Fantastic Fest Adds Full 'Nymphomaniac' Director's Cut, 'Everly,' 'It Follows,' And 'Automata'
The tenth annual Fantastic Fest kicks off in Austin TX in just over a week, and the final wave of programming has just been unveiled. There's a lot here, and in addition to the films the fest has announced appearances from James Gunn, Edgar Wright, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Ti West.
This programming wave might be the best yet, as it features the Toronto midnight madness hit It Follows, the full director's cut of Nymphomaniac, rare exploitation gem The Astrologer (presented by Refn), the premiere of The Hive, sci-fi Automata, and Joe Lynch's one-room action thriller Everly. Then there's perhaps the thing I most want to see in this group, the US debut of Duke of Burgundy, the new film from Berberian Sound Studio director Peter Strickland. Check out the lineup below, and we'll have trailers for quite a few of these shortly.
AGFA presents THE ASTROLOGER hosted by Nicolas Winding Refndir. Craig Denney, 96 min., United States
Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn hosts a rare screening of this unseen, long-lost exploitation masterpiece, recently rescued and restored by local non-profit The American Genre Film Archive.
AUTOMATAUnited States, 2014US Premiere, 110 minDirector – Gabe Ibañez
In the post-nuclear apocalypse there will be robots, and insurance agents played by Antonio Banderas. He's investigating an insurance claim on a faulty robot that leads to greater discoveries.
CLOSING NIGHT: 26 WAYS TO PARTYThu, Sept 25th * 10pm
Obviously, a decade of insanity requires the grandest of finales. So we're tearing the pages out of ABCs OF DEATH 2 to annihilate the universe with 26 WAYS TO PARTY! We're running down the alphabet from A to Z, cracking open a neon canister of radioactive wildness and unleashing a massive meltdown of madcap mayhem in FF history. Gird your loins for the ultimate experience in non-stop amusement/ abusement. LIVE TO PARTY, PARTY TO DIE.
CUB (WELP)Belgium, 2014US Premiere, 85 minDirector – Jonas Govaerts
A boy scout troop goes on a camping trip that they will never forget in this brutal, uncompromising horror film.
DARKNESS BY DAYArgentina, 2013North American Premiere, 76 minDirector – Martín Desalvo
Things are a bit off in Virginia's tiny village. Something dark is coming her way. And now she's left alone with her sick cousin, unaware of the dangers around her.
DUKE OF BURGUNDYUnited Kingdom, 2014US Premiere, 104 minDirector – Peter Strickland
Peter Strickland's (BERBERIAN SOUND STUDIO) dark melodrama follows the impassioned sexual relationship between two women. If BERBERIAN was Strickland's aural roller-coaster ride, BURGUNDY is definitely his visual feast.
EVERLYUnited States, 2014World Premiere, 92 minDirector – Joe Lynch
Salma Hayek stars as a tough yet vulnerable woman who must fight her way through a gauntlet of assassins in this fist-pumping action thriller.
FANTASTIC FEUD – PRESENTED BY THE STANLEY FILM FESTIVALMon, Sept. 22nd * 11:59pm
This annual display of geek warfare, brainchild of FF hero Scott Weinberg, pits the globe's greatest horror scholars against one another in a galactic display of mental agility, verbal hostility and full-tilt brutality. Bear witness to the most brain- flexingly rampaging display of trivia prowess in the universe.
FROM THE DARKIreland, 2015World Premiere, 90 minDirector – Conor McMahon
Mark and Sarah are trapped, darkness is falling and the creature outside only attacks by night in this fast-paced Irish horror.
FUTURE SHOCK! THE STORY OF 2000ADUnited Kingdom, 2014World Premiere, 90 minDirector – Paul Goodwin
The anarchic and unruly history of 2000AD: the Galaxy's Greatest Comic.
THE GUESTUnited States, 2014Special Screening, 99 minDirector – Adam Wingard
Looks are definitely deceiving when a dashing soldier with a propensity for violence moves in with a grieving family in this fun-as-hell, Carpenter-esque action thriller.
HAEMOOSouth Korea, 2013US Premiere, 111 minDirector – Sung Bo Shim
A gripping maritime thriller from director Shim Sung-Bo and producer/co-writer Bong Joon-Ho.
HARDKOR DISCOPoland, 2014US Premiere, 87 minDirector – Krzysztof Skonieczny
A misanthropic young man plunges into an intense relationship with the daughter of the couple he means to kill.
THE HIVEUnited State, 2015World Premiere, 89 minutesDirector – David Yarovesky
A young man suffering from amnesia must dig deep into the far reaches of his mind to remember who he is and save the love of his life before a virus that has infected him takes over.
HORNSUnited States, 2014Austin Premiere, 120 minDirector – Alexandre Aja
Daniel Radcliffe stars as Ig, who after being accused of murdering his girlfriend awakens one morning to discover new powers and devil horns growing from his head. Adapted by Alexandre Aja (HIGH TENSION; PIRANHA) from Joe Hill's novel.
