2013-09-05



The third and final wave of films has been announced for this month’s highly anticipated Fantastic Fest film festival, and it’s as glorious as we’ve come to expect. A handful of recognizable names are here including Terry Gilliam (The Zero Theorem), Stephen Chow (Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons) and Kim Ki-duk (Moebius), but as is often the case the real joys are found in the unknown films and filmmakers.

Based on synopsis alone, Norway’s Detective Downs looks to have break out potential here, but some other possible highlights include the much talked-about Escape From Tomorrow, Yeon Sang-ho’s darkly animated tale The Fake, Scott Adkins’ Ninja II: Shadow of a Tear, and a 3D Metallica film that we’re hoping is even half as good as Kiss’ Phantom of the Park.

Check out the full final wave announcement below.

ALL THE BOYS LOVE MANDY LANE (USA, 2006)

Special Screening

Director – Jonathon Levine, 98 min

All the boys love Mandy Lane and all the girls want to be her. There’s at least one person, though, that wants Mandy and her friends dead.

CHANTHALY (Lao People’s Democratic Republic, 2013)

North American Premiere

Director – Mattie Do, 98 min

A sickly young woman experiences visions of her dead mother. Is the apparition simply a side effect of her daily medication, or her mother actually reaching out to her from beyond the grave?

CONFESSION OF MURDER (Korea, 2012)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Jeong Byeong-Gil, 119 min

After the statute of limitations expires on a series of high profile murders, a man writes a book claiming to be the killer, setting off a firestorm of media attention as the families of the dead and the cop in charge of the case hunt for justice.

DETECTIVE DOWNS (Norway, 2013)

World Premiere

Director – Bård Breien, 90 min

What makes Robert a unique P.I. isn’t that he has Down Syndrome; it’s that he uses empathy to solve his cases. And empathy will come in handy as he investigates a complicated, conspiracy-laden disappearance.

THE DIRTIES (Canada, 2013)

Regional Premiere

Director – Matt Johnson, 83 min

A pair of cinema-obsessed high school geeks are caught up in an escalating cycle of violence when the lines between fantasy and reality begin to blur.

ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW (USA, 2013)

Regional Premiere

Director – Randall Moore, 90 min

A family vacation at the happiest place on Earth devolves into a hellish nightmare.

THE FAKE (South Korea, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Sang-ho Yeon, 101 min

Yeun Sang-ho’s follow-up to THE KING OF PIGS tells the story of a brutal scumbag who tries to expose a religious fraud.

FATAL (South Korea, 2013)

Texas Premiere

Director – Lee Don-ku, 103 min

A Korean teen’s desire to overcome a horrible crime committed as a youth turns into violence in Lee Dong-ku’s passionate and moving debut.

GATCHAMAN (Japan, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Touya Sato, 113 min

The classic anime series – known variously as BATTLE OF THE PLANETS and G-FORCE – explodes on the big screen with its first live action adaptation.

GREATFUL DEAD (Japan, 2013)

World Premiere

Director – Eiji Uchida, 97 min

A young female peeping tom develops a fatal attraction to a virile old man.

JODOROWSKY’S DUNE (USA, 2013)

Texas Premiere

Director – Frank Pavich, 88 min

This is the story of the greatest film never made: Alejandro Jodorowsky’s adaptation of Frank Herbert’s DUNE.

JOURNEY TO THE WEST: CONQUERING THE DEMONS (China, 2013)

North American Premiere

Directors – Stephen Chow & Chi-kin Kwok 110 min

One of the undisputed Chinese masters of comedy, Stephen Chow (SHAOLIN SOCCER; KUNG FU HUSTLE) returns with an action-packed love story about competing demon hunters vying for the same conquests.

LOVE ETERNAL (Ireland, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Brendan Muldowney, 94 min

When a young shut-in is forced back out into the real world following the death of his mother, he discovers he can find peace and love only amongst the dead.

METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER 3D (USA, 2013)

Regional Premiere

Director – Nimród Antal, 92 min

Director Nimrod Antal creates a groundbreaking 3-D motion picture event, combing a bold narrative and spectacular live-performance footage of one of the most influential rock bands in history.

MISS ZOMBIE (Japan, 2013)

North American Premiere

Director – Hiroaki Tanaka, 85 min

Cult director Sabu returns with his first original story in a decade! When a family has a zombie unexpectedly delivered to their house, they decide to keep her as a domestic servant.

MOEBIUS (South Korea, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Kim Ki-duk, 89 min

A transgressive taboo-shattering psychodrama from Korean auteur Kim Ki-Duk.

MONSOON SHOOTOUT (India, 2013)

North American Premiere

Director – Amit Kumar, 88 min

When a rookie cop corners a suspected murderer, he must make a choice with far-reaching effects in this violent Indian thriller.

NINJA II: SHADOW OF A TEAR (USA, 2013)

World Premiere

Director – Isaac Florentine, 95 min

Scott Adkins returns as Casey Bowman, a Ninjitsu master out to avenge the death of his wife in director Isaac Florentine’s follow-up to his 2009 film NINJA.

RAGNAROK (Norway, 2013)

World Premiere

Director – Mikkel Brænne Sandemose, 100 min

The ancient and modern worlds collide in this rousing Norwegian action adventure.

RIGOR MORTIS (Hong Kong, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Juno Mak, 105 min

A former movie star gets a battle he didn’t bargain for when he moves into a haunted public housing tenement inhabited by various degrees of the undead.

THE STRANGE COLOR OF YOUR BODY’S TEARS (France, Belgium, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Directors – Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet

A man finds violence and sex at every turn as he searches his apartment building for his missing wife in this stylish mystery from the directors of AMER.

WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (USA, 2013)

Texas Premiere

Director – Jim Mickle, 105 min

Director Jim Mickle paints a gripping portrait of an introverted family struggling to keep their macabre traditions alive.

WE GOTTA GET OUT OF THIS PLACE (USA, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Simon Hawkins & Zeke Hawkins, 91 min

Three fun-seeking teenagers end up on the VERY wrong side of a bloodthirsty crew of rural crimelords.

WOLF (The Netherlands, 2013)

U.S. Premiere

Director – Jim Taihuttu, 120 min

Freshly released on parole and hailing from an immigrant family, Majid’s only real assets are his fists. He’s inexorably drawn into the worlds of competitive fighting and organized crime in this gritty crime thriller.

THE ZERO THEOREM (United Kingdom, 2013)

North American Premiere

Director – Terry Gilliam, 107 min

An eccentric and reclusive computer genius plagued with existential angst works on a mysterious project aimed at discovering the purpose of existence – or the lack thereof – once and for all. However, it is only once he experiences the power of love and desire that he is able to understand his very reason for being.

Fantastic Fest runs September 19th through the 26th.

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