Thursday, August 8, 2013

Munich Fantasy Film Fest 2013 - what to watch?

Each year takes place in Munich (and other cities in Germany) the Fantasy Film Festival (FFF), a long week of showing horror, thriller and science fiction movies:
http://www.fantasyfilmfest.com/
Last year was a good one, see the report on the MFFF2012.
This year it takes place from August 27th to Septembre 7th, and I will give you here some recommendations of what you can go and see.
The complete list of films can be found here with their trailers:

The timetable for Munich (MFFF2013) can be downloaded from here:

 The whole festival magazine can be found here ( ! 11 Mb ! ):
http://www.fantasyfilmfest.com/media/FF13_Catalog_Muenchen.pdf

This year the movies will be shown mainly in the CINEMA theater (Nymphenburger Str. 31, numbered seats) and only for a few of them in the GABRIEL Kino (Dachauer Str. 16, I don't know about the seats).
Usually all movies are shown in orginal version without subtitles when the language is English ("Eng OV") and with English subtitles otherwise ("OMEU"). Sometimes subtitles are in German ("OMDU"). This is indicated in the timetable.
Tickets pre-sale starts on August 19th at 17:00, it is important to get good seats.

Some movies we have seen already at the BIFFF2013. I provide the rating we gave it for information but you can also follow the link for the full review:
My recommendations are, in chronological order (in red the ones I will go see for sure):
  • The Congress (27/08 20:00): part live, part anime, a story by Ari Folman (Waltz with Bashir) about the becoming of actors in a CGI world. Must see. If you miss it you have another chance on 31/08 at 12:30.
  • Son of Cain (28/08 15:00) follows a weird teenager that loves playing chess, and the reaction of the people surrounding him. Could be good, but it is early in the day.
  • I declare war (28/08 17:00) was shown at the BIFFF2013 but I didn't see it. This story of children playing with real weapons is original and could be good. I will decide if I go on the spot.
  • The Lords of Salem (28/08 19:15): the latest Rob Zombie (Devil's rejects, Halloween) didn't please the fans in the USA, but I wouldn't miss it.
  • Big Ass Spider! (28/08 21:30): Do I need to say more?
  • Devil's Pass, a.k.a The Diatlov Pass Incident (28/08, 23:15): From the Finish director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger), it won an award (Titra price) at the NIFFF2013. Knowing this only I will go if I am not too tired, but will not buy the ticket in advance.
  • The Numbers Station (29/08 15:00): a thriller with John Cusack, could be good but too early in the day.
  • uwantme2killhim? (29/08 17:00) shows students avenging a friend's death and going again a terrorist. I am not sure it is well done, but I may go.
  • Pawn Shop Chronicles (29/08 19:00) is a comedy that shows three crazy stories in parallel about a bank robbery. The trailer looks fun. I will go.
  • Zombie Hunter (29/08 21:30): the trailer promises some good splatter death and the movie features Danny Trejo (Machete). It may be not so good in the end but I will go.
  • Banshee Chapter (29/08 23:30) is about "a mind control experiment with horrific consequences". It could remind of Jacob's Ladder but it is shot in a found footage style that looks awful. I may go if I find the strenght at this late hour.
  • Northwest (30/08 13:00), a Danish gangster movie reminding of the Pusher trilogy. It looks very energetic and the music is great. But it plays early on that Friday.
  • Europa report (30/08 19:00): A bit like Red Planet / Ghosts of Mars / Misison to Mars, but shot like a found footage. With the actor of District 9.
  • Robin Hood (30/08 21:30 in GABRIEL): no trailer available yet for this movie but is a German adaptation of the classic story in the near future. I will go to see what it is about. 
  • Miserere (31/08 17:00), "La Marque des Anges" in French is a thriller with Gerard Depadieu and Rap singer JoeyStarr. It could be good, but I am afraid it may be characteristic of French thriller with an ending not ambitious enough. Moreover it was released months ago in France so it is weird to go to a Festival to see it.
  • In the Name of the Son (31/08 19:15): A French movie that won at the NIFFF2013 the Melies award for the best European movie. Based on this I will go.
  • Dark Touch (31/08 21:30 in GABRIEL) got the Mad Movies award at the NIFFF2013. I will go based on this.
  • Get Shorty (01/09 15:00): a compilation of short movies is always nice but I will decide on the spot.
  • Upstream Color (02/09 17:00) by the director of the very complex but interesting time travel story Primer. The movie seems to look beautiful but I am afraid it is Terrence Malick-style. I will decide on the spot.
  • Wrong (02/09 19:15): from Quentin Dupieux. I liked Rubber but didn't read so much good about this one. Not sure... 
  • Aftershock (02/09 21:15): about surviving after an earthquake in Chile, by Eli Roth (Hostel). Not sure I heard any good. I may go.
  • The Human Race (03/09 17:00) seems inspired by a Stephen King novel, in which people must run otherwise they are eliminated (=killed). I fear that beyond the nice concept, the reslization is poor.
  • Haunter (03/09 21:00): I liked the classic Cube and the recent Splice from Vicenzo Natali. This ghost story is promising.
  • Odd Thomas (03/09 23:15) is a rather big american production about a psychic boy. It will be refreshing amongst the rest of the small productions.
  • Welcome to the Jungle (04/09 17:00) shows a group of people training in the jungle, a bit like in Tropic Thunder but with Jean-Claude Van-Damme as instructor! Probably not the best movie but I will try to go.
  • Tulpa (04/09 23:15) is about sadistic rituals. It is probably hard to watch but the images look good, like in a Giallo. I may go if I am still awake and not tired. 
  • Three-60 (05/09 13:00) seems to be a good spanish thriller, but plays too early in the day.
  • Cheap Thrills (05/09 21:30): I read in Mad Movies that it is a simple but efficient thriller. I wil go.
  • The Last Days (06/09 17:15) shows a future in which man has fear of open spaces (topic maybe inspired by Asimov's Foundation). This Spanish movie could be nice. I will go.
  • The Philosophers (06/09 19:30) tells the story of students and their teacher living an experiment involving the end of the world. How to survive? Conflicts in the group are to be expected, like in The Experiment. I will go.
  • 100 Bloody Acres (06/09 21:30) was presented at the BIFFF2013. I did't see it but a friend who did told me it was a nice horrific comedy. I will follow his advice and go.
  • V/H/S 2 (or S-VHS) (06/09 23:30) is an anthology, i.e. consists of several parts. The first V/H/S had some nice segments and heard the same for this one.
  • Saving General Yang (07/09 13:00) looks like a Chinese 300. All chinese epic movies look the same so I am not really tempted by this one, although it is only 102 minutes long, rare for such a movie. I will go only if I feel I didn't see enough movies at the Festival!
  • Come out and Play (07/09 15:00) is the remake of the disturbing 1976 ¿Quién puede matar a un niño? (literally "Who could kill a child?") a.k.a. Death is a child's play a.k.a. Island of the Damned by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, and in which an island is taken over by the children who rebel against adults and kill them. For sure it will be less cult than the original but why not...
  • App (07/09 17:00) seems to be about a smartphone application (similar to Apple's Siri) that influences the live of people, and causes some terror. Again, why not?
  • A field in England, from the director of Kill List and Sightseers. I like this director so I would like to go but unfortunately I am already booked at that time.
It promises again to be a long Festival, with 18 movies I will see at least. As usual I will post my reviews less than a day after the projection.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)