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Schieffer's Out of Gov Race
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True Stories Can Be Stranger Than Fiction [Extra Extra ]
The Second Annual Fantastic Fest is over, and though we’re happy to finally catch up on our sleep, we can’t wait to go back next year. Eight full days of the best new horror, sci-fi, Asian, thriller and genre films screened at the coolest theatre in North America – what more could we ask for? (Okay, maybe free beer, but still.)
In addition to the big-name Austin premieres (including Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, The Fountain, Tideland, Apocalypto, Pan’s Labyrinth and more), there were also 22 excellent indie films competing for audience and jury awards.
Adam Green’s Hatchet, an old school tits-and-horror flick starring Kane Hodder, took home the Audience Award for Best Picture as well as the Jury Award for Best Special Effects. Irish monster-horror Isolation also scored big with the fans and jurors, taking home a 2nd place Audience Award, as well as Jury Awards for Best Horror Picture, Best Horror Director and Best Cinematography. But the biggest winner of the festival was Simon Rumley’s The Living and the Dead, a dark UK thriller that nabbed five jury awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Makeup.
Follow the jump for a full list of winners, and a short list of films that we loved, but that weren’t eligible for awards.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
1st Place - HATCHET
2nd Place - ISOLATION
3rd Place -FIREFLY
SHORT FILM AWARDS
Best of Show - THE LISTENING DEAD
Best Short Form - THE COST OF LIVING
Best Long Form - ROGAIRI (VILLAINS)
Best Animated - IF I HAD A HAMMER
Best Comedy - THEY'RE MADE OUT OF MEAT
HORROR JURY AWARDS
Best Picture - ISOLATION
Best Director - Billy O'Brien, ISOLATION
Best Script - Dylan Bank and Morgan Pehme, NIGHTMARE
Best Actor - Kane Hodder, HATCHET
Best Actress - Nicole Roderick, NIGHTMARE
Best Supporting Actor - Lance Henriksen, ABOMINABLE
Best Supporting Actress - Kristen Bell, ROMAN
Best Art Direction - Alex Boynton, UNREST
Best Cinematography - Robbie Ryan, ISOLATION
Best Special Effects - HATCHET
Best Make-up - BROKEN
FANTASTIC FEST JURY AWARDS
Best Film -THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Best Director - Simon Rumley, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Best Script - Larry Kent and Daniel Williams, HAMSTER CAGE
Best Actor - Leo Bill in THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Best Actress - Jodie Jameson, VENUS DROWNING
Best Supporting Actor - Alan Scarfe, HAMSTER CAGE
Best Supporting Actress - Kate Fahy, THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
Best Art Direction -STARFISH HOTEL
Best Cinematography - A QUIET LOVE
Best Special Effects - PUZZLEHEAD
Best Make-up -THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
AUSTINIST RECOMMENDS
The Woods
The Woods is a great Dario Argento-ish thriller about a youg girl who's sent to a creepy all-girl boarding school deep in the woods, where legend has it that a group of witches once promised the souls of all the students to the haunted trees. Stunning art direction, cool story and Bruce f’n Campbell wielding an axe.
Bug
Probably William Friedkin’s best work since The Exorcist, Bug is the story of a delusional Gulf War vet who thinks he’s covered in tiny, flesh-eating bugs. It’s not a horror film by any stretch, but the script is so amazingly good that even Ashley Judd can’t ruin it. Plus, that Harry Connick Jr. is a real hunk.
Frostbite
A great modern vampire movie, Frostbite was easily one of the coolest films at Fantastic Fest. It's got some great gore, and a dazzling array of bizarre one-liners, including the unforgettable, “stop throwing gnomes at me!”
Severance
In the spirit of Shaun of the Dead, Severance is a fantastically funny comedy/slasher flick set around a group of defense contractor executives on a corporate retreat somewhere in Eastern Europe. Of course, things go terribly wrong and a mysterious maniac in a balaclava begins picking them off one-by-one. This one is a hell of a lot of fun.
And if you haven't already, check out our highlights from the first half of the fest.
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DID YOU GUYS SEE JUBHCA THERE? I WAS THERE, ON THE BACK ROW OF THE THEATURE, BUT NOBODY CAME TO TALK TO ME. I EVEN SHAVED AND SHOWEVER AND PUT ON MY BEST DUDS. THERE WERE NOT TOO MANY HOLES IN MY SHIRTS AND I BORROWED SOME JEANS FROM THE GUY WHO LIVES BEHIND LOUIES 106 ON 6TH STREET.
NEXT YEAR I'M GOING TO BE ON THE PANEL SO PEOPLE WILL HAVE TO TALK TO ME. IM A REALLY NICE GUY REALLY.
JUB
PSS - DID YOU KNOW THERE IS SOME FANSTATIC GRUB THROWN OUT AT LOUES? I HAD SOME LEFTOVER FILET MIGNON THE OTHER NIGHT. I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M TELLING YOU PEOPLE ABOUT MY "SPOT" SO I CATCH YOU THERE STEALING MY GRUBB IT'LL BE BIG TROUB.E