Red Christmas (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Emilie Black

A mother wants to have the best Christmas ever with her family. During the traditional day, tensions come to a boiling point when a stranger shows up at their door and wants to kill them all. This sets the mother on a warpath to protect her brood.

This Australian horror film is written and directed by Craig Anderson who starts by building a family with lots of issues and strife between its members. Most of their issues are the same as a lot of families while others are more unique. This family cares for each other against these odds and when all hell breaks loose, their bonds are tested. The writing here develops this family well and then brings some original kills to the table but the characters are not the most likable so it’s hard to root for them. This is all well directed for most of the film so the few issues seen here and there are not entirely awful, but the film lacks a bit in fun. Sadly, the killer’s motivation feels a bit preachy at times, making his condition a bit of a case of one too many things in the story. The way the killer is portrayed is unfortunately a bit grating and not really menacing.

The cast does ok with the material but it’s hard to tell if their characters were written that way or if they were directed to do this or if the way they act leads to this, but almost all the characters come off as unlikable and just disagreeable, selfish people. From the looks of things, it seems to be a combination of the three with other factors added to those. Knowing that Dee Wallace can play mother so well, her performance here is not as expected which may be due to putting too much hope on her. She is good, but some angles of her character are so dislikable, it’s hard to look over those. The rest of the cast being less familiar, they did not have as much expectations put on them, yes they still come off as dislikable to despicable as well.

As Red Christmas is a slasher, the kills and their effects are of high importance. The kills here are good with some original ones. However, the effects are decent at best with some pieces being not so good to just bad. The make-up and prosthetics on the killer look a bit like Toxie, with a low budget look and even somewhat of a family resemblance. Also an odd choice is how the kill set pieces are shot. In some cases, the lighting makes it hard to see what is going; on while in other cases, the shaky cam is nauseating, making the viewer look away and miss out on the scene.

This film has a lot of potential, but does not go for it. It has good ideas for kills with effect that are just not good enough to support those ideas. The characters are not people the viewers can get attached to. The killer is one of those that could have been good but his background and reason to kill make him hard to get into or behind. This reviewer wanted to love this as the last few years have given us so many good holiday themed horror movies, but even after giving Red Christmas as much slack as possible, it’s not a movie that can be considered good. A few good scenes here and there do not a great movie make.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Changing Face of Harlem (2016)

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Phil Hall

Among New York City’s neighborhoods, Harlem has seen the most dramatic highs and harrowing lows: it was a cultural epicenter during the 1920s and a beacon for African-Americans seeking an escape from the Jim Crow South, but economic deprivations during the Great Depression and acute social inequalities in the post-World War II years saw the community’s standard of living rapidly decline.

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L’Élan (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In a small French village arrives an elk (élan in French) that walks on two legs, wears a trench coat, and communicates telepathically. Everyone he meets seems to accept him as if his presence is completely normal, except for a UFO fanatic who wants to meet and analyze him.

Director Etienne Labroue of Les Guignols de l’Info co-wrote L’Élan with Marc Bruckert and they created a marvelous fable here of a being on a quest to belong, finding a family ready to take him in and protect him. The story here is touching, funny, and sometimes sad. Bruckert and Labroue show a lot of talent in this sweet script that reminds the viewers of early Jean-Pierre Jeunet crossed with Quentin Dupieux. As this is Etienne Labroue’s first film, it shows a lot of promise and directorial talent.

The characters built by Labroue and Bruckert are a little cartoon-y but here it works given the story and the settings. The cast hired to bring those characters to life go for it with gusto and an impeccable sense of timing. The whole cast does this so well, it’s difficult to pick a stand-out. Aurelia Petit, Délia Espinat-Dief, Olivier Broche, Cyprien Dugas, et al deserve major kudos for fearlessly bringing their parts to life and not being afraid of looking a bit silly on screen. It all works in the end and brings a village of kooks to life for our entertainment. The narration is done in a way similar to Amélie but with a bit of a nuttier story which is told in a childhood story manner.

The way the film settings are and the way its shot ring out the ludique side of the story. Everyone and everything is brought together in a way that creates a fairytale-like atmosphere. The design of the élan himself is cartoonish with a touch of giant stuffed animal to the head’s look. His whole being is a bit disproportionate from itself, giving him a sweet disposition and style even though he could easily have been a bad guy. L’Élan is designed in a way to remind the viewers of childhood toys and TV shows, while his attitude and mannerism are quite child-like. He brings an outward innocence and allows the viewer to connect on a different level with the story through nostalgia and comfort.

