LUCIDMEDIA

Fantasia Reviews – Canadian Films and Shorts

Written by Adam A. Donaldson Monday, 20 July 2009 15:46

We’re kicking off a week of coverage of Montreal’s Fantasia Film Festival, the annual celebration of all things horror, sci-fi and fantasy, on Lucid Forge. Amongst our coverage will be reviews of several film selections that played last weekend, as well a couple of interviews with visiting filmmakers. Today we look at a couple of the Canadian offerings at this year’s Fantasia as well as some of the shorts programmed.

Smash Cut
Canadian filmmaker Lee Demarbre and the style of 60s splatter master H.G. Lewis seem made for each other, and truly are as witnessed with Smash Cut, the latest film from the maker of Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter, which received its world premiere at Fantasia. Call it a Splatter satire, or if you like, a Splattire. The indomitable David Hess plays schlock master Able Whitman, a man desperate for a hit, but even more desperate to take the people that denounce or hinder his work to task. He jokingly tells his scriptwriter to think up ideas for a film about a revenge seeking director and then takes those notes and goes about his fiendish business.

Hess is larger than life playing Whitman showing a zeal and playfulness that’s befitting a man living, on film anyway, what’s probably many a director’s revenge fantasy. The cast is rounded out by adult film actress Sasha Grey, who shows some genuine acting skill playing Whitman’s star who’s really undercover helping the cops, and Hess’ The Hills Have Eyes co-star Micahel Berryman, “hidden” under a bad wig, as an eager studio executive. (Demarbre joked in the Q&A that it was a film of opposites: Sasha Grey keeps her clothes on and Michael Berryman has hair.)

I admire Demarbre’s skill mixing comedy and gore effects and he certainly doesn’t allow the audience a chance to grasp the absurdity of the on screen antics and simply keeps them asking for more, more and more. What’s more absurd is that the action takes place on the brazenly apparent streets of Ottawa Ontario. It’s struck of late that a lot of really great horror comes out of Canada for some reason, and Smash Cut proves that it’s a go-for-broke attitude and an inclination to experiment and reach further back than the 80s for inspiration (rather than material) that keeps this country’s genre offerings fresh. And Demarbre is certainly at the forefront of that.

Yesterday

Hands down, Yesterday is the best amateur zombie movie I have ever seen, and I have seen (and participated in) more than my fair share. More of an ensemble character comedy with horror elements than an out and out zombiepocalyse thriller, Yesterday has the drive, exuberance and creativity to accomplish a goal of making a really fun movie that the audience can cheer along to. Rob Grant may be a first-time filmmaker, but with a go for broke, anything-for-the-scene attitude rarely seen outside of the early work of Robert Rodriguez, Yesterday shows again that independent doesn’t mean that quality comes second.

Boasting a well-written script and featuring a dedicated cast with real chemistry, Yesterday makes you a believer rather quickly. As society fall apart is the wake of a possibly flu born virus that turns people into the walking dead, a group of desperate survivors somehow come together to escape the city and head for the hills, but is the greater danger from the outside force of the zombies or the distrust within their own midst? Director Rob Grant balances the elements well, crafting a bizarre three-way homage to the George Romero Living Dead movies, Sergio Leone westerns and the 70s disaster pictures of Irwin Allen.

The cast gets high marks also for really selling the audience on the story. Mike Kovac stands out as the “cowboy,” Mike, a competitive shooter that finds new purpose when the deadites start massing. Justin Sproule is also excellent as Rob, a petty crook that sees the end of the world as the ultimate cash-in opportunity. Combined that with some surprisingly grandiose stunt work for a film that cost on the really low end of five-figures and you’ve got a work that shows how far a little money and a lot of creativity can go. On its cinematic genetics, does Yesterday really stand out? No, it’s a low budget zombie movie like any other. But is it enjoyable? Thanks to Grant and crew’s attention to detail, absolutely, 100 per cent yes! I can say with a great deal of confidence that there weren’t many that walk away from the theatre less than pleased with what they saw.

The Long Night

The vampires have been making a comeback on film lately, and The Long Night kind of reflects that although it can almost be called the “vampire suicide” film. A nearly 500-year-old vampire waits for the sunrise in a diner’s booth where there’s an easterly view. When violence erupts as a gun-wielding maniac enters the diner, the vampire is given one last chance to see that life’s worthwhile. Laid back, a little odd, and typically English, The Long Night strives to be a thinking man’s vampire story, and it more or less succeeds.

Survivors
Anyone can do rampaging zombie hordes in their indie film, all they have to do is get enough friends and a tonne of white cake layered make-up. Going deeper, the 12-minute Survivors focuses on how an act of kindness can lead to unexpected connections even as the world falls down around you. Actors Amit A. Patelare and Jamie Teer are raw but passionate in there role as a woman running looking for shelter and the man who at first was unwilling to provide it. The two believably play that they do indeed have this unexpected connection and that for a brief moment, despite the craziness around them, that they too can find happiness. The lesson of this short is that humanity is worth the risk, either that or always check for leg wounds.

The Adventures of Ledo and Ix

This is a wondrous gift of an animated short that is both existential and funny as all get out while being in and out in four minutes. On a Final Fantasy like quest (and animated as if it were the 8-bit version of such), the adventuring duo Ledo and Ix discuss the reasons why they’re on a quest, what they’d be doing if not on a quest and how many points they think they have. Bizarrely playing like a Seinfeld ­ ish love letter to gamers, Ledo and Ix was a sweet treat, and clearly made for an this audience at Fantasia.