Starting around this time every year, the massive genre film festival known as Fantasia begins extolling numerous efforts from the rest of the world to offer not only for fans in the US and Canada but the rest of the world as well, being the home to numerous premieres for countless films over the course of their two-decade-plus existence. While it seemed likely to be another in the list of casualties sure to the worldwide pandemic at large, the decision was made to host an online version of the festival this time around in order to keep the fest going.
With that said, we've been awarded the privilege of covering the festival remotely during these times, and will now provide you all with ten films we believe will be standouts at the 2020 edition of the festival. We hope to cover them for you all and hope to see how close we came to our predictions on this article. Also note, these are not in any order and simply taken in the announcement order from the releases Fantasia has made, that is all.
The Curse of Aubrey Earnshaw
A mother and daughter are suspected of witchcraft by their devout rural community in Canadian filmmaker Thomas Robert Lee’s freakishly nightmarish THE CURSE OF AUDREY EARNSHAW. One of the most unsettling and surprising occult horror films since HEREDITARY, this haunting tale is steeped in folklore and brimming with imagery that will besiege your subconscious. It stars Catherine Walker (A DARK SONG), Jared Abrahamson (HELLO DESTROYER), Hannah Emily Anderson (WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE), Don McKellar (LAST NIGHT), and Sean McGinley (BRAVEHEART), and is co-produced by MY BLOODY VALENTINE director George Mihalka.
Kriya
In New Delhi filmmaker Sidharth Srinivasan’s first horror work - and first narrative feature in a decade, following SOUL OF SAND - a DJ encounters a beautiful woman at a club, goes back to her home, and finds himself thrust into a nightmare odyssey of ritual magic, patriarchal death customs, and family conflict most unusual. Transgressive, darkly humorous, and mystically atmospheric, KRIYA is a fever dream of fear starring Navjot Randhawa (MEHSAMPUR), Noble Luke, and Avantika Akerkar (THE SECOND BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL), is co-produced by Andy Starke (IN FABRIC) and Pete Tombs (FREE FIRE), and features an unforgettable score by Jim Williams (POSSESSOR).
THE UNDERTAKER’S HOME (La Funeraria)
Bernardo is an undertaker. He runs his mortuary business in the same house where he resides. In the front, he has his clients. And in the back, his dysfunctional family lives amongst coffins, wreaths, and the mischievous but nonviolent ghosts that visit on a daily basis. But when a malevolent entity enters the scene, it wreaks havoc on the already fractured household in Argentinean writer/director Mauro Iván Ojeda’s chilling first feature. THE UNDERTAKER’S HOME (La Funeraria) stars Luís Machín (MONTECRISTO), Celeste Gerez (DESTINO ANUNCIADO), and Camila Vaccarini (PAISAJE).
The Dark and the Wicked
Writer/director Bryan Bertino (THE STRANGERS) takes rural terror up another notch in this incredibly scary shocker, previously slated to launch at the Tribeca Film Festival. On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the household. THE DARK AND THE WICKED stars Marin Ireland (Sneaky Pete), Michael Abbott Jr. and an uber-creepy Xander Berkeley (CANDYMAN, The Walking Dead).
Detention
In 1962, Taiwan is in the grip of Martial Law, a period known as the “White Terror”. Fang, a high schooler, falls in love with Zhang, a counseling teacher who introduces her to the books banned by the regime. However, when he disappears, she finds the school gradually slipping into a terrifying realm of ghosts and spirits... Adapted from the popular video game of the same name, John Hsu's feature film debut, DETENTION, is a powerful, allegorical film about the horrors of repression and authoritarianism. A hit on the festival circuit (Busan, Rotterdam, Fantasporto), the film was nominated for twelve prizes at the 56th Golden Horse Awards, where it won five, including Best New Director.
Slaxx
A possessed pair of jeans comes to life and terrorizes the staff of a trendy, vapid clothing boutique in SLAXX, the third feature from Montreal filmmaker Elza Kephart (GRAVEYARD ALIVE, GO IN THE UNIVERSE). Shipped to the company's flagship store, Slaxx proceeds to wreak havoc on the staff, locked in overnight to set up the new collection. The horror-comedy boasts an impressive cast, including Romane Denis (CHARLOTTE HAS FUN), Sehar Bhojani (The Handmaid's Tale), Brett Donahue (RADIUS), and Kenny Wong (Transplant).
For the Sake of Vicious
An innocent nurse, a tortured maniac, and a suspicious hostage face off against a wave of violent intruders on Halloween night in the Canadian nail-biter FOR THE SAKE OF VICIOUS, starring Lora Burke (LIFECHANGER), Colin Paradine (KINGDOM COME), and Nick Smyth (COVENANT). Filmmakers Gabriel Carrer (THE DEMOLISHER) and Reese Eveneshen (DEFECTIVE) have combined their directorial prowess to create this blissfully brutal powerhouse, shot in only fifteen days, loaded with practical FX and featuring rousing stunts performed by the actors themselves.
Sanzaru
Evelyn, a young Filipina nurse (Aina Dumlao) lives on a remote estate while taking care of the aging matriarch of a Texas family. As the latter slips deeper into dementia and the relationship of care turns abusive, Evelyn begins to sense something ominous lurking behind the house’s walls. Is she imagining or projecting something? A chilling tale of the American Gothic – as much about death and unspeakable familial secrets as it is about displaced workers and inequality – Xia Magnus’ striking debut SANZARU is a tense, resonant and elegantly-directed piece of horror filmmaking.
Anything for Jackson
Canadian genre royalty Sheila McCarthy and Julian Richings star in Ontario filmmaker Justin G. Dyck’s ANYTHING FOR JACKSON, a clever, funny, and delightfully mean-spirited horror tale of elderly Satanists carried way over their heads in the name of love. Keith Cooper's screenplay constantly surprises, by turning funny, nasty, and progressively more intense as it moves along, but it's the pairing of McCarthy and Richings that makes JACKSON so special.
The Mortuary Collection
A stylish, colourful and ghoulishly fun horror anthology in the vein of ‘70s Amicus Productions, THE MORTUARY COLLECTION stars the great Clancy Brown as a sinister mortician, chronicling the strange history of his town through a series of morbid tales. Born at the 2013 Frontières market and completed last year, THE MORTUARY COLLECTION has been tearing up the festival circuit, playing everywhere from FrightFest and Fantastic Fest to Maskoon, Haapsalu, and Lund.
This is only a small part of the awesome collection of films scheduled for this year's years edition. Keep checking regularly for these and many more films to be covered for the Fantasia Festival.
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