Report From Fantastic Fest Days One And Two!

Greetings from the glorious chaos that is Fantastic Fest! You can trust that we've wasted no time getting this motherloving party started, my friends. If you're here, we're excited to hang with you; if you're not, know that we are missing you dearly and expect to see you here next year. We know content's been a little light on BAD this week and we thank you for your patience! I know it seems like I've disappeared, but I'm doing tons of posting over at Fantastic Fest so stop by and see me sometime!

Here's what's been up with us:

Wednesday night we had a kick-off party for badgeholders at Peter Pan Mini-Golf with free beer and putt-putt for our beloved Fantastic Festers! (photo by Jack Plunkett)

Thursday night brought us the world premiere of Tim Burton's FRANKENWEENIE with Burton, stars Winona Ryder, Martin Landau, Charlie Tahan and producer Allison Abbate in attendance! We had a great red carpet and Q&A and a theater just for dog-owners and their pups, who brought their fancy four-legged pals in black tie attire because, you know. It's adorable. (photos by Jack Plunkett, videos by Arts + Labor)

We also had a screening of the entirely rad DREDD 3D, with stars Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby and writer Alex Garland in attendance. And in honor of DREDD 3D, RealD set up a 2500fps slow motion Phantom Camera booth so fans could create their own ultra slo-mo video. And Jock did a Mondo poster for the screening! (photos by Jack Plunkett, red carpet video by Arts + Labor)

Here are a few of the best slo-mo videos from the booth including Fantastic Fest founder Tim League and our own Henri Mazza, Jordan Hoffman and Devin. See the full playlist here!

Thursday night we also screened AMERICAN MARY, the follow up to The Twisted Twins' - Jen and Sylvia Soska's - DEAD HOOKER IN THE TRUNK. The Soskas and actors Tristan Risk and Katie Isabelle were in attendance. (photos by Jack Plunkett, video by Arts + Labor)

And we had a screening of Brandon Cronenberg's ANTIVIRAL, with Cronenberg and star Caleb Landry Jones in attendance. (photo by Gary Miller)

And we capped off the night with a black and white Monster's Ball opening night party in honor of FRANKENWEENIE, with a costume contest, mad scientist's lab photo booth, dance party and specialty cocktails from Alamo Drafthouse Beverage Director Bill Norris. (party photos by David Hill, photo booth pic by Annie Ray, video by Arts + Labor)

Friday afternoon Fantastic Fest founder Tim League and his wife Karrie hosted the Fantastic Fest filmmakers for a pretty epic lunch at their pad in Austin! (photo by David Hill)

We showed the 25th anniversary of Y.K. Kim's MIAMI CONNECTION, re-released by Drafthouse Films and featuring the reunion of martial arts rock band Dragon Sound! (photo by David Hill, video by Arts + Labor)

We offered a screening and Q&A for new fright flick SINISTER with director Scott Derrickson, producer Jason Blum, second unit director Matthew Tibbenham and co-writer Chris Cargill in attendance, as well as the sequel to THE COLLECTOR, THE COLLECTION, with actress Emma Fitzpatrick! (videos by Arts + Labor)

We reached maximum gross-out capacity with the DEAD SUSHI extreme sushi challenge hosted by our badass-in-chief Devin and featuring unsuspecting but alarmingly conciliatory contestants eating ghost peppers, duck fetuses and bull penises. (photo by Jack Plunkett)

Of course we had our daily Fantastic Arcade Happy Hour (photo by Gary Miller) and the interactive dance party experience DANCINGULARITY, presented by Kokoromi and Venus Patrol! (photo by Jack Plunkett)

And we crushed the end of the night with our annual Well Go Entertainment Chaos Reigns Karaoke Party, my personal favorite night of the festival each year! The karaoke was particularly inspired this year with everything from Marky Mark to Michael McDonald being nailed onstage. But before the karaoke began, we were treated to the 25th anniversary reunion concert of MIAMI CONNECTION's Dragon Sound! (photos by David Hill)

So yeah. I'm not gonna lie to you guys. It's been fun. Check back here every day for reports from the frontlines of Fantastic Fest!