L’Èlan is an entertaining comedy with a lot to offer. It takes a crazy, absurd idea and goes with it fully, giving the viewers a childhood fairytale but grown-ups. It’s almost innocent but not quite. It brings back a warm feeling while also reminding everyone of their need to belong.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Embers (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In the not too distant future, most of the population has been affected by a neurological disease robbing them of their memories. While a few people try to retain their minds and stay healthy, the rest of the population is trying to remember and reconnect.

Director Claire Carré co-wrote Embers with Charles Spano and they create a dystopian future where the majority of the population, what’s left of it anyways, has no memories but can function as adults. This leads to some scenes reminiscent of what it’s like to deal with someone with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. These people still care about others but they simply do not remember each other or who they are themselves. This could have led to a film where it’s difficult to care about the characters or overly schmaltzy, but that is not the case here. Carré and Spano’s attention to detail and to creating humans and not simply characters brings forth people that are highly flawed yet trying to connect with each other which lead the audience to connect with them.

As the characters do not remember who they are, the two leads are credited as Guy and Girl. In these roles are Jason Ritter and Iva Gocheva, both of whom give their characters’ memory loss and loss of self a level of dignity as they search for who they are. Ritter shines in particular as a man lost while trying to help this girl he feels close to and wakes up near every day, not knowing if they are together or not. His performance shows care and love while being lost and fighting the despair of losing one’s mind. His performance steals most of the scenes he is in. Playing opposite Ritter in most of his scenes is Iva Gocheva who plays well with him, their performances complement each other. The ensemble of the cast does also quite well, but these two stand out the most.

The production design by Chelsea Oliver and art direction by Matthew Lackit and Wojciech Zogala create a future that is both dystopian and realistic. The environment in which most of the population lives is counter-productive to them figuring themselves out, in contrast, the rich, unaffected people’s places are filled with technology yet colder than the outside world. The dichotomy of both worlds is carefully calculated and built. These set or settings bring a lot to the story and the characters.

All of this is put together to create a film that shows a potential future for Earth, one that is not perfect or even all that good, but the good of people shines through. The representation of the mystery disease feels like something that could happen if humans do not kill each other first. The film makes its viewers think and does not take them for idiots. Some of the mysteries are never explained. It’s simply a slice of life with no explanation how we got there or of what comes after.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Kaijyu Mono (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Emilie Black

In the only logical location for Kaijyu attacks, Japan, a Kaijyu wakes up and eats teenagers in a forest. A scientist and his assistants look into the event and get involved in the fight against the Kaijyu. The film is directed and co-written by Minoru Kawasaki who also worked on The Calamari Wrestler, a film with a very particular story line. With his co-writer on Kaijyu Mono, Takao Nakano, they create a delightfully bizarre tale that only makes sense when screening at Fantasia.

The story they build here is full of surprises and twists, not all of which make sense but they somehow fit in this film. It’s hard to explain, but it works, possibly because the whole premise is completely crazy. The characters they have created are not particularly original or deep and they feel like crazy caricatures which brought this viewer to the conclusion that it’s a wanted thing. They add so many odd selections to their film that it all has to be planned.

The cast for this is composed of Saki Akai, Bin Furuya, Shinzo Hotta, etc. They all are a bit cartoon-y and definitely do so on purpose as this is what the story lend itself to. That being said, the acting, within its confines and limitations, is quite good. It cannot be easy to keep a straight face when the elder actor on set shows up dressed as Sailor Moon for example.

The titular Kaijyu us fun, but not particularly original. It looks similar to many Kaijyus seen before, which is most likely a wanted thing as a throwback to old school Kaijyu films. This particular monster is clearly a man in a suit and it shows, adding charm to its appearances and to its fight sequences. In these sequences, the monster fights a giant man, made so by shots in the story and by using cool maquettes in the film techniques, bringing even more nostalgia to the proceedings. The fights themselves are more like wrestling than martial arts even though they do through some of that in there, they are very exaggerated, but quite entertaining.

