Fantastic Fest Online 2008

A demented gynecologist discovers a cure for all the world’s illnesses and uses it as leverage to become sole dictator of the earth. Jam-packed with monsters, kung fu, battling robots and deviant sexual practices, DR. INFIERNO doesn’t let budget get in the way of executing a mountain of crazy ideas. Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .

Brief Description: This fascinating and deeply disturbing documentary takes you deep into the worlds and obsessions of Kelly McCormick and Jeffery Deane Turner, who have been separately stalking 80s pop icon Tiffany for nearly 20 years. Full Description: Many people are familiar with American pop singer Tiffany, who had a number of hit songs during the 1980s, including “I Think We’re Alone Now” and “Could’ve Been.” Less known is the story of two of Tiffany's most devoted stalkers: Jeffery Deane Turner, a 50ish man with severe Asperger's Syndrome, and hermaphrodite-in-transition Kelly McCormick. Sean Donnelly’s documentary I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW tells the stories of these obsessed fans and in doing so, honestly deserves the distinction of being one of the strangest films on this year's Fantastic Fest program. Turner serves as an elder statesman of celebrity stalkers; he has been engaged in a pointless, multi-decade pursuit of Tiffany’s attentions. In one famous incident during the late 80s (which is documented in the film) Turner showed up at Tiffany’s emancipated minor hearing with a samurai sword and five white chrysanthemums. Like Turner, Kelly McCormick is completely obsessed, which is evidenced by the dozens of Tiffany images that paper the walls of her barren apartment, and McCormick's disturbing, profane rants about being united with the pop singer. McCormick’s obsession, however, exists in an entirely different space than Turner’s and seems to be rooted in a big tangled knot of psychological and physiological dysfunction that defies glib descriptions. I THINK WE’RE ALONE NOW packs enough mystery, horror, science-fiction and human intrigue into 100 minutes to fill a number of feature-length films. Everything in this film is completely true, however, and it’s so strange that many will have a hard time believing it’s real. (Rodney Perkins) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .

Brief Summary: Under the Christmas tree, unemployed loser François Margin mysteriously finds a jar of face cream that once applied, temporarily turns him into the most famous celebrity in France. WINNER: Best Feature, Fantasy Worldwide Film Festival WINNER: Best Foreign Feature, Oxford International Film Festival WINNER: Best Film, Beijing Film Festival Director Reynald Bertrand live in person! Full Description: As far as I'm concerned, a film like LA CREME is what film festivals are all about: Finding obscure gems that come from out of nowhere and suddenly become new favorites. Reynald Bertand's comedy has one of those premises that sound too simple and too pat - For Christmas, an unemployed family man gets a jar of facial cream that, when applied, makes people think he's incredibly famous - but this is a truly clever, multi-layered thing of beauty, a smart and hilarious farce that proves that all you need is the right idea and clarity of vision to make a terrific comedy. Some might think that a small French comedy might seem out of place at a genre festival like Fantastic Fest, but they couldn't be more wrong. LA CREME is about fantasy itself, about the power of illusion and the power that comes with it and how, once it's applied, takes on a life of its own. It's a very simple "What would you do?" premise, like having the ability to fly, and Bertand works it like a dream. The cream comes into the life of its lead character (played by Laurent Legeay) just when he's struggling to survive with his family on welfare while he's up for a much-needed sales job against the similarly desperate Nicolas Abraham, and with its great power comes not great responsibility but big trouble and tremendous consequences and Bertand's screenplay takes it into risky places directions that pay off wonderfully. Like a great genre film should, LA CREME is about more than what its premise implies - the ease in which people give in to power and celebrity - but also about how we all give in to illusion to make ourselves feel more important. This is not to say that LA CREME is a serious dissertation on this topic, because it's also one god damn funny movie, briskly paced (Bertand is one of France's top editors, here making his feature directorial debut) with barely a single wasted moment. He's helped immeasurably by a terrific cast; the wonderful Legeay makes for a perfect everyman, with top-notch support from Abraham, Marie-Anne Pauly as Leagay's wife, and an amusingly deadpan Rachid Moutsafy as a straight-laced cop who damn near steals the show. OK, I'm sure you guys get it that I really, really like this one, so expect to see me in at least one screening and if you like it, make sure to vote for it in this year's Next Wave competition, because it deserves to become a breakout hit. As far as I'm concerned, LA CREME is this year's TIMECRIMES. (Matthew Kiernan) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .

