Fantastic Fest 2023: Takeaways From The Country’s Biggest Genre Festival

Introduction

Cinema Scholars shares some takeaways from Fantastic Fest 2023. The annual event takes place at the Alamo Drafthouse flagship location in Austin, TX every September. Here are a few highs and lows from this year’s festival.

Strange Darling 

It’s nearly impossible to talk about JT Mollner’s twisted thriller Strange Darling without giving away the goods. But let’s just say, the film seems like one thing at first and then turns into something completely different. Told in non-linear chapters, the film takes place amid a murder spree by an elusive serial killer in the Pacific Northwest. Meanwhile, a man and woman contemplate a kinky one-night stand. But they end up getting a much different night than either of them bargained for. Strange Darling celebrated its world premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest with writer/director JT Mollner in attendance.

Shot on gorgeous 35mm film by actor-turned-cinematographer Giovanni Ribisi, Strange Darling is a creative tour de force. Mollner’s eye for rich, vibrant color paired with Ribisi’s mastery of the anamorphic lens feels reminiscent without being overtly throwback. Original music by artist Z Berg punctuates each scene with bespoke accompaniment. Each original piece subtly frames the disturbing themes explored in the film. 

Aside from stunning photography and evocative creative choices, the real meat and potatoes of Strange Darling are the knock-out performances by leads Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner. Fitzgerald’s ambidextrous performance is captivating. As her cool-chick demeanor gives way to unexpected levels of ferocity, it’s nearly impossible to take your eyes off Fitzgerald as she commands every frame. 

Kyle Gallner’s equally stellar performance cycles through convincing sweetness, frustration, and downright scariness, not at all in that order. His versatility, charisma, and chemistry with Fitzgerald are what ultimately binds the fragmented narrative. 

While the story is decidedly pitch black, the non-linear timeline sets an ironically playful feel throughout the film. Non-sequential chapter markers not only promise further explanation, but they also serve to pause and reset the high drama at just the right moments. Additionally, cheerful supporting performances from screen legends Barbara Hershey and Ed Begley Jr. lend additional credibility and much-needed levity to Mollner’s ambitious sophomore effort. 

Many filmmakers have tried and failed to make a cohesive film with an out-of-order storyline. Fortunately, Mollner perfectly choreographs the mayhem of Strange Darling right up until the last puzzle piece to reveal the full, messed-up picture. 

Your Lucky Day

At some point, everyone has asked themselves what they would do if they won the lottery. Most people have similar answers about indulging in luxuries. The more practical opt for securing financial stability for their families. But what if you receive a life-changing windfall as a result of nefarious activity? Are you honest and admit the money isn’t yours? Or do you take the money and run? Writer/director Dan Brown explores this moral dilemma and much more in his new drama, Your Lucky Day. Writer/director Dan Brown and star Jessica Garza were at Fantastic Fest 2023 for the world premiere of the film.

After a drug deal goes bad, a young thug heads into the local Sip ‘n Go to cool his heels. While perusing the display of nudie magazines, he overhears another customer’s jubilation. He won the Mega Millions jackpot worth $156 million. In a frenzied fit of desperation and greed, the drug dealer quickly disguises himself and demands the winning ticket at gunpoint. 

Unbeknownst to the assailant, an oblivious cop is in the bathroom. A young, very pregnant couple also cowers in terror nearby. Soon, the police officer clues in and enters the fray, upending the thief’s haphazard plan. With bodies on the floor and a fortune at stake, the remaining survivors must decide if they’ll take the high road or cash in on an unexpected fortune.

Based on his 2010 short film of the same name, writer/director Dan Brown has crafted a smart and relatable story that will make even the most loyal boy scout question their integrity. As the crew figures out how to handle their unique predicament, various moving parts in the story are gradually revealed. Naturally, this further complicates their plight. With each new challenge presented, the intrigue ratchets up as well. Resulting in high tension and horrific violence that snowballs right until the gloomy but satisfying end. 

Set primarily within one location, Brown uses the isolation of the convenience store to further amplify the growing tension. Clever use of the security camera POV plus scenes in various rooms of the small business keeps the film from feeling overly claustrophobic. A few key cutaway scenes also help to segment the main cast’s confinement. 

In addition to the intrigue of the central narrative, gradual character development intertwined with the action gives Your Lucky Day an added level of suspense. As details about each character are revealed, unlikely heroes and masterminds emerge. By the time the final act kicks in, it feels like every last person is on the take. 

Amid all the action, Brown also nods to subtle social commentary. Themes of wealth disparity and entitlement are sprinkled throughout the story. More overt visual messaging like “You Deserve It” and “Your Fortune” appear all around the characters on magazine covers, neon signs, and advertising. Setting the story during the holidays helps to further crystallize the fact that the working-class characters of the story continually struggle to get ahead. So despite the moral implications of their greed, each character feels worthy of a chance at financial freedom. 

