(Byzantium)
The Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, BIFFF to its friends, has moved from Tour & Taxis to Bozar. Do the folks at that cultural HQ know what sort of creatures they are letting in? We do.
BIFFF: from aliens to zombies
Vampires
There are zombie years and vampire years. In 2013 the aristocratic living dead are ahead of the proletarian living dead. Thanks to two old reliables. In Byzantium, seventeen years after Interview with the Vampire (with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise), Neil Jordan has taken on another voluptuous vampire drama. His bloodsuckers are gorgeous: rising stars Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace). The BIFFF is dubbing Neil Jordan a Knight of the Order of the Raven. An honour previously bestowed on horror maestro Dario Argento, who has filmed Dracula in 3-D. His daughter, Asia Argento, sinks her teeth into the role of a vampire, while Rutger Hauer lends his blue eyes to vampire-hunter Van Helsing. A coarser brand of horror is served up in The Thompsons, while Xan Cassavetes, daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, takes a soft-erotic approach in Kiss of the Damned.
There are zombie years and vampire years. In 2013 the aristocratic living dead are ahead of the proletarian living dead. Thanks to two old reliables. In Byzantium, seventeen years after Interview with the Vampire (with Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise), Neil Jordan has taken on another voluptuous vampire drama. His bloodsuckers are gorgeous: rising stars Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) and Gemma Arterton (Quantum of Solace). The BIFFF is dubbing Neil Jordan a Knight of the Order of the Raven. An honour previously bestowed on horror maestro Dario Argento, who has filmed Dracula in 3-D. His daughter, Asia Argento, sinks her teeth into the role of a vampire, while Rutger Hauer lends his blue eyes to vampire-hunter Van Helsing. A coarser brand of horror is served up in The Thompsons, while Xan Cassavetes, daughter of John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands, takes a soft-erotic approach in Kiss of the Damned.
(Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings)
Zombies
BIFFF without zombies would be like Brussels without Manneken Pis. Feasible in theory, but out of the question. There aren’t so many zombie films this year, but thankfully there is always, somewhere in this world, a nutter ready to point a camera at stumbling, rotting, disintegrating corpses. In Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings, Jade Castro from the Philippines has some fun with gay zombies. In Russia, too, the dead are suspiciously active. In his horror comedy Zombie Fever, Kirill Kemnits has the idea: on the one hand, hordes of zombies and on the other, veterans, misfits, and babes with automatic rifles. The zombies, of course, don’t need any films to make their mark on the festival. You do it for them: on 6 April you are expected in the Warandepark/Parc de Bruxelles, dressed as a zombie, for a picnic and the start of a parade. In the meantime, get in some slavering practice.
Zombies
BIFFF without zombies would be like Brussels without Manneken Pis. Feasible in theory, but out of the question. There aren’t so many zombie films this year, but thankfully there is always, somewhere in this world, a nutter ready to point a camera at stumbling, rotting, disintegrating corpses. In Remington and the Curse of the Zombadings, Jade Castro from the Philippines has some fun with gay zombies. In Russia, too, the dead are suspiciously active. In his horror comedy Zombie Fever, Kirill Kemnits has the idea: on the one hand, hordes of zombies and on the other, veterans, misfits, and babes with automatic rifles. The zombies, of course, don’t need any films to make their mark on the festival. You do it for them: on 6 April you are expected in the Warandepark/Parc de Bruxelles, dressed as a zombie, for a picnic and the start of a parade. In the meantime, get in some slavering practice.
(The Complex)
Ghosts
There are ghosts and ghosts. Those in the Spanish comedy Ghost Graduation are final-year students from 1986 who will never know rest until they finish secondary school. In Stitches, a dead clown is intent on vengeance, Eighties-style. On a slightly more spiritual level, Hellgate is about a father who has lost his wife and son in a terrible traffic accident in Bangkok and is in contact with restless souls. And there is a new film from the Japanese director who – in Ring and Dark Water – gave us the prototypes for the modern ghost film. From what we hear, in The Complex, Hideo Nakata elaborates on favourite themes such as feelings of guilt and mourning. A girl studying to be a nurse moves into a flat with her family. Alarming sounds draw her to a neighbour’s flat, where an isolated pensioner turns out to have died. The sounds keep recurring.
