Eli and Brendan are very excited about Fantasia International Film Festival’s lineup this year! The independent genre film festival has been haunting Montreal’s Concordia University halls for 28 years, and this year’s program includes over 125 feature films (and over 200 shorts). After much deliberation, we’ve highlighted ten feature films that we’re looking forward to seeing.

Eli’s Most Anticipated Films for Fantasia Fest

4PM

Opening night at Fantasia always has a unique kind of excitement, and I’m pumped to start the festival with an eerie, suspense-filled mystery. Writer Kim Hae-gon adapted Amélie Nothomb’s novel The Stranger Next Door into this South Korean thriller directed by Jay Song. The story focuses on a couple in a new home who become increasingly uncomfortable when a stranger insists on visiting their home every day from 4 to 6 pm. “The cast is incredible,” says Fantasia programmer Steven Lee, “especially the two lead actors Oh Dal-soo (OLDBOY) and Jang Young-nam (PROJECT WOLF HUNTING), who keep the audience invested in the unfortunate situation they’re dealing with.” I love going into thrillers blind, and I hope this one leaves me shaking!

Rita

Writer-director Jayro Bustamante’s follow-up film to his haunting 2019 La Llorona is a must-see on my list. Bustamante is very comfortable weaving Guatemalan history into his moody, supernatural tales, and in Rita, he focuses on a young girl in custody at an orphanage. While pulling from real life atrocities, the girls in Bustamante’s story rally together around a prophecy about a warrior angel. Bustamante himself plans to attend the festival for Rita’s world premiere on July 25th, which will make this screening extra special. I’m excited to see his dreamy, ominous aesthetic applied to this particular story about female anger, innocence, and community. 

Hell Hole

Films by The Adams family (The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams) are always a fantastic experience at Fantasia, and so their latest film, Hell Hole, is a must-see on my list. Shot in Serbia, they weave a tale about an unfortunate fracking crew who awaken a dangerous creature. Fantasia programmer Mitch Davis promises this new feature will “rattle your womb” with its themes of “biological and environmental horror, alongside a potent addressing of gender and bodily autonomy”. The Adams family consistently turns out creative, micro-budget gems that truly push the limits of filmmaking and storytelling, and are essential viewing for any horror enthusiast. 

VOÏVOD: We Are Connected

Metal, punk, and rock music are staples at Fantasia screenings, and so this new documentary about the legendary Québec metal band VOÏVOD is a perfect fit for this year’s program. The film promises to explore the band’s 40+ years as a part of the international metal scene, and includes interviews with many many musicians, including Tobias Forge (Ghost), Mikael Akerfeldt (Opeth), Jason Newsted (Metallica), Zach Blair (Rise Against, GWAR). Writer/Director Felipe Belalcazar promises to be in attendance at the world premiere on July 29th alongside several members of the band. Aside from the always fascinating oral history about a beloved music genre, I’m hoping that the documentary’s score melts my brain in the best possible way.

Oddity

I cannot resist a spooky movie about the occult, and so of course I will be going to see Oddity, the latest horror film from Irish writer/director Damian McCarthy (Caveat). Constructed like a puzzle, the story centers around the strange death of the protagonist’s twin sister. The protagonist, Darcy, is a blind medium who collects strange, antique items, and happenstance sets her on a path to untangle the mystery at the heart of her sister’s death. Oddity has earned a lot of praise while making the festival rounds across the US, and even picked up the Midnighter Audience Award at this year’s SXSW. Fantasia promises that the film “conjures a bona fide symphony of dread”, and honestly, who could ask for anything more!

Brendan’s Most Anticipated Films for Fantasia Fest

Shelby Oaks

A woman’s desperate search for her long-lost sister, a famous YouTuber who investigated paranormal happenings, falls into obsession upon realizing that the imaginary demon from their childhood may have been real. After a successful Kickstarter campaign that broke records across the platform, the highly anticipated debut feature from YouTube creator Chris Stuckmann is finally here and ready to scare the pants off the world. Shelby Oaks delivers in all departments. Starring Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter), Brendan Sexton III (Don’t Breathe 2), Sarah Durn (Renfield), Keith David (The Thing, Nope), and Michael Beach (Aquaman). Produced by Aaron B. Koontz, Cameron Burns, and Ashleigh Snead, and Executive Produced by Mike Flanagan and Trevor Macy, among others.

