Since its inception in Los Angeles in 2013, Past Fest has gone on to ascertain itself as the most important movie competition in the US focusing totally on horror, science fiction, fantasy and associated genres, presenting a persistently robust program of latest releases (together with various premieres), retrospective screenings, shorts packages, particular company and the proverbial a lot, far more. For these of us not primarily based on the West Coast, their packages have been a constant supply of envy for a lot of film followers.
To that finish, Past Fest has in the end determined to unfold its goodness into a distinct time zone. From April 2-5, they, together with MUBI, will probably be presenting Past Chicago, a program of 30 titles starting from the primary native appears to be like at various extremely touted movies to various cult classics, various them offered within the miracle of 35MM, all of which will probably be displaying on the metropolis’s most hallowed film palace, the Music Field Theatre.
The competition kicks off on April 2 with the native premiere of “Obsession,” the brand new movie from Curry Barker, who made a splash in 2024 when his $800 YouTube function “Milk & Serial” garnered a number of consideration from the horror press, who puzzled what he would possibly be capable to accomplish with a bigger finances. For his follow-up, he offers us the story of an amiable goof (Michael Johnston) who’s desperately in love together with his childhood pal/co-worker (Inde Navarette), however whereas she cares for him, it’s clearly solely as a pal.
In the future, he goes right into a novelty store and finds a “One Want Willow,” a tchotchke that allegedly grants the person one want. Because it seems, a.) the factor truly works and b.) wishing for somebody to really feel timeless love for you with none type of consent is maybe not the wisest of concepts. Judging from the response that the movie has already acquired following its screenings at Toronto (the place it was the middle of a bidding struggle that noticed it bought to Focus Options, who will probably be releasing it on Might 15) and SXSW, it will appear as if he has certainly lived as much as the promise of his earlier work.
For the Closing Evening slot on April 5, the fest will probably be holding the World Premiere screening of one other eagerly anticipated title, “Faces of Loss of life,” Daniel Goldhaber’s reimagining of the 1978 “Mondo Cane” riff that was little greater than a group of scenes of individuals dying in any variety of grotesque ways in which, for those who believed the hype from everybody from ethical watchdogs to the child on the playground who snuck a have a look at an older sibling’s copy, had been actual. (Spoiler Alert: Most of them had been apparent fakes.)
Quite than redo the faux-documentary schtick, Goldhaber and co-writer Isa Mazzei (each of whom will probably be readily available for a post-screening Q&A) have reconceived it as an overtly fictional narrative, during which a video platform moderator investigates whether or not or not a sequence of obvious snuff movies are merely fakes or one thing a lot worse, starring the likes of Barbie Ferreira, Dacre Montgomery, Jermaine Fowler and—as a result of you’ll be able to hardly say to have a significant movie competition in 2026 with out her showing in your display sooner or later, the increasingly-ubiquitous pop goddess Charli XCX.
Among the many different main titles on this system, Ben Wheatley’s “Regular” (4/3) finds Bob Odenkirk (who will probably be showing together with co-writer/producer Derek Kolstad) as soon as once more getting into the position of unlikely motion hero, this time because the sheriff of a seemingly bucolic Midwestern city who finds himself working afoul of all of the locals (together with the likes of Henry Winkler and Lena Headey) within the wake of a financial institution theft that goes sideways.
The carnage continues with Kenji Tanigaki’s “The Livid” (4/4), a martial arts thriller a few seemingly atypical father (Xie Miao) whose daughter is kidnapped by youngster traffickers and who groups up with a journalist (Joe Taslim) to rescue her and different kidnapped youngsters in essentially the most bone-crunching methods conceivable.
In “One Spoon of Chocolate” (4/4), the newest work from musical icon-turned-writer/director RZA (scheduled to participate in a post-screening Q&A), a former navy veteran (Shameik Moore) is launched from jail and relocates to his small Ohio hometown to make a brand new life, solely to run afoul of a bunch of native racist goons in a sequence of confrontations that rapidly and violently escalate within the custom of the traditional blaxsploitation movies of outdated.
Much more blood spills in “Over Your Useless Physique” (4/5), a remake of the Norwegian darkish comedy “I Onde Dager” from Jorma Taccone (at the moment scheduled to attend) a few couple (Jason Segel and Samara Weaving) who go off to spend a while at a secluded cabin to repair their fraying marriage, not realizing {that a}.) every is definitely planning on doing away with the opposite and b.) an unexpected twist will drive them each to place their plans on maintain, no less than quickly.
