by MATTHEW HAYS

Christ almighty, did we miss you! It’s only been two years, but last summer’s cancellation of the Fantasia Film Festival (due only to venue troubles, as the Imperial was under renovation) was one of the biggest let-downs of that season.

Now the event has returned, and for movie buffs who love the off-kilter, high-kicking, fucked-up, loony and gore-filled, for those who crave subtle movies that feature hypodermic needles going into eyeballs, this festival’s got your sorry-ass taste oozing all over it!

The most obvious change people will notice is venue: with the Imperial’s lengthy and extensive renos ongoing, the fest has moved west into Concordia’s Hall Building and De Sève cinemas (they’re right across the street from each other). Though a school auditorium might sound sucky, in fact, as anyone who’s seen a movie in them knows, these cinemas are great places to see films. And the sound system in the Hall Building has been completely revamped just to accommodate Fantasia.

First off, one of my favourite film fetishes is returning, big time. Hot on the heels of Danny Boyle’s brilliant 28 Days Later, Fantasia rolls out the flesh with an unparalleled international buffet of bloodsucking weirdos. From Australia comes Undead, from Argentina comes Plaga Zombie: Zona Mutante, and from Spain comes Mucha Sangre. Not to be left out, Montreal’s own gruesomely hilarious zombie send-up, Graveyard Alive is a feature none other than Troma legend Lloyd Kaufman declares "an experience not to be missed."

As well, fans of the Re-Animator series will have their appetites (and curiosities) sated with the Canadian premiere of Brian Yuzna’s long-awaited Beyond Re-Animator.

RE-IMAGINING ROMANCE

Are you as sick of Hollywood’s shit-ass explorations of romance as I am? Get set for some seriously sick-o love stories, as Fantasia also gears up with a series of romances for those filmgoers who were dropped on their heads as babies.

The American indie Love Object features a man who can’t seem to get ahead with the ladies. Instead, he plays out his fantasies with a blow-up doll. Things go from bad to grisly in this nasty little movie. And the supporting players are worth the price of admission alone: who’d have thought, Udo Kier and Rip Torn together in one movie!

A Korean absurdity, Kick the Moon, also screens, in which a tattered love triangle (between a gangster, a schoolteacher and a noodle shop owner) plays itself out, bumps and all. This was one of South Korea’s biggest box office hits of 2001. Also from Korea is My Sassy Girl, about one rather stupid young man’s romantic obsession with a drunken girl who shows her affection through acts of abuse. Described as a romance that shows how vomit can bring people together, the English-language remake rights have already been snapped up by DreamWorks. Montreal audiences were recently treated to the kinkiness of The Isle. Director Kim Ki-Duk returns with a film involving prostitution, Bad Guy, a story that revolves around abuse and degradation between the genders.

Fantasia is saluting the French fantastique in ’03, highlighting films like Maléfique, Eric Valette’s prison drama about a group of inmates who try everything to bust out of the big house, including black magic. Sounding downright Polanski-esque is Marina De Van’s directorial debut (she’s a screenwriter who’s collaborated with François Ozon several times), In My Skin. Here, one little nutjob decides that the wound on her leg is kinda cool. So, she won’t let it heal. She keeps reopening the wound, and then starts to make new wounds on other parts of her body. Soon, she becomes a recluse, too weary of trying to explain all the new cuts and bruises all over her body. Sounds like the kind of movie you have to pack the barf bag for. In other words, Fantasia at its best!

Fantasia unspools from today, July 17, to Aug. 10 at Concordia’s Hall Building (1455 de Maisonneuve W.) and the De Seve Cinema (right across the street in the Library Building). Info: www.fantasiafestival.com

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