Seven days and many films later, Fantastic Fest wrapped the 2025 edition of the festival. How did it rank compared to others? It’s unfair to compare it year to year. I didn’t see 85% of the films playing (a total of 15 for me), so a total assessment is null and void. I can only elaborate on a few, but I will say that the selections I did see were far better than previous years. There were no real clunkers in the bunch. The festival’s blend of art house auteurs (Eugene Green, Hadzihalilovic, Radu Jude) with up-and-coming gorehounds struck the perfect balance for a festival that strives to program from both ends of the viewing spectrum- the serious to the messed up.
One of those messed up films was Rod Blackhurst’s Dolly. Comparisons to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) cannot be overstated, no matter how much I wanted to avoid that cliche mention. But here we are.
Taking place in the Tennessee wilderness as couple Maci (Fabianne Therese) and Chase (Sean William Scott) hike along the mountains, their adventure is interrupted by a doll-mask wearing stalker who abducts Maci and holds her hostage in a sick delirium of ‘playing house’. I suppose the first inclination of oncoming terror was the forest of defaced dolls the couple come across before Dolly herself shows up, but that porcelain house of horror is just one of the many deranged aspects of a film that steams ahead.
Full of some gag-worthy body dismemberment and plenty of just-run-and-get-away tense moments, Dolly’s popularity as an endless, mindless killing machine has already been solidified by the tease of part two. This is a film that should be seen with a crowd. Even though the film’s narrative follows a fairly basic template, its atmosphere, 16MM cinematography, and unsettling gore make for a perfect October viewing.
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In stark contrast, the lightest film I saw was Sean Cisterna’s Silver Screamers. I can’t completely say how uncalculated Cisterna’s motives were in making this documentary, but the result is a heartwarming paean to the spirit of independent filmmaking.
When faced with the decision that he just didn’t have enough money to make his low budget horror film “The Rug”, Cisterna turned to the local senior citizen home and asked for volunteers. What he got was a freshman crew of 70+ year olds…. men and women who did everything from props and art direction to the cinematography. The resulting affair not only created his intentioned short film but gave birth to Silver Screamers. We watch as the seniors quickly learn the ropes of filmmaking (sound recording seems to be the toughest part) and learn on-the-fly technique. With quick snippets of their history in interviews, it’s hard not to like any of the men and women who accepted the challenge.
Whether Cisterna took this unorthodox detour in filmmaking and wound up with an accidental other film in the process, or his faux documentary was the point all along is inconsequential. Silver Screamers earns the good vibes it continually puts out, made even more sweet when the cast and crew get a hometown screening that hems close to the warm, vibrant feels that emanate when a group of people share a soulful common experience of creativity.
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Newfound motherhood is always fertile ground for psychological introspection and Chloe Cinq-Mars’ Nesting visits this territory with gratifying results. As new mother Penelope, Rose-Marie Perreault is tremendous. Effectively portraying a woman whose fissures with reality begin to crack open after experiencing a late-night supermarket robbery, the film plays with time, memory, and reality in ways that are familiar but still unsettling. As if the visions of her long-lost sister aren’t enough, Nesting proves even more involving when Penelope simply wants to exist and have fun, but the distant cries of her baby pull her back into her undeniable new role. This push and pull of her old/new self is the elemental thrust of the film.
Wandering close to the edges of horror, Nesting never fully commits to the more gruesome avenues it could have taken, and for that, the film is all the more interesting.
Dallas Film Now. 