Last Updated on July 23, 2021
HEAR CHRIS BUMBRAY TALK FANTASIA 2010 ON OUR PODCAST!
And so ends another year at the Fantasia Film Festival…
All in all, this was an incredibly good year for the fest. There’s been a lot of buzz lately about how Fantasia was quickly establishing itself as the top genre film festival in North America, in a way that would put the Montreal based festival on the map in a big way. Sure enough, compared to previous years, there was a very eclectic mix of films. Some were upset that Asian and horror films seemed to be getting short shift in favor of big Hollywood blockbusters like THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE, and SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD.
However, while there were a bunch of high profile films, there’s was no shortage of good, indie, genre fare- and the following is my list of some of the essential films I saw- along with a few of the “not so good “films. Special thanks to The Arrow, and Joblo for letting me cover Fantasia for the third year in a row. I always have a blast, and this one was no exception! Here are my favorite Fantasia 2010 films.
An absolutely bad-ass gangster flick I caught on the last day of the festival. This sprawling, two-part epic is exactly the type of film PUBLIC ENEMIES should have been. The true life tale of notorious French bankrobber Jacques Mesrine, in the lead- Vincent Cassel is nothing short of incredible. This is a classic gangster role for him in the same way SCARFACE was a classic for Pacino. Luckily, this will be hitting theaters in North America- with it being released in two parts: KILLER INSTINCT, and PUBLIC ENEMY NO. 1.
A shocking revenge flick that disturbed me in the way few films do. See it, if only for star Noah Taylor’s harrowing performance that, in a perfect world, would net him serious award consideration.
Easily the most fun film of the festival, and a true balls-to-the-wall horror flick courtesy of some wily Australians. Hopefully this one will see the light of say soon, as I truly think it could be a big crossover hit. Essentially a psychotic re-imagining of PRETTY IN PINK, this is a brilliant, stylish horror flick.
Probably the best film you’ll ever see about a telekinetic killer tire. A great piece of meta-fiction, RUBBER’s not scary at all- but a whole lot of fun.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF A PORNO GANG
Funny that the scariest film I saw at Fantasia was not a horror flick, but rather a scathing piece of social commentary, courtesy of the emerging Serbian underground film movement.
As for the worst films I saw, I’d advise anyone to skip THE LAST EXORCISM when it hit theaters later this month. It’s just a REC/CLOVERFIELD rip-off, that’s more silly than scary.
OTHER FANTASIA 2010 FILMS REVIEWED
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