Held at the Alamo Drafthouse South Lamar in Austin, TX, Fantastic Fest is known as the largest genre film festival in the United States. From horror to action, wacky comedy, and everything in between, Fantastic Fest offers something for every genre film fanatic. At this year’s Fantastic Fest, we at FandomWire saw 34 feature films, and we have decided what we think are the five best films we saw — from restorations to new releases.
After we share our top five films of Fantastic Fest with you, we will also share our thoughts on some of the other films we saw at the festival, so be sure to keep reading!
FandomWire’s Top 5 Films of Fantastic Fest 2024
5. The Guest
Okay, this might be cheating because we knew how good Adam Wingard’s The Guest was going into the festival, but this year’s edition of Fantastic Fest saw the world premiere of a stunning new 4K restoration of the Dan Stevens-starring thriller for its 10th anniversary. And man, does it look good.
As for the movie itself, it holds up super well. If you didn’t know, it follows a soldier who returns home from combat to the home of his friend who died in the war. After his friend’s family takes him in, it becomes clear that he may be harboring a dark secret. If you’re a genre film fan and somehow haven’t seen this yet, in a theater with this 4K restoration is the way to do it.
4. Anora
The latest film by Sean Baker (The Florida Project), Anora, took home the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, immediately thrusting it into the Oscar race. It’s no wonder why, as Anora is equally hilarious and touching, offering some of the best screenwriting, cinematography, and performances of any movie to have come out this year.
Check out our full review of Anora here!
3. Heads or Fails
Belgian brothers Lenny and Harpo Guit made quite a splash when their gross-out comedy Mother Schmuckers debuted at Sundance in 2021. Their sophomore feature, Heads or Fails, isn’t likely to be as incendiary as their debut, but that makes it the much better film. It follows a woman with a penchant for gambling as she finds herself on a series of increasingly wacky escapades — including a romantic one — during a crazy night of bets. It’s silly and dumb but also very heartfelt and hilarious. The best way to describe this movie is Uncut Gems but with French absurdist humor. If that sounds like your thing, you can bet you’ll enjoy this.
2. Dead Talents Society
John Hsu’s Dead Talents Society won the festival’s Audience Award, and having seen the film, that’s absolutely unsurprising. The film is set in a world where ghosts compete to become the spookiest and most notorious urban legends. Filled with engaging world-building, lots of laughs, and a surprising amount of heart, Dead Talents Society is absolutely one of the most charming films of the year and arguably an even better Beetlejuice movie than the actual Beetlejuice movie we got in 2024.
1. Cloud
Although Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa is best known for his horror films like Cure and Pulse, recent years have seen him operate in more dramatic territory. Kurosawa’s latest outing, Cloud, sees the filmmaker both return to form and push himself in exciting new ways, resulting in one of the most gripping thrillers of the year.
Check out our full review of Cloud here!
More Films From the 2024 Edition of Fantastic Fest
The Babadook
As part of the celebration of modern classic The Babadook’s 10th anniversary, Fantastic Fest hosted a live recording of Mike Flanagan’s new podcast, Director’s Commentary, where Flanagan and filmmaker Jennifer Kent watched the film along with audiences, providing a live director’s commentary. Confession time: this was this writer’s first time seeing The Babadook. And because of the nature of the event, I could only catch around 60% of the dialogue. But from what I can tell, I really liked the movie, and the commentary from Kent and Flanagan was fascinating and insightful.
Bone Lake
Mercedes Bryce Morgan’s Bone Lake is a twisted erotic thriller following two couples who decide to share a vacation home after an accidental double-booking, only for their once-civil pleasantries to turn into a web of sex, lies, and violence. In a time when the erotic thriller is making a powerful resurgence, it’s nice to see one like Bone Lake that fully leans into the campiness of these tropes. The result is a genuinely fun 90-minute film — plus, it manages to pull off a few genuinely unexpected twists!
Bring Them Down
The Irish shepherd thriller Bring Them Down is very simple. It follows two farmers who conflict with one another, resulting in escalating tensions and violent consequences. However, what makes this film stand out is its excellent performances. Barry Keoghan (Saltburn) is great, but the shining star here is Christopher Abbott (Poor Things), who stuns in a quiet role filled with stewing anger and sadness. Although this film may not be big enough to be the one, this performance shows that Abbott has what it takes to deliver an awards-worthy turn.
