special presentation

eisspin, der sehr schreckliche

In Sledwaya, the sickest city in all of Zamonia, the starving Kratze Echo makes a diabolical pact with the Scarecrow Master Eisspin: He will provide her with the most delicious food in his castle if she will allow him to slaughter her at the end of the month and use her precious fat for his experiments. Seeing no other way out, poor Kratze agrees to the perfidious contract.

Based on the novel "Der Schrecksenmeister" by Walter Moers, the team around Adrian Doll (director) and Lukas Koll (producer) combined state-of-the-art technology with traditional narrative methods of live-action film in an extremely elaborate production process lasting several years. For example, the scratching echo was created using an animatronic hand puppet on a real set and with Christoph Maria Herbst as Eisspin. The Fantasy Filmfest presents the 15-minute fantasy film as a world premiere.

fresh blood

what remains

A long-term inmate at a mental clinic in the far north abruptly confesses to a series of brutal murders. His therapist, a police officer, and he himself try thereupon to reconstruct the details of the case and to comprehend the murky reality that emerges. Extremely precise, dismal, and icy cold WHAT REMAINS marks Chinese filmmaker Ran Huang's feature film debut, starring Stellan Skarsgård, Gustaf Skarsgård, and Andrea Riseborough.

fresh blood

vincent must die

After two of his coworkers attack him for no apparent reason, Vincent is sent home, where he will work from now on. But also outside the office, people get mad at him very quickly; a single glance is enough to turn them against him. Stéphan Castang’s nerve-wrecking thriller with a dark sense of humor and with insane shock moments pulls consistently the rug out from under its grandiose lead actor (Karim Leklou) – and the audience.

director’s spotlight

the survival of kindness

BlackWoman is caught in a cage in the middle of the hot desert, left there to die. This is the beginning of a bizarre odyssey through a world dominated by decay and illness. Dream and reality mix ominously in Rolf de Heer's dystopian nightmare. Fantasy Filmfest dedicates to THE SURVIVAL OF KINDNESS this year's Director's Spotlight. This parable about the abysses of human nature burns deep into your memory with its dizzying shots and terrifying soundtrack, and feels like a punch in the gut that will leave you nauseous for a long time.

slotherhouse

Emily must gain the attention and admiration of her peers in order to be elected president of her students' fraternity. So why not adopt a lovely sloth as the new mascot? Alpha immediately gains everyone's sympathies, but suddenly a murder serial begins, and everything seems to point to Alpha as the perpetrator. It's hilarious how Matthew Goodhue transforms the less dangerous animal in the world into a vicious murderer.

Don't rush, die slow! This is the motto of Matthew Goodhue's madcap horror scenario, which not only turns the world's most harmless animal into a bloodthirsty killer, but also delivers wonderful references to creature classics like GREMLINS.

the seeding

Barnaby Clay’s debut is an ice-cold horror story set in the desert. A photographer attempting to take pictures of a solar eclipse gets tricked by a group of children and finds himself stuck at the bottom of a deep sinkhole. A mysterious woman happens to be there too. A sadistic co-dependence game starts, and the desolation grows bigger and bigger in this visually bewitching thriller.

robot dreams

Dog orders a robot online to keep him company. The two become best friends. Pablo Berger's (Fresh Blood winner 2012 for BLANCANIEVES) quirky animation film about the touching story of a friendship between Dog and his robot buddy, is an ode to old New York and recalls Stephen Spielberg’s A.I. It stuns us with a colorful and with much love for details vision that is enchanting in style and content.

fresh blood

tiger stripes

Zaffan is the first in her class to get her period. Her friends are bewildered and react brutally. In her first feature film Amanda Nell Eu stages the onset of puberty as a monstrous transformation in which a demon must inevitably have a hand. But this body horror trip through the dense Malaysian jungle has it all. Once the claws of the resolute young protagonist are extended, there is no stopping her.

fresh blood

raging grace

A fishy job offer brings Joy to a dusty mansion. She follows the strict instructions of her gruff employer and takes care of her comatose uncle. At the same time, no one must know about her daughter Grace, whom she therefore smuggles into the house in a suitcase and hides her in the closet. Director Paris Zarcilla manages the feat of integrating current topics into a brilliant, gothic horror setting, with surprising twists.

perpetrator

Jonny is sent to her aunt's house because her father has a nasty headache with odd symptoms. While at her new school, more and more young women go missing, and a psychopath is on the loose, Jonny's body changes rapidly. She eventually loses the ability to distinguish between her visions and reality. High school serves as the terrible core of a teenager's existence in Jennifer Reeder's bloodstained, disturbing coming-of-age horror film.