THE ROOST w/ Ti West

Fantastic Fest and Austin Film Society Present: Ti West’s Fantastic Fest Hangover

Fantastic Fest will be hosting exciting young horror filmmaker Ti West and his film THE INNKEEPERS for a special encore screening (after its World Premiere earlier this year at SXSW).  After the festival, Austin Film Society and Fantastic Fest have asked him to stay and present a selection of his oeuvre to help ease the withdrawals the town feels from the week-long genre jamboree (and to give those non-badgeholders a chance to see some awesome horror movies).  West will be presenting his first feature, THE ROOST, as well as THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL and his recent ghost story, THE INNKEEPERS.  The director will be at each screening and will also be the guest at an AFS moviemaker dialogue on 10/1. 

As a filmmaker, Ti West is a master of roots horror; his interests are concentrated pacing, the creation and build-up of tension, and traditional horror storytelling.  This is evidenced in his major features (THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL, THE INNKEEPERS) as well as his premiere effort, this staggering first feature.  THE ROOST invokes classics of the genre like THE BIRDS and NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD while looking and feeling totally unique and fresh – West uses the resources and aesthetic of contemporary low-budget indie filmmaking and applies them to the horror genre to create his modern hybrids.  THE ROOST, which focuses on a group of teenagers stranded in a horrific zombie/killer bat scenario, is a fascinating look at the early work of one of the horror genre’s most exciting filmmakers. (Daniel)