Chainsaws Were Singing
The Estonian musical horror-comedy Chainsaws Were Singing is probably more fun to someone who enjoys the film’s central reference point, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. As someone who’s not a fan, it’s still possible to admire some of the film’s silly music and over-the-top, low-budget gore. However, the one thing that will likely be universal — whether you’re in the target audience or not — is that Chainsaws Were Singing is too long. At almost two hours long, it unfortunately overstays its novelty and welcome.
Children of the Wicker Man
One might expect Justin Hardy’s documentary Children of the Wicker Man (written by his brother Dominic) to be a nostalgia-filled fluff piece about the creation of their father Robin Hardy’s seminal folk horror The Wicker Man. But it’s really something much more complex. Yes, there are behind-the-scenes stories about the horror classic, but there is also a nuanced, emotional exploration of their father’s legacy and his role and life as a father. It dives into Robin Hardy’s personal life with a vulnerability you don’t usually see in movies like this, which makes it a must-see even beyond the horror fanbase.
Daniela Forever
Daniela Forever, the latest film by Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes, Colossal), is an ambitious sci-fi romance that wouldn’t feel out of place as an episode of Black Mirror. It has plenty of interesting ideas, an excellent lead performance from Henry Golding, and some truly transfixing visuals. However, for a film that’s supposed to be romantic, it instead feels very cold and distant. The characters aren’t well-developed, causing the romance to fall apart. It’s also seemingly trying for a bittersweet tone, but it doesn’t have the sweetness, causing it to feel all bitter.
A Different Man
Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man had already opened in theaters by the time it screened at Fantastic Fest, but Schimberg still had a homecoming of sorts in Austin, as his feature debut Chained for Life had played at Fantastic Fest. His sophomore feature is more ambitious but not as compelling as his debut, riding on three incredible performances from Sebastian Stan, Adam Pearson, and Renate Reinsve. Still, those three actors are so good that the film manages to be entirely gripping.
The Draft!
The Indonesian horror-comedy The Draft! has a premise with a lot of potential — five college students realize they’re in a horror movie whose story is constantly changing — but in execution, it doesn’t work particularly well. What is missing is that madcap energy that made other films like One Cut of the Dead work. All the fourth-wall-breaking in the world doesn’t make much of a difference when there’s not enough momentum to keep the film moving.
Dragon Dilatation
French genre auteur Bertrand Mandico is known for his weird, out-there projects, and Dragon Dilatation is no exception. However, this one is probably his most abstract yet, if only because it is two mid-length films presented together. The first, an interpretation of Stravinsky’s ballet Petrushka, is gorgeous to look at but not very engaging. The second, an opera-esque musical that serves as both an expansion and meta-commentary on Madnico’s last film, She Is Conann, is much more interesting — and has an excellent song in it — but isn’t quite good enough to justify sitting through the first half.
Else
Thibault Emin’s Else is hard to critique because it is at once one of the most ambitious and visually gorgeous films you will see this year and one of the most boring. It is set in a world stricken by a pandemic that causes the afflicted to merge with their surroundings. It’s an incredibly creative film with some truly haunting imagery, and yet, despite a runtime of 100 minutes, it feels like it just keeps going on and on. It’s hard to tell precisely what didn’t work here, but it’s just not as engaging as it should be with its premise.
Escape from the 21st Century
The Chinese martial arts comedy Escape from the 21st Century unfortunately won’t escape comparisons to the Best Picture-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. Yang Li’s film has a very creative premise — a group of teens who discover they can time travel by sneezing — and no shortage of visual style, but it lacks the one thing that made EEAAO so resonant: compelling characters. This will still pick up its fair share of fans, but it does suffer from comparisons.
Frankie Freako
Steven Kostanski’s Psycho Goreman was a lot of throwback fun, so it’s disappointing that his latest film, Frankie Freako, doesn’t match up. This is the type of campy retro movie that tries too hard to be silly and fun when these things shouldn’t have to be forced. The puppet work here is fantastic, and frankly, that is the only reason that this film is worth watching. Otherwise, it’s 85 minutes of monotonous attempts to capture “so-bad-it’s-good” energy artificially.
