Fantastic Fest 2022: Dispatch 1
With his deep dive into singular filmmaker David Lynch’s fascination with the 1939 perennial classic The Wizard of Oz, director Alexandre O. Philippe goes far beyond the trappings that such a niche exploration might suggest. Told in chapters narrated by six different filmmakers, Lynch/Oz transcends both of its subjects by holding a focused light up to not only the contrived similarities between the influencer and influenced, but the massive effect both have had on the art of filmmaking as a whole.
The narrators (Amy Nicholson, Rodney Ascher, John Waters, Karyn Kusama, Just Benson, and Aaron Moorhead) each offer distinct meditations on their upbringing with Oz and Lynch, while waxing philosophical about the complexity of artists, movies, and obsession. Similar to Ascher’s wonderful documentary Room 237 about Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, Lynch/Oz is equal parts impassioned and light-hearted but remains a well-researched and studious essay on an endlessly interesting topic. Movie history fans take notice: there’s a lot to bite into here, even if you’re not a devotee like I am. And Lynch fans, be prepared to have your perceptions altered and enhanced by ruby-tinted glasses. Grade: B —James Rosario
With Project Wolf Hunting, director Hong-seon Kim delivers what may be the goriest film of the year. Set on a cargo ship full of criminals, chaos erupts when they’re aided in an escape attempt, leaving the police and guards to fight for survival aboard the ship. It’s a very simple premise that could have been an action fest in the vein of The Raid, but turns into somewhat of a slog that’s bogged down by entirely too much plot. There are side plots, backstories, and flashbacks that all take away from the compelling kill-or-be-killed action taking place on the ship. Throw in an undead super soldier and things get really wacky.
Every single kill — and there are dozens — is drenched in buckets of blood and gore. Geysers of red liquid erupt from every wound, making sure the walls, floors, and ceilings are literally dripping. If an arm is hit, it's severely broken, if not completely severed, and used to finish killing someone. When the gore is at this insane level, you could toss in Frankenstein's monster and I would believe it, but I don't need a 30-minute backstory telling how he got there.
The intensity and gore-fest is so prolonged that, after two hours, I was definitely feeling that run-time. A more focused story on the cat-and-mouse game between inmates and guards would have been sufficient, but all this excess really sinks the ship. Grade: C —Joel Winstead
Sadrac González-Perellón’s Amazing Elisa is a difficult film to pin down. On one hand, it’s the story of an exasperated father who fears for his delusional daughter who thinks she has superpowers because she can bend medium-sized spoons with her bare hands and do equations really fast. On the other, it’s a psychosexual romp through the mind of a woman confined to a wheelchair, and her husband’s guilt over how she got there. Also tucked into the mix is a bit about a woman and her dog who stabs and presumably kills creepy guys who get a bit too handsy.
These three seemingly disparate storylines do eventually come together (sort of), but the resolution never quite makes up for their lack of cohesion getting there. However, when the fates do finally bring (most of) the players onto the same stage, the results are surprisingly intense. This energy, added to the spectacular acting and measured direction from González-Perellón, makes Amazing Elisa well worth a look for anyone inclined toward the odd and eccentric. Grade: B-minus —JR
The Offering is a "sprinkle of this” and a "dash of that" haunted house story disguised as a family drama. Focusing on a somewhat fractured family of Hasidic Jews, the fun starts when a body possessed by a Jewish demon is taken to the family's morgue — which, since this is a haunted house story, is in their basement. Being the local undertakers to the Hasidic community means this demon is now in their house.
The Offering is a possession movie at its core and tries to add emotional layers on top, but the already crowded narrative leaves no room for anything to connect with viewers. It wants to be lofty to set itself apart from genre peers, but these additions only serve to ladle on more confusion that, by the film's end, really leaves you scratching your head.
The over-reliance on jump scares as the main source of thrills is another pitfall in an already crowded list of cons, to the point that all scares are either very loud noises or abruptly edited jump scares that viewers can anticipate from a mile away. What could have been an interesting and religious possession movie becomes a run-of-the-mill effort. The creature design and execution are a lot of fun, but not even that can save this one. Grade: D —JW
(Photos courtesy of Fantastic Fest)