Carrying all this commotion and commentary is a terrific ensemble cast. In one of his final roles, Angus Cloud nails the thug with a heart of gold. Cloud’s combination of authenticity and charisma immediately draws you into the movie and propels the narrative for much of the first half. Such a tragic loss of life and potential.

Other notable performances include Elliot Knight as the desperate father-to-be and Mousa Kraish as the troubled shop owner. But the performer who owns Your Lucky Day is Jessica Garza as the damsel-turned-pregnant-badass. She represents the moral compass of the story. However, when her character recognizes that push has come to shove, she understands the assignment better than anyone. Garza captures her character’s keen wit right along with the role’s high physical demands. All with a gigantic pregnant belly.

Your Lucky Day is a modern twist on a classic morality tale bolstered by thoughtful character development and terrific performances. Well Go USA will release Your Lucky Day in Theaters on November 10th and on Digital on November 14th.

Spooktacular

These days, Halloween is big business. There’s the yearly conversion of vacant big box stores into giant costume shops. Then of course there are the numerous pop-up haunted houses that terrorize brave souls each year. Beyond local haunts, huge theme parks now transform their amusements into spooky-themed mayhem, attracting enormous crowds and generating big profits. 

But Halloween wasn’t always such big business. That is until David Bertolino decided to parlay his costume company’s success into Halloween theme park gold with Spooky World. Quinn Monahan’s latest goth doc is SPOOKTACULAR! and it tells the unbelievable rise and fall of the world’s first Halloween family attraction. SPOOKTACULAR! had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2023 with director Quinn Monahan and other filmmakers in attendance. 

Monahan’s documentary smartly starts with personal accounts of the park from various fans. John Krasinski enthusiastically describes the splendor of his childhood sojourns to Spooky World to a bemused Seth Meyers on Late Night. Genre luminaries like Adam Green and Tom Savini (who also served as executive producer on the film) extol the virtues of the annual curiosity that took over a quiet farming community every October from 1991 to 1997. Once the love and nostalgia for the infamous park is established, Monahan backs up to Bertolino’s beginnings.  

Originally conceived as a haunted hayride through a creepy farm, costume, and novelty shop owner David Bertolino started his endeavor on a shoestring budget with support from friends and Berlin, Massachusetts locals. Thankfully, his gamble paid off and soon there were cars lined up for miles for the scariest new Halloween must-see. With this initial success, Bertolino was able to expand the park to include attractions like a haunted house, a memorabilia museum, and a stage for performances. Like all worthy endeavors, Bertolino runs into his share of challenges and setbacks along the crazy journey into macabre entertainment.

Thanks to a plethora of grainy early 90s videos, there is plenty of footage of the creepy shenanigans providing visual evidence of the loving memories from Spooky World. Monahan also uses footage from several Golden Era films, especially those of Vincent Price, to vividly flesh out his narrative. Price’s imposing visage serves as a cinematic proxy for Bertolino, ingeniously filling in the visual blanks as the Halloween mogul’s unique story unfolds through stories from his fans and loved ones. 

Every documentary subject has to hit its inevitable rough patch, and SPOOKTACULAR! doesn’t shy away from calling out some of Bertolino’s missteps. Fortunately, Monahan focuses on the silver linings behind the outcome resulting in a truly heartwarming slice of horror and heart. Much like the unorthodox Spooky World theme park itself, SPOOKTACULAR! is good-time Halloween family fun.

The Last Stop In Yuma County

In a world of endless low-budget crime thrillers, there are occasional diamonds that appear through the vast rough. Films that check all the boxes with merely a simple premise that flips and turns, leading to unforeseen scenarios. Often, the best of these smaller films imbed a lighthearted thread that neutralizes the terrible misdeeds that occur. The perfect outcome is a steady mix of clever intrigue with an emotional core. Francis Galluppi’s impressive feature debut checks all of these boxes and more with a wicked take on the fate of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Galluppi and several fellow filmmakers participated in a Q and A following the world premiere of The Last Stop In Yuma County at Fantastic Fest 2023. 

A knife salesman stops at a dusty roadside station to fill up his tank. Snappy early-70s mod music, plus other clues like late 60s car models, nod to the period. The local sheriff drops his wife off at work where she runs the diner attached to the service station. Unfortunately, the traveling salesman is dismayed to discover that not only are the station tanks out of gas, but this is his last chance to refuel for another 100 miles.

With no other options, the man quietly waits it out in the diner, until two men fitting the description of local bank robbers arrive to the same bad no-gas news. Also forced to bide their time in the diner, the crooks, who are recognized by the waitress and her patron, immediately take the upper hand. Soon, more passersby and regulars unwittingly enter the fray, complicating any chance of escape from the terrifying predicament. 

Galluppi expertly guides the deceivingly simple premise through various twists and turns, continually amping up the tension as the story grows more complex. While a few lighter moments certainly don’t qualify the film as a comedy, the well-timed humor balances an otherwise awful situation that only gets worse by the minute. Evocative early-70s production design, costuming, and musical cues also give the film a stylized retro vibe that keeps the film’s overall feel more arthouse than gritty crime thriller. 