Ghosts
There are ghosts and ghosts. Those in the Spanish comedy Ghost Graduation are final-year students from 1986 who will never know rest until they finish secondary school. In Stitches, a dead clown is intent on vengeance, Eighties-style. On a slightly more spiritual level, Hellgate is about a father who has lost his wife and son in a terrible traffic accident in Bangkok and is in contact with restless souls. And there is a new film from the Japanese director who – in Ring and Dark Water – gave us the prototypes for the modern ghost film. From what we hear, in The Complex, Hideo Nakata elaborates on favourite themes such as feelings of guilt and mourning. A girl studying to be a nurse moves into a flat with her family. Alarming sounds draw her to a neighbour’s flat, where an isolated pensioner turns out to have died. The sounds keep recurring.
(Thale)
Fairy-tale characters
How to be creative with fairy-tale characters. In the Japanese sexploitation film Red Sword, Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t deliver cakes to old folk, but protects pretty students from randy wolf-men with her sword. In Hansel & Gretel Get Baked, a witch lures teenagers with a special marijuana blend. Fairytale will leave you terrified of the tooth fairy. A Norwegian film, Thale, shows you what a Huldra looks like: like a wood nymph in your naughtiest dreams, allergic to clothes and lethally dangerous. In the Spanish film Blancanieves, Snow White is not a princess, but the daughter of a famous, rich, and unhappily married bullfighter. Pablo Berger’s stylistic verve and narrative skill won a hearty “¡Olé!” from us as he conjured up a silent film in black-and-white worthy of standing alongside The Artist.
Fairy-tale characters
How to be creative with fairy-tale characters. In the Japanese sexploitation film Red Sword, Little Red Riding Hood doesn’t deliver cakes to old folk, but protects pretty students from randy wolf-men with her sword. In Hansel & Gretel Get Baked, a witch lures teenagers with a special marijuana blend. Fairytale will leave you terrified of the tooth fairy. A Norwegian film, Thale, shows you what a Huldra looks like: like a wood nymph in your naughtiest dreams, allergic to clothes and lethally dangerous. In the Spanish film Blancanieves, Snow White is not a princess, but the daughter of a famous, rich, and unhappily married bullfighter. Pablo Berger’s stylistic verve and narrative skill won a hearty “¡Olé!” from us as he conjured up a silent film in black-and-white worthy of standing alongside The Artist.
(Texas Chainsaw)
Serial killers and psychopaths
Too many of these this year to list them all. Hopefully, the employer in the Australian horror-comedy Inhuman Resources won’t be too familiar: he chains employees to their desks and has some idiosyncratic motivational techniques. In Maniac, Elijah Wood, once a sweet hobbit, plays a maker of fashion mannequins with a weakness for scalping young women. Horror icon Leatherface shows off his chainsaw skills in 3-D in the reboot Texas Chainsaw. We are hoping for more quality and less compulsive copying in the Korean film Confession of Murder, about a detective on a quest for revenge who suspects that, in his best-selling book, a serial killer has confessed to ghastly deeds he didn’t commit. In Chained – by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David – a taxi driver and serial killer raises a kidnapped boy using unorthodox methods, in the hope that he will later follow in his footsteps.
Serial killers and psychopaths
Too many of these this year to list them all. Hopefully, the employer in the Australian horror-comedy Inhuman Resources won’t be too familiar: he chains employees to their desks and has some idiosyncratic motivational techniques. In Maniac, Elijah Wood, once a sweet hobbit, plays a maker of fashion mannequins with a weakness for scalping young women. Horror icon Leatherface shows off his chainsaw skills in 3-D in the reboot Texas Chainsaw. We are hoping for more quality and less compulsive copying in the Korean film Confession of Murder, about a detective on a quest for revenge who suspects that, in his best-selling book, a serial killer has confessed to ghastly deeds he didn’t commit. In Chained – by Jennifer Lynch, daughter of David – a taxi driver and serial killer raises a kidnapped boy using unorthodox methods, in the hope that he will later follow in his footsteps.
(Ghost Sweepers)
Exorcists and priests
Even exorcists come in different varieties. Those in the low-budget horror film Hellbenders are a nice bunch. So as to be able to enter and leave hell with ease, they – gee, it’s hard being an exorcist – have to live in a permanent state of sin. In Kôji Shiraishi’s Cult, three idols who want to broadcast an exorcism live on TV run into problems: the devil is too smart for exorcist Unsui. In the Korean film Ghost Sweepers, exorcists flee en masse when they fail to free an island of evil spirits. Five eccentrics with paranormal gifts stay behind and have a hard time of it. If you prefer not to see priests in the role of heroes, then check out Au nom du fils by Brussels director Vincent Lannoo, who presents a devout woman bent on vengeance when the Church covers up the death of her son, who was abused by a young priest.
