DAY SEVEN: WEDNESDAY

6:34 am: I'm still asleep, but here are links to parts One, Two and Three of this journal. You shouldn't leap into the exciting conclusion without the set-up, after all.

7:30: I get out of bed, feeling refreshed and recovered from last night's encounter with 'Melancholia.' I prepare myself for the interview with the directors of Rabies that is scheduled for 8:30.

8:28: Oops. That interview is at 10:30, not 8:30. I step into the already long line for tickets and slowly bake in the boiling Texas sun. I observe the people who have arrived this early and I finally know the true definition of commitment: it can be measured by how badly you are willing to be sunburnt in order to secure tickets to the movies of your choice.

9:21: Yep, still waiting. Should've brought sunscreen.

10:00: The online ticketing queue opens fifteen minutes early, putting all of the people who arrived early to grab tickets on site in something of a foul mood. They watch the schedule through the locked doors as screening after screening sells out. I'm told the exact opposite happened yesterday, with the box office opening fifteen minutes before the online tickets became available. Everything is in balance.

10:18: I'm number 74 in the online queue, so I get everything I want. My place in line ensures fantastic boarding numbers. Everything's coming up Milhouse!

10:28: I arrive at the Highball for my interview with the Rabies directors.

11:02: It goes well. I'm finally getting the hang of this whole interview thing.

11:16: Back at the Drafthouse, I note that special shuttles have been arranged to take badge holders to Franklin, easily the best barbecue joint in Austin and therefore the best barbecue joint in the world. Stuffing yourself full of perfectly cooked meat product is just one of those things you have to do while you're visiting Austin and it's worth missing a screening to do so.

11:39: But I can go to Franklin anytime I please, so I settle in for the Korean action film Haunters.

1:48: Korea consistently produces some of the best films in all of world cinema. Haunters, a silly supernatural chase movie, does not follow in this tradition. It's better than many Hollywood blockbusters, but when measured against the quality of other recent Korean films, it's sorely lacking.

2:07: A friend is passing around a coloring book, asking everyone to color one page and sign their name to commemorate Fantastic Fest 2011. I'm next and I finally get a good look at the book: it's a coloring book showcasing the various demons of hell. I choose my demon and make him as garish and grotesque as possible.

2:36: As it often does, the conversation turns toward the best and worst of the fest. A Boy and His Samurai and The Human Centipede II are immediately stricken from the list because they are everyone's favorite and everyone's hated films of the fest, and they're starting to make conversations boring. With those two out of the picture, no one can agree on anything. One man's trash is another man's treasure (aka, one man's excellent Cuban zombie film is another man's misfire of epic proportions).

3:35: I sit down for Sleep Tight, a film that has absolutely no buzz whatsoever but was the only film in the time slot that I haven't seen. I write in my notes that I should take this moment in the journal to note the hardworking Alamo Drafthouse waitstaff, who are the Ginger Rogers' of waitstaffs. They do everything you have do do in a normal restaurant, but kneeling in the dark while whispering. If you don't tip, you don't deserve to live.

5:07: Where did Sleep Tight come from? There was absolutely no buzz from its first screening, but this second one, for a sold out audience in the Drafthouse's biggest theater, has everyone in shock over just how good the movie they just say is. As far as classically suspenseful, creepy stalker films go, it's absolutely top notch.

5:14: It says something about Fantastic Fest that I step outside and see about a dozen people wandering around dressed as astronauts and don't feel surprised at all. I'm told they're here to promote the stranded-on-a-space-station movie Love.

6:03: After missing the first screening, I'm finally sitting down to see Livid, my most anticipated movie of the fest. I tell everyone around me to go see Snowman's Land next. It turns out that there is some confusion over which film is which. The Fantastic Fest line-up includes Snowman's Land, Snowtown and Summerland, which is leading to all kinds of confusion. There's also the Sleep Tight and Sleepless Night confusion.

7:55: Livid is a failure, but a beautiful, often fascinating one. Still, the key word there is failure. Still, when you're first film is the gripping, terrifying Inside, your sophomore effort is bound to live in its shadow.

8:11: Tonight is the second of this year's secret screenings and once again, everyone at the fest is speculating as to what's showing. We know this much: it's a Paramount release. Some think it's Steven Spielberg's upcoming Tintin. I hear some toss out Mission: Impossible 4. Most people think it's Paranormal Activity 3, mainly because they were handing out Paranormal Activity 3 swag earlier in the day.

8:59: For the first time, I'm faced with a slow night where I've seen everything that's playing. I decide to see Snowman's Land again.

10:36: I still love Snowman's Land, but I'm starting to realize that I'm very alone in this opinion, since most people I speak to seem to be pretty lukewarm on it. I assure everyone that I'm not intentionally being a contrarian, but I don't think they believe me.

