The Fantastic Pavilion presents a weekly recap with the most relevant news about the world of genre cinema.
News
The filmmaking team known as the Adams Family (The Deeper You Dig, Hellbender, Where the Devil Roams) is back with the creature feature Hell Hole (2024). The movie follows a fracking crew in “the Serbian wilderness,” where they’ll face a parasitic monster. After premiering at the Fantasia International Film Festival, Hell Hole is heading to Shudder on August 23. In the meantime you can watch its trailer here.
Although the arthouse slasher In a Violent Nature (2024) continues its festival run – it was just announced as part of MOTELX’s 2024 selection –, IFC Films and Shudder have already announced (via Variety) that they’re developing a sequel, with Chris Nash only returning as writer. A teaser poster for In a Violent Nature 2 was also unveiled. The director and release date will be revealed at a later date.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the Dead (2004), Focus Features is bringing this zom-com masterpiece back to cinemas in the U.S., from August 29 to September 5. Wright himself pointed out that a version “fully remastered with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos” is going to be available in select theaters. Shaun of the Dead is also returning to the big screen in the UK from September 27.
Festivals
The Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is certainly one of the most prestigious genre cinema showcases in the entire world. This year’s lineup was recently announced and it features the latest movies from Coralie Fargeat (the Cannes award-winning The Substance), Timo Tjahjanto (the crime actioner The Shadow Strays), and Joseph Kahn (the sci-fi horror satire Ick). The emerging Japanese director Kenichi Ugana, who talked with the Fantastic Pavilion last September, will present his feature The Gesuidouz (2024), which follows a horror-themed punk rock band.
The Midnight Madness lineup also includes Joe DeBoer and Kyle McConaghy’s 1980s-set thriller Dead Mail (2024), John Hsu’s supernatural comedy Dead Talents Society (Gui Cai Zhi Dao, 2024), Thibault Emin’s body horror flick Else (2024), Yang Li’s “martial arts time travel caper” Escape from the 21st Century (Cong 21 shiji anquan cheli, 2024), Rachel Kempf and Nick Toti’s found footage horror film It Doesn’t Get Any Better Than This (2023), and Andrew DeYoung’s comedy Friendship (2024).
TIFF 2024 is taking place from September 5 to 15.
The French epic The Count of Monte-Cristo (Le comte de Monte-Cristo, 2024) won the Cheval Noir Award for Best Film at the 2024 Fantasia International Film Festival, while Argentina’s Electrophilia (Los impactados, 2023) took home two awards – Best Screenplay (Lucía Puenzo, Lorena Ventimiglia) and Outstanding Performance (Mariana Di Girólamo) – plus the Special Jury Mention.
The Guatemalan fantasy-drama Rita (2024) was recognized for Best Cinematography (Inti Briones), Hwang Wook got the Best Director prize for his South Korean western action comedy Mash Ville (2024), and the Japanese thriller Penalty Loop (2024) received a couple of awards (Best Editing and Best Motion Picture Score).
You can find the full list of award winners here.
The Trieste Science+Fiction Festival presented the official poster for its 24th edition (October 29-November 3), which features original artwork by Italian cartoonist Zerocalcare. The illustration was inspired by the present and future of AI.
The festival also announced their first wave of films: Survive (Survivre, 2024), The Bunker (2024), Test Screening (2024), Broken Bird (2024), The Invisible Raptor (2023), Things Will Be Different (2024), So Unreal (2023), The A-Frame (2024), and The Life and Deaths of Christopher Lee (2024).
The Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest (RNFF) informed that the final submission deadline for their 2024 edition (15-19 October) is fast approaching. You have until August 10 to submit your feature or short film. Check out here all the details.
Home video
Arrow Video’s October releases include a pretty interesting four-disc box set dedicated to Japanese horror from the late 1990s and early 2000s (usually referred to as J-Horror). The seven films included are: Shikoku (1999), Isola: Multiple Personality Girl (Isola: Tajuu jinkaku shôjo, 2000), Inugami (2001), St. John’s Wort (Otogiriso, 2001), Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (Kuchisake-onna, 2007), Persona (Kamen gakuen, 2000), and Noroi: The Curse (Noroi, 2005).
Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), without a doubt one of the most influential horror films ever made, turns 50 this year. To celebrate this milestone, a new Collector’s Edition SteelBook will be released on October 25. The set is particularly ideal for someone who’s both a cinephile and a gamer, as it features the original film on Blu-ray and the 2023 video game for PS5 or Xbox Series X. It’s also worth noting that the artwork was designed by Gary Pullin.