Fantasia Fest 2022: Dispatch 4
South Korean film The Killer is a bloody, violent delight. When a retired hitman is entrusted to care for a friend's daughter, things go awry when she falls in with the wrong people. Director Jae-Hoon Choi uses bone-crushing action to deliver a story about revenge and morality. With blood-spurting gore and a kill count that would put most slashers to shame, this ultra-violent thriller utilizes weapons of all types and fists of fury to exact its punishments. Featuring some of the best fight scenes you'll see this year with killer battles and even more brutal kills, the film moves at near breakneck speed, forgoing major plot developments for action set pieces, and it is all the better for it. If you thought that Taken wasn't sufficiently dark or aggressive, this is the film for you. Grade: A —Joel Winstead
Seo-jin Yoon’s Chorokbam is a difficult film to pin down. Its somber atmosphere feels much like a literal weight on the body, yet it never strays toward the kind of melodrama or convention one might expect from such a deep exploration of the monotony and tedium of middle-class family life. Bathed in dark green hues or otherwise accentuated by green surroundings or objects, Chorokbam is filled with overlooked omens and existential unease as its central family moves uncomfortably from day to day. As they do, Yoon trusts viewers to absorb the pressured, solemn tenor he’s created and relate to it as we see fit — something he makes very easy to do despite any differences in language or customs.
With clear influence from Japanese great Yasujirō Ozu both formally and thematically, Yoon’s unmoving camera hints at an entire unseen world just out of view and out of reach. His subjects seem entirely unaware of this world, possibly due to their economic and emotional hopelessness, but we know it exists, making Chorokbam that much more desolate and, sometimes, even unnerving. It takes a certain kind of movie fan to appreciate such a mournful and gloomy film, but if you count yourself among those who are fascinated by the existential nature of life’s ultimate banality, I urge you not to sleep on Chorokbam. Grade: A-minus —James Rosario
If Rebecca Hall wasn’t already considered the queen of modern indie horror after The Awakening and The Night House, Resurrection should seal the deal. The second feature from writer/director Andrew Semans (Nancy, Please) pushes Hall to new dramatic extremes as Margaret, a humorless single mother whose meticulously crafted life is turned upside down with the sudden resurfacing of David (Tim Roth, superb as a complete creep). The precise details of their shared history won’t be spoiled here, but suffice it to say that their relationship was a toxic one and continues to hold more sway over Margaret’s life than she’d like. Tense interactions and wondering just how much of what’s going on simply resides in our protagonist’s head nicely set the table for a wild, gleefully inexplicable climax that’s sure to rattle all but the most iron-bellied viewers. Grade: B-plus —Edwin Arnaudin
Legions is an Argentinian folk-horror film that blends together a possession narrative with slapstick horror akin to Evil Dead. While not nearly as good as that Sam Raimi series, this film certainly scratches the surface of gnarly demons prowling around and decapitating heads.
Set in present day, Legions centers on old shaman Antonio Poyju (Germán De Silva), who spends his days as a patient in an insane asylum, his glory days of killing demons long behind him. When an ancient evil he confronted in the past threatens his estranged daughter, Poyju has to come to terms with his mistakes to save his family.
The resulting adventures offer much to admire. The practical effects of the various demonic activity and the demons themselves are great — minus what can only be described as a dude in a bad gorilla suit — and as the film draws to a bloody climax, there are enough gore and Evil Dead vibes to make any genre fan’s heart squeal. The only unfortunate thing is that the best examples are in the last 20 minutes, and it can be a bit of a bore leading up to it. Director Fabián Forte has the chops to keep it interesting, but a flimsy first half brings it down. Grade: C-plus —JW
(Photos courtesy of the Fantasia International Film Festival)
