Dark Wave Creeps Up in the City

For the third year in a row, the San Francisco Film Society celebrates films that go to the extreme and beyond with Dark Wave, the series of horror, fantasy and cult cinema, October 19-22 at the Roxie Cinema. Featuring vengeful Korean ghosts, psychic vigilantes and teenage werewolves, Dark Wave dares Bay Area chill seekers to explore the dark and dangerous side of cinema while they get in the spirit of Halloween, San Francisco's favorite dress-up holiday With eight film premieres hailing from Spain, South Korea, Japan, France and the U.S., Dark Wave takes an international view of the horror genre.

Dead Creatures
Dir. Andrew Parkinson. (England 2001, 90 min.)
Forget everything you think you know about zombies and ask yourself this. What if your best friend became a zombie? Your daughter? What if you were a zombie? How far would you go to survive? A group of British urbanites struggle with this nightmare scenario in this undeniably gruesome, yet bizarrely poignant film. Dead Creatures is the most radical zombie film since Night of the Living Dead.

Deep in the Woods
Dir. Lionel Delplanque. (France 2000, 90 min.)
(Promenons-nous dans les bois) Hired to perform at an isolated castle, five actors learn the true meaning of stage fright when their audience turns out to be an eccentric aristocrat, his autistic grandson and a maniac wearing a wolf costume. Dripping with style and loaded with sexual tension, this oh-so-French take on slasher flicks will be shown in its original, uncut version, with even more sex and violence. Vive la France!

Pyrokinesis
Dir. Shusuke Kaneko. (Japan 2001, 115 min.)
Ever since she was a little girl, Junko has tried to suppress her psychic ability. But when a vicious street gang begins stalking the young women of Tokyo, Junko realizes she may be the only one who can stop them. From one of Japan's top fantasy film directors comes this tale of rage, sorrow and ESP.

The Nameless
Dir. Jaume Balagueró. (Spain 1999, 102 min.)
(Los sin nombre) A divorced, emotionally fragile woman, who's never recovered from the mysterious death of her daughter, answers her phone. On the other end of the line is a quiet voice, pleading, "Mommy, it's me . . . Come and get me." With the help of a former police detective, the woman follows a string of clues that lead her into a labyrinthine plot of supernatural, terrifying origins.

Nightmare
Dir. Byung-Ki Ahn. (South Korea 2000, 100 min.)
U.S. Premiere
(Kawee) Five years ago, a group of college friends endured a night of secrets and lies that ended in death for one of them. Now, a force from beyond the grave is stalking the survivors, taking its revenge in horrific ways, and until someone admits the truth about that fateful night, no one is safe in this creepy blending of ghosts and gore.

Séance
Dir. Kiyoshi Kurosawa. (Japan 2000, 97 min.)
(Korei) From one of Japan's most acclaimed directors comes this intelligent, subtle tale of horror. A young girl is kidnapped and the police's only lead is a local psychic with motives of her own. Soon, the kidnapping leads to murder, and this tale of crime becomes a chilling ghost story that will quietly shred your nerves and leave you scared of the dark.

Uzumaki
Dir. Higuchinsky. (Japan 2000, 90 min.)
Fiercely original, Uzumaki is a psychedelic fever dream of obsession, madness and possibly the end of the world. The residents of a small town in Japan have a problem. They all seem to be going insane. Only schoolgirl Kirie is unaffected and, as she observes the mounting mayhem, mutations and murders, she notices a disturbing pattern that truly has to be seen to be believed. To say any more would spoil the fun.

Wendigo
Dir. Larry Fessenden. (USA 2001, 90 min.)
Just when you thought it was safe to go into the woods again comes this atmospheric blending of ancient myths and modern nightmares. The tranquility of the New England countryside is shattered when a family from the city encounters a couple of gun-toting, misanthropic rednecks. While his parents struggle to defend themselves, eight-year-old Miles discovers there's something else out there in the woods, something far more dangerous.

Special thanks to Jeffrey Levy-Hinte, Pria Thakran, Antidote Films; Jayna Packman, Dimension Films; Gregory Hatanaka, Epoch Entertainment; Tony Timpone, Fangoria Presents; Andrew Parkinson, Long Pig Ltd.; Erica Nam, Mirovision; Tetsuki Ijichi, Tidepoint Pictures; Tetsushi Sudo, Toho Co., Ltd.; Chongsop Lee, Tube Entertainment.