HOUSEBOUNDNew Zealand, 2014Special Screening, 107 minDirector – Gerard Johnstone
Forced to return to her childhood on house arrest, Kylie discovers that there are more sinister forces in the old homestead than just her overbearing mother.
HYENAUnited Kingdom, 2015US Premiere, 112 minDirector – Gerard Johnson
Crooked cop Michael must deal with machete-wielding Albanian brothers while handling pressure within his own department in this gritty crime saga from the director of TONY.
I AM A KNIFE WITH LEGSUnited States, 2014US Premiere, 83 minDirector – Bennett Jones
First his girlfriend dies in a suicide bombing. Then a fatwa is issued against him. And now international Europop star Bené's eclair is weird.
IT FOLLOWSUnited States, 2015US Premiere, 107 minDirector – David Robert Mitchell
After an innocent sexual encounter with her boyfriend, a teenager is stalked by an increasingly evil force in the year's smartest and scariest horror film.
LET US PREYIreland – United Kingdom, 2014US Premiere, 89 minDirector – Brian O'Malley
On small town constable Rachel Haggie's first night on the job, she encounters a strange man whose presence and knowledge threatens to destroy everyone.
LOST SOUL – THE DOOMED JOURNEY OF RICHARD STANLEY'S ISLAND OF DR. MOREAUUnited States-United Kingdom, 2014North American Premiere, 97 minDirector – David Gregory
The amazing true story of one of the most notorious Hollywood productions of the 1990s.
MY LIFE DIRECTED BY NICOLAS WINDING REFNUnited States, 2014World Premiere, 58 minDirector – Liv Corfixen
An impossibly personal portrait of unique filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn over the course of the shooting/release of his 2013 film ONLY GOD FORGIVES.
NO MAN'S LANDChina, 2009Texas Premiere, 114 minDirector – Ning Hao
A city lawyer fights for his life in the cutthroat deserts of contemporary China in Ning Hao's Coen-esque follow-up to CRAZY RACER, which was banned for four years.
NYMPHOMANIAC- EXTENDED DIRECTORS CUTDenmark-Germany-Belgium-United Kingdom-France, 2014North American Premiere, 324 minDirector – Lars Von Trier
Fantastic Fest proudly presents the complete, uncut version of Lars von Trier's epic and highly controversial film.
OPEN WINDOWSSpain, 2013Special Screening, 100 minDirector – Nacho Vigalondo
Nacho Vigalondo's latest is a completely unique and endlessly creative thriller for the internet age, taking place entirely on a single computer desktop.
OPENING NIGHT: 10-YEAR BIRTHDAY ARMAGEDDONThu, Sept. 18th * Midnight – 2am
We're decking out our decadent decennium with a blowout fit for even the most debaucherous 10-year old. We'll kick-off with costumed creatures, beat human piñatas, and throw in a breakdance competition. We'll do it all in cardboard hats, balloons, noisemakers, and ridiculous mounds of confetti. And to top it all off, the psychopathic shindig culminates in a food fight that will shake the foundations of the earth.
SHREW'S NESTSpain, 2014US Premiere, 90 minDirectors – Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel
A young Spanish girl living with her agoraphobic sister in their family's apartment discovers the real reasons behind her sister's strange behavior.
THE STRANGERChile, 2014World Premiere, 92 minDirector – Guillermo Amoedo Schultze
A mysterious man returns to his home after sixteen years, which jumpstarts a bizarre and deadly chain of events.
THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWNUnited States, 2014Special Screening, 85 minDirector – Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Based on a terrifying true story, The Town That Dreaded Sundown picks up sixty-five years after a masked serial killer terrorized the small town of Texarkana, when the "moonlight murders" begin again. Is it a copycat or something even more sinister? A lonely high school girl, with dark secrets of her own, may be the key to catching the murderer.
THE TRIBEUkraine, 2014US Premiere, 132 minDirector – Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy
Winner of the three major awards at this year's Cannes' Critics Week, THE TRIBE follows deaf student Sergey's transfer to a new school, which sends him down a path of ruthless crime and forbidden love.
WASTE LANDBelgium, 2014US Premiere, 97 minDirector – Pieter Van Hees
Hard edged homicide cop Leo is plunged into a dark and dangerous world when he takes on the murder of a young Congolese man. Will unraveling the truth cost his hold on his own life and happiness?
WHEN ANIMALS DREAMDenmark, 2015US Premiere, 81 minDirector – Jonas Alexander Arnby
In an isolated Danish fishing town, 16-year-old Marie hides a terrifying secret and deadly consequences for the unwary in this unique coming-of-age story from director Jonas Alexander Arnby.
THE WORLD OF KANAKOJapan, 2014US Premiere, 118 minDirector – Tetsuya Nakashima
Tetsuya Nakashima injects his signature style into a brutal and shocking thriller about one repulsive father's quest to find his missing daughter... who just might be worse than he is.