fantasia2009

Dread (UK/US): I'm going to act like I don't know how Clive Barker's original short story played out, as I didn't know when going into the film, but that still leaves this adaptation a bit too long-winded for its own good. Stephen (Jackson Rathbone) and Quaid (Shaun Evans) team up for a college project on what people fear most, and sure enough, this little social experiment of theirs goes too far. It's an interesting premise, eventually carried out to a foreseeable but intense climax, shot moodily throughout by first-time director Anthony DiBlasi, but the redundant dorm-worthy moralizing delivered by our fairly obvious villain and a tacked-own ain't-that-wicked twist only make it more apparent that Dread was a story perhaps better deserving of, say, a "Masters of Horror" episode rather than a feature-length treatment.

Watch video after the jump

Power Kids (Thailand): So it's been over two decades since Die Hard made the movie pitch infinitely more efficient, and far by it from me to botch tradition, because this flick is basically Die Hard in a hospital... only with four ass-kicking kids going up against terrorists instead of one intrepid adult cop. Did I mention that they're after the donor heart for their youngest brother's emergency surgery? The kids, I mean, not the terrorists (they're there for the U.S. Ambassador, natch). And kick ass, they do, while taking a fair share of licks in return. Power Kids feels like it was made in the spirit of a Saturday matinee and was meant for kids of all ages, despite all the close-range semi-automatic fire and sepia-toned war flashbacks (not to mention the occasional f-bomb from the boorish American), but if the idea of some moppets Muay Thai-ing their way through bad guy after bad guy sounds good to you, I struggle to think that this would disappoint.

Watch the video after the jump

After a long flight on my part and a far longer drive for both of us, Scott Weinberg and I have finally arrived in Montréal for the FanTasia International Film Festival (their thirteenth, our first). The genre-heavy festival lasts for nearly three weeks; alas, we've but one to spare, so without much further ado, here's a look at what I've seen already and what I hope to see before Scott tips his own hand with a title or two to recommend.

Of the features playing, I can highly recommend Michael Paul Stephenson's Troll 2 doc, Best Worst Movie; the Aussie revenge thriller, The Horseman (not to be confused with the barely-seen Dennis Quaid vehicle,Horsemen); and Paul Solet's beautifully bloody baby horror, Grace. Those looking for something a bit stranger might end up being a bit more fond of Black and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle than I was, though I also seemed more easily pleased by the Nazi zombies of Dead Snow than most, so I guess it all balances out. My enthusiasm for the ultra-kitschy likes of Alien Trespass and Lesbian Vampire Killers, not to mention the admittedly boundary-pushing Deadgirl, is all a bit less than what's already been mentioned, so let's just leave those at that.