The visceral raw energy and violence of Gabriel Carrer and Reese Eveneshen’s “For the sake of Vicious” is bound to be compared to the masterpieces like “The Green Room” very soon. The set up at least conjures up memories of “Assault on Precinct 13” except in a smaller scale. In either case, it’s a classic white knuckle home invasion siege thriller that spares no one, even when it successfully builds on empathetic and fascinating protagonists.
Category Archives: Fantasia Film Festival
The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw (2020) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
In small, rural village where nothing is growing and people are dying, a woman has her crops thriving and seems to be doing great, so her village’s population deems her to be a witch. While she is hiding an important secret, it may not be what the villagers are expecting.
Detention (2019) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
Set in Taiwan in 1962, a period known as the White Terror, Detention takes place in and around a school and its among its student and staff as they are encouraged to turn anyone who may be against the current power in. A group of students and young teachers meets up to discuss banned books and other materials. As they try to stay hidden and survive, something not quite usual starts happening.
A Mermaid in Paris (Une sirène à Paris) (2020) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
In a fairy tale-like version of Paris, a man who works at a very particular bar finds and saves a mermaid. As he takes care of her, he slowly falls for her, which could very well be his downfall.
A Witness Out of the Blue (2019) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
The official definition for this film is “[a] Hong Kong crime thriller about a detective and a parrot” and it honestly nails the film. It’s what it’s about with of course other factors involved like a criminal, some corruption, and a little bit of love possibly.
The Paper Tigers (2020) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
Having grown up as kung fu experts, three men face the fact that they are aging and not in their prime anymore when their Sifu passes away and they have to make sure his memory is respected.
Lucky (2020) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
A woman finds herself the target of an intruder/stalker and when no one will believe her about the gravity of the situation, she is forced to figure a way out for herself.
Alone (2020) [Fantasia Fest 2020]
John Hyams’ “Alone” begins kind of sketchy. In fact I spent the first fifteen minutes not quite sure where the screenplay was going, if anywhere. But sticking with it, I’m glad to discover that “Alone” is one of the best and most exciting thrillers of the year. While it does get off to kind of a sputter, it transforms in to a journey of self discovery and evolution for a woman who is shambles when we first meet her. By the end, she has to figure out if she can keep charging head first in to the world, or if she wants to recede back in to the night.