There was enough slack in the chain whomp me to the karaoke - way wall that , if I stretched my hand just so , I could pick up the autopsied brain to my left . That was about it . Ten minutes into the " Satanic Panic Room , " I was vex . It was up to my fellow Dark Lord disciples to disengage themselves from similar binds and throw me a key . I ’d say more , but the mustachioed cult loss leader overseeing our rite thrust me to signal an NDA . No one spillsthe devil’sescape - room secrets and sprightliness .
Surviving a Satanic Panic Room is a quotidian Thursday dawn atAustin ’s Fantastic Fest , the film fete that started as a musical genre - picture experiment 12 years ago and has grown into a cavalcade of movie theater - adjacent experience , push to redefine the nonobjective sensation of " holy shit . " Contained withinthe Alamo Drafthouse , a mecca for movie lover , and contrive by Drafthouse CEO Tim League , Fantastic Fest is a rowdy , malcontent , ridiculous response to the pop - civilisation mainstream , even while courting major name and blockbuster titles . If Sundance is where the flick industry goesto fall upon new talent , Cannes is a hotbed for eminent art , and Toronto ’s yearly film fest is the unofficial start-off to Oscar time of year , then Fantastic Fest is the stead where Hollywood tornado open a beer and blow off some steam . League and his squad of programmers press to outdo themselves year after year , scouring the satellite for the perfect movies and tricking out each night of the seven - day fete with memories that ’ll break through any hangover .
Having never experienced it myself , I flew down to Austin from New York with 72 hour to obliterate . Fantastic Fest was happy to provide the lethal blows .
Jack Plunkett
OK , I lied . Before donning a cloak and submitting myself to the Satanic Panic Room , I drank two Bloody Marys in the Alamo Drafthouse entrance hall , examined a slice - open female cadaver in the theater hallway ( viral merchandising – not as weird as it sounds ) , and strapped on a headset to undergo the first - ever " virtual - realitycremation . " From the VR production company Dark Corner , Muleput me behind the eyes of a dying drug smuggler who – this is where it perplex existential – witness the aftermath of his own demise . Viewers have the selection of burial or cremation . Dark Corner sat me inside a coffin to determine the 360 - point picture , but I choose for the torrid conclusion . Fantastic Fest .
The transactions officially kicked off withArrival , the new alien-“invasion " picture show fromPrisonersandSicariodirector Denis Villeneuve and an immediate replication to everything I expected from Fantastic Fest – even if the premiere opened with a laser light show and astronaut refrain line of reasoning . Villeneuve ’s tidal film follows a grieve polyglot ( Amy Adams ) excite back to life story when the government tasks her with cracking an foreign words . It ’s a head slip and a tearjerker , breathtaking at times and finely tune up to a world-wide earthly experience . Fantastic Fest knew what it was doing . My defenses were down , and the sick was about to start .
The next 24 minute were a Tilt - A - Whirl of moviegoing experiences . There wasBoyka : Undisputed , a criminal offence thriller star Jean - Claude Van Damme disciple Scott Adkins as an MMA fighter driven to kvetch every Russian stumblebum in the face ( and he does ) . There wasColossal , a campaign - of - the - mill relationship dramedy that ingest on a whole new import when it ’s revealed that the recovering alcoholic make a fresh life in her childhood town ( Anne Hathaway ) is psychically tethered to a Godzilla - like freak destroying Seoul , South Korea . There wasThe Red Turtle , a endurance tale from the spiritedness studio behindSpirited Away , where the lonely occupant of a desert island get the hots for a turtle ( it ’s a little more elegant than that , but , you know ) . There wasThe Autopsy of Jane Doe , a kooky , creepy , funny - booky horror movie about founding father - son morticians who take in the most temperamental numb organic structure of their career – a surprise at every turn . And then there wasA Dark Song , a 180 - degree good turn : one woman ’s endeavor to shatter her person for a prospect at crossing , even momentarily , to the other side . It ’s soak up in tyrannical darkness , scandalous displays of self - harm , and a avid bar of pagan magic . Or , to be blunt , A Dark Songis really fucking scary .
Jack Plunkett
When the sun set and the moon rises , Fantastic Fest transform into a physical manifestation of its cinematic self , giving attendees a luck to live the oddities . On my first night , it was the " Fantastic Debates , " where two feuding contestants get into a ring to necessitate burn off movie question ( " IsRocky IVthe greatest packing motion-picture show of all time ? " " Are superhero motion picture ruin Hollywood ? " " Is Zack Snyder the most inappropriately maligned director of our time ? " ) and answer them with their fist . Yes , there ’s gentlemanlike debate – for a few min . When the buzzer sounds , the arguer strap on baseball glove and settle their argument with right-hand hooks and smacking - happy jabs . I never believe I ’d seeRocky IVstar Dolph Lundgren sunshine on a scrawny 30 - something take repeated puncher to the face in the name of a franchise run out of gun , but dammit , I ’m beaming I did .
After my final reach of Fantastic Festing , which include screening ofThe Dwarves Must Be Crazy , an adventure moving-picture show about a village of Thai small the great unwashed whose only defense against fundament - munching , float - top dog demons is their never - stop Three Stooges routine ; andJungle Trap , a schlocky , The way - alike repugnance movie charge on video in the ' 90 , recover and restored by fervent VHS hounds , and shown for the first time at the festival ; I swan into the Alamo Drafthouse ’s Highball prevention for the most Fantastic Fest - sounding concert ever : Itchy - O , the punk - John Rock drumline .
Itchy - O line itself as " a Denver - based percussion - centered electronic performance band , " but from the heart and soul of a raging mosh infernal region , it ’s what Dr. Moreau would splice together from Daft Punk , a Day of the Dead parade , Black Flag , and your college march band . The 32 - firearm band consists of taiko drumfish , theremins , synthesizers , and usage machines that blast steadfast streams of transonic atmospheric static into the standard atmosphere . By the second song , the dance band ’s masked actor are conjure up through the gang , pushing patrons out of their means , and stoking the topsy-turvyness . I do n’t think I hallucinate a Chinese lion emerging through a swarm of sequin fog . Then again , by the sentence the final mallet expend , my ears were ringing and I ’d lose about 80 % of my body of water weight in sweat . A job well done .
IFC Films
Seventy - two hour just provide a discernment of Fantastic Fest . Heading home early , I missed the cannibal picture that made people give up , J.J. Abrams ' restored cold shoulder ofPhantasm , the documentary about rats , the feeding contest designed to make contestants cat , the Polish mermaid melodic , the Amerindic karaoke night , and the premiere of a new Godzilla movie . The good news : I made it out of the Satanic Panic Room alive and can go back next year , soul integral .
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Jack Plunkett
Jack Plunkett
