LIVE FROM FANTASTIC FEST ’18 Day 1 recap

The week long movie bonanza starts off easy with a half day, only three movies instead of five, but the first punch packs a wallop.   The fest starts off with HALLOWEEN, the sequel to HALLOWEEN, the original, not HALLOWEEN the remake, but also not HALLOWEEN II, or HALLOWEEN 2.  If any movie series epitomizes my “pick and choose, don’t give a shit about the number” approach to franchises, it’s HALLOWEEN.  It’s not my favorite franchise on a whole, but I admire how it aggressively pounds the fuck out of continuity.  We start off with The Shape terrorizing Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis), then terrorizing her some more in a hospital, and she’s his sister.  Then, bam, he’s dead we’re on to the next story.  Except no, turns out Michael Myers is still alive and Laurie is dead and he’s after Laurie’s orphaned daughter, Jamie Lloyd (Danielle Harris), for two movies.  Latter, off screen, Michael and Jamie have a baby (eewe, and what the fuck?), Jamie gets killed (boo), and there is something about a cult and the guy from ANTMAN.  I didn’t see that one, so I’m a little sketchy on the details.  Except, none of that shit happened, except for the hospital part, and Laurie Strode (still Jamie Lee Curtis) is alive and has a son, and Michael Myers chases them through the campus of Scream Academy until Laurie lobs his head off with an axe.  The en… nope.  Michael, the criminal genius, staged his death and kills Laurie (BOO) before being kickboxed by Busta Rhymes.  Now rewind back to Michael’s terrible childhood with Rob Zombie’s wife, which eventually leads him to go after sister Laurie Strode (now Scout Taylor-Compton) and her friend (Danielle Harris, but not as Jamie Lloyd, because that would be weird).  Then…there is something about a horse?  It doesn’t matter, because fuck everything that happened after the first night.  Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis again) is still alive, has a different daughter (Judy Greer) and a different granddaughter (Andi Matichak).  She is not Michael Myers’ sister anymore, but he still wants to kill her anyway.  And her family.  And everybody, really.

That is a series that gives fuck all about canon.  I admire that boldness.  Anyway, this latest tweak is the best since the original.

Moving on, and more briefly, movie number two: AN EVENING WITH BEVERLY LUFF LINN.  This is a romantic comedy from Jim Hosking, the director of THE GREASY STRANGLER, which isn’t that weird, since you could consider GREASY STRANGLER to be a romantic comedy, if you had mental problems.  I see it as more of a very odd noir.  BEVERLY LUFF LINN lacks the mindboggling grossness of GREASY STRANGLER, but maintains all of the supremely awkward humor.  It has a great cast, including Aubrey Plaza, Jemaine Clement, and Craig Robinson, who all know a little something about being weird.

Movie three:  IN FABRIC.  Thoroughly bizarre giallo inspired mix of CHRISTEN and PHANTOM THREAD, the PHANTOM DRESS, if you will, bought at the Susperia department store, run by evil manikins and managed by Nosferatu.    

One day down, seven to go.

C Chaka

   

Schizocinema, Live from Fantastic Fest ‘18

Hi there!  Regular reader will notice that I have not been very regular with the Schizocinema posts lately.  First of all, sorry.  It’s not from lack of interest.  This has been my roughest summer on record, particularly then end.  Two separate, life threatening hospital stays knocked me off my game, to say the least.  The incidents did not affect me directly, but the people who I love most in this world, which is even worse.  The good news is that everyone escaped only slightly worse for wear and we are 100% again.  

Ironically, another factor keeping me from writing was writing, only in a different place.  My occasional submission to the totally keen movie site, VHS Revival, has grown to the point where I could reasonably be called a contributor.  In addition to my initial ramblings about customizing franchises to your needs and having bloody fun at Christmas time, I wrote a series on the four (and only four) films of legendary badass, Bruce Lee, THE BIG BOSS, FIST OF FURY, WAY OF THE DRAGON, and ENTER THE DRAGON.  My last bit was on how to remake it right with NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (90).  Those articles are a little more refined and much less cussy that my Schizocinema rants, but my weird obsessions and questionable takes still shine through.  I invite you to check them out, if you haven’t yet.  And then stick around, because vhsrevival.com is packed with a ridiculous amount of top notch content.  Their output puts mine to shame, even before I dropped off the planet for a bit.  Trust me, you’ll dig it.

For those looking for classic Schizo babble, they will return with a close to normal regularity, though not just yet.  See, I’m writing this while high in the sky, jetting my way to Austin, TX for another plunge into the crazed movie whirlpool of Fantastic Fest!  Seven straight days of movies hard packed into my eyeballs.  I’ll be updating as much as I’m able, both here and on twitter (my handle being @chris_chaka).  Hopefully I can capture a little bit of the madness, exhaustion, and sleep deprivation the week brings.  Things will return to normal after a couple of weeks, but for now, enjoy these upcoming Schizo-minisodes.

C Chaka

Cautionary note:  As I mentioned the last go round, I am a terrible fucking speller, and dyslexic to boot, so without the aid of my lovely editor wife, this shit is going to be sloppy as hell.  Apologies all the way round.