Exorcists and priests
Even exorcists come in different varieties. Those in the low-budget horror film Hellbenders are a nice bunch. So as to be able to enter and leave hell with ease, they – gee, it’s hard being an exorcist – have to live in a permanent state of sin. In Kôji Shiraishi’s Cult, three idols who want to broadcast an exorcism live on TV run into problems: the devil is too smart for exorcist Unsui. In the Korean film Ghost Sweepers, exorcists flee en masse when they fail to free an island of evil spirits. Five eccentrics with paranormal gifts stay behind and have a hard time of it. If you prefer not to see priests in the role of heroes, then check out Au nom du fils by Brussels director Vincent Lannoo, who presents a devout woman bent on vengeance when the Church covers up the death of her son, who was abused by a young priest.
(The Host)
Monsters and aliens
Here’s a little theory: monsters are used to send shivers down our spine, aliens to mess with our minds. Spiders 3-D is B-movie fun with giant mutant spiders in the streets of New York. They have made a 3-D version of Jurassic Park, the Steven Spielberg film that taught the world the difference between a velociraptor, a triceratops, and a tyrannosaurus rex. In Grabbers, bloodsucking creatures conquer an Irish island but turn out to be allergic to alcohol. To survive, you have to drink as much as possible: how simple a concept is that? Also Irish, but a bit more complicated, Earthbound is about a geek who is convinced that he is an extra-terrestrial. Even more brain cells are required by The Host, Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca) adaptation of a sci-fi book by Stephenie “Twilight” Meyer. Its aliens look like light-emitting pieces of fluff; they are more peaceful than humans and ten times better for the Earth. But they make use of our bodies. And that leads to friction.
Monsters and aliens
Here’s a little theory: monsters are used to send shivers down our spine, aliens to mess with our minds. Spiders 3-D is B-movie fun with giant mutant spiders in the streets of New York. They have made a 3-D version of Jurassic Park, the Steven Spielberg film that taught the world the difference between a velociraptor, a triceratops, and a tyrannosaurus rex. In Grabbers, bloodsucking creatures conquer an Irish island but turn out to be allergic to alcohol. To survive, you have to drink as much as possible: how simple a concept is that? Also Irish, but a bit more complicated, Earthbound is about a geek who is convinced that he is an extra-terrestrial. Even more brain cells are required by The Host, Andrew Niccol’s (Gattaca) adaptation of a sci-fi book by Stephenie “Twilight” Meyer. Its aliens look like light-emitting pieces of fluff; they are more peaceful than humans and ten times better for the Earth. But they make use of our bodies. And that leads to friction.
(Antiviral)
Sick doctors
No idea what they did to deserve it, but in the course of the BIFFF, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff are dragged through the mud as if they were murderers or bankers. Brandon Cronenberg turns out to be just as fascinated by everything deviant as his father: in Antiviral, fans shell out large sums of money in order to suffer from the same illnesses as their idols. A hospital employee smuggles viruses out by injecting himself with them. The elder Cronenberg has also influenced the sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska, whose American Mary, we are told, is a stylised, dark, brutal film. A poor female medical student becomes the favourite clandestine surgeon of people who get their kicks from extreme body modification; she practises on the arrogant doctor who abused her. In Excision, the misfit Pauline is consumed by disturbing nocturnal sexual fantasies involving surgical equipment and litres of blood. In Vanishing Waves, an artistic film from Lithuania, a researcher gets inside the head of a mysterious patient in a coma. He keeps quiet about the fact that he has erotic adventures with her.
Sick doctors
No idea what they did to deserve it, but in the course of the BIFFF, doctors, nurses, and other medical staff are dragged through the mud as if they were murderers or bankers. Brandon Cronenberg turns out to be just as fascinated by everything deviant as his father: in Antiviral, fans shell out large sums of money in order to suffer from the same illnesses as their idols. A hospital employee smuggles viruses out by injecting himself with them. The elder Cronenberg has also influenced the sisters Jen and Sylvia Soska, whose American Mary, we are told, is a stylised, dark, brutal film. A poor female medical student becomes the favourite clandestine surgeon of people who get their kicks from extreme body modification; she practises on the arrogant doctor who abused her. In Excision, the misfit Pauline is consumed by disturbing nocturnal sexual fantasies involving surgical equipment and litres of blood. In Vanishing Waves, an artistic film from Lithuania, a researcher gets inside the head of a mysterious patient in a coma. He keeps quiet about the fact that he has erotic adventures with her.
