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[REVIEW] Fantastic Fest 2024: ‘Dead Talents Society’ Leans Into Horror Tropes to Create Something Wholly Unique and Surprisingly Wholesome

Gingle Wang stars as The Rookie, who is on the fast track to oblivion after her family inadvertently throws away a key artifact from her life. In order to be seen by the living and earn her keep in the afterlife, she has to audition for a “haunter’s license” — an audition that she bombs spectacularly. You see, The Rookie didn’t die in a way that would lend itself easily to urban legend, and she’s so shy and hesitant that life passed her by even when she was alive. Luckily, she’s taken on as an assistant to fading diva Catharine (Sandrine Pinna), once an icon of the industry, now wilting in the shadow of her more famous protege, Jessica (Eleven Yao).

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Supernatural horror films tend to share one core element in common: what’s buried won’t stay buried. Taiwanese horror-comedy Dead Talents Society takes this in an absurd — and absurdly brilliant — new direction, presenting us with a world where the dead compete to become (and stay) urban legends to avoid disappearing.

Gingle Wang stars as The Rookie, who is on the fast track to oblivion after her family inadvertently throws away a key artifact from her life. In order to be seen by the living and earn her keep in the afterlife, she has to audition for a “haunter’s license” — an audition that she bombs spectacularly. You see, The Rookie didn’t die in a way that would lend itself easily to urban legend, and she’s so shy and hesitant that life passed her by even when she was alive. Luckily, she’s taken on as an assistant to fading diva Catharine (Sandrine Pinna), once an icon of the industry, now wilting in the shadow of her more famous protege, Jessica (Eleven Yao).

This apprenticeship gives director John Hsu, who co-wrote the script with Kun-Lin Tsai, the opportunity to pay loving homage to all the great horror that East Asian cinema has produced over the past few decades. References to The Ring, The Grudge, and even Perfect Blue are woven throughout the various urban legends, always with a cheeky wink to the audience. There are shades of Beetlejuice here too, though never to a point that feels derivative. Where Burton presented the afterlife as one of boredom and drudgery, albeit through a cartoonish filter, Hsu’s version of the eternal waiting room is glossy and frenetic, with the dead as obsessed with the allure of celebrity as we are.

A lesser film might take the easy path of simply critiquing celebrity culture, but Dead Talents Society merely uses this critique as a springboard for a deeper commentary about the crushing weight of expectations. This is something that every one of us can relate to on some level, and Hsu ensures that The Rookie’s deep-felt hurt over being overlooked and her consequent feelings of worthlessness remain the beating heart of the film, even amidst all the zany ghost antics.

And Dead Talents Society is certainly zany, juxtaposing slapstick shocks like The Rookie’s fumbling attempts to become an urban legend with more traditional scare scenes like Catharine’s award-winning hotel haunt. The script knows when to go full tilt and when to pause for breath, and while it favors the former to great effect, it’s those quieter character moments that will haunt you long after the final fright is through.

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Dead Talents Society made its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest 2024, where it won Best Director and the Audience Award.

Samantha McLaren is a queer Scottish writer, artist, and horror fanatic living in NYC. Her writing has appeared in publications like Fangoria, Scream the Horror Magazine, and Bloody Disgusting, as well as on her own blog, Terror in Tartan. If she's not talking about Bryan Fuller's Hannibal or Peter Cushing, she's probably asleep.

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[REVIEW] The Unconventional Extremity of ‘Demonlover’ (2002)

Demonlover (2002) follows a French-based company, Volf Corporation, which is in the process of acquiring a Japanese animation studio. Diane (Connie Nielsen) is leading the acquisition after successful corporate espionage takes her boss Karen (Dominique Reymond) out of commission. Karen’s assistant, Elise Lipsky (Chloë Sevigny), vows to make sure Diane doesn’t have an easy go with any of this. Once Volf Corporation takes control of the Japanese anime studio, they try to set up a deal with an American distribution company called Demonlover, which is run by Elise Si Gibril (Gina Gershon). It soon comes to light that Demonlover is nothing more than a front for an extreme interactive torture website called the Hellfire Club.

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As a horror-centric publication, how do you follow up the month of October? It’s our Super Bowl, our Grand Prix! Curator of all things Horror Press, James-Micael Fleites had the best possible idea for the month of November: New French Extremity. New French Extremity has a few films that always come to mind when discussed with films like Martyrs, Frontier(s), and Haute Tension. But many great New French Extremity films don’t get the recognition they deserve–and the ones that don’t deserve it still need to be discussed.

The first one I think is necessary to discuss is one that teeters on the idea of horror: Demonlover.

Demonlover (2002) follows a French-based company, Volf Corporation, which is in the process of acquiring a Japanese animation studio. Diane (Connie Nielsen) is leading the acquisition after successful corporate espionage takes her boss Karen (Dominique Reymond) out of commission. Karen’s assistant, Elise Lipsky (Chloë Sevigny), vows to make sure Diane doesn’t have an easy go with any of this. Once Volf Corporation takes control of the Japanese anime studio, they try to set up a deal with an American distribution company called Demonlover, which is run by Elise Si Gibril (Gina Gershon). It soon comes to light that Demonlover is nothing more than a front for an extreme interactive torture website called the Hellfire Club. (If you thought reading that was tedious, you can only imagine how long it took me to write that.)