Brief Summary: Set in one night in a seedy hotel, cult Novelist Eric Shapiro’s debut feature intertwines two stories of sexual encounters gone horribly awry. Full Description: US Premiere Winner, best actor, Ben Siegler, Fantasia Film Festival 2008 "This is refreshing, exciting indie cinema, and the rule here is to see it when you get the chance." - Ryan Levey, Fangoria “Shapiro’s transition from novelist to feature filmmaker delivers on every promise with a rare and engrossing work whose qualities can perhaps best be likened to a darker PT Anderson or Steven Soderbergh” – Mitch Davis, Fantasia Film Festival Twenty-something Lo (Rhoda Jordan), checks into a roadside motel with her boyfriend for a bit of innocent sexual exploration. In the same hotel, a dowdy middle-aged businessman is planning for his own romantic rendezvous, a first sexual encounter with a co-worker that he feels might turn out better if Rohipnol is in the mix. Neither encounter works out according to plan, and as the stories cleverly intertwine, the tension swirls to a gut-punch climax. Novelist/ essayist Eric Shapiro directs his debut feature with a sure hand and stretches his budget by cleverly limiting the action to the claustrophobic interior of one seedy hotel. Instead of a large budget, Shipiro substitutes exceptional writing to move the story briskly forward and keep the audience fully engaged. His cast of relative newcomers execute the naturalistic dialogue flawlessly, in particular Ben Siegler (THE WEST WING) as Lo’s anxious father and Rodney Eastman (A NIGHTMARE ON ELM ST. 3 & 4) as a particularly loathsome drug dealer. RULE OF THREE is exactly the type of film we are seeking in the Next Wave competition, a young first-time director storming out of the gate with a sack full of talent, a mature understanding of cinema and a strong story to tell. (Tim League) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .

Brief Summary: Two brothers on the wrong side of everyone must face an endless array of torture, terrors and indignities in this darkly comic and visually striking noir. Full Description: If your most harrowing fears vacationed on an airbrushed spaghetti western soundstage, they might look something like the quasi-Earthly SOUTH OF HEAVEN, a wholly unique and darkly comic id-ride through some of the more questionable corners of the human condition. Roy Coop (Adam Nee) is a recently discharged Navy boy intent on finishing the great American novel and living the good life, all of which is blown to hell when a case of mistaken identity leaves him violated and completely subhumanized. Meanwhile, his brother Dale (Aaron Nee) is on the run from the law alongside formidable kidnapper/murderer/all-around maniac Mad Dog Mantee (Shea Wigham). In the grand tradition of lawless cinema, everything spirals relentlessly downwards, leaving each character running for their life, foaming for vengeance, or both. Add considerable helpings of femme fatales, spine-snapping hit men and monstrous human deformities, and you've got an undeniably ambitious feature that harkens back to the olden days of pulp criminal bloodlust while remaining unflinchingly innovative in every respect. This is the first feature from J.L. Vara, and it may be the most stylistically impressive directorial debut since 2000's TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER. The film immediately lulls the audience into a false sense of Norman Rockwell-era whitebread comfort before turning the world upside-down on their heads. Brilliant character actor – and longtime Alamo pal – Jon Gries (NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, THE MONSTER SQUAD) appears as a heartless-but-dapper hood, and Wigham's performance as Mad Dog will have you convinced that he ate a kitten every day before shooting, just to get into the role. Leads The Nee Brothers are Austin festival veterans, having co-directed the much-ballyhooed SXSW entry THE LAST ROMANTIC a couple years back, but no comparisons can be made there. In fact, we hereby guarantee that SOUTH OF HEAVEN is like nothing you've ever seen. (Zack Carlson) Please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for information on registering to watch films and to learn whether your computer meets the hardware and bandwidth requirements .