You might think Fantastic Fest announces their annual line-up in three big chunks so they can get a little extra press, right? (Hell, if that technique is good enough for Toronto, then it's good enough for Fantastic Fest!) That's a small part of it, but the main reason Tim League announces his slate in three big chunks -- is because he's busy trolling the planet up until the very last minute, looking for good movies. (In the past month he's been to Korea, Turkey, and PORTLAND!)

If you're looking for FF Batch One or Batch Two, you can find those here and here OR at the official FF website ... but if you want the final batch, well, you'll find that right here. As usual I'll include the full press release after the jump, but not before mentioning new Fanty* additions like Fanboys (my review here), JT Petty's The Burrowers, The Good, the Bad, and the Weird (which is so good it's playing Telluride, Toronto AND Fantastic Fest), Alien Raiders (aka Supermarket), and the long-awaited Repo! A Genetic Opera from Saw-lord Darren Lynn Bousman.

Woohoo! Not one holocaust documentary or 165-minute French political drama at this festival, folks! And of course you should expect a few last-minute surprises. This is, after all, the festival that scored (way) early screenings of Apocalypto, Persepolis, Southland Tales, Pan's Labyrinth, There Will Be Blood, and ... um ... Postal. FF begins on September 18, and you know who'll be covering for us? The ultra-mega-stellar awesome team of Goss, Martin, Kernion & Weinberg. And we take our genre stuff very seriously.

*Yes, "Fanty." Let's hope it sticks.
We are proud to announce the final slate of feature film programming for
the 2008 edition of Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas. With over 100 films
representing over 30 countries, Fantastic Fest is the largest festival
of its kind in the United States. The 2008 schedule will be announced
online on Thursday, September 4, 2008. If you are planning on coming to
Fantastic Fest and have not yet secured a badge. Act quickly as we only
have 30 film badges left and expect to be sold out by the end of the week!

FINAL BATCH: FANTASTIC FEATURES:

Alien Raiders
Special Advance Screening / dir. Ben Rock / USA / 2008 / 85 min
Director Ben Rock live in person!
A squadron of trained gunmen lay siege to a supermarket at closing time.
What first appears to be a robbery soon takes on otherworldly dimensions.

Astropia (Dorks and Damsels)
North American Premiere / Dir. Gunnar Gudmundsson / Iceland / 2008 / 93 min
Director Gunnar Gudmundsson and screenerwriters Otto Borg and Johann
Grimson live in person!
Hildi, a high-society socialite, is left bankrupt and alone after her
corrupt husband is whisked off to prison. With no other prospects, she
gets a job selling role-playing games and accessories at Astropia, the
town's geek Mecca.

The Burrowers
US Premiere / Dir. J.T. Petty / USA / 2008 / 97 min
Director J.T. Petty live in person!
A cross-country manhunt searches for an abducted woman and a marauding
Indian tribe, but the real villains don't ride horses... they burrow
from beneath the ground.

The Chaser
North American Premiere / Dir. Hong-jin Na / South Korea / 2008 / 123 min
A serial killer is preying on call-girls from various escort agencies.
In the midst of police indifference and incompetence, Jung-Ho (Yun-Seok
Kim), an ex-cop-turned-pimp must dust off his old flatfoot skills to
find the killer and save the life of one of his girls who has gone missing.

Fanboys
Special Advance Screening / Dir. Kyle Newman / USA / 2008 / 90 min
Director Kyle Newman, producer Matt Perniciaro, screenwriter Ernie Cline
and star Jaime King live in person!
Desperate to see STAR WARS EPISODE 1: THE PHANTOM MENACE, five high
school friends break into Skywalker Ranch to steal an early cut of the film.

The Good The Bad and The Weird
Regional Premiere / Dir. Ji-woon Kim / South Korea / 2008 / 139 min
Directed by Ji-woon Kim (A BITTERSWEET LIFE, A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) and
setting an all-time Korean box office opening weekend record this year,
THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WEIRD, an homage to Leone's similarly named
classic, is one of the year's most anticipated genre titles.