Let’s get the two positives out of the way first. At its soul, Demonlover tries to exist as a commentary on our extreme desensitization of violence in the modern age. Much of this desensitization started in the late ’60s when the Vietnam War was televised into people’s homes and furthered by Ted Turner’s obsession with money and the creation of the 24-hour news cycle. That was all the catalyst. When Al Gore invented the internet, that’s a joke, we had no clue just how awful the outcome would be. Demonlover’s commentary on violence in consumed media is important, but that’s really all it has going for it. Is that one piece of commentary worth an over two-hour-long student film? (More on that later.) There’s also the commentary on corporate espionage, but it falls flat compared to the rest of the film’s commentary.

The second, and final, positive aspect of Demonlover is the acting and specifically Connie Nielsen, Chloë Sevigny, and Gina Gershon. Simply put, they are bad bitches and I love them. The ‘extremity’ of this film (I watched the unrated director’s cut) wasn’t really anything to write home about, leaving the majority of carrying to these three women. It’s hard to say I didn’t like this film when the performances were as powerful as theirs were.

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And that’s it. The film as a whole feels like a first-draft freshman film school drivel. It’s unfocused when it needs to be focused and focused when it doesn’t. The only other film I’ve seen by writer/director Olivier Assayas is his segment in Paris, Je T’aime so I can’t effectively comment on his overall style. But Demonlover feels like Assayas had an overall grand idea that became bogged down by personal preference, kinks, and an overinflated ego.

If I had a friend who said they wanted to watch a real art film, there is no way I would show them this. Because that’s all Demonlover is: an attempt to make an art film with some commentary. Assayas tries to assault your senses with sex, blood, and “authentic” violence but fails at nearly every aspect. Demonlover feels nothing more than self-masturbation; a film that proves he’s holier than thou. And let me tell you, he is far from that. At its core, Demonloveris a two-hour-long horror-adjacent exercise in futility.

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[REVIEW] BHFF 2024: ‘Timestalker’ Is Timeless

Timestalker follows Agnes (Alice Lowe) through multiple decades throughout her shared life; from the 1800s to the present day, to the 1980s, and countless other decades. Agnes happens to run across the same guy in each life: Alex (Aneurin Barnard). Their strained, often one-sided love, spans their respective lifetimes in fascinating ways. While Agnes searches for her love she finds herself on the receiving end of a scorned lover by way of Nick Frost. Can Agnes and Alex find the love they are seemingly destined for?

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As someone who reviews horror content, I tend to be picky about what I decide to watch. I know what I like and what I don’t like. I cannot stand time loop films. They just don’t work for me, from Groundhog Day to Happy Death Day. And time difference love films like The Lake House? Don’t even get me started. That being said, if I stumble upon one of these types of films that pique my interest, I will go out of my way to check it out. When I read about Alice Lowe’s directorial follow-up to Prevenge, I was excited but still skeptical. Prevenge was an exciting and well-put-together horror film that caught me off guard and I knew I had to watch whatever Alice Lowe made next.

Timestalker follows Agnes (Alice Lowe) through multiple decades throughout her shared life; from the 1800s to the present day, to the 1980s, and countless other decades. Agnes happens to run across the same guy in each life: Alex (Aneurin Barnard). Their strained, often one-sided love, spans their respective lifetimes in fascinating ways. While Agnes searches for her love she finds herself on the receiving end of a scorned lover by way of Nick Frost. Can Agnes and Alex find the love they are seemingly destined for?

Since I mentioned it at the top, let’s discuss the time aspect. It should be noted that this is definitely not a time-loop movie in the typical sense. Writer/director Alice Lowe handles the time-jumping aspect of Timestalker with ease and class. Rather than trying to find some overcomplicated and underdeveloped explanation for the film’s timeframe, Lowe does something rarely seen. You can take what Lowe tells you in the third act at face value. Do you believe it or not? There’s probably no wrong answer. But if you dig a bit deeper, and believe in love and whimsy, there’s a whole other element to Lowe’s craft. (Getting into it would be too much of a spoiler.)

Honestly, I’m happy to say this is one of the very few time-based films that works incredibly well for me.

Lowe struck gold with her casting and brought multiple A-list British actors on board. First, and foremost, Alice Lowe. Lowe stuns with her lead portrayal of a character I’m pretty sure she wrote for herself. And rightfully so. Lowe’s comedic timing is unparalleled, and she’s not afraid to make herself the butt of the joke.

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Scipio (Jacob Anderson) is an intricately written character and almost a mouthpiece for the audience. Jacob Anderson is, aside from devilishly handsome, a thrill to watch. He blends into the background when necessary and chews up the scenery when needed. But it’s Nick Frost who steals the show. Whether he’s huffing and puffing after Agnes or literally barking like a dog, you can’t help but giggle (and sometimes gasp in shock) at his performance. Also, it’s always a blast to see Kate Dickie in anything.

Timestalker was introduced by a couple of people. Caryn Coleman, of The Future of Film is Female, said something incredibly interesting about Timestalker. There will be discussions about whether or not this film is considered horror or sci-fi but according to Coleman, “It’s a horror film about love.” I couldn’t say it any better myself.

This film is not your typical horror film. It’s a deconstruction of what horror means to people. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to love or be loved. In this modern age where Vice President nominees tell you you’re less of a person for not having kids or being married by a certain age, the idea of love is being retconned. If your love isn’t the way it’s “supposed to be” then you’re wrong. And that’s bullshit.

Timestalker is a fun and fascinating breakdown of what is. I don’t think this film will work for everyone, and I’m about 80% sure a particular group of people (looking at you, Vice President nominee, and fans) will take away the wrong message from this film. Those who get this film will get it. Those are the people Alice Lowe made this film for.

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