This Austin film festival might be the right place for something that doesn’t feel “ordinary” or that can’t fit into just one category. One of the best options for science fiction, horror, fantasy, and humour movie aficionados to see movies is Fantastic Fest. Naturally, the festival be able to highlight a few underrated jewels that will draw more viewers as a result of their debut. A thrilling collection of eagerly awaited projects is promised for this year’s festival. The best debut movies at Fantastic Fest are listed below.
1. Southland Tales (2006)
Director- Richard Kelly
Taking place on July 4, 2008, as Los Angeles is on the verge of a social, economic, and environmental catastrophe, Southland Tales is a group performance. Amnesia has taken hold of action star Boxer Santaros. Ronald Taverner is a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a massive conspiracy. Krysta Now, an adult film star who is planning her own reality television project, are both intertwined in his life.
2. There Will Be Blood (2007)
Director- Paul Thomas Anderson
Oil prospector Daniel Plainview lives in the early 20th century. He flies to Little Boston, California. Hence, begins to purchase land, starting with the Sunday farm, based on information supplied to him by Paul Sunday. He promises to erect roads, schools, and churches to convince the residents to sell. All so he may buy up all the land in the region. Naturally, he has no desire to do so. He exists solely to pursue financial gain. In the course of his activities, men perish, the villagers lose everything, and Plainview prospers. He has few friends and many enemies throughout his life, and even his adopted son H.W. finally feels isolated.
3. RED (2010)
Director- Robert Schwentke
Living off of his government pension in an unremarkable suburb, Frank is a retired, lonely, and boring man who owns an unremarkable home. Frank only experiences happiness when he makes calls to the government pension processing centre and gets to speak with Sarah, his case worker. As lonely and unfulfilled as Frank, Sarah attributes her entire enjoyment in life to her discussions with the unidentified Frank and her spy novels. Frank and Sarah set out on a journey through his history and the people with whom he used to work when something from Frank’s past drives him back into his previous line of work and unwittingly places Sarah in the heart of the intrigue. All of them are “R.E.D.,” or Retired Extremely Dangerous, like Frank.
4. Zombieland (2009)
Director- Ruben Fleischer
In search of family. America has been overrun by zombies at the beginning of the twenty-first century. Following his 30 guidelines, which include things like “look in the back seat,” “double-tap,” and “avoid public facilities,” a shy college student in Texas has managed to live. He makes the decision to go to Ohio to check on his parents’ well-being. He is given a ride by a vicious zombie killer who is travelling to Florida. They soon come into contact with a young woman whose sister has been bitten by a zombie and wants to be relieved of her pain. The sisters were going to a park in Los Angeles that they heard had attractions but no zombies.
5. Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)
Director- John Hyams
Luc Deveraux, an elder cyborg, is reactivated to save the earth from nuclear Armageddon when a terrorist sect employs the devastating android NGU, a new model from the “Universal Soldier” line of humanlike robots, to take the nuclear plant at Chernobyl. Sadly, Andrew Scott, a rival Universal Soldier who has been refuelled by the terrorists, will also be a problem for Deveraux.
6. Overlord (2018)
Director- Julius Avery
1944, June, in France. In order to destroy a German radio jamming tower on the Normandy beaches on the eve of D-Day, a group of American paratroopers land there, but they soon find themselves behind enemy lines. The remaining soldiers quickly come to the realisation that the Nazi-occupied settlement is more complex than first appears as they approach their vital target. Now, a terrifying secret kept in a subterranean lab poses a threat to alter how WWII plays out.
7. Frankenweenie (2012)
Director- Tim Burton
Though the young Victor Frankenstein is an outcast and a science nerd in school, Sparky, his dog, is one of his closest friends. Then, however, tragedy comes, and Sparky passes away. Victor is devastated, but his science teacher gives him a suggestion on how to revive old Sparky. The experiment is successful, and everything seems to be going according to plan—until Victor’s classmates steal his secret and use it to resuscitate other dead creatures with horrifying results.
8. 1922 (2017)
Director- Zack Zilditch
Based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, this 1922 tale with hints of Edgar Allen Poe’s “The Black Cat” and “A Tell-tale Heart” centres on a straightforward but proud farmer named Wilfred James who kills his wife with the reluctance of his teenage son in order to take possession of her inherited land. But soon after, James and his farm start to experience odd and paranormal events.
9. Wheelman (2017)
Director- Jeremy Rush
The driver known as Wheelman is forced to work for mobsters after serving three years in prison in order to pay back a debt. He can’t get in touch with his liaison when he’s given the job of driving a getaway car for a bank heist, so a stranger calls him instead and gives him instructions to deliver the stolen money. Soon after, he discovers that his contact has deceived him, and he spends the night attempting to protect Katie, his daughter who is thirteen, and Jessica, his ex-wife, from a gang that intends to rob the bank of its money.
10. Split (2016)
Director- M. Night Shyamalan
Casey, Claire, and Marcia, schoolmates in the art class, are taken advantage of by the spooky predator Kevin Wendell Crumb, a broken man with Dissociative Identity Disorder, in broad daylight following an innocent birthday party at a mall. Twenty-three unique and suppressed personalities live inside Kevin, not just one; nevertheless, from this horde, certain identities are unavoidably more evil than others. A combination of Kevin’s traits and the pinnacle of human growth will eventually manifest as the illusive 24th “Beast” persona, in all its magnificence.
These are all the best debut movies in fantastic fest. Hope you guys watch and enjoy the list.
