The Ohio Sci-Fi and Horror Marathons

For those of you who have asked, here's a wee bit o' info about the four Columbus Premieres coming up at this year's marathon!

This edition of the marathon will feature four film premieres of award-winning new science fiction features all showing for the first time in Ohio. Carrie Anne Moss (Matrix), Tim Blake Nelson (Meet The Fockers, Minority Report), and Billy Connolly star in director Andrew Currie’s FIDO, which takes place in a the town of Willard, a town forever trapped in the happy-faced façade of the fifties. But this is an Americana in an alternate reality where space dust has brought the dead back to life and young Timmy’s best friend is a six-foot tall Zombie named Fido. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof.

In PUZZLEHEAD, Director-writer James Bai employs special effects wizardry in this futuristic take on the conflict between man and machine. In the near future, technology has been outlawed. A reclusive scientist creates a robot in his own image and names him Puzzlehead who becomes his connection to the outside world. PUZZLEHEAD has been shown in over 20 international film festivals including the Tribeca Film Festival, Sci-Fi London and Cinequest.

Bizarre-looking monsters and supernatural beings from Japanese folklore are just part of the fun in THE GREAT YOKAI WAR, from Japan’s master of mayhem, director Takashi Miike. In his most lavish film to date, Miike breathes new life into old spooks in a film that’s been called the Japanese LORD OF THE RINGS. Starring Chiaki Kuriyama(Kill Bill Vol. 1) as an evil mistress who is turning the good Yokai into evil bio-mechanical robots to threaten humanity. Wildly inventive, very funny and featuring amazing special effects, THE GREAT YOKAI WAR is like a Miyazaki film reimagined by Sid & Marty Kroft.

The final premiere in this year’s Marathon is the highly experimental AUTOMATONS and starring Angus Scrimm (Phantasm). In the distant future The Girl is alone, the last of her people, all others having died in a generations-long war. She continues the fight from her underground bunker with the aid of her Robby-the-robot style mechanical army. AUTOMATONS is about the horrors of war and robots and was filmed in ‘Robo-Monstervision’ according to its director, James McKenney and was executive produced by cult film director/producer Larry Fessenden who also appears in the film.

_________________
Six side is heaven/Nine side is go

It's always tough to judge movies in advance. But if I had to guess, I wouldn't be too surprised if The Great Yokai War turned out to be my favorite out of the four premieres. We'll see. I look forward to finding out.

Yokai is definitely the one I'm looking forward to...

_________________
Six side is heaven/Nine side is go

I've seen YOKAI. It's deliriously weird. It's a film that is definitely made for Japanese audiences as those of us in the West have no real exposure to the Yokai mythology. Still, I think that the audience will have a good time with it, even though it will make little sense to most of us.

AUTOMATONS is the movie I am looking towards to see. I like movies that have a surreal/dreamlike feel to them. I watched the trailer. Can't not wait to see it. If I have to sand in the isle to keep myself awake, so be it. [/i]