Ghost Killer
Kensuke Sonomura is one of the most acclaimed martial arts action choreographers, and Ghost Killer is his third foray into the director’s chair. Ghost Killer does end up being a lot of fun, thanks to the cool, stylized action, but one can’t help but feel like it doesn’t take full advantage of its premise: a college student who is possessed by a vengeful hitman. Only a few scenes offer the type of body-swapping action you’d expect, with the editing really leaving something to be desired.
Heavier Trip
Heavier Trip is a sequel to the 2018 film Heavy Trip, which followed a (fictional) symphonic post-apocalyptic reindeer-grinding Christ-abusing war pagan Fennoscandian metal band named Impaled Rektum. Although that film may have seemed like an unlikely fit for a sequel, Heavier Trip is a charming little movie, following the band as they break out of prison for the chance to perform at a music festival. It’s a lot sillier than the first film and feels a bit more strained as a result, but fans will be delighted to spend more time with the characters.
The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee
The documentary The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee tells the story of the acclaimed character actor through the eyes of his friends and loved ones. One of those friends? Disgraced director John Landis. It’s a shame that the filmmakers felt the need to interview such a controversial figure in Hollywood because it’s otherwise a very engaging — if somewhat fluffy and sentimental — biography. But it’s so easy to get distracted by Landis’s inclusion that it could cause some viewers to check out.
MadS
David Moreau’s MadS is another entry in the “simulated one-take” canon and among the more frustrating ones. Although it’s best to experience the story unspoiled, the elevator pitch is like if Gaspar Noé made 28 Days Later (but without any of the elements that make Noé’s work or 28 Days Later compelling). Admittedly, the film’s second half has some great moments, but you have to suffer through a completely unengaging 40-minute first half to get to the genuinely interesting point. It’s difficult to recommend sitting through the whole thing because of that.
Mr. Crocket
Brandon Espy’s Mr. Crocket is the latest film that Hulu has adapted into a feature from its “Bite-Sized Halloween” shorts series. Following a mother who sets out on a quest to save her son from a demonic children’s show host obsessed with “protecting” children from “bad parents,” it’s clear that this horror flick is an expansion of a short. There are several fun moments throughout, but the parts of the film that connect these creative bits feel very dull and unoriginal.
Night Call
For the most part, Michiel Blanchart’s thriller Night Call is tense and lean. It follows a locksmith who finds himself in over his head after he accepts a call from an innocent-looking young woman, only to find himself trapped in a game of cat-and-mouse with a gang of ruthless criminals. In the lead role, Jonathan Feltre is very compelling, and as the antagonist, character actor Romain Duris is super menacing. However, the film comes up short in shoehorning in a message about police brutality, which ends up feeling somewhat insensitive in how it is used as a plot device.
Plastic Guns
Jean-Christophe Meurisse’s Bloody Oranges was an absurdist delight, and his newest film, Plastic Guns, shares much of the same random and silly but dark humor. Unfortunately, this one feels more aimless than his previous outing, with its intersecting storylines often losing the audience’s attention. However, there are some moments in the film with impeccable craft, including one scene in the final act that has what may be some of the best sound design of the year, so it’s clear that Meurisse still has it in many ways.
The Spirit of Halloweentown
Bradford Tomason and Brett Whitcomb are great at creating documentaries that pay respect to little-known institutions. Their latest film, The Spirit of Halloweentown, offers viewers a glimpse behind the scenes at St. Helens, Oregon — the filming location of the Disney Channel movie Halloweentown. It looks incredible, but it’s somewhat unfocused in jumping between the stories of different residents. And as you would expect, some stories are more compelling than others.
Steppenwolf
The Kazakh film Steppenwolf joins the ranks of movies like Come and See that are incredibly bleak to the point of being difficult to watch. And yet, despite this gritty, stark portrayal of military brutality that lends itself to some of the most viscerally upsetting images you will see, there’s also a strange, darkly comedic tone to the film. Its pacing is also somewhat sluggish, contributing even further to its off-putting nature. Still, there’s no denying that it’s impactful.
Zénithal
The French action-comedy Zénithal has such a ridiculous concept that it just *has* to be fun, right? It follows a nerdy man who is accused of the murder of his romantic rival — a martial artist known for having a superhumanly large package. Although there are some funny moments in this farce, Zénithal just doesn’t have enough action to work as an action-comedy. It desperately needed some more excitement.
The 2024 edition of Fantastic Fest ran September 19-26.
