Fantasm (2014)
Starring Tom Atkins, Heather Langenkamp, Justin Beahm
Directed by Kyle Kuchta
As a relative newcomer to the horror convention scene (I’ve only been to 4 over the past 5 years), I’ll admit that at its basest level, it’s completely addicting – whether you’re one of the masses that make a long drive from out of state to shack up in a nearby hotel for the weekend, or if you just happen to stop in for a one-day visit, there is an atmosphere that can simply be best described as electric. Now, thanks to a neophyte documentary filmmaker, some of the few who’ve never attended a show can get a bird’s-eye view into just what makes these confabs so insanely popular.
Kyle Kuchta, who acts as director and narrator for the insider’s peek, reveals that he attended his first show at the age of 15, and he’s been habituated ever since. Filmed in 2012 and spanning the course of numerous conventions over several states, he uses his camera as a first-person view into each show’s den of activity, and provides us with some entertaining interviews with some of the horror genres’ more notable names and faces, including Tom Atkins, Heather Langenkamp, director Joe Lynch and many more. While the emphasis is placed mainly upon why is it that horror specifically, is the one genus that can consistently draw in the fan base by the thousands each and every year to these shows, we also get a look at what is it that got these fans to where they were, as far as their love for the stylings are concerned.
The first-person camera usage can get a bit wonky at times, and unless you’re a die-hard fan, you might feel as if the interviews drag on too long (but if you’re NOT a fan, what are ya watching for in the first place)? At a scant 55-minute runtime, you feel as if you’re led inside the velvet rope, and ushered right out the back door; however, no big deal – this documentary is a fun look inside a gathering that consumes a collection of devotees to a category of film that best resembles an extended family. If you’ve never made the leap and spent a little time out at one of the many shows that are covering more and more ground in the states, then give Fantasm a go and see if you’ll agree that this family just might be a little more tolerable than your own.
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Film
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