Previewing the Fantasia International Film Festival 2024 as the curtain rises

Bookworm. // Courtesy Fantasia Fest

For many, Summer is the season of opportunity. Longer nights lead to more adventures. The warmer weather leads to different ways to beat the heat or escape from where you live for a few days, for a little R&R. If you are a fan of movies it takes on a different meaning. Sure there are the countless blockbusters that clog up the multiplex, but those are generally geared just at mainstream audiences. No, there’s a special section of the film world that comes alive in the middle of the summer before ramping up in the fall: film festivals.

Throughout the next handful of months, there are film festivals out the wahzoo.

Big festivals, long-running festivals, and even the occasional weekend festival. Some of them are prestigious and how to do, while others put all their energies into the wildest films imaginable. Among the lot, it’s Canada’s Fantasia Film Festival which stands as a shining beacon. Over two weeks it has films that cover every genre, and every topic and run the gamut from heralding the next big talent to showcasing a film from legends looking for their last hurrah. It’s the kind of film festival that sets the table for next coming year.

With so many titles, though it’s hard to know what needs to be on your radar, even if you aren’t heading to the festival.

Fantasia works not just as a celebration of film, but if you see titles that play there also show up at the Toronto International Film Festival, Fantastic Fest, Beyond Fest, Fright Fest, or Chicago International Film Festival, then you know it needs to be on your list. As such, we have taken the liberty to highlight some films we hope to review at Fantasia, as well as a few you need to jot down now, based on excitement alone.

Witchboard

Remakes are a dime a dozen these days. That cannot be argued. While film history is built on the backbone of that very ideal, the last few years have bordered on overload when it comes to this subgenre. It takes something special or wildly out there to sit up and take notice. Enter Chuck Russell. The director of such beloved films as Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, and The Mask (1994) returns to the big screen to tackle a reimagining of the 1986 shocker Witchboard. Taking place in New Orleans, a botched robbery at the local National History Museum places the titular object in the hands of new restauranteurs Emily and Christian. Just as soon as Emily seems to fall under the board’s supernatural powers, an occult expert comes to help, with his own plans for the antique object. As thin as that may be, Russell has worked remake magic before, helming 1988’s The Blob. Lightening might not strike twice, but you can expect it to be a memorable experience nevertheless.

Frankie Freako

Lots of people found one movie or another that helped them get through the pandemic. For some, it was an old classic. For others, it was a new movie that popped up on streaming. For others, it was Psycho Goreman. A wild and entertaining romp that was basically Power Rangers gone wrong (or extremely right), Steven Kostanski’s little film hit a nerve with people. It makes sense that his follow-up would then be hotly anticipated. Frankie Freako follows an uptight and uncool yuppie who one day spots a strange 1-900 party ad on TV. In a desperate attempt to curry favor with his boss and wife, he calls the number and, well it appears that Kostanki’s film will be his version of Ghoulies and Gremlins. When you pare that with the effects he did in The Void and the comedy of Manborg and PG, this sounds like a match made in heaven

Photo courtesy of Fantasia International Film Festival.

A Samurai In Time

The “fish out of water” story is one of those subgenres where there are endless possibilities to the concept, but it only feels like foreign filmmakers get it right. A Samurai In Time seems to keep that tradition going when an Edo-period samurai (Makiya Yamahuchi) mysteriously finds himself in modern-day Kyoto and winds up with an acting career.

House of Sayuri

There’s something about J-Horror directors returning to their old stomping grounds, only to run amok on things, that’s endlessly entertaining. It’s something Wes Craven continually did in the States, finding a way to reshape both expectations and established norms. So, when Koji Shiraishi (Noroi: The Curse) has a new film coming out, you give it your undivided attention. House of Sayuri finds the Kamiki family on the cusp of their dream: owning their own house. The only problem is that it happens to be haunted by the violent spirit of a young girl. Surprisingly, the person who stands up to protect the family is the dementia-stricken grandmother, who needs her grandson to help research the spirit, so they can finally enjoy the fruits of their labor. A spirit-battling granny? Who doesn’t want to see that?!

Chainsaws Were Singing

If there’s one unlikely rule when it comes to international film festivals, it’s that you always seek out the musicals. There’s a fairly good chance that if it isn’t the hit of the festival, it will at least be a truly memorable experience. Call it luck or kismet, but something special happens when the weird meets the melodic. That same hope has fueled Estonian filmmaker Sander Maran for nearly a decade, as he’s worked on Chainsaws Were Singing. A film about two lovers who are split up by a chainsaw-welding maniac. All of that sounds glorious, but the main still released for the film, in which a shocked man takes a chainsaw in the end has more of a Cannibal the Musical vibe to it, than your normal massacre down in Texas.

Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In

For ardent followers of the film world, Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In is the action film they’re most anticipating getting a big release. A box office sensation in Hong Kong, Walled In has played every genre festival imaginable in almost every country. Directed by Soi Cheang and produced by the legendary Wilson Yip, the film deals with several lost souls as they attempt to protect the Walled In city from the onslaught of Mr. Big (Sammo Hung). If you are an action fan and this isn’t at the top of your most anticipated films list, you might have to check yourself.

Penalty Loop

Sticking with the element of time and how it can wreak havoc on a plot, Penalty Loop sounds like the most interesting take on an overused subgenre. Jun (Ryuya Wakaba) reacts to the murder of his girlfriend the same way most people initially do, by craving justice. Yet, against what a normal person would do, I meticulously plan to off the killer. His only problem is, that once the task is complete, he finds himself waking up at the start of the same day, over and over and over again.

The Old Man and The Demon Sword

Sometimes you don’t need to know much about a film. An utterly compelling or wildly weird synopsis can do all the work in the world. Case in point, The Old Man and The Demon Sword is a Portuguese film in which a monk brandishing a demon sword wanders into a small mountain town. In short order, the local drunk gets a hold of the sword and must train to fend off an evil that is on its way. Oh, did we mention the sword talks?

The Count of Monte Cristo

It makes a certain amount of sense to end a “put these movies on your radar” list with another “remake” or in this case a re-adaptation. Alexander Dumas’ immortal The Count of Monte Cristo is a title that people know of, even if they haven’t read the source material. The tale itself is timeless and influenced countless modern tales. A man imprisoned for a crime he didn’t commit. Taken from the one he loves. Becomes consumed by vengeance and reinvents himself in the process. Alexandre de La Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte’s nearly 3-hour take on the story is said to stand tall not only for its art direction but leaning into a superhero/vigilante angle that makes the time fly by.

Honorable Mentions:

It might seem strange to have a little addendum at the end of a list like this, but Fantasia has always been a film festival that hits differently or does the unexpected. This year is no exception. Highlighting directorial efforts from individuals who are more known for their time discussing movies than making them. Colors of the Dark and Pure Cinema podcast co-host Elric Kane brings his first solo-directed fiction film, about the dangers of dating apps, The Dead Thing. On the other end, YouTube reviewer Chris Stuckmann brings his long-in-development horror film Shelby Oaks to the fest for its world premiere.

Here’s the thing about this above list: it barely scratches the surface of what’s on tap at Fantasia this year. Countless festival films are making their last lap before theatrical or VOD release. There are anniversary screenings of forgotten classics, as well as restoration films. There’s a very good reason the festival runs for multiple weeks (July 18-August 4).

For all the information you could want, be sure to check out www.fantasiafestival.com. Keep your eyes peeled to The Pitch as we bring you coverage of whatever films we manage to get our hands on.