Ah, spring in Boston. You can feel the change in the air — the sun has finally returned from its month-long hiatus, the pollen count is rising steadily, the rabbits that escaped from that one MIT lab years and years ago have tripled in size and are causing car accidents all over the city, and the streets are strewn with only-recently caked over vomit from Dooley and company hitting the St. Patrick’s Day parade a bit too hard, making Pollock paintings with a Chunky soup consistency that gives the right squish when you’re not looking directly at the damn sidewalk while taking a stroll. Despite what you might think, those New Balance 574s you just bought aren’t ruined, but it is pretty gross. Gross, and a little bit strange, but also a bit comforting? Insightful? Well, if you want all those feelings without any of the physical splatters to step in, the Boston Underground Film Festival (or as it’s commonly known around these parts, BUFF) is back once again at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge for five days of off-the-beaten-path programming.
The action kicks off today and runs through Sunday (March 19 to 23), and we’re once again hyped to check out the best of the genre world — there’s some world premieres, some local premieres, a whole assortment of awesome short films, and a few repertoire screenings, one with a true horror icon in attendance. You can find the full schedule and buy tickets on their official website, and here are our five picks for what to check out at BUFF this year.
The Surfer
How exciting is this? The opening night feature is Lorcan Finnegan’s Australia-set absurdist thriller, starring the one-and-only Nicolas Cage as an American looking to hang ten on the coast down under. Problem is, he’s fallen into the same trap that seemingly ensnares any outsider in these kinds of pictures (Wake in Fright, The Royal Hotel, and so on) — the locals aren’t too keen on him occupying their beachhead. We hope Nic Cage — a noted fan of comic books — got a glimpse of those old Charles Atlas ads in the back of an old page of Batman and took his advice to bulk up: You never know when you’re gonna have to dish out a beating after an Aussie steals your girl.
THE SURFER :: Wednesday, March 19 at 7 p.m.
Chain Reaction
Imagine this paragraph in John Larroquette’s voice-over from the opening moments of The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (yes, that was him!). In 1974, director Tobe Hooper and a rag-tag team of cast and crew shot one of the most infamous horror films in history. Years after the blood-soaked rampage horrified audiences all over the world, a lone documentary filmmaker named Alexandre O. Phillipe, whose histories of the genre (78/52, Memory: The Origins of Alien) have educated and enthralled genre fans, returns to the scene of the crime. What terrible impact has this film had on a generation of filmmakers and artists, and will the blood ever stop flowing?
CHAIN REACTION :: Thursday, March 20 at 6 p.m.
The Ugly Stepsister
It feels like we’re suffused with fucked-up takes on fairy tales at the moment, thanks to lots of classic children’s literature hitting the public domain. But this isn’t Winnie the Pooh as presented to you by your edgiest creepypasta-obsessed 10-year-old nephew: This is an artful and gory update to one of the most enduring European legends of them all — Cinderella. Norwegian director Emlie Blichfeldt’s hideously gross tale of dismemberment (and re-assembly) premiered at Sundance back in January, and we heard some wacky shit about it on the scene, even though we didn’t get a chance to see it ourselves. Just make sure you’ve got that barf bag ready to go. Otherwise, your proverbial carriage might turn into a metaphorical pumpkin.
THE UGLY STEPSISTER :: Friday, March 21 at 9:30 p.m.
Re-Animator
Normally, we don’t spotlight rep screenings when we do these curtain raisers, but what BUFF has planned for Stuart Gordon’s 1985 masterpiece is worth mentioning. You know the basics: Herbert West has a serum that can bring back the dead (or parts of them, at least), and it’s a Lovecraft adaptation, so you know that bad shit is going to happen. Hell, you’ve probably already seen this movie, too. What you haven’t seen is the 40th anniversary restoration, which will be making its world premiere in Cambridge that night, and horror legend Barbara Crampton will be on hand to celebrate. If you like horror movies and live in the area, why on Earth would you miss this?
RE-ANIMATOR :: Saturday, March 22 at 9:15 p.m.
Escape from the 21st Century
We don’t know if we’ve ever empathized as much with a title as we did when we saw Yang Li’s new feature listed as the BUFF closing night film. Who wouldn’t want to get the hell out of this crazy century? Following an encounter with some toxic waste in 1999, three friends develop the ability to jump forward or backward in time by 20 years — sound great, right? The only problem is that it’s involuntary: every time one of them sneezes, they’re catapulted across the decades and wind up in futures that range from the goofy to the soul-crushing. Get ready for some hyperactive and absurdly funny action — this is 98 minutes of pure, uncut chaos.
ESCAPE FROM THE 21ST CENTURY :: Sunday, March 23 at 8:30 p.m.