If you’ve been following the marketing for Stone, you are no doubt poised to see a psychological thriller, of sorts. Unfortunately, Stone plays more like a  psychodrama than a psychological thriller.  The movie does a bang-up  job of establishing that something very, very  bad is going to happen.

Through music, imagery and a frightening  flashback we are conditioned to believe that there will be a showdown between good and evil.  I found myself on the edge of my seat, waiting for the proverbial shoe to drop, but it never does.

A strangely meandering story just sort of sputters out, and the film ends abruptly, prompting a “huh, you mean that was it?” It’s a pity, because there was a lot of potential in the movie.

Robert De Niro stars as Jack Mabry, a parole officer who works in a prison, reviewing cases to determine which inmates are qualified for a parole hearing.  He pores over the minutiae of each case, studies the files and conducts in-depth interviews with the potential parolees.  He is about to retire from his position when he is given one last case to review.

Edward Norton plays Gerald Creeson, who goes by the moniker “Stone.”  He is Jack’s last case. He has served ten years for arson, and he is starting to lose his mind within the confines of prison.  He is desperate to get out.  His sex-kitten wife Lucetta (Milla Jovovich) is also eager to have him back in her bed, and she is more than willing to use her sexuality to influence Jack’s decision.

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I remember when I saw the trailer for Buried (directed by Rodrigo Cortés and starring Ryan Reynolds), I thought it looked horrifying – though I was curious how the film would play out for it’s 94 minute running time.  While conceptually interesting, Buried is essentially about a man trapped inside a box – material which seems better suited for a short feature.  That conceit - and the fact that the film rests almost entirely on the performance of it’s only on-screen actor – make the fact that the film was completely engaging an even more impressive feat.

Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), a truck driver working in Iraq, recovers from unconsciousness to find that he is buried alive inside a wooden coffin with little more than a cell phone, a zippo lighter and a knife.  Paul’s initial reaction to his predicament is to panic – understandably – and the tension is palpable as he frantically tries to escape his claustrophobic surroundings.

He is eventually contacted by his kidnappers – via the planted cell phone he is buried with – who demand a ransom for him to be released alive.  Paul desperately tries to contact his employers and family before finally making a connection with an FBI agent, during which time he is able to vaguely recall the details of an ambush led by insurgents - presumably by those responsible for holding him hostage.

As Paul works within the confines of his surroundings to garner his release from captivity, there is never a moment when you aren’t vividly aware of his time running out.  A cellular battery slowly draining or dropping calls, a lighter running out of fuel to burn, limited oxygen to breathe and a bevy of other obstacles – punctuate the unlikelihood of Paul’s survival.  Yet there are fleeting  moments of hopeful respite here and there, just enough to string you – and Paul – along.

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Director Adam Green brought his patented flair for gore to Fantastic Fest with Hatchet II, the sequel to the well received Hatchet (2006.) The movie will be released in theaters unrated, the second October release to buck the trend and opt for no rating (the other being I Spit on Your Grave 2010, which also showed at the festival.)

Hatchet II has the distinction of being the first film that theater chain AMC will release and support in unrated form, through their independent program.  Dark Sky films is the distributor, and this marks the largest unrated release in major theaters in 25 years.  That’s  a huge development for horror, and for that reason alone, if you are a horror fan, you should support this movie by buying a ticket.

Although I personally adore Adam Green, and fully support his career, I found the hype for Hatchet perplexing.  I watched the film twice, just to see if I missed something, but I never found the movie to be very good.  The story behind Victor Crowley (played by Kane Hodder in both films) is interesting, but the secondary characters are grating, to say the least.

Fortunately most of those tourist types have been eliminated from the sequel, and the story has been stripped down to a bare bones slasher flick.  You get exactly what you expect, no more, no less.  It’s a good October release, and should satisfy those looking for a an old-school throwback to the films they grew up with, but don’t expect any new ground to be broken here.

Hatchet II literally picks up precisely where Hatchet left off.  Scream queen Danielle Harris steps into the role of Marybeth this time around. If you recall, she was the sole survivor of Victor Crowley’s bloodbath in Hatchet, and she flees to the safety of an isolated house occupied by a swamp dweller. All is fine and good until he actually finds out who she is, then he promptly kicks her out of his house.

Marybeth seeks answers from New Orleans Voodoo shop owner/ghost tour operator Reverend Zombie, played by horror icon Tony Todd (Candyman.)  He’s sympathetic to her plight, and decides to accompany her into the swamp to retrieve the bodies of her father and brother. They assemble a ragtag group of people to track down Crowley.

