Fantastic Fest Buzz: Rockin' Unicorns, 'ABCs of Death 2' and One Helluva Crazy Food Fight

[all photos courtesy of Fantastic Fest/David Hill] Pictured above: Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League kicks off Fantastic Fest;s 10th anniversary in style, wearing an Adidas jumpsuit with a GoPro camera strapped to his chest. Also pictured: Tusk writer-director Kevin Smith and star Justin Long dressed in a walrus suit. Pictured below: You guess: Is this an image from the Fantastic Fest opening-night horror movie ABCs of Death 2, or is this just two people trapped in the middle of one helluva crazy food fight? WHAT IS FANTASTIC FEST? Pictured: Prior to the premiere of Kevin Smith;s Tusk, several people -- including Alamo Drafthouse CEO Tim League and filmmaker Nacho Vigalando -- perform a Fantastic Fest rap, complete with glitter, confetti, dancers and more. If you;ve never heard us sing the praises of this annual film festival before, then Fantastic Fest is, in a nutshell, the raddest, most badass genre-film festival in the country -- and maybe even the universe. Basically it;s a week full of some of the world;s best new genre movies (horror, sci-fi, weird stuff, gory stuff, crazy stuff) hosted by one of the country;s best theater chains, the Alamo Drafthouse. Here;s a preview of the Fantastic Fest movies we;re anticipating the most. In addition to all the great movies, the festival hosts a ton of events -- like a wild karaoke bash, nerdy games, a chili cook-off, and a series of debates where the debaters verbalize their arguments before putting on boxing gloves and beating the snot out of each other. Oh yes. They even make challenge videos ahead of time. Here;s one from Tim League, who;ll be debating -- and then fighting -- filmmaker Ti West (The Sacrament). And then -- and then! -- there;s the wild, legendary opening-night parties, where freakishly fantastic ideas thrown together on the backs of napkins come to life in the most exhilirating ways. After all, Fantastic Fest not only introduces us to cool movies -- it also makes you feel like you;re living the life of the 10-year-old cool kid you never were, if only for a few days. On that note... THIS YEAR;S OPENING NIGHT PARTY: A 10-YEAR-OLD;S LAME BIRTHDAY PARTY This year;s opening-night theme, according to Tim League, revolved around a 10-year-old;s lame birthday party. So they took things like costumed animals playing music (a la Chuck E. Cheese), a pinata, a magician, clowns, balloon animals and dancing, and then ran them through the Fantastic Fest blender. Here;s what came out: Your opening night band: a unicorn, an eagle and a dog on drums. With video: The human piñata... ...and yeah, it;s exactly what it sounds like. Random breakdancing competition? Why not. Of course every 10-year-old;s birthday party has to end with an epic food fight. So, at 2 a.m., Tim League led a conga line through the theater and onto the roof for one of the craziest food fights ever recorded. While we await video, here are some images. In case you;re curious about the kinds of food involved, we had mashed potatoes, spaghetti, chocolate sauce, tomatoes and more. WHAT ABOUT ABCs OF DEATH 2? The sequel to ABCs of Death -- in which 26 directors were assigned a letter of the alphabet and given $5,000 to create a short film around the letter that involved death -- definitely raises the bar in terms of quality and entertainment value, proving there;s desire, passion and purpose behind the comeback anthology movies are currently making on the big screen. We;ll have more regarding ABCs of Death 2 next month when it hits theaters, including interviews with the filmmakers responsible for the film;s two best shorts (in our opinion), but here;s what some of our friends thought: ABCs of Death 2 is leaps and bounds better than the first, by the way. Not all segments hit, but a surprising few completely miss. — Eric Vespe (@EricVespe) September 19, 2014 . @ABCsofDeath 2 has a better batting average than Part 1, and considerably less bodily grossness gags, too. I dig it. #FantasticFest — Scott Weinberg (@scottEweinberg) September 19, 2014 THE ABCS OF DEATH 2 is overall a big step-up from its predecessor, far fewer outright bad entries, & the good ones kill.#FantasticFest — James Marsh (@Marshy00) September 19, 2014 ABCS OF DEATH 2: much-improved hit ratio. @EVANLKATZ nails it, Chris Nash does mad body horror, Steve Kostanski destroys the He-Man concept. — Russ Fischer (@russfischer) September 19, 2014 And finally... no opening night recap is complete with video of yours truly butchering Young MC;s Bust a Move during a silly karaoke session. Check out more of our Fantastic Fest coverage here, and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute reactions @moviesdotcom and @erikdavis.