Tag: Fantastic Fest 2015

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) At last year’s Fantastic Fest I watched and enjoyed an intense, edgy and visceral film titled Camino.  Because the film stars stunt person-turned-actress Zoe Bell and director/actor Nacho Vigalondo, I went in pretty certain I was in for an exciting treat.  Though I was mostly familiar… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review and Interview: CAMINO

By Liz Lopez Rating: A Fantastic Fest Review Hungarian writer-director László Nemes feature debut, Son of Saul, (co-scripted with Clara Royer), was in competition at the Cannes Film Festival last year and was a feature screened at the 2015 Fantastic Fest in Austin. By now with several film reviews available over the last few months,… Continue reading Review: SON OF SAUL

By Mark Saldana Rating: 4 (Out of 4 Stars) My biggest complaint about horror films is that the filmmakers who make the movies often don’t take the material seriously and resort to hokem and cheap parlor tricks to jolt their audiences.  Loud music, sudden loud noises, and other variations of jump scares might succeed in… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: THE WITCH

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) The closing night film for Fantastic Fest 2015 is a genre hybrid flick that starts off as a classic John Wayne Western and then delves into the shock and awe gruesomeness of a horror movie. Kurt Russell stars as Sheriff Franklin Hunt, the chief law officer… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: BONE TOMAHAWK

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) This year, Fantastic Fest offered its attendees two secret screenings.  The first one took place on Friday evening with audiences excitedly anticipating their surprise.  As it turned out, the film was Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak and Del Toro and Tim League took the stage to… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: CRIMSON PEAK

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3.5 (Out of 4 Stars) Written and directed by A.D. Calvo, The Missing Girl plays out like  comic books written by the late Harvey Pekar (American Splendor) or Daniel Clowes (Ghost World) where the trials and tribulations of ordinary average people make for fascinating and compelling story material.  In Calvo’s film,… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: THE MISSING GIRL

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) More like a novelty comedy, In Search Of the Ultra-Sex is a clever film project by French filmmakers Nicolas Charvet and Bruno Lavaine who watched over 2500 porn films to compile scenes for a story of their own. And their story definitely sounds like the plot… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: IN SEARCH OF THE ULTRA-SEX

By Mark Saldana Rating: 3 (Out of 4 Stars) It wouldn’t  be a Fantastic Fest without a bizarre entry or two, and this import from Germany definitely fits this description.  A young student (Pit Bukowski)  in search of a quiet residence to continue his work moves in with an unusual, isolated family living in the… Continue reading Fantastic Fest 2015 Review: DER BUNKER