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30 Days of Night: Dark Days (directed by Ben Ketai and starring Kiele Sanchez, Diora Baird and Mia Kirshner) is the sequel to 30 Days of Night, both of which are adapted from the Steve Niles’ graphic novel series of the same name.  The film centers around Stella Oleson (Kiele Sanchez) who has coped with the vampire massacre of her Alaskan hometown (far enough north that it experiences a month of darkness, which the light-sensitive vampires take advantage of) by publishing an account of the attack which claimed the lives of many of it’s citizens - including her husband, Eben.

Stella uses her book tour to draw out and publicly expose vampires to warn people of their existence (and maybe kill one or two of them in the process). During one such tour in Los Angeles, she is contacted by a small group of fellow vampire-attack survivors as well as an unusual vampire named Dane, who still retains enough of his humanity to mourn the loss of his own family, casualities of the attack which turned him.

Acting as a kind of support group, the band convince Stella to work with them as they seek retribution for their mutual losses with the primary goal of destroying the vampire Lilith (Mia Kirshner) - who apparently has control over the other nests of vampires – believing that her eradication will aid in their plan to annihilate vampires entirely.

Shifting the setting from northern Alaska to Los Angeles creates a different tone – both in color and general atmosphere.  The first film established a helpless feeling of isolation for it’s characters with it’s remote, dark and snowy location.

To evoke a similar climate of desolation, Ketai shot the film in areas that appeared to be uninhabited or overlooked – like Skid Row – and it is very effective.  Claustrophobic, dark tunnels are utilized to establish an overall feeling of tension, particularly as characters are preyed upon and picked off one-by-one.

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Jane:  Short Fuse: This collection of horror shorts had a few that really stood out to me among the crowd.

Ninjas (directed by Dennison Ramalho) was anticipated to be one of the best by a lot of people that I spoke with at FF.  It contained a truly disturbing scene and an inventive visual sequence that had me squirming in my seat, though some of the imagery used was remeniscent of J-horror films (which a lot of people like, I think I am just way burned out on it).   

Rosenhill (directed by Johnan Lundborg and Johan Storm) is a clever piece about an elderly woman who has recently moved into a nursing home and believes that the staff have nefarious plans for her.  I really enjoyed it.  

Interview (directed by Sebastian Marka) is a dark, humorous yarn which slowly unravels as a journalist interviews a serial killer – this film was a lot of fun and made great use of it’s short running time.  

Off Season (directed by Jacob Jaffke) a man and his dog break into unused summer homes by an ice covered lake during the winter season and find something disturbing and terrifying while they pilfer for loot.  This piece was so beautifully filmed, the stark winter setting adds a tremendously haunting atmosphere to the story, this was easily my favorite among the short programs.

Stake Land (directed by Jim Mickle and starring Danielle Harris, Connor Paolo and Nick Damici) Set in a kind of post-apocalyptic world in which vampires have infested nearly every part of the globe (save the colder climates, as these vampires are cold-blooded like reptiles), a young boy is rescued by an older man after his family is slaughtered and together they seek refuge in a place called New Eden (Canada) which they believe is free of vampire infestation.

It’s hard not to make comparisons to The Road - and to a lesser extent, to Zombieland - because there are many similarities.  This isn’t to say that the film isn’t good – I enjoyed it quite a bit – but I do think it suffers from the resemblances that it bears to other recent releases covering similar themes.

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Harrowing is the word that keeps coming to mind every time I think about this nasty little Spanish thriller, also known as Secuestrados.   It’s a nail biter from the opening long-cut sequence to the shocking conclusion.

The film begins with a bloodied man in a business suit (with a white plastic bag tied over his head) desperately trying to catch a breath of air as he stumbles toward a road.  Since he can’t see, he walks right into oncoming traffic, and ends up on the hood of a car.

The horrified driver assists him in removing the bag, and the man pleads for the driver to call his house. He tries to warn his daughter not to let anyone in and to call the police. It’s too late, his daughter says, they are already there, and they have shot mom… The entire opening is filmed in one continuous take, and it is tense as hell.

Next up we see a (different) man and his family moving into their beautiful contemporary home.  Wife Marta (Ana Wagener) directs the moving crew on where to deliver boxes, and has planned a celebratory family night to settle into their posh new home. Daughter Isa (Manuela Vellés) has opted for a night out with her boyfriend instead.

Before the two can resolve their differences, their familial bickering is silenced by a trio of home invaders who forcefully and swiftly let it be known that they mean business. One takes off with dad Jaime (Fernando Cayo) in order to drain his bank account at the ATM.

