lives of two people who are a bit lost and definitely trying to have a better life. The way this is developed makes it into a realistic look into a divided family unit, a franc view of what it’s like to divorce with two kids in the situation, what it’s like to divorce with assets, and what it’s like to not want to give up on your principles while doing this.
The Endless (2017) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
Two brothers return to the alien cult they once fled to see the people still there. Once at the cult’s camp, they discover that odd happenings are afoot and the cult may not be as crazy as it seems.
Written by Justin Benson who co-directed with Aaron Moorhead, The Endless is a slow slow burn of a film that takes its time to set-up the weirdness going on and creates a sort of mindfuck as it goes along. The film takes a few known ideas such as cults and time warps and plays with them until they connect and make sense. The co-directors having worked together on other features, they clearly know how to work together and this shows in how the film is directed, being a way that looks seamless between the two of them and what they each directed, something that is not always well done, but is great here.
Prey (Prooi) (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2017]
As a lion wreaks havoc on the city of Amsterdam, a zoo veterinarian gets involved in its chase along with her boyfriend and ex.
Written and directed by Dick Maas, Prey is a horror comedy film with its comedy very dark and its horror a bit light. The film takes the wild animal on the loose premise and moves it to the city of Amsterdam where the idea of a killer lion on the loose is particularly ludicrous. The way the film develops this and adds hunters, both experienced and not so much, who once paired with the local police becomes a bit of a mess in terms of lion-chasing but a fun watch in terms of horror-comedy. The film shows an ability to pit characters against each other in a way that is entertaining while they all face the lion threat. The comedy is often situational and takes advantage of the characters’ flaws in a way that works well here. The direction is rather on point for the comedy and fairly good on the horror. However, as a horror film, it has just about no scare factor.