The First wave of films announced for this years Fantastic Fest were already amazing. The announcements ranged from Phantasm: Ravager to The Greasy Strangler. The second wave however, is one that my mind and body were not ready for. The pure awesomeness of this list is sort of like looking into the Arc of the Covenant. It might melt your face off.

Fantastic Fest 2016 unleashes its fury starting Sept. 22 in Austin, TX. Check out the details of the second wave below. For more info on how to attend, go to fantasticfest.com.

 

It wouldn’t be Fantastic Fest without some true heavyweights of world cinema represented and this year is no exception. Park Chan-Wook, legendary South Korean director of OLDBOY and STOKER, attends the festival for the first time to present the US Premiere of his gorgeous erotic drama THE HANDMAIDEN. Dutch defiler Paul Verhoevenhas provided what will prove to be one of the most controversial and provocative films of the year with his dark and deadly comedic rape-revenge thriller ELLE, while Paul Schrader delivers his unique brand of pugilistic raw force with his hyper-violent, crime-at-all-costs thriller DOG EAT DOG.

 

Female directors take center stage for three of Fantastic Fest’s most hotly anticipated titles this year, firmly shattering the myth that game-changing cinema is gender-biased. Ana Lily Amirpour follows up her alt-cult sensation A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE AT NIGHT with her sand-blasted, dystopian love story THE BAD BATCH; Maren Ade delivers what will be the most uncomfortable film of the festival, the desert-dry black comedy TONI ERDMANN; and Julia Ducournau’s directorial debut, RAW, takes us on a cannibalistic coming-of-age shock ride that resonates long after its stunning finale.

 

“I’m proud of the creative tension we’ve asserted with this year’s program,” said Fantastic Fest founder Tim League. “Established, award-winning veterans are celebrated on the same stage as first-time filmmakers. This dynamic speaks to the strong diversity and rich body of talent that is challenging cinema today. It’s an honor to share their work with our global audience.”

 

One of last year’s most memorably chaotic and explosive events returns as Itchy-O lay claim to slay Austin and unleash their mayhem once more. A blazing, 32-member aural assault from the darkest depths of Colorado, Itchy-O is a wholly immersive, musical experience on a massive scale that is right at home at Fantastic Fest.

 

Alamo Drafthouse’s American Genre Film Archive plays an important role in this year’s Fantastic Fest with the inclusion of two films prized from its vaults. First up is a watershed moment for AGFA and the culmination of years of work: a brand new digital transfer of THE ZODIAC KILLER, a film made with one goal in mind – to capture the real-life Zodiac Killer. Made possible by the 783 lovable perverts who donated to the AGFA Kickstarter campaign launched at last year’s Fantastic Fest, the World Premiere screening of AGFA’s new transfer, and crown jewel from the Something Weird archive, will feature a Q&A with Lisa Petrucci, the incomparable co-founder of Something Weird!

 

Screening in conjunction with the release and signing of American Cinematheque’s Dennis Bartok’s new book, A Thousand Cuts, is a rarely seen 35mm print of the 1968 low-budget alien invasion gem GOKE: BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL. Courtesy of a print provided by AGFA, director Hajime Satô’s delightfully pulpy and deliriously earnest example of Japanese horror creates a remarkable example of what a filmmaker can do with a few bucks, a model airplane and some silly putty. 

 

See below for the full lineup of newly announced film titles for Fantastic Fest 2016. Final wave of titles to be announced shortly.

 

AALAVANDHALAN 

India, 2001

International Premiere, 178 min

Director – Suresh Krissna

Kamal Hassan stars in this ridiculously entertaining tale of an Indian commando pitted against his own serial killer twin brother in a deadly race to save the beautiful Tejaswini from certain death.

 

ARRIVAL

United States, 2016

Opening Film, 116 min

Director – Denis Villeneuve

When mysterious spacecraft touch down across the globe, an elite team – lead by expert linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) – are brought together to investigate. As mankind teeters on the verge of global war, Banks and the team race against time for answers – and to find them, she will take a chance that could threaten her life, and quite possibly humanity.

 

ASSASSINATION CLASSROOM – GRADUATION

Japan, 2016

U.S. Premiere, 118 min

Director – Eiichiro Hasumi

This conclusion to last year’s hit finds Class-E running out of time in their efforts to assassinate Koro-sensei, their yellow octopus smiley-faced teacher who is about to destroy Earth.

 

THE BAD BATCH

United States, 2016

U.S. Premiere, 115 min

Director – Ana Lily Amirpour

Ana Lily Amirpour follows up her alt-cult sensation A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE with her highly anticipated dystopian cannibal desert trip.

 

DOG EAT DOG

United States, 2016

U.S. Premiere, 93 min

Director – Paul Schrader

From the brilliant minds of Edward Bunker and Paul Schrader comes this unhinged pulp comedy at a million miles an hour; the story of three hardened criminals and the final, simple crime which will bring them all down.

 

ELLE

France, 2016

US Premiere, 131 min

Director – Paul Verhoeven 

Paul Verhoeven’s debut in French cinema highlights an incredible Isabelle Huppert in a dramedy that first subverts then transgresses the rape-revenge narrative.  

 

EYES OF MY MOTHER

United States, 2016

Regional Premiere, 77 min

Director –Nick Pesce

After a traumatic event, a young girl begins to associate pain and death with love and friendship in increasingly dangerous ways.

