The first somewhat busy day of the festival was highlighted by the presence of Robin Hardy and the director's cut of his celebrated cult classic The Wicker Man. To my surprise, the house wasn't packed for the event, even though it took place in the diminutive J.A. De Sève theater. Still, it was a real treat for those who did come (including two of my friends who had never seen it before!). The print wasn't all that great, amounting to the same patchwork of restored and raw footage as seen on the DVD version, but merely witnessing the film was awesome in itself. I mean, Britt Ekland's naked body on 35 mm, or Edward Woodward's panicked expression when the flames reach his wicker prison... these are the things which cults are made of. In this case, cunning and carefree cults of clever tricksters.
People should've flocked to see The Wicker Man.Unfortunately, they didn't.
The remainder of the line-up was a mixed bag, filled with vastly heterogeneous titles ranging three continents and various narrative styles. The Reef was a realistic survivalist horror film set in the crystal-clear waters surrounding the Australian corral reefs; Superheroes, an engrossing documentary starring an abundance of real-life crime-fighters; El Sol, an animated oddity focused on the absurd adventures of wasteland roamers in the post-apocalyptic future; Knifepoint, an excessive midnight film depicting one of the vilest home invasions this side of Funny Games. That said, Day 3 was perhaps more representative of Fantasia than Day 2 as it showcased a varied selection of films, each hand-picked for genre fans and each only slightly unconventional so as not to frighten said genre fans too much. The resulting line-up, while entirely worthy, is not groundbreaking at all.
FILMS SEEN
The Reef
Were it not so strikingly similar to international sleeper hit Open Water, this film might've been good. Because while The Reef contains impeccable cinematography, including some neat underwater photography, and a tailor-made score involving a whopping eleven musicians, it is never quite as gripping as Open Water, which purposefully barrens the scenery in order to better focus on the two central characters and their plight. Here, the narrative rather plays like a slasher film than a psychological drama, stranding the protagonists in inhospitable settings and pitting them against silent killers who bump them off one by one until a lone survivor (girl) makes it to safety. Of course, one will surely appreciate the scenery and the exhilarating moments of tension arising with the presence of sharks, but the lackluster, redundant screenplay will do very little to really draw him inside the world of the film. And by the way, boasting that any film is "the scariest (or best) shark film since Jaws" is saying very little, seeing how the shark sub-genre basically amounts to a sterile wasteland. That said, The Reef isn't even worthy of such a dubious honor...
THUMBS SIDEWAYS
The Wicker Man
Stellar, enduring cult classic benefits above all from a flawless screenplay by playwright Anthony Shaffer who displays a rare knack for delightful witticisms and humorous jabs at moral rectitude, all wrapped in the confines of a minutely crafted police thriller. Set on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland, one which has eluded the claws of Christianity, choosing instead to worship the" joyous old gods" of Celtic folklore, the story chronicles the coming of an intrusive mainland policeman who meddles with the locals' business in search of a missing girl. Shocked by what he sees at every turn (including, but not limited to, slow-motion orgies, pagan fertility rituals and phallus worshiping), Sergeant Howie represents the humorless and devout facade of the British Crown. Opposite of him is the charismatic Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee in his best performance ever), a playful noble who knows how to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Tightly-wound, with impeccable performances from the entire cast (including Edward Woodward, Ingrid Pitt and gorgeous Bond girl Britt Ekland), The Wicker Man is a colorful and unforgettable foray into a secluded world and its intriguing, liberating belief system. That said, the plethora of songs performed by the cast merely adds to the fun, culminating in two noteworthy cult scenes, the Maypole dance scene (involving children running around a phallic maple tree) and the siren song scene (in which Ekland fully disrobes and dances wildly in an attempt to seduce Howie through the common wall between their rooms). This was my tenth screening of the film and I intend to see it at least ten more times.
AUTOMATIC THUMBS UPSuperheroes
Engrossing documentary involving out-of-this-world characters with various intriguing backgrounds gets lost in the multiplicity of storylines. Although it contains many great dramatic bits, it never manages to form a truly concise whole, which is typical of the editorial jitters one might experience when faced with such an overwhelming amount of material as that filmed during the preparation of the present effort. Unfortunately, the plight of documentary filmmakers is to make difficult decisions in the editing room, too few of which were taken here. Nonetheless, the film managed to make me cry, thanks to a brilliant parallel drawn between the beastly crowds attending the San Diego Comic-Con , where fake superheroes are reveled for preserving the status quo, and the surrounding streets, where real-life heroes care to disenfranchised tent-dwellers too numerous to count. I must admit that seeing these people made me shed some bitter tears, seeing how 0.001% of the fortune amassed by 0.001% of the richest Americans could propel all of them above the poverty line, the same 0.001% which fights so zealously against tax increases and government spending so as to throw away more money lobbying than they would need to solve world hunger. That said, the world does need heroes, but it doesn't a full gamut of them (no matter how colorful their names or how unique their M.O.s), it only takes one, one who will hold the machete of justice high to better remove the heads of heartless bank executives and spill their golden blood all over the black ghettos of L.A. and the Mexican refugee camps of Texas. Similarly, Superheroes should've shed a few of its titular characters in order to make a clearer, more precise point.
AMBIVALENT THUMBS UP
El Sol
Insane South-American animation film finds a bunch of crude, hand-drawn characters wandering through a post-apocalyptic wasteland in search of purpose. While entirely unfocused and episodic, it is imbued with a manic energy that sustains it throughout. And even though the jokes are a mix of hits and misses, managing to generate any reaction from raging hilarity to mere shoulder shrugs, the pacing is so relentless as to make you forget about anything other than enjoying yourself.
Complementary animated short Prita Noire was cute and compelling in a fucked-up sort of way, using the voice-over from fairy tales over a bleak backdrop involving an armless baby and a creepy doll with two pet spiders. Very cool, independently-produced effort involves very imaginative art direction and creative animation. A logical companion piece to the equally cheap but lovingly-made El Sol.
THUMBS UP
Complementary animated short Prita Noire was cute and compelling in a fucked-up sort of way, using the voice-over from fairy tales over a bleak backdrop involving an armless baby and a creepy doll with two pet spiders. Very cool, independently-produced effort involves very imaginative art direction and creative animation. A logical companion piece to the equally cheap but lovingly-made El Sol.
THUMBS UP
Knifepoint
As the director of Knifepoint so rightfully pointed out before the screening, midnight films are meant to shock. And while to shock isn't such a lofty goal, it is achieved with surprising bravado in this mean, super-violent home invasion film. Read full review here.
THUMBS UP
