Sending sympathy and condolences to friends and associates in L.A.
Godspeed.

Description: In a run-down small-town between Miami and the Everglades, Cozy (Lisa Bowman), a dissatisfied housewife, longs for an adventure. One night, at a nearby bar, she meets Lee Ray (Larry Fessenden), an equally disaffected handyman who’s never left home. As sparks fly between them, a gun accidentally goes off. Thinking they have committed murder, the pair decide to flee, but their naive natures and limited bank balances mean they don’t get very far. Cleverly playing on procedural drama tropes, Kelly Reichardt’s remarkably assured debut feature showcases her keen eye for observing the unsaid in this story about the stories we tell ourselves to escape the banality of everyday life. 

Special Features and Technical Specs:

• 2K RESTORATION by Oscilloscope Laboratories 
• Uncompressed stereo PCM audio
• Audio commentary by Kelly Reichardt and Larry Fessenden
• Audio interview with writer and curator So Mayer (2024) 
• Larry Fessenden: Invisible Man, Renaissance Man, Monstrous Midwife – a visual essay by critic Anton Bitel on the career of actor and producer Larry Fessenden including his work with Reichardt and other independent filmmakers (2024)
• “Drive-by” outtakes 
• Restoration featurette
• Trailer
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow
• Limited edition booklet with new writing by Caitlin Quinlan
• Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

UK STREET DATE: APRIL 28.

10 Best Movies Set In Alaska, Ranked
By Rob Hunter

Every state has its own histories, landscapes, and stories worth telling, but some lend themselves to more visually stimulating tales than others. There are bland-looking states that shall remain unnamed, and then there are ones that feel intriguing and inviting no matter which way the camera’s pointed. Hawaii is an obvious pick on that count, but Alaska gives it a real run for the top spot. It is an endlessly stunning place to be with natural beauty staring you down from every direction. That beauty can come at a cost, though, as nature can be both unrelenting and unforgiving.

That reality, when coupled with the vast size of the state and a sparse population, leaves it ripe for drama, danger, and stories about isolation both intentional and otherwise. It’s a place where a detective can be driven mad by the lack of night (“Insomnia”), a humorously inappropriate romance can take hold (“The Proposal”), and an amateur hockey team can win big (“Mystery, Alaska”). None of those films landed in our top 10 movies set in Alaska, though, so keep reading to see what titles made the cut.

#9 THE LAST WINTER

A small group of oil company employees work to establish a base in the Arctic National Refuge with plans on drilling for black gold. The earth and nature itself seem to have other ideas.

Comparisons to John Carpenter’s masterpiece, “The Thing,” are inevitable given the location and setup, but these are wholly different beasts. The alien threat in Fessenden’s film comes from within, and it rises in a slower, far from tangible form. The only monster here is humankind’ voracious appetite for environmental destruction, and as the Earth strikes back with madness and paranoia, it serves to highlight our absolute culpability in the climate change that might ultimately be our downfall. Fittingly then, it’s a downer of a film serving as a cautionary tale even as it suggests we’re too late to fix the problem.

Larry Fessenden’s “The Last Winter” wears its eco-horror label loud and proud in the guise of a slow-burn thriller that scratches a very specific genre itch. Cinematographer G. Magni Agustsson takes fantastic advantage of filming locations in Alaska and Iceland to capture the stark beauty of an unforgiving landscape. The cast does great work giving the group a lived-in feel with familiar faces like Ron Perlman, Connie Britton, and James Le Gros as the one who first suspects that Mother Nature is done taking crap from humans. As with “The Thing,” the ending is a bit ambiguous, but we know one thing: A change is needed.

Read Full List at Slash Film

FINDING THE MAGIC:
Jenn Wexler on her approach to filmmaking, The Ranger and The Sacrifice Game
by Paul Risker

After opening the 2018 edition of FrightFest with her début feature, The Ranger, filmmaker Jenn Wexler’s 2023 sophomore feature, The Sacrifice Game (2023), was chosen to close the festival. It’s a remarkable privilege to have opened and closed the UK’s most prestigious genre festival only two films into her directing career.

