Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook

Facebook

Facebook

Ever since I’ve been back from Fantastic Fest, I’ve been itching to try and tell a horror story. I can’t say I’ve written anything scary before, let alone have proper film education, but I have enjoyed some great horror flicks in my time on earth. I also can’t claim myself as a movie buff compared to my yomyomf family either but throughout my life, watching scary movies are moments that I always remember.

Click here to view the embedded video.

8 – First movie experience EVER in a real theater. I saw Dark Man with Liam Neeson. Didn’t know going in what was showing, but I liked everything I saw. Probably not the super scariest movie but messed me up for life. Revenge is always fun.

12 – I started catching on sitting next to the girl you like when you watch a horror flick scenerio. Bride of Chucky pt 2, I believe, came out on VHS. The one in the military academy. Oh man, that was the innocent version of getting a girl drunk to get some action. Thanks Chucky!

Click here to view the embedded video.

16 – Was suppose to watch Event Horizon in s.s.f. but got involved in a hit and run. I was driving my exgf’s car without a license. Oops. Parents were super cool though. Eventually watched it, and THAT SHIT FUCKED ME UP! 2 thumbs up! Still an all time greatest.

Click here to view the embedded video.

20 – A group of friends while living in San Diego dared each other to see Blair Witch Project. We all know that end result. Get to be the hero and hold someone for safety while secretly peein in my pants at the same time. That was when I was inspired to make something out of nothing.

So I said, why not. Lets do a horror webseries. Something cool, funny, and attainable. Vampires are played out. How about a cannibal girl? Perfect. Ok, she likes eating humans but she should probably put it to good use. After all, she has to have morals. So lets put her in a culinary school. And that’s how Manivore was born. Until I ran into my first problem.

Every great horror flick has to have a sick kill scene. I knew we couldn’t pull off anything super gruesome or have crazy special effects since we’re working no budget guerilla style. My challenge was how do you leave a sick and horrifying thought in peoples mind but still invest in the character. With my friend Grace having such an innocent look, I thought it would be nuts if she became twisted. Like an Amelie meets Dexter as Hannibal as her dad. Basically Hall & Oats ringing thru my head.

We released a teaser trying to get away with some action using camera angle tricks but my true horror geek friends thirst for something more. The kill scene then finally came to me while I was cooking some dinner in the kitchen. I saw a roll of paper towels and imagined it as the largest mango ever grown. I love mango more than you know. And so the result was the end of episode one. The cast and crew did an amazing job. All four of us. Haha. Evan Jackson, the director, always amazes me with his artist vision. And Grace aka Peachies aka Baby Mao took the idea and went with it. Taylor aka Roger was a born sleezy natural. Small group, but you make due with what you have. And that’s why I love film making. Happy Halloween everyone.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Facebook

Facebook

Battle for Hearts and Minds Trailer from Danfung Dennis on Vimeo.

Facebook

I just got back from Fantastic Film Festival in Austin, Texas. First time in Austin, first time at Fantastic Fest. It’s one of the geekiest, nerdiest, and intense film festival experience ever imagined and I loved it. If you love horror, then you must come to this festival one day. They held it at the famous Alamo Drafthouse theater aka “BADASS CINEMA” where all the seats had tables in front of you to order food and drinks (even beer) throughout the screenings. Of course, every seat (besides the front row) still had a great view of the screen. My one big lesson in horror that I learned was that I averaged seeing one penis getting cut off a day. I guess its the norm. WOW! The fest wasn’t totally filled with horror but also many other genres so I’d thought I would share with you of what I thought were some great films that I saw. Of course, don’t consider me a true critic who uses confusing big words to sound like a genius but merely a fan of cinema. Here we go.

A TOWN CALLED PANIC
This French stop-motion feature won the Audience Award at the festival and it was well deserved. A very simple story about a Horse, a Cowboy, and an Indian living together and following their struggles and just their downright weird sense of thinking. There were so many great moments in this movie and although it’s not your typical Hollywood blockbuster movie, it still had love, drama, and comedy all in one. The most memorable scene is when Horse’s neighbor comes in and devours his breakfast and coffee like he was on crack. I still can picture the scene in my mind even five days after I’ve seen it and it still makes me laugh. If you ever get a chance to watch it on the big screen or on dvd, DO IT!