Just Another Love Story
Regional Premiere / dir Ole Bornedal / Denmark / 2007 / 100 min
JUST ANOTHER LOVE STORY is not as benign as the title might suggest. A
mild mannered forensics photographer is involved in a traffic accident
with a young woman. Curious, he visits her in the hospital only to be
mistaken as her boyfriend. When she awakens blind and suffering from
mild amnesia, he continues his charade. As you might expect, things
don't turn out so well.

Late Bloomer
Regional Premiere / dir. Gô Shibata / Japan / 2004 / 83 min
In Gô Shibata's controversial film, Masakiyo Sumida, a severely disabled
mute, is driven to madness and violence by his loneliness and isolation.

Left Bank
Dir. Pieter Van Hees / Belgium / 2008 / 75 min
A young woman moves in with her new boyfriend on the fashionable "left
bank" in Antwerp only to discover that the building may have a very
disturbing past.

Repo! A Genetic Opera
Special Advance Screening / Dir. Darren Bousman / USA / 2008 / 98 min
Director Darren Bousman and star/co-writer Terrance Zdunich live in person!
Darren Bousman, director of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th installments of the
wildly popular SAW franchise, pulls a "what-the-f..." 180 degree
turnaround to create a very personal, very demented, bloody goth rock
opera about organ repossession with lead performances by Paul Sorvino,
Paris Hilton and Ogre from Skinny Puppy.

Sauna
US Premiere / Dir. Antti-Jussi Annila / Finland / 2007 / 93 min
While mapping the new border between Russia and Finland after the war,
the joint task force stumbles upon a mysterious sauna in a remote swamp,
a sauna that allegedly has the power to wash away all sins.

Wildman of the Navidad
Regional Premiere / Dir. Duane Graves and Justin Meeks / USA / 2008 / 86 min
Directors Duane Graves and Justin Meeks live in person!
Purportedly based on actual events, THE WILDMAN OF THE NAVIDAD tells the
story of a small Texas community along the banks of the Navidad river
who were terrorized for years by a mysterious creature.

The Wreck
World Premiere / Dir James Koya Jones / USA / 2008 / 79 min
Director James Koya Jones live in person!
A very pregnant woman and her husband are trapped in the woods in a
demolished sedan and her water has just broken. They are in a really bad
situation, and it gets a LOT worse.

The complete festival schedule including our patented secret screening
times will be posted online on Thursday, September 4 at
www.fantasticfest.com

IMPORTANT FESTIVAL DATES:
Important dates have been announced for the 4th Annual Fantastic Fest in
Austin, Texas.

Thursday, September 4, 2008: Final schedule announced
Sunday, September 14, 2008: Fantastic Fest online begins
Thursday, September 18, 2008: Fantastic Fest begins
Saturday, September 20, 2008: 2009 Festival Badges go on sale
Monday, September 22, 2008: 2008 Fantastic Fest Awards Ceremony

For more information about Fantastic Fest, please visit our official
website: www.fantasticfest.com.

ABOUT THE FESTIVAL:
Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the United States
featuring over 100 films from over 30 countries. The event highlights
the best new sci-fi, horror, fantasy and genre films, as well as choice
classic and obscure cult titles from all over the world. The festival
director and head programmer is Tim League (Alamo Drafthouse Cinema),
with additional programming by Harry Knowles (Ain't It Cool News), Todd
Brown (Twitchfilm.net), Blake Ethridge (Cinema is Dope), Karrie League
(Alamo Drafthouse Cinema), Zack Carlson (Alamo Drafthouse Cinema) and
Lars Nilsen (Alamo Drafthouse Cinema). Fantastic Fest is a supporting
member of the prestigious Melies European Fantastic Film Festivals
Federation and a founding member of the North American Fantastic
Festival Alliance. Fantastic Fest is sponsored in part by Gamecock
Media, AMD and Fosters, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Fox Walden.