Touched by Eternity
Writer/director Mārcis Lācis serves up an intriguing, amusing feature with his Latvian philosophical horror dramedy Touched by Eternity. Fatso (Andris Keišs) longs for immortality, though why he desires that isn’t clearly evident, as he pretty much keeps to himself in his trailer, listening to broadcasts about seeking eternal life. When vampires Egons (Ivars Krasts) and Carlos (Edgars Samītis) come calling, seemingly offering him what he pursues, his simple lifestyle is upended and he is suddenly faced with existential questions about mortality. Lācis blends the thoughtful, the horrific, and the humorous quite nicely, and Keišs leads a solid cast as a simple everyman who dreams of the unattainable until his dream is offered to him as a reality — though quite a different, blood-spattered one than he had originally imagined. Thought-provoking and thoroughly entertaining, Touched by Eternity is a unique slice of genre cinema well worth seeking out.
Heavier Trip
Finnish/German/Norwegian/Lithuanian coproduction Heavier Trip — the sequel to 2018’s Heavy Trip, which I haven’t yet seen, so I’ll be reviewing this film on its own merits — is a blast. Cowritten and codirected by Juuso Laatio and Jukka Vidgren, the film finds the four members of self-described “symphonic, postapocalyptic, reindeer-grinding, Christ-abusing, extreme war pagan Fennoscandian metal band” Impaled Rektum — band leader/vocalist Turo (Johannes Holopainen), guitarist Lotvenan (Samuli Jaskio), drummer Oula (Chike Ohanwe), and bassist Xytrax (Max Ovaska) — behind bars in Norway for crimes committed in the first film, but our quasi-heroic quartet has two missions that requires escaping. They need to save Lotvenan’s family slaughter business and his father’s ailing health, and they need to play Germany’s Wacken rock festival to earn the money to do that. This being a comedy film, many hardships and difficult situations stand in their way — and that’s after they successfully escape. Road trip, buddy, rock and roll, slapstick, absurdist, and other comedy styles are on amusing display. Laatio and Vidgren keep the proceedings moving along at an energetic clip, and the four leads — supported by a solid supporting cast including Japanese kawaii-metal trio Baby Metal — display fine comic timing and chemistry together. You don’t need to have seen Heavy Trip to thoroughly enjoy Heavier Trip. This latest effort from Laatio and Vidgren boasts a big heart as it raises a fist of metal and a fist of mirth, and comes highly recommended.
Touched by Eternity and Heavier Trip screened as part of Fantastic Fest, which ran September 19–26, 2024 in Austin,Texas. For more information, visit https://www.fantasticfest.com/.
