Our festival roundup dives into the weird and wonderful highlights from Fantasia, BUFF, and SXSW — from the bonkers to the bloody fun.
From blood-slick alleyways to philosophical cults and killer clowns, this year’s festival season delivered an electrifying mix of chaos, creativity, and cinematic audacity. In this episode, we’re digging into the wildest corners of Fantasia, BUFF, and SXSW — three fests that continue to prove horror is the most daring and diverse genre on the planet. Expect psychosexual fever dreams, nostalgic documentaries, and more blood-spattered fun than you can shake a chainsaw at. Whether you’re here for the arthouse weirdness, the darkly comedic sleaze, or the straight-up slasher mayhem, we’ve got you covered.
Fantasia
One of the wildest films we have ever covered on our humble little podcast is All Jacked Up and Full of Worms. We weren’t exactly sure what to think once it was over, but we knew we liked it. We also could not wait to see what writer-director Alex Phillips was going to do next.
Anything That Moves is a psychosexual dark comedy about a bike courier sex worker who is living his best life until a serial killer begins killing the people he loves. It sounds straightforward, but it is a bonkers all-over-the-place experience. It is a stylish watch that will definitely not be for everyone.
Our feature presentation has a great setup. Lena wakes up in a moving trailer. She has no idea how she got there or where she is going. A voice comes over a speaker and lets her know that she has been infected and they are taking her to get cured. It starts with a sense of mystery.
Like sports, movies are not about how you start, but how you finish. Unfortunately, Hellcat is unable to capitalize on this premise. There is too much going on, but somehow the movie still has nothing to say. The twists are nonsensical, and the characters are not as compelling as they need to be. And that ending…
Boston Underground Film Festival
Though we do not have the opportunity to cover them as much as we would like to, we enjoy short films. In this episode, we get to talk about three shorts from the Boston Underground Festival. A gory anthology, the truth about banjo strings, and a really cool stop motion flick all caught our attention.
Another movie from BUFF that interested us was Chain Reactions. That it was about The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was cool enough. Chainsaw is one of the most important horror movies of all time and has a special place in our childhoods. That Stephen King is also prominently featured made it impossible for us to ignore.
Alexandre O. Phillipe is a great filmmaker who has made tremendous documentaries about David Lynch, Alien, and The Exorcist. His signature style is on full display here as Chain Reactions is a perfect mix of nostalgia, theory, and opinion on Tobe Hooper’s classic. It is a must-watch.
It has literally been years since we reviewed a documentary about a cult. So, we were very excited to watch AUM: The Cult at the End of the World. We knew it would be interesting, but we had no idea what to expect. One of us was so dumbfounded by what they saw that they could only use one word to describe it.
Aum is unlike any other cult. (Somehow, it is still in existence – kinda.) At its peak, it could legitimately claim worldwide membership that was in the tens of thousands. They existed in full view of the public. Worst of all, they had a relationship with the media that can only be described as friendly. It is a truly wild documentary.
SXSW
Over the years, we have had the chance to cover some great stuff from SXSW. Just last year, Dead Mail ended up being one of our picks for our favorite movies of 2024. So it should come as no surprise that we were really looking forward to what the fest had to offer this year. And we got two good ones.
Redux Redux is a revenge tale that takes place throughout the parallel universes. It sounds kinda goofy, but it works thanks to a grounded approach that avoids going too deep into the science fiction aspects. The character-driven approach focuses pretty much exclusively on its two protagonists – for better and for worse.
You never realize how poorly teenagers are written in movies until you see someone do a great job of it. Clown in the Cornfield has some of the best teenagers seen in movies in years. Thanks to a combination of great writing and strong performances, everything just seems natural. And even in the best movies surrounding younger characters, this is not always the case.
The cast of Clown in the Cornfield stand out without overshadowing its story. But it is not the only thing the film has going for it. The plot is as wacky as the title suggests. There are over-the-top kills, lots of blood, and of course, a killer clown. Its predictability is part of its charm, and it is an all-around fun slasher.
ABOUT THIS PODCAST:
Every week AIPT Movie Editor Nathaniel Muir and his cinema partner in crime Blake Heath discuss indie and genre movies you have have never heard of, the ones you cannot hear enough about, and the ones you never want to hear about again.
Episode 370: Mid year recap
Time moves more quickly now than it ever has. It was not that long ago that we were talking about a new show executive produced by the Duffer brothers. About a month later, it is one and done. As someone once reminded us, we are just two guys who watch movies. Production budgets and domestic grosses are only a passing interest to us. Still, there are some things that catch our attention. Were we right to say that Michael would get to $1 billion? And what does the future hold for Obsession?
There was a major change to our humble little podcast this year. We decided it would be in our best interests to be a little more focused. To that end, we went to just covering one movie each show. Despite this, we still managed to cover twenty-three movies over seventeen episodes. And twenty of them were released in 2026.
So, what do we have to talk about? And will we get as worked up as we did last week? The horrors of high school, zombies, musicals, buff nuns, and grindhouse adjacent fun. It may not all have been good, but everything left some sort of impression on us.
Adventures in Movies! is a part of the Morbidly Beautiful Podcast Network. Morbidly Beautiful is your one stop shop for all your horror needs. From the latest news and reviews to interviews and old favorites, it can be found at Morbidly Beautiful.
Adventures in Movies! is hosted by Nathaniel and Blake. You can find Nathaniel on Instagram at nathaninpoortaste. Blake can be found on Twitter @foureyedhorror and on Instagram at foureyedhorror. You can reach us personally or on Twitter @AdventuresinMo1.
Music in the background from https://www.FesliyanStudios.com
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Adventures in Movies! is hosted by Nathaniel and Blake. You can find Nathaniel on Instagram at nathaninpoortaste. Blake can be found on Twitter @foureyedhorror and on Instagram at foureyedhorror.
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