On the documentary entrance, “Butthole Surfers: The Gap Fact And Nothing Butt” (4/2) recounts the story of the legendary Nineteen Eighties underground band co-founded by Gibby Hanes and Paul Leary, each of whom will probably be readily available for the screening together with director Tom Stern, and charts the methods during which they might go on to affect various tradition for years to return.
Of the larger new titles, maybe essentially the most intriguing is “Rose of Nevada” (4/2), the newest work from Mark Jenkin, whose final movie, “Enys Males” (2022) was a quietly however deeply unsettling low-fi thriller a few wildlife volunteer whose keep on a supposedly uninhabited island to look at a uncommon flower begins to tackle the type of a waking nightmare. On this one, which, like its predecessor, was shot in 16MM to present it a grainy, tactile look, an empty fishing boat (whose identify provides the movie’s title) turns up on the shore of a fishing village in Cornwall 30 years after it set out and by no means returned.
Though the fates of these on board stay a thriller, the boat’s proprietor (Edward Rowe) however elects to place it again to work, a transfer that looks as if a spectacularly dangerous thought even earlier than the invention of the phrases “Get off the boat now” carved into the wooden under deck. Nonetheless, two younger males—financially struggling household man Nick (George McKay) and drifter Liam (Callum Turner)—signal on for some fast and much-needed money and ship out with an appropriately grizzled captain (Francis Magee) for a couple of days of fishing.
What occurs subsequent, I cannot even trace at to help you uncover for your self. Suffice it to say, one thing occurs—one thing unusual and disturbing that the 2 males discover themselves responding to in more and more other ways. Though one might simply think about the essential components gathered right here being put to the service of a conventional horror narrative, that isn’t what Jenkins has given viewers. As a substitute, as he did so memorably with “Enys Males,” he’s much less involved with creating standard-issue “BOO!” moments designed to get viewers leaping than with making a moody cinematic dreamscape the place the road between actuality and nightmare is so blurred that the viewers is simply as baffled because the characters are concerning which is which.
Those that are within the temper for reasonable shocks and gallons of gore might develop annoyed with the movie’s enigmatic tone and low physique depend (except you embrace the fish). Nonetheless, these on the lookout for one thing that’s each undeniably unusual and quietly disturbing—significantly for those who had been an admirer of “Enys Males”—ought to make an effort to test this one out.
On the retrospective entrance, the competition is providing up a canny mixture of fan favorites and odd obscurities. Earlier than showing on the screening of “Regular,” Bob Odenkirk will probably be internet hosting a displaying of a 35MM print of “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” (4/3), Joseph Sargent’s enormously entertaining thriller a few New York subway prepare being held for ransom that includes Walter Matthau, Robert Shaw, Martin Balsam, Jerry Stiller and one of many biggest closing moments in display historical past.
Equally, earlier than his screening of “One Spoon of Chocolate,” RZA will probably be presenting “The Child with the Golden Arm” (4/4), Chen Chang’s 1979 interval martial arts epic about members of a safety agency transporting a fortune in gold taels by way of a stretch of land crammed with a large assortment of harmful criminals intent on stealing all of it.
The competition may even host the world premiere of the brand new 4K restoration of the 2008 display adaptation of “Velocity Racer” (4/3), with co-writer/director Lilly Wachowski collaborating in a pre-screening Q&A.
Iconic Japanese cult actress Meiko Kaji will probably be making her first Chicago look for screenings of three of her traditional movies—the world premiere of the 2K restoration of “Silver Butterfly 2: She-Cat Gambler” (4/3), a revenge thriller during which she co-stars with Sonny Chiba, and a double-feature of “Girl Snowblood” and “Feminine Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41” (4/4), two visually trendy and super-bloody motion epics that may function key influences for Quentin Tarantino’s “Kill Invoice” saga.
For the late-night crowd, there will probably be a midnight screening of Paul Morrissey’s still-jaw-dropping horror-comedy hybrid “Flesh for Frankenstein” (4/4), within the miracle of 3D, to function a tribute to the late, nice Udo Kier, who delivered one of the vital unhinged performances of his profession—which, in case you are acquainted with his profession, says rather a lot—because the mad physician trying to create a brand new grasp race with the assistance of the severed head of Joe Dallesandro.
If that wasn’t sufficient, due to sponsor MUBI, the competition may even be presenting various free screenings, although tickets are nonetheless required for admission. “Camp” (4/3) tells the story of a seemingly cursed younger lady who goes off to work as a counselor at a camp for troubled youth however can’t shake her sense of doom. “The Yeti” (4/3) follows a staff assembled to seek for a tycoon and an adventurer who’ve gone lacking in a harsh stretch of northern Alaska, solely to seek out themselves within the territory of the titular creature.
