by RAF KATIGBAK

Fantasia does more than bring in amazing high-quality sci-fi, horror, anime and fantasy films from all over the globe. For geeks like yours truly, it creates a unique wedgie-free environment where we can bust out our Gameboy RPGs, Star Trek Star Charts and Buffy the Vampire Slayer knowledge without fear of reprisal. When Fantasia was abruptly cancelled last year due to the Imperial's mysteriously perpetual "renovations," I was left feeling much like I felt when Tasha Yar was killed by a giant Jell-O mould creature on Star Trek TNG - confused and cheated.

Needless to say, the atmosphere at Concordia's Hall Theatre for the opening night of this year's Fantasia was electric. Despite lacking the regal splendour of the Imperial, the capacity crowd murmured with anticipation over the solid three weeks of kung fu, zombies and guns-that-mysteriously-never-run-out-of-ammo that lay ahead.

Danieeeeeeel!

Stage tech, festival celebrity and unofficial mascot of Fantasia Daniel Walther kicked it all off and almost received a standing O for doing what he does best (i.e. putting the mic stand on the stage) as programmers André Dubois and the always energetic Mitch Davis greeted the audience and presented the impressive giant screen Concordia had installed specifically for the festival. After Davis' final proclamation of "We're back!" was answered with a flurry of cheers and applause, the crowd was eager and ready.

Festival opener Resurrection of the Little Match Girl's numerous video-game and Hollywood action-movie spoof gags (like the gun-toting, motorcycle-riding, transsexual/lesbian character named Lara, as in Croft) kept the crowd in hysterics while the excellently choreographed fight sequences and gunplay kept them locked in their seats. While a few of the uninitiated found the narrative too jittery and confusing, most people with short attention spans (just about everyone) found it just right.

Undead was a wildly silly popcorn-muncher from Down Under that combined the classic zombie movie with an alien invasion twist (it also included the funniest hero vs. killer fish scene since Piranha II: The Spawning). While the quality of special effects for this low-budget feature was quite impressive, it was the Spierig Brothers' wry sense of humour and slapstick that tickled the audience's funnybone and had them howling. Great fun.

Chopstick slapstick

Interestingly enough, a lot of couples turned out for the Shaw Brothers' kung fu classic 36th Chamber of Shaolin. Go figure. I suppose nothing says "Let's get it on" more than a couple of bald Asian dudes kicking the shit out of each other while saying things like, "This will be of fine service for you, you bag of the scum. Who gave you the nerve to get killed here?" In all fairness to this high-quality digital remastering, the dialogue has been retranslated so the subtitles never really get that bad (which is, in some ways, a pity). Despite the coherent dialogue, there was plenty of chopstick slapstick to keep the crowd in hysterics, i.e. buckets of spit-up orange blood and lengthy, overly-dramatic death throes.

One of the most hyped films of the festival didn't disappoint. Ichi the Killer promised to push the limits of "good taste" and it did, and then some. Director Takashi Miike is a master of sucking the viewer into an uncomfortable world where there are no real good guys and it becomes a question of degrees of wrongness. "Half way through the film I had to actually ask myself, am I really seeing this?" said attendee Gilles Tremblay, a 26-year-old bike courier. Although Miike's Visitor Q was perhaps his finest work, Ichi takes the cake for sheer, over-the-top audacity. Love it or hate it, you can't deny Miike's ability to stir up controversy, as exemplified by the numerous discussion groups struck up in the lobby immediately after the film.

Coming attractions: Festival programmer Mi-Jeong Lee advises "don't come drunk to Come Drink With Me," as the film's fantastic sword play and dazzling fight choreography will no doubt leave the audience reeling enough as it is. The Backyard promises to be a twisted peek into true backwoods Americana. Anime lovers will certainly be lining up to check out Cowboy Bebop: the Movie, the full-length feature based on one of the smartest, funniest and most stylish animated series ever. If you've yet to see any CB episodes, go out and rent them all. They rule.

>> Movie Listings