Topic: Fantasy Film Fest

[Tom]

Today my Fantasy Film Fest week started.
We began with two movies this evening.

Outlander
The movie begins with a man from another planet crashlanding on the earth in 8th century Norway. There he encounters a Viking town where he becomes known as the "Outlander" (they of course think he is only from another land). Sadly he brought a dragon-like beast with his ship which is now loose. Now he has to gain the trust of the Vikings and battle the beast.
This movie is well done. Story-wise nothing new, but fun nevertheless. It is a mixture between Sci-Fi (mostly in the beginning) and Viking movie during most of the rest. And becomes a Horror movie at the end (I was a little reminded of "The Descent").

Stars:
James Caviezel
Sophia Myles
Jack Huston
Ron Perlman
John Hurt

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewBIp8uv58I




Dance of the Dead
This one went really well with the audience. It is one of those Horror comedies teenage slasher movies. It had some really fun scenes (I especially liked the first 15 minutes or so). But I am a little cynic in this regard and will rate it not as high as most of the audience probably would have done.
For me it seems like, that when an independent unknown movie maker does not have a really good new idea, he resorts to making a teenage slasher movie trying to excel with gore in funny ways. In my opinion this is now a tired formula. But to everyone who likes zombie slasher movies, I can really recommend this one.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mrz7GdEaqaQ

[lyonsden5]

None on your list in the other thread sounded familiar to me  but I like the sound of "Outlander". There's not enough Viking movies out there if you ask me. 

[Achim]

Give me enough gore and I'll take a horror comedy any day of the week. After all, Braindead (a.k.a. Dead Alive) is one of my favorite movies!

The Viking thing, while normally not down my alley, seems promising.


Thanks Tom. During the first ten years I think I have been to eight of the Fantasy Film Festivals. Even taking a week of work to watch as many films as possibly (around 35 in 7 days; although the first two or three were only 4 days long...). It's one of the things I am now missing since being in Taiwan.

[Tom]

JCVD
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as a somewhat fictional version (with elements from his real life) of himself. He accidentilly is involved in a bank holdup and is taken hostage. Though the police thinks, he is the robber.
The movie is at its best, when Van Damme takes stabs at himself and his movie career. But the movie has also a lot of boring scenes. Could be worth to check it out if you find it cheap.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z_6UfkQ-c0

[Tom]

Evangelion: 1.0 You Are (Not) Alone
They pulled a George Lucas on this one. They took old material, redid some graphics added a few new scenes and removed others and brought it to the big screen to get some extra cash from the fans.
Myself, I am not a big fan of the original Neon Genesis Evangelion series. But to the majority of anime fans that series was THE definition of a anime series. If you like the old series and want to see it on the big screen with a extra stuff (and a lot of other stuff cut), I can recommend it. I was there with a big fan of the original series, and he liked this "remake". If you do not know the series, I recommend to check out the series before watching this movie. There is more to it.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZeCJ_sfgqc


Let the Right Ones In
This movie surprised me. I wasn't expecting liking it very much. Usually I do not like movies with such a slow pace. But this one was really great.
It is about a 12 year old boy, who forges a deep friendship with a girl, who turns out to be a vampire. Though there is some gore to be seen here, this movie is more about the bond between those two.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ckdZpYVn38

[Achim]

Let the Right Ones In
This movie surprised me. I wasn't expecting liking it very much. Usually I do not like movies with such a slow pace. But this one was really great.
It is about a 12 year old boy, who forges a deep friendship with a girl, who turns out to be a vampire. Though there is some gore to be seen here, this movie is more about the bond between those two.

You making me wonder if there'll be "enough" gore...

However, thanks for the tip on this one, it seems rather interesting. Being from Sweden(?) I am concerned that I may never be able to see it... (there was a lot of stuff at those Film festivals that I never ever saw again anywhere; sad but true).


Looking the film up I noticed that IMDb is now enforcing the width their site is displayed in? Not sure yet how much I like that...

[Tom]

You making me wonder if there'll be "enough" gore...

I think there is just the right amount of it. You will see people being mauled by a vampire. A man who hangs up and cuts open boys to collect their blood. It should satisfy your needs 

However, thanks for the tip on this one, it seems rather interesting. Being from Sweden(?) I am concerned that I may never be able to see it... (there was a lot of stuff at those Film festivals that I never ever saw again anywhere; sad but true).

Yes, it's Swedish. This movie has already been bought by a German distributor and will come to regular cinema at the end of the year (at least that what they told us the showing). So the chances are really high, that there will be at least a German DVD release.

[Achim]

Great. Well, I will add it to My Movies at IMDb in order to be reminded to watch out for a release elsewhere, at least on DVD.

[Tom]

Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer

An okay monster slayer movie. Jack is having serious anger management problems since he saw his parents killed by a monster as a child. Currently he is attending evening classes and his teacher (Robert Englund) transforms into a monster because he now being possessed by a demon heart. Jack realizes the best way to control his anger. Bashing the heads of monsters in!
Best part of this movie his Robert Englund slowly being possessed by the demon. The monster bashing itself only happens during the last 20 minutes or so.

Rating:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejwdhipRQJU

[Achim]

Best part of this movie his Robert Englund slowly being possessed by the demon. The monster bashing itself only happens during the last 20 minutes or so.

Got an e-mail from Anchor Bay on Friday announcing this on DVD; pßut it on the Wish List. Now, reading that the bashing is so limited I may have to reonsider...

[Tom]

Terra
A CGI movie with a nice story. The animation is not on par with Pixar, but is okay. Story-wise it is well-worth to be checked out.
In the future, mankind had colonized Mars and Venus after using up all natural resources on Earth. But Mars and Venus started a war for independence which left all three planets destroyed.
The remaining humans are now on the search for another planet to colonize. They have the technology to terra-form a planet.
After generations of travel, they finally reach a planet to colonize. The problem: It has another species on it. A peaceful and intellegent species.
As the atmosphere is not usable for humans without terra-forming it, the humans decide to invade and wipe out these inhabitants.

Rating:

I could not find a trailer on YouTube, but you can check it out here.


Mirrors
Pete, this one's for you. A well-executed horror movie with Kiefer Sutherland.

Rating:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0790686/

[Achim]

Terra
Sounds highly interesting!

Mirrors

I really like Aja's previous films (one of them already a remake). So I am currently wondering whether I should get the original, wait for the remake or eventually possibly get them both...

[Tom]

At the film fest they said that this is one of the few times that the remake is a lot better. And that this would have been not a big accomplishment with such a bad original.

[Najemikon]

I got the original after hearing about the remake and liking the trailer. However, I thought it was dreadful. Review

So I had high hopes for the remake, but its taking a battering. Going by Tom's comment though, I'm thinking this could be misunderstood for a mainstream film which often happens with horror. It's like critics miss the point...

[Achim]

Given Tom's review rating and Jon"s further comment I have now removed "Into the Mirror" from my Wish List.