HOUSE OF THE DEVIL

A very well made period piece of a 70’s horror flick where strange things happen on the night of an eclipse. A young college female takes on a babysitting job because she’s broke like all of us in real life. What was amazing was that the filmmaker got the tone, pacing, and scariness perfectly. It was as if you were at home back in the days watching a random horror flick at 1am when you can’t fall asleep. I loved this movie because overall it probably didn’t have too many “AHHH” moments but damnit, it had me squinting more than usual just waiting for those moments to come up. Another must see for horror fans. Comes out on VOD in October.

FISH STORY
Probably my favorite movie of the festival. We luckily got in through the standby line to see this gem. Its a story about a struggling Japanese punk band (pre-Sex Pistol’s) in the 70’s, because basically who the hell listened to punk back then, staying true to their passion to record their last and only song called “Fish Story”. The story opens in a deserted Tokyo in the year 2012 with a huge comet on a crash course into Earth to end the world. And these two music lovers share their last moments listening to this song, Fish Story. Thereafter, it goes into the story of how the song came about and so on. Bascially a THAT THING YOU DO trying to save the world, in Japanese. Its got comedy, lotsa heart, and the song becomes so catchy, you can’t deny it. And that’s why I loved it.

100 BEST KILLS
This wasn’t a movie, but only a program of the festival. Basically the programmers started this tradition a few years ago to celebrate with other horror geeks the 100 BEST KILLS of all time in movie cinema. Of course, everyone has their own but these guys went pre 1990’s and showcased some AWESOME kills! Finally, a place where I can be accepted. This one was my favorite at about 4:55 on the youtube clip.

PRIVATE EYE

South Korean film that every film lover must see. No, not a typical OLD BOY revenge plot. But a whodunit period piece set in the 1910 in Korea with beautiful cinematography and brilliant acting by the entire cast. A med student stumbles upon a dead corpse and takes it home to practice his dissecting skills. But later finds out its the dead body of the son’s notorious town gangster. He then hires the witty and street savy private investigator to save his butt. The duo go on case solving frenzy and entertains the pants off you. Almost like a Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Korean hottie mix. BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT, BRILLIANT. You just have to take my word for it.

TOY STORY 1 & 2 3D DOUBLE FEATURE
Well, its in 3D. What more can I say? Except when it got to part 2, I think I took a 45 minute nap. Those glasses can really get you tired. But the 3D experience looked out of this world. And they didn’t over do it which was what I liked.

NINJA ASSASSIN
If you plan on watching this movie, DO NOT MISS THE FIRST SCENE. Why? Because I deem it the best scene of the movie, if not the best scene of all Ninja movies. You’ll know why when you watch it. But basically, as a ninja fan all my life and dressing up as a ninja for most of my childhood halloweens and just normal days in general, it was a must watch for me. Great special effects, AMAZING ninja scenes, and Rain actually speaks decent English. It made me wanna take off my shirt and use it as a ninja mask immediately. But that’s all I can really say about this movie.

ZOMBIELAND
I didn’t want to claim this as the best movie of the festival since it is a Hollywood blockbuster but damnit, this movie is AWESOME!!! If you are a firm believer such as myself that zombie domination will one day happen, then you must watch this movie. Why? Because this is the how-to of survival in a zombie infested planet. Sure, this movie may sound scary since it has zombies but quite the opposite. It has a few “AHHH” moments but its purely an entertaining, super comedic cast, and worth every penny of my bargain matinee movie. You won’t be disappointed. And super cool intro sequence. They were even doing a free makeup trailer for whoever wanted to look like a zombie for the day of the screening. How cool is that?

And some notable mentions – GENTLEMEN BRONCOS: the new film from the director of Napoleon Dynamite. Honestly, if you thought Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre was the best movie ever w/o jumping on the bandwagon at the time, then you probably will like his new film. Moving on. BRONSON: superb acting but please more story, less yelling. The guy who plays Bronson looks nothing like himself in the movie. LOVE EXPOSURE: 4 hour long Japanese flick. First two hours are AWESOME and hilarious. Then the third act gets a little challenging. But overall felt like I was just watching a TV show. If you got 4 hours to kill, Love Exposure is perfect. THE CHILDREN: if you want nightmares and always dreamt of a flick where kids get totally killed, this is your movie. Its a love/hate situation. I also really wanted to watch BREATHLESS, another South Korean movie, which everyone was saying was AWESOME but it was sold out twice. Luckily BREATHLESS, PRIVATE EYE, & LOVE EXPOSURE will be screening at the San Diego Asian American Film Festival and Hawaii International Film Festival this month.

Facebook