 

GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS

United Kingdom, United States, 2016

US Premiere, 111 min

Director – COLM MCCARTHY

In a dystopian future, young Melanie must go on a trip with the soldier who needs to kill her, the doctor who wants to use her and the teacher who wants to help.

 

GOKE: BODY SNATCHER FROM HELL – PRESENTED BY AGFA 

Japan, 1968

Special Screening, 84 min

Director – Hajime Satô’s

An airplane crashes under mysterious circumstances and the survivors find themselves stalked by an evil blobby presence bent on world domination.

 

THE HANDMAIDEN

South Korea, 2016

U.S Premiere, 145 min

Director – Park Chan-Wook

In the 1930s, country girl Sook-Hee is hired as a handmaiden to Japanese heiress Lady Hideko, who lives a secluded life with her uncle. However Sook-Hee is not what she seems… and neither is Lady Hideko, Count Fujiwara or Uncle Kouziki.

 

HELMUT BERGER, ACTOR

Austria, France, Italy, 2015

Texas Premiere, 90 min

Director – Andreas Horvath

Filmmaker Andreas Horvath (EARTH’S GOLDEN PLAYGROUND) offers a deeply personal and unblinking portrait of Helmut Berger, the Austrian film star of the ’60s and ’70s best known for his work with director Luchino Visconti.  

 

THE HIGH FRONTIER

Poland, 2016

International Premiere, 97 min

Director – Wojciech Kasperski

Father/son bonding time takes an extraordinarily dark turn when a former guard and his two teen boys receive an unexpected guest in their remote cabin along the Poland-Ukraine border.

 

KAMMATTIPADAM

India, 2016

North American Premiere, 240 min

Director – Rajeev Raji

Aging gangster Krishnan returns to his hometown after receiving a distressing phone call from a friend, only to find that he’s picking up the pieces after thirty years of bloody gang war.

 

NOVA SEED

Japan, Canada, 2016

U.S. Premiere, 64 min

Director – Nick DiLiberto

Painstakingly hand-drawn by a single animator over four years, this saturated slice of lo-fi sci-fi pulp recalls both Moebius and Miyazaki as it ambitiously realizes an eclectic post-apocalyptic future populated by lion-men, brain-leeching slugs and Saturday Morning Cartoon villainy, the latter most memorably personified by the sublimely named Dr. Mindskull.

 

RAW

France, 2016

US Premiere, 98 min

Director – Julia Ducournau

Part sister bonding, part coming-of-age story, part gross-out horror flick, Julia Ducournau’s debut feature is the terror discovery of 2016.

 

THE RED TURTLE

France, 2017

North American Premiere, 81 min

Director – Michaël Dudok De Wit

A castaway ekes out an existence on a deserted tropical island guarded by an enigmatic red tortoise in this magnificent animated fable from the imagination of acclaimed Dutch animator Michael Dudok de Wit (FATHER AND DAUGHTER) and produced in part by the legendary Studio Ghibli.

 

SADAKO VS KAYAKO

Japan, 2016

US Premiere, 98 min

Director – Kôji Shiraishi

The showdown of the century is about to begin and no one in Tokyo will be spared: Ring’sSadako vs The Grudge’s Kayako in a fight to determine the future of humanity.

 

SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD

Australia, United States, 2016

World Premiere, 85 min

Director – Chris Peckover

Chris Peckover, director of 2010’s UNDOCUMENTED, returns to Fantastic Fest with this playfully twisted suburban Christmas thriller in which babysitter Ashley must protect twelve-year-old Luke during an unusual home invasion.

 

SHIMAUMA

Japan, 2016

International Premiere, 103 min

Director – Hajime Hashimoto

Dora is a lowlife con man who runs a marriage scam with his associates. But a badly timed encounter with a yakuza will plunge Dora into a new, deep world of darkness, both ugly and enticing!

 

SWEET, SWEET LONELY GIRL

United States, 2016

World Premiere, 76 min

Director – A.D. Calvo

Adele is a friendless young woman living with her wealthy but agoraphobic aunt. She meets Beth and the two become fast friends, but Adele may be drawn to a darkness within her new companion, a darkness that threatens to overtake everything.

 

TERRY TEO

New Zealand, 2016

International Premiere, 92 min

Director – Gerard Johnstone

Teenaged cat burglar Terry Teo turns crime fighter when his estranged father is killed by local gangsters in this revival of the classic New Zealand character.

 

TONI ERDMAN

Germany, 2016
U.S. Premiere, 162 min

Director – Maren Ade

A father tries to reconnect with his repressed, career-driven daughter in the funniest movie to ever come out of Germany.

 

THEY CALL ME JEEG ROBOT

Italy, 2015

Texas Premiere, 118 min

Director – Gabriele Mainetti

A lowlife thug finds his grimy, pornography-filled existence disrupted when he accidentally acquires superpowers that force him to become a better man against his will.

 

YOUNG OFFENDERS

Ireland, 2015

International Premiere, 84 min

Director – Peter Foott

The day after the largest drug bust in Irish history, with massive packages of cocaine washing up along the shoreline, two go-nowhere teens make a most sensible decision: They will ride to the coast on stolen bicycles and claim a bundle of that wondrous cocaine for themselves.

 

THE ZODIAC KILLER – Presented by AGFA and SOMETHING WEIRD 

United States, 1971

World Premiere, 85 min

Director – Tom Hanson

AGFA and Something Weird present a brand new 4K transfer of this sanity-defying, tabloid-horror vortex that was produced with one goal in mind: to capture the real-life Zodiac Killer.