- One Cut of the Dead (2017, Dir: Shin’ichirô Ueda)
Storyline
A film crew is filming a zombie film in an abandoned warehouse when they are attacked by the actual living dead. What starts out as an incredible 37-minute single-take scene of a B-movie ends in a recital of backstage ineptitude by the most clumsy film crew you’ve ever seen.
It all starts with the eventful shooting of a zombie film in a deserted warehouse where the Japanese army is rumored to have conducted confidential experiments. Until the crew is attacked by real zombies. What looks like a cliché plot of yet another b-movie – shot in an amazing single shot – turns into an outrageous recital of amateurism, with the most clueless crew ever starring.
Nothing in this film is as it seems, since Shini’chirÔ Ueda uses grotesque elements of the zombie mythology in order to play with our perception, wrecking the genre and taking it to the comedy sphere in a way only the celebrated «Shaun of the Dead» had dared to do so.
Trailer:
- Climax (2018, Dir: Gaspar Noé)
Storyline
With his new film, the most provocative director of contemporary French cinema choreographs a clubbed to death nightmare according to which a young people’s party turns into hell on earth with the sounds of Daft Punk, Aphex Twin and Giorgio Moroder. A 100% Gaspar Noé creation, made with the aim of being an intense audiovisual experience, “Climax” won the Directors’ Fortnight Top Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
Entirely shot in an isolated dancing school during a party, «Climax» shows what happens when some- one mixes alcohol and powerful psychotropic substances into a sangria bowl – a total freak-out to the sounds of Giorgio Moroder, Aphex Twin and Daft Punk!
An 100% Gaspar Noe film, meant as an intense audiovisual experience, “Climax” is a clubbed to death nightmare, delivered with evident craftsmanship: a camera spinning around like a dizzy insect, a constant pounding of dance and techno music, colors and lighting that act like hallucinogens, sex and violence mixing together, everything at full blast. Art Cinema Award at the 2018 Cannes and some of the best reviews the French director has ever received.
Trailer:
- Await Further Instructions (2018, Dir: Johnny Kevorkian)
Storyline
A dysfunctional family wakes up on Christmas Day trapped in their house as a mysterious black substance has blocked every exit and the television is broadcasting increasingly strange survival instructions. A thrilling, full of twists and riddles horror film following in the footsteps of “The Twilight Zone” and “Black Mirror”.
It’s Christmas Eve and the members of the dysfunctional Milligram family celebrate in an equally dysfunc- tional mood. The next morning, a mysterious black substance envelops the house, blocking all exits. Soon, the TV starts showing messages with peculiar instructions. What has happened? The family considers all possible and impossible scenarios, from terrorism to nuclear war, and paranoia prevails in the house, with bloody results.
Cronenberg’s cinematic fears meet «The Twilight Zone» and «Black Mirror», through a delirium of paranoia and violence that never slows down. An apalled look at the isolation and conservatism that show their faces in modern Britain’s society.
Trailer:
- The Changeling (1980, Dir: Peter Medak)
Storyline
A dysfunctional family wakes up on Christmas Day trapped in their house as a mysterious black substance has blocked every exit and the television is broadcasting increasingly strange survival instructions. A thrilling, full of twists and riddles horror film following in the footsteps of “The Twilight Zone” and “Black Mirror”.
It’s Christmas Eve and the members of the dysfunctional Milligram family celebrate in an equally dysfunc- tional mood. The next morning, a mysterious black substance envelops the house, blocking all exits. Soon, the TV starts showing messages with peculiar instructions. What has happened? The family considers all possible and impossible scenarios, from terrorism to nuclear war, and paranoia prevails in the house, with bloody results.
Cronenberg’s cinematic fears meet «The Twilight Zone» and «Black Mirror», through a delirium of paranoia and violence that never slows down. An apalled look at the isolation and conservatism that show their faces in modern Britain’s society.
Trailer:
- In Fabric (2018, Dir: Peter Strickland)
Storyline
A cursed dress hides dire consequences for the unsuspecting woman who has purchased it and is having a hard time disposing of it. The award-winning director of “Berberian Sound Studio” and “Duke of Burgundy” delves deeper into his love of horror, skilfully threading together black humour, a giallo atmosphere, otherworldly Gothic figures and kinky eroticism.