11:01: I stalk around the Drafthouse, desperately search for a way to get into the sold out Secret Screening. I beg, borrow and plead at the feet of the proper people. Well, not literally, but I was fully prepared to do so.

11:44: I luck out. I'm told to join the Secret Screening line. We are told to leave all electronic devices in our cars and have to walk through a metal detector before entering the theater. Yep, we're getting a preview of a major release.

12:28: Typically, the screening is a half hour late. Finally, Tim League takes the stage to introduce the film. When he utters the title Paranormal Activity 3, there is polite, scattered applause. Despite the first film making a huge splash here several years ago, this is a series that has worn out its welcome for many horror fans.

12:32: The directors, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, are the next to speak. "We were here last year with our film Catfish!' they say, waiting for applause. They get none. No fans of Catfish in the house. They continue: "This is the very first screening of Paranormal Activity 3 and we wanted you guys to be the first ones to see it!" Once again, a pause for applause and once again, they receive none. They look noticeably uncomfortable now: "We wanted to bring it here because the Alamo Drafthouse is our favorite theater in the world!" Nothing. Nada. Getting a Fantastic Fest audience to applaud and cheer is the easiest thing in the world. The big question is whether or not the crowd is that apathetic toward Paranormal Activity 3 or that contemptuous of Catfish.

2:03: Despite the icy cold intro, Paranormal Activity 3 plays reasonably well with the crowd, offering up more of the same but with significantly less logic. I start to forget about it the moment a colleague requests my help in tracking down a drunk friend, who has wandered off into the night. Oh, Fantastic Fest.

DAY EIGHT: THURSDAY

9:36 am: I'm awake, if you want to call it that. For something that people do for fun, watching movies is exhausting. Well, writing about movies is exhausting.

10:39: Although the first movies of the day aren't until 1:00, I arrive early for a press screening of the closing night film, Morgan Spurlock's latest documentary Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope. I hope I have time to get tickets before the screening starts at 11:00.

10:45: And on the last day of Fantastic Fest 2011, the gods smile upon me and all is good. I'm number one in the online queue.

10:58: I take my seat for Comic Con. Press don't have too many advantages over regular bade holders (a good thing, since this is a profession that often encourages egomania), but the press screenings are a godsend for those of us who have to get work done while we're here.

12:26: Comic Con is light, fluffy and almost totally devoid of actual substance, but it's an incredibly entertaining portrait of geek culture at its best and its worst. It also made me never want to go to Comic Con, which I don't think was its intention.

12:45: I have no time for an extended break, so I stroll one theater down for my first public screening of the day, the Korean thriller Blind.

2:53: Blind is, for lack of a better phrase, fine. It's a solid serial killer thriller with a handful of cool sequences, but it would be a better film if the director knew how seeing eye dogs work (because he obviously does not).

3:03: Dark clouds in the sky outside. Can it be…rain?

3:34: Nope, no rain yet. It looks like the dark clouds were a warning that the screening of Milocrorze: A Love Story that I was planning to attend has been cancelled.

4:01: I weigh my options and decide to check out the Norwegian comedy You Said What?

6:31: You Said What? is passable fun, but its complete lack of originality and generic romantic comedy plot beats ensures that it will be remade in America within the next few years. I'm shocked that it's playing at Fantastic Fest.

6:44: It rained while I was in You Said What? Apparently, everyone in The Highball broke into applause.

6:51: This year's Closing Night Party is superhero themed to compliment the Comic Con screening. Since I know this, I'm none too surprised to step outside and see plenty of people in Superman and Batman costumes. Some are lazy (Really? Just a superhero themed t-shirt?) and some kinda blow my mind (I encounter a gentleman in full-blown Dr. Strange regalia at the urinal).

7:06: I'm happy to be finally seeing The Innkeepers after hearing good things at this year's SXSW, but this is my last screening of Fantastic Fest 2011. It's bittersweet, to say the least.

8:30: I don't have access to the actual time since the movie is still playing, but Im estimating this is the point where The Innkeepers terrifies me so much that I swear out loud. A first for me.

9:14: The Innkeepers is the scariest film I've ever seen in a movie theater and I'm thankful that I'm young and healthy enough to have total control of my bowels. It's rare to find a sweet, funny, character-driven movie that also has the power to scare the hell out of you. Director Ti West is here for a Q&A and when we leave the theater, I shake his hand and awkwardly tell him so.

9:29: Outside, a mutual friend introduces me to Ti West, so I get to meet him again. I make incoherent conversation and he listens and nods his head with the patience of saint.

9:34: I suppose that's how my Fantastic Fest ends this year, with me saying goodbye to my friends, my colleagues and the filmmaker I've just met. No parties for me this year…after eight days and 36 films, the only current option for me is sleep. The good news is that there's only 357 days until the next Fantastic Fest.