We had a blast at Fantastic Fest, the largest genre film festival in the US, specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. We were honored to be allowed to review so many great films and want to thank everyone that made it possible. we can’t wait until next year!
Here are the films that we watched. You can click on any title to see a more in-depth review.
Agnes: A possession film until it isn’t.
Alone With You: When you’re all alone, your mind plays tricks on you.
Baby Assassins: What do killing machines do for part-time jobs?
Barbarians: Well, no more dinner parties for me…
Beyond the Infinite 2 Minutes: Time travel, endless shots and no small amount of absolutely endearing ideas.
Bloody Oranges: Start with a dance contest, end in a suicide pact…and in the middle, everyone gets damaged.
Cannon Arm and the Arcade Quest: Can one man play the same video game for 100 hours?
Cop Secret: A buddy cop comedy that goes all the way.
Dead & Beautiful: So were the rich kids vampires all along?
Dealer: Kids dealing drugs, actors screwing up, a dark ending…
Devil Story: Vinegar Syndrome’s new release of this French all over the place shockfest.
The Exorcism of God: Can you exorcise a priest?
Eyes of Fire: Severin’s revised and cleaned-up print of this rare American folk horror classic.
The Found Footage Phenomenon: A movie that changed my mind on found footage.
Glasshouse: Post-pandemic The Beguiled that’s still its own great movie.
Hellbender: A mother and daughter metal band may also be witches in this family-made movie.
King Car: People that can talk to cars and a car socialist uprising — all in the same movie!
Knocking: One woman, one apartment, all madness.
Last of the Wolves: Modern Yakuza blood and honor.
Let the Wrong One In: A vampiric comedy with no small amount of viscera.
Luzifer: The world is about to change for a man child and the mother who has raised him alone in the forest.
Mad God: Phil Tippett’s life’s work. A must-see.
The Marco Effect: The next installment of the Chapter Q saga.
Masking Threshold: A complete blast of bonkers energy and rot.
Mlungu Wam: Apartheid, old ghosts and family issues boil over.
Mother Schmuckers: Comedic grossout — I mean, really gross.
Name Above Title: Wordless giallo-infused film that starts with a woman leaping to her death near a killer who has just made love and strangled a woman. When they kidd, it goes viral.
Nr. 10: A movie that completely stunned me with its reveal. I won’t say much other than please see this.
Possession: The 4K version of one of the most masterful movies of all time, a video nasty and a movie that is pretty much the most accurate breakup film of all time.
Preman: When your child goes against the gang, you either give in or start the fight.
Rad: You can never have enough Helltrack in your life.
Saloum: Mercenaries suddenly come against the supernatural in this multi-lingual thrill ride.
Samuel’s Travels: What happens when you get lost in the woods and enslaved.
Some Like It Rare: Vegans make the best ham.
Sweetie, You Won’t Believe It: A fishing trip goes way wrong.
There’s Someone Inside Your House: A 90s throwback slasher that’s now running on Netflix.
This is GWAR: The Scumdogs of the Universe, or at least Richmond, VA, have a crazy history. This is it.
The Timekeepers of Eternity: Take a Stephen King movie, print out every frame and make it so much better than it has any right to be.
The Trip: A married couple who wants to kill one another go on a cabin vacation and then…things get worse.
V/H/S/94: The first entry in the found footage anthology series since 2014’s V/H/S: VIRAL, V/H/S/94 brings the blood, brains, viscera, eyeball and tracking issues.
The Visitor: One of my favorite movies of all time, even if I can’t explain what the hell is going on. And that’s what makes it awesome.
Who Killed the KLF?: What kind of band would delete everything they ever made and then set millions of pounds on fire? The KLF.
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror: The world’s most passionate and knowledgeable genre film expert, Kier-La Janisse, joins up with an army of film experts to explain how folk horror isn’t just something that takes place in the British fields.
Zalava: When reports of demonic possessions arise in a remote village, a military officer must deal with an exorcist and a demon that may be inside a glass jar.
Silent Films: Fantastic Fest @ Home is featuring a series of silent films reimagined with the music of five artists from GroundUp music. Beyond this film, there’s also Aelita: Queen of Mars with a score by Snarky Puppy’s Chris Bullock, Sirintip rescoring The Lost World, PRD Mais taking on Waxworks, Bob Lanzetti covering Nosferantu and House of Waters playing music for Menilmontant, Le Voyage dans la Lune and Ballet Mecanique.
Drawn and Quartered: Fantastic Fest’s celebration of animated sgorts.