In a busy clothes store, 50-year-old Sheila is persuaded by an eccentric saleswoman to buy a red dress. But the dress proves to be cursed and no matter how much she tries, she can’t get rid of it. The terrible consequences of her purchase keep pursuing her, as anyone else who comes upon it.
This unique director goes deeper with his invariably kinky flirt with horror cinema, this time with a haunting story that combines fashion, secret desires, consumerist delirium and, of course, death. Strong elements of black humor, giallo atmosphere, eerie goth figures and camp fetishism compose the multilayered lining of Strickland’s bold film, with Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Oscar nomination for «Secrets and Lies») in the leading role.
Trailer:
- Mandy (2018, Dir: Panos Cosmatos)
Storyline
Red and Mandy live happily in a remote house in the woods when they are attacked by a vicious gang of otherworldly bikers. A horror film boasting a psychotropic layer, a revenge film leading to a bloody violent crescendo, a work of fiction and heavy metal carnage, “Mandy” is this year’s after hours delight taken to the limits by Nicholas Cage’s delirious performance with which the planet’s most misunderstood actor takes his triumphant and hilarious revenge on the world.
Red and Mandy live happily in a secluded house in the mountains when a vicious otherworldly motorcycle gang attacks them brutally. After the attack, what is left in Rent is the wildest desire for revenge and the most deadly weapon of all: the rage of the man who lost everything. Panos Kosmatos delivers unexpectedly his magnum opus, just in his second feature film.
A horror film of extreme intensity, steeped in psychotropics, surrendered to a vengeful crescent of violence, given wholeheartedly to fantasy literature. The heavy metal holocaust called «Mandy» is the midnight delight of the year, an instant cult classic that takes off thanks to the delirious performance by Cage, marking the triumphant and hilarious revenge of the most unappreciated actor on the planet.
Trailer:
- Knife + Heart (2018, Dir: Yann Gonzalez)
Storyline
In the late 70s a famous gay porn producer is suffering from heartbreak while a serial killer goes round decimating the lead actors of her films. With Vanessa Paradis taking on the most unexpected role of her career, Yann Gonzalez offers up a playfully sexy homage to the films of Argento, De Palma and Anger combining the slasher genre with eroticism and the music of M83.
Anne, a famous gay porn producer, resorts to debauchery due to her separation with Lois, her film editor. When a serial killer starts murdering her actors, Anne is inspired to enrich the themes of her films, while fearing, at the same time, that she might be the next victim.
Yan Gonzalez, brother of M83’s Anthony Gonzalez (the band responsible for the film’s soundtrack), returns after «You and the Night» to pay tribute to the cinema of Dario Argento, Brian De Palma and Kenneth Anger, delivering a mixture of slasher film, parody and lesbian melodrama in a remarkably enjoyable creation that has what it takes to be considered a cult film.
Trailer:
- Postcards From London (2018, Dir: Steve McLean)
Storyline
A naive young man is initiated into the world of prostitution and arts in London in this sensational version of Fassbinder’s “Querelle” filled with Caravaggio paintings and reminiscent of Jarman’s cinema style. A delirium of art, a dream-like atmosphere with a brave performance by last year’s exceptional newcomer star of “Beach Rats”.
A goodhearted young man leaves his provincial birthplace hoping for a better (and more glamorous) life in London. He ends up in the company of some aesthete male escorts with encyclopedic knowledge about art and soon he is introduced to the world of paid sex and painting.
Twenty four years after his queer cinema milestone («Postcards From America»), McLean invites to a true aesthetic carousal. Stunning settings, dreamy atmosphere, unapologetic eroticism, stylish direction and the mesmerizing performance by the protagonist-revelation of last year’s «Beach Rats» make «Postcards from London» a spectacular pop tribute to Derek Jarman, Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s «Querelle» and Caravaggio.
Trailer:
***For extra information and Festival’s schedule, press here.
[source: AIFF]
Revisit:
22nd Athens International Film Festival, (21/9 – 02/10) – “After Hours” Section
23rd Athens International Film Festival, (20/9 – 01/10) – “After Hours” Section
‘Assembled’ by Christos Doukakis