(I Declare War)
Naughty children
How noble: a number of film directors are trying to do something about overpopulation by putting you off the idea of ever having children, who are presented as fiends and lethally dangerous wretches who ruin everything. I Declare War goes over the same ground as Lord of the Flies: a game turns serious and suddenly becomes a matter of life and death. Citadel magnifies the fear of teenagers hanging around the streets and riffraff in hoods. In Found, a lonely youngster, obsessed with horror, discovers that his older brother is a serial killer. In the Mexican film Here Comes the Devil, following a brief disappearance, two children are not the same any more but won’t say a word about what has happened. The title speaks for itself. In Mama, produced by Guillermo del Toro, two little sisters turn up who had disappeared five years earlier when their mother was murdered. Uncle Lucas and Aunt Annabel (Jessica Chastain!) take them in. Their calling a horrid apparition “mama” doesn’t bode well.
Naughty children
How noble: a number of film directors are trying to do something about overpopulation by putting you off the idea of ever having children, who are presented as fiends and lethally dangerous wretches who ruin everything. I Declare War goes over the same ground as Lord of the Flies: a game turns serious and suddenly becomes a matter of life and death. Citadel magnifies the fear of teenagers hanging around the streets and riffraff in hoods. In Found, a lonely youngster, obsessed with horror, discovers that his older brother is a serial killer. In the Mexican film Here Comes the Devil, following a brief disappearance, two children are not the same any more but won’t say a word about what has happened. The title speaks for itself. In Mama, produced by Guillermo del Toro, two little sisters turn up who had disappeared five years earlier when their mother was murdered. Uncle Lucas and Aunt Annabel (Jessica Chastain!) take them in. Their calling a horrid apparition “mama” doesn’t bode well.
(Stoker)
Homo monstrous
It can always get worse. Even worse than possessed kids, aliens, monsters, exorcists, zombies, vampires, and ghosts? The homo who thinks himself sapiens, but turns out to be monstrosus. For mad doctors, dangerous exorcists, and much cleverer serial killers, we had to come up with separate categories. Which leaves avengers, cannibals, and swindlers. Korean director Kim Ki-duk (The Isle, Bin-jip) triumphed at the Venice Festival with Pieta, a parable of violence: a frosty loner who makes a living out of maiming defaulting debtors suddenly finds himself mollycoddled by a woman claiming to be his mother. We are also eagerly looking forward to Stoker, the US debut of Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), with Nicole Kidman as an unstable widow, Mia Wasikowska as a sinister daughter, and Matthew Goode as a charming uncle with a dark secret. Too subtle and artistic for you? Well, in Fresh Meat, a gang discovers it’s not a good idea to take a family of cannibals hostage. It can always get worse: in Sawney: Flesh of Man the cannibals speak Scots.
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival • 2 > 13/4, Bozar, rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.bifff.org
Homo monstrous
It can always get worse. Even worse than possessed kids, aliens, monsters, exorcists, zombies, vampires, and ghosts? The homo who thinks himself sapiens, but turns out to be monstrosus. For mad doctors, dangerous exorcists, and much cleverer serial killers, we had to come up with separate categories. Which leaves avengers, cannibals, and swindlers. Korean director Kim Ki-duk (The Isle, Bin-jip) triumphed at the Venice Festival with Pieta, a parable of violence: a frosty loner who makes a living out of maiming defaulting debtors suddenly finds himself mollycoddled by a woman claiming to be his mother. We are also eagerly looking forward to Stoker, the US debut of Park Chan-wook (Oldboy), with Nicole Kidman as an unstable widow, Mia Wasikowska as a sinister daughter, and Matthew Goode as a charming uncle with a dark secret. Too subtle and artistic for you? Well, in Fresh Meat, a gang discovers it’s not a good idea to take a family of cannibals hostage. It can always get worse: in Sawney: Flesh of Man the cannibals speak Scots.
Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival • 2 > 13/4, Bozar, rue Ravensteinstraat 23, Brussel/Bruxelles, www.bifff.org
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