Interviews
Filmmaker Nacho Vigalondo defies classification. He’s a sensation that exists somewhere between a contagious laugh and a sinister whisper. He’s a rare element formed by ancient mystics using unknowable alchemy. Nacho is hyperbole personified. Both he and his films exert a powerful gravity that pulls you in immediately.
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The Eyes of My Mother was the very last film we watched at this year’s Fantastic Fest, and it also happened to leave one of the greatest impressions. The debut feature from writer/director Nicolas Pesce is a gorgeously shot work of horror with a career-launching performance by Kika Magalhães as Francisca, a young woman shaped by tragedy and isolation. Borrowing from our mini-review: To call the performance cold and detached would be an understatement. Every expression and movement is practically inhuman, as though her character truly never had a point of reference for how people act. Ms. Magalhães is simultaneously frightening and heartbreaking as the ethereal Francisca. With the film’s official release just days away, we sat down with Ms. Magalhães for an informative and fun conversation. World, meet Kika Magalhães…
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One of the few downsides of Fantastic Fest is that there’s just too many films and sometimes we wind up missing something to which we were looking forward. Dawn of the Deaf was one of those films, and we’ve been lucky enough to finally get a chance to watch. A 12-minute short from the UK, Dawn of the Deaf is a new and clever take on the zombie genre. When a mysterious sonic pulse kills the entire hearing population, only the Deaf are left behind, forced to confront a frightening new reality where the pulse was only the start of their trouble.
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The film pitch for Valentina is undeniably intriguing:
It’s the summer of 2025, and global warming has caused temperatures to skyrocket. Valentina is a middle-aged Latina, obsessed with her own personal hygiene. She channels this fastidiousness into her job as a cleaning lady, making her the maid of choice for affluent New Yorkers.
Valentina reports for duty at a sparkling, all-glass skyscraper on the hottest day ever recorded in the city. As she eagerly polishes and disinfects, the power goes out and the blistering sunlight turns the apartment into an oven. Sweat, heat, and moisture build up so much that Valentina’s vagina screams for mercy.
What starts as a simple cry for fresh air turns into an intervention as her vagina asks after her wages and demands better working conditions. The heat will force Valentina to come face-to-face with a part of her anatomy she’s always ignored, and it will embolden her in the process. Though Valentina initially finds her abhorrent, her vagina is truly an ally who will help her value herself and be proud of who she is.
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photo by Arnold Wells
In addition to reviewing Simon Rumley‘s new film Fashionista, we were fortunate to sit down with him and the cast before the premiere at Fantastic Fest for a lively and laughter-filled discussion about the film, its influences, the city of Austin, allergic reactions, and much more.
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Caroline Williams is one of those actresses you never forget. In 1986 she starred in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, Tobe Hooper’s bonkers and wildly entertaining sequel to the original horror classic. As disc jockey Stretch Brock, she fought to survive an unfortunate run-in with Leatherface and the rest of the sadistic Sawyer clan. Following that iconic performance, she appeared in dozens of other films, including another of my favorite horror sequels, Stepfather 2. This month marks the 30th anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, as well as the release of her latest film, Syfy’s Sharknado 4. To celebrate, we reached out (and geeked out a little) to Ms. Williams about her historic horror career.
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The story of a girl and her monster is perhaps one of the most classic horror stories of all. There’s Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and The Bride of Frankenstein. These are stories of need, of love, acceptance and connection. The monster is at first reviled, then loved in some way, lest he have his revenge.
I recently connected with filmmaker and artist Akiz to discuss his latest project, Der Nachtmahr, a story not so dissimilar from these classic tales. A German horror/coming of age hybrid, the film is the tale of Tina, a girl who may or may not be losing her mind. Or perhaps more simply, experiencing her last phase of puberty. When a little monster appears, a curious creature that at first scares her, then intrigues her, things start to get very weird. Is the monster real? Is it a figment of her imagination? Is it connected to her is some way? The result is a fascinating, engaging entry into the subgenre that I won’t soon forget.
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photo by FAB PRESS
Acclaimed Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn is no stranger to Fantastic Fest, appearing in 2013 with Jodorowsky’s Dune and again last year for the documentary My Life Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn directed by his wife Liv Corfixen. He returned once again this year with Fantastic Fest serving as the perfect launching pad for his new book Nicolas Winding Refn: The Act of Seeing.
Read MoreWithin our personal existence there’s so many experiences we will never truly know. A select few of us experience the vast, depthless wonder of stepping onto the moon, while others live in the lap of luxury, afforded the gifts of all creation at their whim. There are triumphant athletes and hero firemen, medical geniuses and musical prodigies. Then there are those that live a less thrilling life by those standards, those that live the lives of the ordinary people of the world. Those that read about the extraordinary and wonder what could be, or maybe just don’t give a shit about any of it at all. They live with little means to make happiness bloom, and never fully know how much better their lives can be.
Enter Ugly Girls, the new novel by the fiercely talented Lindsay Hunter. Known for her assaultive flash fiction, pieces that shout the tales of crude and forgotten denizens of planet earth with visceral poetry, she’s an author with little regard to boundaries. Not surprisingly, her novel doesn’t stray far from that broken glass covered path. Written from several points-of-view, all of them deeply insightful to the human condition, and sometimes upsetting in their own morbid ways, you’re taken on a no-fucks-given journey through the minds of people who have not quite given up hope, but are standing, shaky legged and tippy-toed, at the brink of the cliff, ready to fall into the quarry of no turning back.
Read MoreEdan Lepucki was just minding her own writerly business when she was suddenly thrust into the center of a pop culture frenzy earlier this year. When her book, California, came up on the TV screen one evening, brought forth by the hands of none other than Stephen Colbert, her fate as a famed author was sealed. Since then, she’s had quite the ride.
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