“Flush” (4/3) is an outrageous French entry during which a man runs afoul of the unsuitable individuals and finds himself left for useless together with his head caught in a squat bathroom and combating every thing from doable drowning to an assault by a drug-addled rat. “Part” (4/4) is a British sci-fi movie a few pregnant lady who, after being exiled from an area station, goes off in the hunt for the daddy of her youngster.
“Bulk” (4/4) is one other movie from Ben Wheatley, this one a sci-fi mind-bender during which experiments in string concept go wildly uncontrolled with more and more surreal outcomes. In “Imposters” (4/4), after a pair’s toddler son is kidnapped, the mom discovers a solution to convey the kid again, however over time, the daddy turns into more and more satisfied that what she has introduced again just isn’t their son.
“The Kirlian Frequency” (4/5) is an Argentinian chiller a few radio present whose spooky and ostensibly fictional on-air tales have gotten a grisly actuality. The primary movie produced by the corporate belonging to Indonesian motion star Iko Uwais (greatest recognized right here for the “Raid” movies), “Ikatan Darah” (4/5) a few martial artist whose profession was lower quick by damage who’s compelled again into motion when her brother runs afoul of a prison syndicate.
“Merciless Fingers” (4/5) is an Australian thriller a few lady who, alongside together with her younger son, escapes from her abusive husband to a distant farmhouse, the place she finally has to defend them in opposition to her husband, the police, and raging brushfires.
A trio of older titles can be a part of the free sequence. “Blood Brothers (& Different Delights)” (4/4) is a group of super-gross, zero-budget movies made within the Nineteen Eighties and traded by way of the mail by Mike Diana, an underground cartoonist whose self-published work, Boiled Angel, would result in his conviction within the Nineties for creative obscenity. “Small Kill” (1991) is an nearly indescribably bizarre thriller a few degenerate psychopath—performed by none aside from Gary “Radar” Burghoff (who additionally co-directed the movie—who goes round kidnapping youngsters and killing them if their mother and father don’t cough up the ransom.
“Sheila and the Brainstem” (4/5) is an odd 1989 sci-fi satire a few man who travels to a subterranean world the place he finds the Brainstem, which he believes holds the facility of immortality, solely to have it stolen in a comfort retailer by a trio of punks who mistake it for beef jerky. As well as, there are two blocks of quick movies, “Unusual Frequencies” (4/4) and “And Then What” (4/5).
As tantalizing as most of those titles could seem, I’ve saved essentially the most notable a part of the lineup—one that will go down as one of many must-see screening occasions of the yr—for final. On April 5, the competition will probably be presenting the native premiere of “Boorman and the Satan,” the eagerly anticipated movie from director David Kittredge (who will probably be in attendance) chronicling the wild historical past behind one of many strangest would-be blockbusters of the Seventies, “Exorcist II: The Heretic,” John Boorman’s notorious follow-up to the groundbreaking 1973 horror traditional “The Exorcist.”
Presumably realizing that anybody watching “Boorman and the Satan” will then instantly wish to search out “Exorcist II” to see it for themselves, the competition is following up the documentary with a uncommon screening of an authentic 35MM print of the movie, marking its first look on a Chicago display in a very long time. Though it acquired a lot derision again within the day and is normally considered one of many worst sequels ever made, its popularity has begun to enhance over time, with no much less an authority than Martin Scorsese making a case for its price.
Personally, I believe the movie is a straight-up masterpiece, one of the vital audaciously weird American movies of the Seventies—significantly for one produced on such an immense scale—and one which continues to look higher with every passing yr. (Disclaimer: Each I and fellow critic and Music Field’s personal Steve Prokopy are featured within the doc.)
Scoff for those who should, however I can guarantee you that it’s a movie that, as soon as seen, you’ll always remember, and sure, I imply that in a great way. Apart from, now that movies like “Heaven’s Gate” and “Sorcerer” have gone on to lastly obtain the acclaim they deserved, we want one other once-scorned auteurist epic reclamation mission. I can’t consider a extra deserving work.
Past Fest Chicago runs April 2-5 on the Music Field Theatre (3733 N. Southport). Tickets for the principle screenings are on sale now. Tickets for the free screenings will probably be out there to Music Field members on April 1 and to most people on April 2. Tickets will be bought on-line at musicboxtheatre.com. For added info on the competition, go to beyondfest.com.