In August 2023, in London, I sat down with Wexler to discuss the Christmas-themed The Sacrifice Game — hours before she was due to walk on stage and introduce the film to the West End audience.

The striking thing about Wexler is her layered presence. While outgoing, you can sense an introverted side to her personality—her self-reflective nature, perhaps. Talking with her, you realise that there’s a piece of her folded into her films, which reminds me of something filmmaker Rebecca Miller told me: “…if they are made honestly, all pieces of art are self portraits of the person making them. Even though film is such a collaborative art, if there is a real auteur behind it, then that person imbues the film with who they are, and what their concerns are at that moment.”

As entertaining as The Ranger and The Sacrifice Game are, there’s something personal, even a vulnerability imbued in their souls. The two films share similar beats, namely a group of characters finding themselves in an unexpected situation. Beyond that, and other similar thematic beats that are revealed to interest Wexler, the director carefully ensures the two films have their own identity.

In conversation with Eye For Film, Wexler discussed her creative process, concerns about an AI apocalypse, her enduring interest in horror and why she doesn’t want to work outside the horror space.

Paul Risker: I remember speaking to a director who remarked that the term ‘filmmaker’ is a strange and slightly ambiguous one. I’ve spoken with others who say that it took a number of films before they felt they could call themselves a filmmaker. Do you feel that you can call yourself, if not a filmmaker, then a director?

Jenn Wexler: I feel like a filmmaker, and I proudly call myself one. Before I directed my first feature, The Ranger, I’d produced six features. I learned how to make movies as a producer, working for Larry Fessenden’s production company, Glass Eye Pix, out of New York.

I love the term filmmaking because there’s a connotation to it that you’re making something — and especially making indie movies at Glass Eye Pix, it felt like we were making a movie with our own hands. I loved that vibe and sense of community, where people come together to create something out of nothing.

Certainly now, I feel I can call myself a director after my second feature, and also before The Ranger and The Sacrifice Game, I had directed shorts. So, I feel confident calling myself a director, but I prefer the term filmmaker because, especially in the indie world, you’re doing a lot. You might not just be directing. There might be a little bit of producing in there too, and writing. Filmmaker is a great catch-all.

PR: Filmmakers I’ve spoken to have compared the experience of making a film to going to war or having a baby, and they frequently suggest making films is addictive. What are your thoughts on these chosen metaphors to describe the process?

JW: I don’t feel it’s like going to war. I find filmmaking so joyful. I’m so happy when I’m making a movie, and as soon as I receive the green-light, as soon as I know we’re doing this, from prep through post-production, I am so happy and fulfilled. It’s exciting to have the privilege to explore art and to create. I try not to take it for granted and I try to find the magic in every phase of the process

…

PR: The problem with modern horror is it can be too message-orientated. Cinema can be a Trojan Horse, addressing themes and ideas in a less direct way. The outsider themes and finding one’s place in The Sacrifice Game don’t compromise it being a fun genre picture. Instead, the subtext is gently communicated to the audience.

JW: My favourite horror movies do that and what’s so wonderful about the horror genre is that you can tell a really entertaining story, and also talk about the world through metaphor or character. So, with The Ranger and with The Sacrifice Game, I think about that balance. You don’t want to be too heavy-handed, of course, because more important than anything else is telling an entertaining story, but yeah, I’m trying to pour myself into the movie. Instinctively, what comes along with that are the things that I have anxieties about.

PR: If as you say, you filter the film through your traumatic experiences, then The Sacrifice Game is an act of self-compassion. What’s so striking is how you’re able to create an entertaining genre picture, and beneath the surface, have so much more happening.

JW: What is so beautiful about art is that you’re doing something on the surface and while you’re doing this, your subconscious is doing other stuff, and it’s going to come out in surprising ways. You look at it after and think, ‘Oh, that’s something I am dealing with, okay.’ But not all of it is in the front of your mind when you’re actually making it, and it’s cool to hear you put it in those words. I find that process fascinating.