Playing out primarily in one location, the interesting confluence of opposing characters is delightful. From the buttoned-up brilliance of Jim Cummings’ silently scheming salesman to Jocelyn Donahue’s intense turn as the sharp-as-a-tack diner owner, the stellar performances from the ensemble cast are the glue in the cracks of the high tension. As the main villain Richard Brake seethes his way through the film, giving the narrative that element of meanness that maintains the gloomy undertones. 

Special recognition goes to genre fan fave Barbara Crampton and her onscreen cohort Michael Abbott Jr. who plays her boss, the sheriff. Most of their scenes are reminiscent of the lackadaisical small-town cop trope, with comical timing and blurb delivery that adds much-needed levity between the heavy stuff unfolding right under their noses. Abbott Jr. also gets to flex his capable dramatic muscle when the awful situation is finally clear to his character. 

Though the film primarily takes place in a single location, the story is spread around the entire property which includes the service station and diner as well as a hotel. The dusty locale, practically a character itself, adds to the sense of isolation and lends the film a small-town noir sensibility. 

The simplicity of the robbers-on-the-run premise paired with the growing complexity as new characters join is just the right mix of character study and intrigue. While there’s no word on a release for The Last Stop In Yuma County, keep your eyes peeled for this smart little crime thriller when it inevitably drops. 

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines

With a constant onslaught of prequels, sequels, reboots, and remixes of existing properties, it’s sometimes hard to keep up with the latest iterations of popular franchises. As one of the most prolific novelists and book-to-film adapters in history, it’s no surprise that one of Stephen King’s most beloved tomes, Pet Sematary, has been hashed and rehashed several times now. In the latest entry into the reanimation saga, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines, the backstory of the original protagonist, Jud Crandall, is explained. Writer/director Lindsey Anderson Beer was on hand to celebrate the film’s world premiere at Fantastic Fest 2023.

It’s the summer of 1969 in the tiny community of Ludlow, Maine. Jud Crandall and his best girl Norma plan their escape from small-town life by joining the Peace Corps. Jud suspects that his dad has something to do with the fact that he’s one of the only young men his age in Ludlow to miss the draft. Conflicted about this fate and yearning to serve, entering the corps seems like the logical way to do his part.

Just as the young couple make their move into this next chapter, their plans go sideways. A freak accident that breaks their windshield leads to a vicious dog attack on Norma by the dog of Jud’s old friend Timmy. During the incident, Jud can’t help but notice that Timmy, recently home from a tour in Vietnam, isn’t acting right. 

As his friend’s erratic behavior becomes even more problematic, local leaders, including Jud’s father, start to worry that the increasingly strange events might be related to the old Native American site-turned-pet-cemetery on the outskirts of town. Surprising to no one (except the townspeople who should presumably already know better) the answer is undoubtedly yes. 

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines has all the bells and whistles of standard horror fare. Gory imagery, intense sound design, and jump scares galore satisfy the basic checklist. Unfortunately, what it doesn’t have is cohesive story building, logical timelines, or sensible motivation for most of what goes down onscreen. While there are a lot of fun gags and great creep-outs throughout the film, they just don’t make up for the nonsensical actions that are rampant. 

In Jud’s quest to get to the bottom of the situation, flashbacks to colonial Maine illustrate that the Ludlow area was doomed by supernatural forces from the get-go. Despite the bad juju, the town was still somehow founded near the site where its namesake-turned-cannibal succumbed to the ancient evil. Just as Beer answers possible backstory questions, ten more questions about the story’s logic pop up. 

Aside from problematic origins, there are plenty of other aspects that just don’t add up. During moments of chaos, characters suddenly become inexplicably defenseless. Survivors decide to split up at the most inopportune times. A subplot with Norma feels out of place and fizzles. And this is on top of various distractions like continuity and day/night timeline issues. 

Fortunately, the scares and performances in Pet Sematary: Bloodlines help save the film from being a total loss. David Duchovny adds gravitas and acute intensity as Timmy’s exasperated dad. Pam Grier and Henry Thomas also shine among the old guard of the film, with solid performances that further legitimize the movie’s cred. As Jud, Jackson White leads the cast of young talent. His sincere, wide-eyed discovery of the evil lurking nearby carries the film through the head-scratching moments. 

Still, one would think that such a sinister history would’ve been part of the local lore growing up in the town. Furthermore, does Jud’s experience as a young man make his actions in the book and first film adaptation even more questionable? No doubt, diehard fans of the original story will be ready with commentary on the merits and misses of Ludlow and Jud’s backstory. Ultimately, for better or worse, Pet Sematary: Bloodlines leaves more questions than it answers.

Pet Sematary: Bloodlines Premieres October 6, 2023 Exclusively on Paramount+

Stay tuned for more coverage from Fantastic Fest 2023.

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