FANTASIA GETS WET AND WILD THIS SUMMER

It’s that time of the year where summer just shows up at your front door after a miserable long winter.  There is only one way you can enjoy this summer and start on the right foot which is to go to Montreal if you do not reside there already and attend the one and only Fantasia International Film Festival.  Now in its 23rd year, Fantasia has brought you the world’s best in genre film and many big names of the film industry who have paid homage to this well-curated festival.  This cultural phenomenon has grown to be the hub of the film industry where individuals from the many different departments of the film industry can come together and celebrate film.  With over 700 guests from around the world to take in Fantasia and over 200 films to be screened, FERNTV brought it down to the top 5 films that we thought were tickling our fancy or get our feet wet, to say the least.  We will start off with the film Aquaslash from Quebec director Renard Gauthier who brought you the film Discopath back in 2013 to Fantasia.  The film focuses of course on a bunch of teenagers who have recently graduated high school and want to celebrate an 80s themed style at a water park called Wet Valley.  Little do they know that things start eerie when people start dying as they slide to their death.  Aquaslash is one way to cool down this summer in the Montreal heat.   Nonetheless, the film will enjoy a home field advantage.

Harpoon

More water is thrown at you with director Rob Grant‘s Harpoon which will premiere at Fantasia.  The film focuses on a trio of friends who embark on a pleasure cruise on a yacht ironically name The Naughty Bouy.  The yacht is owned by Richard played by Christopher Gray who invites his girlfriend Sasha played by Emily Tyra and best friend Joshua played by Munro Chambers.  Richard firmly believes that his girlfriend and best friend are secretly having an affair.  His jealousy sometimes gets the best of him so he tries to make amends by taking these two on this water journey that quickly becomes a nightmare.  The motor on the yacht breaks down and then food becomes scarce.  Tensions start to rise and the film starts to remind you of the cult classic Dead Calm with Nicole Kidman and Sam Neil.  This is a film that you should truly watch out for which is brought to you by Yellow Veil Pictures which brought you last year’s arthouse film, Luz.  In addition, Rob Grant has got to be the hardest working director who previously just brought you the film Alive and Fake Blood in which he also starred in.

Lake Michigan Monster

Much more water is in director’s Ryland Tews black and white B-movie Lake Michigan Monster which is ready to make a splash at Fantasia.  Ryland Tews also plays the main character of the film Captain Seafield who puts together a crew of specialists to find the mysterious creature of the deep who also killed his father.  Just watching this trailer, you can tell that Lake Michigan Monster is truly a unique film with some witty humour and funny special effects.   Lake Michigan Monster is the result if the film Das Boot met up with Sin City without the red and took a dive to Leviathan.  Perhaps the Lake Michigan Monster is ready to put the urban legend of the Loch Ness Monster to rest.

Shadow

From the director who brought you Hero and The House of the Flying Daggers, Yimou Zhang brings the film Shadow to Fantasia.  The film follows a general who wants to achieve victory over a rival kingdom through a plan that involves his wife, a look-alike and two kings.  The film which also screened at last year’s TIFF, is said to be Zhang’s most creative effort who is on the echelon of the “Fifth Generation” of Chinese cinema.  The martial arts in this film is beautifully choreographed and the visuals and cinematography is said to be stunning using black and gray as the primary colors of the film. Shadow reminds you of the classic Shaw Brothers film The Kid With The Golden Arm with a rainy gloom to it.  Watching this trailer with those sharp steel umbrellas in it is something that we have never seen before in a martial arts film.  Hey folks.  Rain is coming.

The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea

Director Sylass Tzoumerkas brings this film from Greece to Fantasia about two women who escape the sun beached village Mesolongi.  One is a cop Elisabeth (Lanthimos regular Angeliki Papoulia, who is forced to relocate from Athens and the other being the younger sister of a singer who is the mysterious Rita played by Youla Boudali whose  lives are intertwined by a mysterious death.  Things start to unravel and they both start to go down the rabbit hole after the community becomes shocked over this death.  The Sargasso Sea is the place where eels are spawned in Greece which represents a new beginning but of course from a haunting past that never ceases.  They say that it is cooler when you live by the water but sometimes for the wrong reasons.

www.fantasiafest.com