Kaijyu Mono is a fairly simple film, keeping proceedings to a minimum of locations and characters. It’s fun and entertaining but doesn’t re-write the book on its genre or bring much new elements to the table. It’s silly, many elements are just there to be funny or look cool, but it works in a sense that it’s entertaining non-sense with a strong sense of nostalgia. Fans of old Kaijyu films should love Kaijyu Mono.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

Little Sister (2016) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Emilie Black

Colleen is a former Goth kid who has found her calling and is working towards becoming a nun. After her brother comes back from war heavily damaged psychologically and physically, their mom pleads with Colleen to come for a visit. A simple few days at home turn into a rediscovery of self, of her relationship with her family, and of her passion for her calling.

Written by Zach Clark from a story by Clark and Melodie Sisk, Little Sister is directed by Zach Clark who builds a family drama showing the real sides of people who start off by avoiding each other, then become closer through reminiscing and through getting to know each other again. The characters they build here do feel like a family that lost touch and is learning to know each other anew. The way this is written and done feels organic and natural. This family is not perfect and neither are their relationships but the care and love they have for each other transcends their issues and differences. The characters created are human, none perfect, none all bad, they are just trying to navigate life as best they can.

This Lunsford family is comprised of: Joani, Bill, Jacob, and Colleen who the story follows. Ally Sheedy is Joani, Peter Hedges is Bill, Keith Poulson is Jacob, and Addison Timlin is the lead of colleen. Ally Sheedy shows the viewers why they fell in love with her in the 80s by giving a touching performance of a stressed out mom who did all she could to give her two kids a great life. She embodies the mom full of worries who doesn’t know how to handle her adult children. Addison Timlin as Colleen shows growth for her character throughout the film, starting off as a timid young nun-to-be and ending as a confident woman sure of her path as a nun.

As the brother Jacob, Keith Poulson shows as much as he can under his full head prosthetic. Much of his performance rests on his voice and body language, which he uses very well. The prosthetics for Jacob’s burnt at war head and face was made by Brian Spears and Pete Gerner and is fairly well done but not great unfortunately. For most of the film, it’s applied well, but in a few scenes, the application is not full and the second “skin” can be seen moving separately and un-sticking from the actor’s face, something that is annoying but not film breaking.

The cinematography by Daryl Pittman makes the family house look cozy, warm even. The way interactions are framed helps focus the attention on what is important. The music by Fritz Myers paired with the song choices underscore the action and add to Colleen’s personality. They add to the emotions and make the film a complete experience.

Little Sister starts on a Marilyn Manson quote and ends on a much different note, following the evolution of Colleen’s life and her emotional growth. This film is a wonderful study of family dynamics and personal growth.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.

La Rage du Démon (2015) [Fantasia International Film Festival 2016]

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Emilie Black

At the Musée Grévin in Paris, in January 2012, film scholars and filmmakers were invited to a mystery screening by one of the world’s foremost film collector, Edgar A. Wallace. The film shown turns out to be La Rage du Démon, a late 1800s lost film that creates quite a ruckus every time it’s screened. The last screening in New York City ended in tragedy. The Paris screening does not go much better. This documentary explores both what happened at those screenings as well as the film and its history.

Writer/Director Fabian Delage explores the history of horror cinema, of what lead to the making of the short silent film often times attributed to George Mélies who never claimed it as his own. He builds his documentary on interviews with film scholars, filmmakers, researchers, and even a relative of Mélies’. He explores the films of Mélies and of Victor Sicarius, the other potential director of La Rage du Démon, he also explores their lives and what they brought to cinema. Some of the interviews here are with Dave Alexander, Philippe Rouyer, Alexandre Aja, Christophe Gans, and Pauline Mélies amongst many others.

These interviews are very informative creating an educational documentary all genre fans should see. La Rage du Démon may be the main subject here due to the mystery surrounding it, but the whole history of the horror genre pre Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is exposed and explored. Also touched upon is how such films came to be, their inspirations and how they were made. Footage from the late 1800s/early 1900s adds to the subjects discussed and brings visual interest to something that could have been a very dry subject given all the historical facts and anecdotes involved.

Fanian Delage clearly has an eye for good, fascinating documentary subjects as well as has a touch that makes the documentary entertaining and almost mystifying as he chose a subject here that will probably never be fully clarified. La Rage du Démon is relatively short at a run time of just one hour which is definitely a good choice as any longer could have become tedious and boring. The short run time forces things to be tight and well edited, leaving all extraneous footage on the cutting room floor. La Rage du Démon is a must see for both horror fans and film history buffs alike.

Fantasia International Film Festival ran from July 14^th until August 3^rd, 2016 and will be back in the summer of 2017.