The Five Best Things to See at the Sydney Underground Film Festival 2014

There's a film festival for everything these days, so it seems, but few offer cinematic treats of the truly weird, wonderful and WTF variety. That's where the Sydney Underground Film Festival comes in, serving up a feast of film delicacies unlikely to be seen elsewhere — and not just likely but actively striving to make jaws drop in astonishment.

Now in its seventh year, and forging ahead thanks to a successful crowdfunding campaign earlier in 2014, SUFF boasts an enticing mix of boundary-pushing genre fare, provocative documentaries, experimental efforts and just general freaked-out film fun. From September 4–7, the festival takes over The Factory Theatre, Marrickville for four days of movie madness and once again adventurous audiences are spoiled for choice.

OPENING NIGHT FILM + PARTY: HOUSEBOUND

Opening night picks aren't always indicative of a film festival's overall vibe, but Housebound promises to set a pleasingly playful tone in one of SUFF's many programming coups. A hit at SXSW and the Melbourne International Film Festival, ranking third in the latter's audience awards, the New Zealand horror-comedy mixes the tried-and-tested genre trope of the haunted house with an offbeat sense of humour and off-kilter mother-daughter hijinks. Think spookiness, silliness and a smile-inducing example of combining laughs and scares. There's more than just a film on offer, too — opening night also features pizza, drinks, and a performance by Renny Kodgers.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=B6fyb8vW6Y8

THE GREEN INFERNO

Every underground film festival needs a little bit of cannibalism, and at SUFF, that requisite dose of flesh-eating comes from Eli Roth. He had fun with the creepy cabin cliche in Cabin Fever, made audiences think twice about overseas backpacking holidays with Hostel, and ranked amongst Quentin Tarantino's Nazi-hunting brigade in Inglourious Basterds — and now he takes on infamous Italian effort Cannibal Holocaust. Part homage, part comedic spin on the age-old tourists in trouble storyline, The Green Inferno is born of the filmmaker's obvious affection for the history of the genre. The screening at SUFF also marks perhaps the only opportunity in Australia to see the film on the big screen.

THE DOG

Dog Day Afternoon is rightfully considered a cinema classic, the combination of Sidney Lumet's direction and Al Pacino and John Cazale's performances producing one of the best works of their respective careers. The story the film relates, of a bank-robbing crook caught in a standoff with police after attempting to steal cash for his wife's gender reassignment surgery, is memorable — but what about the story behind the story? Focusing on John Wojtowicz's actual escapades, The Dog tells the true tale, as shared with documentarians Allison Berg and Frank Keraudren over several years. There's fact, there's fiction, and then there's an account of events so crazy and chaotic that it can only stem from reality.

WHY DON'T YOU PLAY IN HELL?

Sion Sono's anarchic ode to all things film has done the festival rounds for more than a year; indeed, the Japanese director's next feature, Tokyo Tribe, is about to start doing the same thing. Any chance to see his joyful genre mash-up projected large within the darkened confines of a cinema, however, simply must be taken. There has never been a love letter to the mania of the movies quite like Why Don't You Play in Hell?, nor will there be again; the gleefully rebellious effort offers a fun and frenetic feat unlikely to ever be repeated. That the narrative concerns a filmmaking collective called The Fuck Bombers as they become ensconced in a Yakuza war gives just a taste of the mirthful mayhem.

WETLANDS

A teen sex comedy swimming in bad behaviour and bodily fluids is nothing new, but this is no ordinary excursion through adolescent hormones. Wetlands is based on the cult German-language novel by author Charlotte Roche, a book deemed so disgusting that letters pleaded for it never to be made into a movie — and it is one such protest that introduces David Wnendt's big screen adaptation. The film's focus on a spirited female protagonist — the pithy Helen (Carla Juri) — offers one obvious point of departure from the norm; howeverc it is its valuing of honesty amongst its overt comedy that proves its most refreshing aspect. Closing out SUFF in sticky style, Wetlands will certainly spark many a post-screening conversation.

SUFF runs from September 4-7 at the Factory Theatre, Marrickville. Check out the festival website for the full program.