Panic Fest returns, boasting Synchronicity and The Invitation among its thrills

Time travel hasn’t been invented yet — as far as we know — but the rules of the time-travel genre are constantly being re-invented. As Bruce Willis grumped to the younger version of himself (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) in 2012’s Looper, explaining the details of how it all works is bound to take “all day, drawing diagrams with straws.” As such, it’s a genre that prizes imagination over budget, with some of the best modern examples being the cheap indies Primer (from 2004), the little-seen Spanish import Timecrimes (2007), and 2012’s Safety Not Guaranteed (the fictional feature debut of Colin Trevorrow, who last year made Jurassic World).

The forthcoming Synchronicity isn’t quite on the same level as those three, but it’s damn close — and it’s playing this weekend as part of Kansas City’s premier roundup of horror, sci-fi and suspense films, Panic Fest.

Now in its fourth year, the Screenland Armour staple has assembled a robust 17-movie lineup. It’s a feast for fans of bloody scares and high-body-count camp, and it doubles as a kind of antidote to big-box moviemaking. One reason that genre voices are ringing out from the independent scene is that the only big-budget genre pictures being made by name studios are sequels, reboots, starters for would-be franchises, or productions built around big stars — low-risk product, in other words. Showcasing the opposite approach, Panic Fest offers plenty of indie, B-movie, and no-budget fare to please fans of each subgenre.

Besides Synchronicity, the movie with the loudest buzz going into the festival is The Invitation, a parlor thriller directed by St. Louis native Karyn Kusama. She was an indie darling in 2000 with her debut, Girlfight, a boxing drama that launched the career of Michelle Rodriguez and earned Kusama the Director’s Prize and the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, but her studio follow-ups, Aeon Flux and Jennifer’s Body, didn’t fare as well. The Invitation is a return to indie aesthetics, and early reviews suggest a solid return to form.

Set in Los Angeles, the film is shot at least partly through the point of view of Will (Logan Marshall-Green), who arrives at a dinner party being held at his former residence. The other guests are polite, but the purpose of the party is constantly in question as everyone — including Will — exhibits suspicious behavior, and dark pasts are revealed. Seven p.m. Saturday, February 6, is your chance to see The Invitation a month before its official release at the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet.

But let’s jump back in time a minute to finish talking about Synchronicity. Essentially a B-movie with aspirations, writer-director Jacob Gentry’s picture wears its stylistic influences on its sleeve. The synth-heavy score is reminiscent of Vangelis’ Blade Runner music, and we see a skyscraper-laden nocturnal skyline patroled by helicopters that beam piercing shafts of light. Aside from such touches, the production is sparse enough to make you wonder whether anyone lives in this noir-futuristic concrete jungle other than the 10 or so characters in the movie.

You can’t blame Gentry for having a visual ambition that outstrips his budget, especially when he achieves such a potent claustrophobia. In true noir fashion, the physicist played by Chad McKnight is seduced by a mysterious woman (Brianne Davis) — at the very moment when he invents time travel. Their courtship is off-kilter from the beginning, so its no surprise to find out that their first meeting isn’t as serendipitous as it appears. From there, Synchronicity is an engaging mystery with a challenging narrative. That reliable staple of B-movies, Michael Ironside, is on hand as the wealthy backer of the project, but ultimately isn’t given much to do, which is a shame.

Gentry’s script plays cleverly within the rules of the sandbox it creates, and its introduction of romantic themes and a fully believable relationship help, but Synchronicity doesn’t quite get where it means to go. Which doesn’t mean I’m going to miss another chance to see it. After all, half the fun of a good time-travel picture is watching it a second time, knowing how it will end. Synchronicity shows at 7:30 and 10 p.m. Friday, February 5.

More films of interest:

Southbound, a new horror anthology from producers of the popular V/H/S series, debuted at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival in the Midnight Madness section. It showcases five interlocking shorts from different directors, with the action taking place on a deserted highway. It plays at 9:30 p.m. Saturday, February 6.

I’m not sure why anyone would want to remake hacky Eli Roth’s brainless cult gore-fest Cabin Fever, especially using the same shooting script, but someone has done just that. Not surprisingly, Roth himself, who is better at hype than at making movies, executive-produced it. On the bright side: How much worse could it be? Cabin Fever screens at 6:30 p.m. Friday, February 5.

Flesh-eating, disembowelment, kidnapping, swordplay, the regurgitation of bugs — those are just the things that happen in the trailer for producer-director Todd Sheets’ no-budget horror anthology. At least five of the eight shorts in the new, locally produced horror Sleepless Nights were shot in Kansas City, which has its premiere at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.

For full details on the three-day Panic Fest, including the Short Film Showcase (featuring three local films), the live podcast tapings, and other films, see panicfilmfest.com.