Fantasia 2024: Chainsaws Had been Singing, Darkish Match, Scared Shitless | Festivals & Awards

There’s so much to love in “Darkish Match,” no less than conceptually: Issa makes for a succesful, enjoyable lead, and the supporting performances from Ogg and Michael Eklund (because the group’s weaselly promoter) carry lots of the movie’s scrappy vitality. The matches themselves are bloody enjoyable, dwelling someplace between “GLOW” and “Noticed” because the ring will get modified with flamethrowers, damaged glass, and large blowing followers that may entice and eviscerate every contender. However there is a feeling that Dean and co aren’t going laborious sufficient on the craziness; there is a groundedness to the suspense that makes it really feel extra like “Inexperienced Room” than one thing extra ostentatious just like the premise and ’80s trappings require. Jericho makes for a mighty presence when he is on display screen, however he is principally sidelined till the tip, which is a disgrace contemplating the marquee title he brings. That is in all probability a consequence of the stacked forged; the opening throws lots of names and characters at you, however the match-by-match construction means character conflicts and beats typically get pushed to the wayside or resolved far too early. (Nonetheless, there is a enjoyable gag together with one among Behave’s compatriots, a luchador-like wrestler who’s taken a vow of silence, that approaches the type of silliness this could have labored in direction of.) Dean places forth a recreation effort, however “Darkish Match” would not fairly earn its championship belt.

Nonetheless, we’re not achieved with Steven Ogg, as our quantity two (heh) entry in his Fantasia double-bill, “Scared Shitless,” brings us squicky, shitty Joe Dante creature-feature vitality. Ogg performs Don, a down-on-his-luck plumber dwelling together with his layabout son Sonny (Daniel Doheny), whose mom just lately handed of a abdomen bug, turning the boy into an anxiety-ridden germaphobe. To shake Sonny out of his hypochondriac funk, Don decides to pull his boy alongside to his latest name: a plumbing drawback in a distant residence complicated. Unhealthy night time for this sort of take a look at, although, because the constructing is affected by Don’s most pernicious porcelain drawback but: a genetically-modified creature secreted house by Dr. Robert (Mark McKinney, “The Youngsters within the Corridor”). It is now on the unfastened and out for blood, hiding within the pipes and able to execute some disem-bowel actions on each unsuspecting tenant.

To its credit score, “Scared Shitless” is exceedingly lean at a cool 76 minutes; with its clear if unremarkable cinematography and unassuming low-budget allure, it is a future Tubi Unique within the making. Director Vivieno Caldinelli makes nice use of Brandon Cohen’s leakproof script, giving us simply sufficient setup of the characters and scenario (Julian Richings makes a suitably oily look within the chilly open) to get all the way down to the bloodletting with little fuss. The victims do not get a lot to do earlier than they’re dispatched, actually, however who cares? What little screentime they get is crammed with enjoyable gags like an older couple whose freaks undoubtedly match (full with the husband drawing “SLUT” in lipstick over his chest for date night time) and one other sufferer who will get pulled midway down the commode headfirst. (The creature results, courtesy of Canadian VFX legend Steven Kostanski, are stellar, although the design leaves slightly to be desired — it is principally only a toothy tentacle paying homage to 1,000,000 ’80s horror creatures of the apst.)

Ogg and Doheny have enviable father-son chemistry, Ogg particularly bringing his signature underbite depth to his love and fervour for lavatory upkeep. Nevertheless, Doheny struggles to maintain the identical vitality with concierge Patricia (Chelsea Clark), who turns into an erstwhile companion/love curiosity within the latter half. Even so, the “Gremlins” vitality abounds on this one, making for a sprightly, splattery romp you will not need to flush twice.