FYF 157: ‘Return to the Theatre of Terror’ and ‘Old School Kung Fu Fest’

Looking for an anthology series or Wuxia movies for this weekend? On our latest Find Your Film episode, we spotlight Return to the Theatre of Terror (playing Saturday at Smodcastle Cinemas) and Old School Kung Fu Fest (Metrograph April 21-30). Eric Holmes interviews Goran Topalovic, one of the fest’s founders, and I talk to Return to the Theatre of Terror filmmaker Tom Ryan.

Return to the Theatre of Terror features four short stories from filmmaker Tom Ryan. I have seen and loved the first two shorts (the noirish Soothsayer and family curse tale Splinter). The other shorts are Haunted and Robot. Ryan mentioned that he has not spent over $20,000 on any of his movies, and it’s great to see how one can pull off an effective story within a limited budget. Soothsayer is shot in black and white and Splinter is an uncompromising horror drama which I appreciated.

You can pre-order the DVD for Return to The Theatre of Terror on the movie’s official website as well as the Blu-ray for his previous effort The Theatre of Terror. I will be ordering both movies and adding them to my physical media collection. The Ryan interview is also worth checking out if you are interested in the ins and outs of indie filmmaking.

Eric Holmes, Bruce Purkey and I are spending this month getting acquainted with Wuxia cinema. I recently saw A Touch of Zen (streaming on Criterion Channel) and loved it. The epic documentary The King of Wuxia, which spotlights A Touch of Zen filmmaker King Hu, is playing in at the fest. Those two projects as well as Hu’s features The Valiant Ones and The Fate of Lee Khan will be part of the Old School Kung Fu Fest. For a full schedule, head over to Metograph and/or Subway Cinema.

Check out our interviews with Tom Ryan (Return to the Theatre of Terror) and Goran Topalovic (Old School Kung Fu Fest) on the latest episode of Find Your Film! Pick your choice of media player and take a listen!!