That leaves Marta and Isa to fend for themselves against the terrifying thugs who brutalize and torment the women over the course of the evening.

The film takes place in real-time, and makes great use of split screen during some of the excruciating scenes. The rest of the scenes are shot as single uncut shots, so the audience gets to experience the sequence of events as the characters do. It’s a unique approach, particularly when coupled with the split screen.

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Exceptional writing, solid acting performances, and a refreshingly original premise elevate A Horrible Way To Die to the short list of must-sees from Fantastic Fest 2010. For a movie lover, there is nothing better than discovering a hidden gem in its pure state, before all the packaging and marketing sully the original vision.

Such was the case with this movie, which immediately emerged as one of my personal festival favorites. Writer Simon Barrett mines fresh territory in the serial killer genre by positing an intriguing premise; how would you move on with your life if your ex- boyfriend was a serial killer?

The story unfolds in a non-linear fashion, partially told in flashbacks. Sarah (played by Amy Seimetz) is a dental hygienist who is haunted by memories of her ex, who ended up being a Ted Bundy type serial killer. Understandably, she is crippled by self-doubt and insecurity because of her past, which makes a new relationship almost unthinkable. She regularly attends AA meetings.

Enter Kevin (Joe Swanberg), a sweetly awkward fellow addict who asks Sarah out. She tenuously accepts his invitation, and the two strike up a romance of sorts. Meanwhile, her ex escapes from prison during a routine transfer, and Sarah must come to grips with the fact that the man may be pursuing her. How will she share her dark secret with Kevin?

It’s a delicious spin on the whole serial killer sub-genre. The film slowly builds tension and lets us become familiar with the characters, so that when the twisty final act rolls around, it’s a real punch to the gut. Charismatic AJ Bowen (who also appeared in Hatchet 2, another Fantastic Fest movie) plays Sarah’s ex-boyfriend Garrick.

Like Mickey and Mallory in Natural Born Killers, Garrick has a rabid fan base that treats him like a celebrity. He gets fan mail and love letters when he is in prison and he has a facebook page and multiple websites dedicated to him.

It’s a chilling commentary on our current state of pop culture worship and our moral decline as a society. After all, we’ve already seen this type of behavior with Ted Bundy and multiple other serial killers; it’s hardly a far-fetched idea.

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By Shannon Hood and Jane Almirall

Shannon: It was all interviews, all day. First up was director Jim Mickle from Stake Land, along with actors Nick Damici and Connor Paolo.  What a great group of guys.  The trio were there to promote their post apocalyptic road/vampire movie.  Look for the interview and a review of Stake Land in the next week or so.

Our second interview of the day was with director Adam Green (Hatchet, Frozen, and Hatchet 2) along with Danielle Harris and Kane Hodder for Hatchet 2.  This was an exciting interview for me.  I’m a big Adam Green fan, and I’ve been watching Kane Hodder in horror movies since the late eighties.

Press day wrapped up with a chat with the Australian director Josh Reed, actress Qwen Boylan, and actor Wil Traval, who were discussing their IFC featured film Primal. All three interviews and film reviews will be published as soon as we can get them up.

Jane: The Housemaid 1960  Digitally remastered, this film is a slowly-paced, stylized tale of a prosperous family and their mentally unstable housemaid.  Characters manipulate, lie, plot and psychologically torture one another after the father conducts an impulsive affair with the maid, the consequences of which escalate out of control.

I must confess, the overly dramatic acting style made this feature a bit of a slog to get through, but a surprising twist at the end paid off in a big way.

Hatchet 2 (directed by Adam Green starring Kane Hodder and Danielle Harris.) This film plays like a cinematic love letter to the slasher films of the 80′s – the horror movies of my childhood that I grew up loving.  Many horror film icons turn up as characters as Marybeth and Victor Crowley square off for mutual retribution, resulting in the kind of revolting gore and over the top violence that fans of Hatchet have come to expect from Adam Green. Hatchet 2 features some inventive and disgusting kill scenes (FUN!) and in defiance of censorship will be released as an unrated feature.

Jack Chop (directed by Adam Green.) This short film was the bumper preceding Hatchet 2 – which nicely set the tone for the somber exercise in minimalist restraint that was the main feature.  I kid!  This 3 minute, mock-infomercial for a jack ‘o lantern carving kit was a gory, goofy bit of slapstick – in the vernacular of the director, it was wicked awesome.