The Sacrifice Game and The Ranger are available on Shudder.

Read full article at Eye On Film

Fessenden and Shudder’s Sam Zimmerman with Tony Todd
on the occasion of TALES FROM BEYOND THE PALE LIVE in Montreal
JULY 27 2015

HIDDEN RECORDS

A troubled teen is haunted by the memory of his musician father and the vinyl record that speaks from beyond the grave.

Cast: Kevin Cline, Tony Todd, Susan Corbett, Alexandre Lazarre, Esinam Beckley.

Crew: Doug Buck (Writer and Director), Silvano Mercado (Music), Tom Mennier (Piano), Philippe Battikha (Trumpet), Chris Skotchdopole (Live Foley), Tessa Price (Live Foley), Glenn McQuaid (Live Sound Design), Graham Reznick (Live Ambience), Lee Nussbaum (Live Mix and Tech).

BARRICADE

A couple honeymooning in rural Pennsylvania is visited by two desperate men fleeing legions of tiny creatures they’ve unleashed from underground.

Cast: Roxanne Benjamin, Jeremy Gardner, Tony Todd, Samuel Zimmerman.

Crew: Larry Fessenden (Writer, Director, Live Foley),  Just Desserts (Music), Chris Skotchdopole (Live Foley), Tessa Price (Live Foley), Glenn McQuaid (Live Sound Design), Graham Reznick (Live Ambience), Lee Nussbaum (Live Mix and Tech).

NOW STREAMING
Available on Blu-ray through Vinegar Syndrome

In case you thought things have taken a turn for the worse,
there’s a whole lot of dreadful that could still lie ahead.

Fessenden and Ilya Chaiken with Ruth Gordon and Hall Ashby
at a screening of LIBERTY KID at the Director’s Guild Theater, NYC

FAMILY PORTRAITS: A TRILOGY OF AMERICA & THE ACCIDENT – 35MM + Q&A

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 9 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR: Douglas Buck
CAST: Sally Conway, Larry Fessenden, Beth Glover
Family Portraits: A Trilogy of America (2003, 103MIN) From acclaimed director Douglas Buck comes an unflinching, disturbingly beautiful look at the underbelly of American family. Three separate narratives (including the shocking film festival favorite “Cutting Moments” as well as “Home” and “Prologue”) combine to create a unique trilogy of life today that will leave you devastated… and begging for more.

The Accident (2011, 11MIN) a mother and young daughter drive along a mountain road and come upon a fatal collision between a motorcyclist and a deer.

Q&A with Douglas Buck following screening.

SISTERS – 35MM + Q&A

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10 8:00 PM
DIRECTOR: Douglas Buck
CAST: Chloë Sevigny, Stephen Rea, Lou Doillon
A reporter witnesses a brutal murder and becomes entangled in a mystery involving a pair of conjoined twins who were separated at birth, one of them forced to live under the eye of a watchful, controlling psychiatrist.

ALSO SCREENING before the feature:
Electric Blue featuring Fessenden. A brand new short from Douglas Buck
for “One-Way Ticket To The Other Side,” a series of short films centered around the debut album of the musical duo Pornographie Exclusive (Severine Cayron and Jerome Vandewattyne).

Q&A with Douglas Buck following screening.

Fessenden served as actor in Buck’s Trilogy of America and Producer with Edward R. Pressman on Buck’s SISTERS remake. Buck’s THE ACCIDENT is perhaps his crowning achievement.

Warning: This is extreme cinema to suit the mood of the day

CONTEMPLATING THE MYRIAD DISCONNECTS THAT HAVE LED MODERN SOCIETY ASTRAY

An attempt to reset the national conversation through
the defiant naïveté Fessenden employs in his horror movies;
For if we shy away from idealism, we have no mechanism to make change.

Whoever wins this election, we cannot respond if we don’t have principals
with which to find common cause or build resistance.