I’ve been following the production of this film for quite some time. As a fan of Chris Stuckman’s YouTube channel, I was just happy to support a genre creator. Stuckman has long exalted his love for all things horror, so Shelby Oaks seemed like the next best step for his career. With Paper Street Pictures and Mike Flanagan on board and a record-breaking Kickstarter campaign, Shelby Oaks looks to be a genre film for the ages. 

The Soul Eater

Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo, the acclaimed filmmaking team behind Inside, Livid, and The Deep House, have adopted the popular French novel by Alexis Laipsker to create a fresh turn in their distinctive filmography. A morbid procedural thriller with extreme horror flashpoints, The Soul Eater turned heads when it premiered at the Rotterdam International Film Festival earlier this year. As violent and gruesome deaths plague a small mountain village, an old legend about a malevolent creature resurfaces. Two cops are compelled to join forces and uncover a sinister plot involving the disappearance of local children. Starring Virginie Ledoyen (8 Femmes), Paul Hamy (Despite the Night), and Sandrine Bonnaire (Vagabond).

Hearing that the team behind Inside, one of the most impressive and grotesque entries in New French Extremity, had a new film coming out AND was having its North American premiere at Fantasia Fest was a dream come true. Maury and Bustillo have had one hell of an impressive career. If you’re not sold on the creators of Inside coming out with a new film described as one with ‘extreme horror flashpoints’ then what would sell you on anything?

From My Cold Dead Hands

It’s no surprise that you can find all kinds of bizarre things on YouTube, from conspiracy nuts to pet videos and videos of people generally acting stupid. Still, gun videos seem to hold a very special place in the internet pantheon. Everything from stunt challenges, gun tutorials, and product reviews to second-amendment rants and lots and lots of enthusiasts showing off, so if you want to watch gun videos, you’ll be set for a long time. And let’s be honest with ourselves, you may never want to touch a gun in your life, but there’s definitely a bizarre fascination with this culture, and guns themselves have been a staple of cinema since the days of The Great Train Robbery. Hell, films with massive amounts of gun violence have screened throughout the history of Fantasia, so we’re just as fascinated with this stuff as most others are.

Gun culture is a weird thing, especially in a country where toddlers shoot adults every week for two years straight. Seemingly, From My Cold Dead Hands takes a documentary angle to make Americans take a cold hard look at our bizarre obsession. I usually avoid documentaries, but something about From My Cold Dead Hands resonates with this former Central Pennsylvania resident. 

Rats!

“Did somebody say world-motherfucking-peace?” The year is 2007, and after being arrested for vandalizing Fresno’s finest public telephone, teenage delinquent in the making Raphael (Luke Wilcox) is let off the hook with only 50 days of community service. However, the catch is that he must move in with his drug-dealing cousin (Darius Autry), who is accused of selling WMDs to [name redacted] by Officer Williams (Danielle Evon Ploeger, Country Gold), a delusional, unhinged, low-level police officer with a grudge. Unfortunately for Raphael, who would much rather listen to screamo and spend time with the new cool emo girl (Khali Sykes), he finds himself entangled with an FBI sting operation, a suicide, Steve Irwin, and the kitchen sink!

Simply put, Rats! Sounds like a blast and a half. I don’t think I have been more down for a good time than I have until I read the description for Rats!. 

Vulcanizadora 

Vulcanizadora follows Derek (Joel Potrykus, director of Relaxer and The Alchemist Cookbook), a father who would rather take a bottle rocket to the face than confront his failures, and Marty (Joshua Burge, Relaxer, Ape), an arsonist who is leading the charge on the sprint toward hellfire and away from his juvenile transgressions. These best friends embark on a seemingly innocent camping trip through the Michigan woods, but their disturbing pact becomes increasingly clear as they approach the X on the map!

Joel Potrykus is one of the most interesting genre filmmakers of our time. Potrykus’s oddball approach to filmmaking and storytelling is unparalleled. Finding a filmmaker who constantly tops their own methods of madness is rare; a needle in a haystack. I appreciate fests like Fantasia for continually giving filmmakers like Potrykus a screen and an audience to shine their unique visions all over. 

Tell us what we missed! What films are you excited for us to cover?

And most importantly, if you’re in Canada, get your tickets here!