by MARK SLUTSKY

Some three weeks and dozens of films later, Fantasia’s 10th anniversary edition is finally drawing to a close. The fest officially ends this Monday, which means you’ve got a weekend to catch up on the latest and greatest in international genre cinema before they pack it in for another year.

The Fantasia Under the Stars program continues with outdoor screenings of popular flicks from Fantasias past. On Friday, July 21, at 9 p.m., check out Night of the Living Dorks, a German crowd-pleaser from last year’s edition about a trio of undead Poindexters. The next night, Saturday the 22nd, also at 9 p.m., check out Attack the Gas Station, a Korean comedy that showed at the 2000 festival, about a group of young toughs who take over, yes, a gas station. Both screenings are free and take place in Parc de la Paix (St-Laurent between Ste-Catherine and René-Lévesque).

If you read this article in time, check out the world premiere of The Descendant tonight, Thursday, July 20. This Quebec-set ghost story is a labour of love for local director Philippe Spurrell, who’s also the founder of screening club the Montreal Film Society, and who’ll be on hand to host the screening. The Descendant is preceded by Beyond the Pearly Gates of Ill-Repute, a silent black and white short comedy meant to look like a vintage stag film and directed by local filmmakers Elizabeth Lawrence and Elza Kephart (Graveyard Alive).

The latest film from Takashi Shimizu, best known on these shores for the Ju-On films (the basis of the American The Grudge, which he also directed) is Reincarnation, about an actress cast in a horror film who begins to sense a connection with the victims of the real-life crime the movie she’s shooting is based on. The Echo is another intriguing horror film, this one from the Philippines. Director Yam Laranas’s movie, shot entirely with natural light and with no post-production special effects, is about a guy who buys a condo in an increasingly creepy old building.

Fantasia’s Russian Roulette program continues apace with the Canadian premiere of Aleksei Sidorov’s Shadowboxing, a slick, big-budget boxing picture. Also on the bill this week is Aziris Nuna, a fantastical adventure based on the work of writer Sergei Lukianenko.

If stalk footage is more your thing (ugh... sorry), Robert Morgan may not be a household name, but those who know the work of the British stop-motion animation artist swear by his genius. The man himself will be hosting Worlds of Wounded Clay, a special presentation of five of his short films, a unique little retrospective you’ll see nowhere else.

Werner Herzog’s films have been shockingly poorly distributed in our neck of the woods, so don’t miss the chance to see The Wild Blue Yonder, starring Brad Dourif, on the big screen. Documentary footage from NASA and from under the arctic ocean serves to enhance this sci-fi story.

Finally, don’t forget Fantasia’s closing film and definitely the festival’s weirdest programming decision: Érik Canuel’s Quebec-Ontario bilingual buddy movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop, with Patrick Huard and Colm Feore as Quebec and Ontario police officers, respectively, forced to work together and hilariously overcome their cultural differences.

Fantasia runs through July 24, See www.fantasiafest.com for schedule and ticket info

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