The Horrors of Fantasia: Day Six
“>One thing you should all know is that most of the reviews and the daily blog are usually written as soon as Paul and I get home after the last screening of the night (around 1am). We do this because our guilt over being able to attend Fantasia for the full run of the festival is intense as we know full well that all you Dreadites out there are relying on DC for your Fantasia fix. We take our role as pushers very seriously, but the lack of sleep does take its toll…
I mention this because after re-reading yesterday’s blog, I realized that I woefully misrepresented Chris Sivertson’s The Lost. I mentioned only the bloodbath at the end without discussing how this movie is a slow burning character drama for the bulk of its running time; the flashes of mania and violence merely bookend the film. The Lost is definitely balls out horror, but it’s also much more than that, so go in knowing that you’re about to experience a film that takes its time exploring the characters and setting the stage for the soul crushing impact of the finale.
Speaking of slow burns with explosive endings, yesterday’s screening of Donald Cammel’s White of the Eye provided an extremely rare opportunity to see this incendiary film on the big screen. Mitch spent the better part of a year spelunking the rotten cellars of cinema to find one of only a few watchable prints known to exist. McCannibal’s been a longtime fan of the film, and even though White of the Eye is nearly twenty years old, his deep and abiding love of the film prompted him to turn in a new review of it here.
On hand for a post screening Q&A were Rebecca and Sam Umland, the authors of Donald Cammell: A Life on the Wild Side. This very staid looking, professorial couple belie their normal appearance by having an encyclopedic knowledge of Cammell verging on the fanatic. As is tradition, I continue to line Harvey Fenton’s (owner, FAB Press) pockets and picked up a copy of the book, which I have to say may be the handsomest tome FAB has produced to date. I’ve only just skimmed it, but it’s looking like yet another winner, filled with lots of original Cammell artwork, production stills, and full color poster reproductions. There are even some full frontal shots of Mick Jagger from Performance for the ladies! Speaking of which, Sam and Rebecca informed a delighted audience that sometime next year the Donald Cammell/Nicolas Roeg collaboration will finally get a long overdue DVD release.
Other than that, I checked out the Portuguese haunted house/possession film Bad Blood, which turned out to largely be an atmospheric, nice looking disappointment. Paul suggested the rather terse review Bad Blood = Bad Time, but I was feeling slightly more forgiving; check out the review here.
Today’s lineup is looking like fun with screenings of the zombie sci-fi parody Sars Wars, Call of Cthulhu, an anachronistic silent adaptation of Lovecraft (which we reviwed for you here), and Them, which sounds like an intensely nihilistic version of Panic Room. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s coverage!
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