The first wave of films out of this year’s Fantasia International Film Festival has just dropped, and it’s already a mind-blowing lineup.
The extraordinary Fantasia International Film Festival will celebrate its upcoming 28th edition with an electrifying program of screenings, workshops, and launch events running from July 18 through August 4, 2024, returning yet again at the Concordia Hall and J.A. de Sève cinemas, with additional screens and events at Montreal’s Cinémathèque québécoise and Cinéma du Musée.
The festival’s full lineup will be announced on July 3. However, the recently announced first wave of premiere titles already has us buzzing with anticipation — not to mention that sexy-as-hell poster art courtesy of the wickedly talented Montreal visual artist Donald Caron. One thing Fantasia always nails, besides its killer programming, is the aesthetics.
Witchboard
Headlining this year’s festival is one of our most anticipated upcoming horror films from iconic 80s horror legend Chuck Russell (A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, The Blob), the World Premiere of the Witchboard remake. I have such a soft spot for Kevin S. Tenney’s 1986 Canadian cult favorite, and I’m excited to see what Russell does with this modern reimagining. It also stars the great Jamie Campbell Bower (Sweeney Todd, Stranger Things), which only heightens my excitement.
Fantasia is also bringing the visionary Estonia-based iconoclast Miguel Llansó back to Montreal for the World Premiere of what may be his most compelling creation yet: Infinite Summer, a trippy transhumanist sci-fi exploration vibrant with humor, poignancy, and gonzo invention.
Need more to get pumped for? How about a masterfully crafted single-location thriller from two award-winning Fantasia legends? Director Nobuhiro Yamashita (LA LA LA AT ROCK BOTTOM) and actor/writer/director Yang Ik-june (BREATHLESS), along with superstar Toma Ikuta (THE MOLE SONG trilogy), team up to adapt a beloved manga into a narrative and technical achievement. Confession is already being hailed as a masterpiece, and it makes its North American Premiere at Fantasia.
Rita
What about a film guaranteed to haunt your memory and break your heart? Fantasia’s got that, too! Following up on the international success of his brilliant La Llorona (2019), director Jayro Bustamante’s Rita fuses mythical fantasy and whimsical imagery with themes of childhood innocence and the potent emotional register of a story based on a harrowing real-life event, wherein 41 young women needlessly burned to death inside a Guatemalan orphanage in the midst of a protest about inhumane conditions.
Next up is This Man, from Tomojiron Amano (Trapped in Makyo), an edge-of-your-seat thriller that blends Western inspirations with J-Horror tropes in a perfect melting pot of terror. In this film, an urban legend seems to come true when an inexplicable wave of tragic deaths plunges two investigators into the heart of a fateful whirlwind.
After his success with the Wolf Cop films, Canadian filmmaker Lowell Dean returns with a treat for horror fans. Set in the wrestling heyday of the 80s, Dark Match is an action-packed rumble on the ropes starring wrestling legend Chris Jericho as the charismatic leader of its bloodthirsty cult. The film is making its World Premiere at Fantasia.
Making its International Premiere is the latest from award-winning writer-director Junichi Yasuda (Gohan), A Samurai in Time, a thrilling fantasy adventure and homage to samurai cinema.
The Dead Thing
Another highly anticipated World Premiere is The Dead Thing from podcast legend Elric Kane, making his first solo-directed feature. This character-driven supernatural nightmare explores the demons of modern dating in ways that are both horrific and disturbingly relatable.
I love a good genre mashup and am a huge fan of Korean director Hwang Wook (Live Hard, Dog Eat Dog), so I’m especially excited for his latest, Mash Ville. This World Premiere mixes the Western, action, and comedy genres in a wildly fun and wonderfully absurd way with tons of pitch-black humor.
Making its North American Premiere is a subversive new vision from Cannes-award-winning Argentinian filmmaker and novelist Lucía Puenzo (The Fish Child, XXY). Fantasia describes Electrophilia as reminiscent of Crash-era Cronenberg (yes, please!) — a gripping, sensorial experience with a visceral emotional core. In the film, a woman wakes up from a coma six weeks after being struck by lightning and finds herself compulsively drawn to electric currents as her body’s workings begin to change.
Also making its North American Premiere is a morally challenging tale of revenge from writer-director Shinji Araki: Penalty Loop. This time-loop film promises to offer an innovative variation on the subgenre with unpredictable twists and a shocking narrative that’s as satisfying as it is devastating.
Hell Hole
Our favorite highly prolific filmmaking family is back with the World Premiere of their latest film. Following on the heels of their excellent Where the Devil Roams (now on Shudder), the Adams Family (John and Lulu Adams, Toby Poser) returns with Hell Hole, an indie rock-n-roll monster movie set at a far-away fracking site. Absurd, mutinous, and transgressively comical, Hell Hole is old-school sci-fi horror, yet in typical family fashion, they subvert the genre with textures of biological and environmental horror in tandem with questions of gender and bodily autonomy.
Mumbai-based editor and filmmaker Pratul Gaikwad offers an odd, otherworldly mutation on the much-loved mystery-comedy genre with Dead Dead Full Dead. Featuring paranormal powers and multiple manias, cosmic wonders and covert class warfare, celestial bureaucracy, dysfunctional love, and even a supernaturally transformed goat, Gaikwad’s surreal whodunit offers a bit of everything — making its World Premiere at Fantasia.
From the moment they exploded out of Jonquière in the early ‘80s, Voivod has been widely hailed as one of the world’s most original and influential metal bands. Years in the making and produced with full access to the band’s archives, Felipe Belalcazar’s illuminating Voivod: We Are Connected brings the story of a groundbreaking 40+ year career to the screen with energy, insight, and a palpable sense of love.
Shelby Oaks
Another film we’ve been anxiously awaiting will world premiere at the festival, popular YouTube creator Chris Stuckmann’s Shelby Oaks. After a successful Kickstarter campaign that broke records, Stuckman’s film (impressively executive produced by Mike Flanagan) follows a woman desperately searching for her long-lost sister and a famous YouTuber paranormal investigator crossing paths with a dangerous demon.
After stealing hearts at Fantasia 2019, where Fly Me to the Saitama won the Audience Award for Best Asian Feature, director Hideki Takeuchi returns to a fantastical version of Japan—with a completely original story independent from the ’80s manga from which it takes its name. In the sequel, From Biwa Lake With Love, Japanese music superstar Gackt and co-star Fumi Nikaido are back as Rei and Momomi, now supported by an equally delightful cast of new characters as they crank up the genre-bending, highly stylized shenanigans that made the first film so unforgettable.
Last but definitely not least is a film I was lucky enough to catch at its SXSW World Premiere, and it’s fantastic. Annick Blanc’s highly anticipated debut feature Hunting Daze takes us on a wild trip, following a young woman’s journey as she takes refuge with a rowdy group of men after being stranded in a northern forest. The film plays like a drunken fever dream, exposing a microcosm of masculinity in which one’s desire to belong threatens to upend the group.
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A second wave of Fantasia 2024 titles will be announced in early June, and the festival’s full lineup will be revealed in early July. Ticket sales will commence shortly afterward. Stay tuned!
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