While she’s not busy beating up the creator of Fantastic Fest, Tim League, Michelle Rodriguez is off making some pretty bad ass films. She was the strong female lead (not the damsel in distress) in this summer’s Machete, and now it seems that she’s got another machine-gun-toting action film in the works with Citizen Jane.

As awesome of a premise as you could come up with given that title, you can imagine what the filmmakers were thinking of when this concept was written out.

Citizen Jane stars Michelle Rodriguez as Charlotte Foster Jane, a lethal assassin hell bent on avenging the murder of her parents in this guns blazing, action packed retelling of Orson Welles 1941 classic, Citizen Kane.

She will do anything for her Rosebud…

Set to release September 5th of next year (during Fantastic Fest ’11, no doubt), we will hopefully get some more info about the film as we get closer to the release date. In the meantime, check out the intense teaser trailer for it after the jump and ask yourself “What would you Xanadu?”

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Like everyone  else, I was  upset when I heard that they were going to remake the beloved Swedish vampire film Let The Right One In.

However, let it be said that this is one of the most beautiful, poignant, and moving films of the year.

Director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) maintains the look and feel of the movie by bathing the frequent nighttime scenes in blue hones.  The crisp snowscape is now set in New Mexico, but the apartment courtyard where the two principals initially meet is nearly identical to the original.

Chronically bullied Owen (Kodi Smit-McGhee) notices a young girl and her father who have moved into his complex.  Over the course of several nights, he strikes up a friendship with the mysterious girl, bonding over a mutual love of puzzles and games.

She is guarded at first, but eventually warms up to Owen.  However, it is quickly apparent that she is no ordinary child.  She walks barefoot in the snow, by choice.  She shuns the daytime hours, and her relationship with her “father” appears a bit more sinister as time goes by.

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Fantastic Fest 2010 was host to the first public screening of  I Spit on Your Grave: Unrated (2010.) The film is a remake of the shocking, iconic 1978 movie sometimes known as Day of the Woman.

A lot of people argue that there was no need to remake the film, which to this day is considered one of the most disturbing movies of all time.

So, does the update do the original justice? Quite simply, it does, and then some.

(Female) producer Lisa Hansen came out to introduce the film to the audience, and she also participated in a Q & A session following the film.

She indicated that over 100 cuts had been made to the movie to try to placate the MPAA, but finally distributor Anchor Bay threw in the towel and decided to release the movie as unrated. This is a ballsy movie nowadays, as many large chains won’t even book an unrated film, so that may be why you have a hard time finding the film in a theater near you. Kudos to Anchor Bay for sticking to their guns, and director Steven R. Monroe’s vision.

The premise of the movie has remained almost identical to the original. A fresh scrubbed writer type from the big city has sought out the peace and quiet of an isolated cabin in the woods, hoping to get a jump on writing her second novel.

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By Jane Almirall and Shannon Hood

Day three of the festival we got some screenings in, a few interviews, and lots of shorts.

I Saw The Devil Directed by Ji-woon Kim.  Starring Byung-hun Lee (The Good the Bad, the Weird) and Min-sik Choi (Oldboy, Lady Vengeance.)

Shannon:  I seriously contemplated not attending this screening, because it was so early, and because it was subtitled, and it was 2 and 1/2 hours long.

I am so glad I decided to attend.  This Korean revenge movie blew me away, and is my favorite movie of the festival thus far.

I Saw The Devil is a beautiful, brutal, and horrifying revenge tale.  It has the most chilling sociopathic villain I have seen in any movie since Hannibal Lector. The 2 and 1/2 hour running time flies by.  Full review forthcoming.

Interview: Simon Rumley (director; Red, White, and Blue.)  Simon is from London, but directed his film entirely in the Austin area, and even hosted a pub crawl to the various venues that he used in the movie.  He talked about the taboos he broke in the movie, the jarring musical score, and how influential pal Tim League helped him with the movie.  Full interview forthcoming.

We Are What We Are Directed by Jorge Michel Grau.  Starring Adrián Aguirre, Miriam Balderas, Francisco Barreiro, and Carmen Beato. Summary:  When the patriarch of the family passes away, the teenage children must take responsibility for the family chores: the preparation of the rituals…

This was a bit of a mixed bag, about a mexican family of cannibals who must make do after the patriarch of the family passes away unexpectedly.

What’s surprising is that cannibals are usually depicted as redneck backwards ass families.  This is, by all appearances, a normal family.

They eat humans for “the ritual,”  but the movie never really explains what the ritual is.  I wish we would have found out more about their motivations for the cannibalism.  I’m kind of in the middle on this one.

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