“Freddy Fontaine’s son, brawling on a boat? That the thing local legends are made of…”

In a male-dominated industry and culture, it is easy for films—genre films especially—to be overbearingly and uncomfortably andocentric. While most films have rarely, if ever, had something new to say about male relationships, past the recognized macho-vs.-effeminate conflict that permeates today’s mainstream narratives, it was with great joy and surprise that I witnessed Fantasia 2011 unveil a fascinating selection of films that knowingly or not, addressed issues of masculinity in genuinely refreshing, personal and sometimes brutally honest manners.

You could say that the simians steal the show in RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES, except that, of course, it’s their show to begin with. Die-hard fans of the classic science-fiction franchise might get their fur bristling over this franchise reboot, which puts aside the time-paradox narrative in favor of a scientific origin for the interspecies war, but most viewers will find this a surprisingly satisfying rethink of the concept.

One of the more eye-catching posters on display at Montreal’s current Fantasia festival has been the one-sheet for MARIANNE, the debut feature by Swedish writer/director/producer Filip Tegstedt. The art (see below) is redolent of classic ’80s VHS covers, and suggests a project born of nostalgia for the shriekers of that era. Instead, the movie in fact harks back to an earlier tradition of quiet supernatural dramas, and is another of the many films at Fantasia this year to be as concerned with the personal as with the paranormal.

This review is rated PG for “Pussy Gouging.” 

Oh, wait. Sorry. I’m thinking of MR. FISTER, one of two clever ‘previews of coming attractions’ that kick off Billy “Bloody Bill” Pon’s inaugural short film release DOLL BOY (2010)...

It’s a funny thing about the found-footage horror subgenre; even though its general tropes would seem to have passed into banal familiarity by now, the immediacy of the mock-doc approach still manages to make most of them at least moderately compelling. It also helps at this point if the filmmakers bring some self-mocking humor to the proceedings, as is the case with EL SANATORIO, the first horror film of any kind from Costa Rica.

Fantasia is well-known as a showcase for the most out-there fare the various genres have to offer, but if there’s been a trend at this year’s edition, it’s the preponderance of independent horror films that are lower-key character studies first and foremost. ABSENTIA (playing tonight and tomorrow) is just such a movie.

Following a friend’s enthusiastic recommendation, positive word of mouth and the gorgeous poster (pictured below) I kept seeing around the Fantasia festival, I made a point of getting out of the house early to see Evan Kelly’s cabin-in-the-woods film THE CORRIDOR—coming our way from the snowy land of Halifax, Nova Scotia (where HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN also notably hails from).