With only a few weeks remaining before the 2013 edition of Montreal’s Fantasia International Film Festival gets underway, details are pretty scarce. A quick visit to the official Fantasia site reveals that the site won’t launch until July 9th, which could make it difficult for anyone traveling any sort of distance to make plans for the event. Or you could face your fear of the unknown and just go, knowing that it’s going to be awesome.
Fantasia 2013 runs from July 18th to August 6th.
Regardless, we’re still pretty excited since Fantasia is a fim fest that’s right up bleeding spleen. Despite the sketch details, we managed to find a first-wave list of films on Fangoria:
The World’s End
Here’s the new film, making its Canadian premiere, from the creators of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. I expect The World’s End to be the cooler version of Grown Ups, as Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost have created a world in which five friends reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from 20 years earlier and unwittingly become humankind’s only hope for survival against an alien invasion. The World’s End will screen on August 6th as the closing night film with cast members in attendance.
The Conjuring
The Conjuring is a horror/thriller about what scares me the most – evil paranormal activity. The James Wan directed film is about paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine (Bates Motel‘s Vera Farmiga) Warren who work to help a family terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most terrifying case of their lives. The Conjuring plays the opening night with Joey King hosting.
Across the River
Across the River (Oltre il guado) will make its world premiere at Fantasia 2013. From writer/director Lorenzo Bianchini (Custodes Bestiae, Lidris Cuadrade Di Tre), Across the River stars Marco Marchese. With a tagline like, “Come closer… and see,” you know you’re in for a scare.
Big Bad Wolves
From Israeli filmmakers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (in attendance), Big Bad Wolves will see its Canadian premiere at Fantasia 2013. A tale of kidnapping, the film the tale of a series of brutal murders that puts the lives of three men on a collision course: The father of the latest victim now out for revenge, a vigilante police detective operating outside the boundaries of the law, and the main suspect in the killings – a religious studies teacher arrested and released due to a police blunder.
Halley
Yes, it’s another zombie movie, but since the genre is so saturated with the survival aspect, it’s always nice to see an original story. Halley, from writer/director Sebastian Hofman, is, as Fangoira put it, “a Mexican undead drama in which zombieism is treated like a degenerative medical condition.”
Return to Nuke ‘Em High, Vol. One
Lloyd Kaufman will be in Montreal to present to the world Return to Nuke ‘Em High, Vol. One, the latest film in the Nuke ‘Em High franchise. The film follows a young couple that are up against the school glee club. Unfortunately, the glee club has mutated into a gang called The Cretins. When the other students begin to undergo mutations, our couple must solve the mystery and save Tromaville High School.
Willow Creek
If you’re old enough to remember how ubiquitous Bobcat Golthdwait was during the ’80s, then you’re surely a fan of Police Academy. Not that has anything to do with Willow Creek, other than the fact that it’s Goldthwait’s found-footage film about the hunt for Bigfoot. See, Bigfoot is the next big thing.
Other films at Fantasia 2013
Cheap Thrills
L’autre monde (The Otherworld)
Magic Magic
The Weight
Commando: A One Man Army
Doomsdays
I’ll Follow You Down
Ip Man: The Final Fight
It’s Me, It’s Me
Library Wars
Metro Manila
Clive Barker
Clive Barker’s stage show, A History of the Devil, can also be seen at Fantasia 2013. As a horror god, it’s fortunate that this will be on for three nights (August 1-3).
Rock Hard \m/
