Horror haven

>> Fantasia's frightening freakshow continues this year

by MATTHEW HAYS

The bizarre and bloody are bountiful at Fantasia 2000. True to the spirit of the fest, which has always flaunted as much horror as martial arts, the evil are back onscreen, and they are pissed and want some revenge.

Taking its cues from retro B-movie horrors, The Convent has a mob of zombie nuns attacking poor innocent types. Director Mike Mendez has pulled no punches, including a scene in which a nun is dragged behind a motorcycle. This is undoubtedly the comic gorefest of the fest's lineup. Also in the B-movie vein, drag performer extraordinaire Charles Busch brings his stage phenom, Psycho Beach Party, to the big screen, in an adaptation that manages to be fresh while preserving the essence of the original stage work. Thomas Gibson is among the beach hunks featured in the film, and Busch himself rises to the occasion, playing a nosy female cop.

Schlock horror gets a further homage with The Independent, in which Jerry Stiller plays a desperate B-movie filmmaker, washed up because of the decline of drive-ins. When his financiers step in to take over all 427 of his films, Stiller, with the help of his daughter (Janeane Garofalo), must fight back.

Satanists add to the fun with Ricky 6, a based-on-a-true-story movie about Ricky, a 15 year old whose mother trots him off to a remote reform school after suspecting him of smoking dope. Bad move, as it turns out. Ricky joins a group of kids who all dig the occult and soon enough he's chanting, sharpening knives and plotting various sacrifices (and you know what that means). Very creepy--and they didn't skimp on the ketchup budget here, either.

The local films include Island of the Dead, directed by Tim Southam (Drowning in Dreams), about the goings-on on an island set aside by New York authorities for the city's dead people. Malcolm McDowell stars and when he plays evil he can do no wrong. Opening the fest is Between the Moon and Montevideo, if nothing else an extremely surreal film. Did the screenwriters come up with this one while on acid? It's a strange Mad Max/Escape from New York hybrid, as our hero tries to get off a dumpy planet and find his way back to earth. Rabbits abound on this planet and there are meteor showers and truly strange sex sequences featuring none other than québécoise thespian Pascale Bussières. :

For showtimes, see repertory listings or check the Fantasia program