Though in LA for only part of this year's American Film Market it hasn't taken me long to realize that the market this year has fallen in a sort of awkward time for many films' production cycles with many of the big anticipated films being a month or so away from being fully complete and ready for exhibition. The end result? A lot of okay but not great films screening - the cream of the crop for me thus far has been K-20 and Legendary Assassin - while the really good stuff has been reserved for extended promo reels of not-quite-complete films. I've written about a couple of these already but here's the best of what I've seen so far:

Lesbian Vampire Killers. For the record it is the vampires and not the killers who are lesbians in this UK horror comedy and, yes, it does indeed live up to the promise of its title. Violent, bloody, sexy and very funny this thing should be sweeping the genre festival circuit throughout 2009 and apparently a major theatrical release is already planned for the UK.

Valhalla Rising. Nicolas Winding Refn's viking epic has been one of the most anticipated titles going in these parts from the day it was announced and if the promo reel that the Wild Bunch have on exhibition is any indication then Refn fans are going to be very, very happy. Mikkelsen looks stellar in the lead role, the rest of the cast is very strong, and this just looks like sparse, brutal perfection. Another winner from the director of Pusher.

The Good Heart. Another Wild Bunch title, this one from Icelandic director Dagur Kari. An excellent cast - Brian Cox and Paul Dano anchor it - fill Kari's unique, quirky world. This one should be a major hit on the arthouse circuit.

OSS 117: Rio Ne Repond Plus. The second film in the revival of 1960s spy comedy series OSS 117 promises more of the same - namely a flawless recreation of the era and French comic Jean Dujardin nailing every possible negative stereotype about men of the era - only even better. Dujardin should have been recognized as a comic giant by now, the production design is flawless and the promo had me laughing out loud repeatedly throughout its run time.

Splice. Vincenzo Natali's scifi creature feature looks like an absolute winner. Though the promo features some unfinished post production work the acting is dead on - hard not to be when Sarah Polley and Adrien Brody are your leads - and the creature work is hugely impressive. It's a thinking man's genre film that should make a huge splash for Cube director Natali.

High Lane. The big surprise of the day, the debut feature from short film director Abel Ferry kind of came out of nowhere but looks like powerful gripping stuff. It's survival horror at the peak of a mountain featuring stunning camera work and equally impressive gore effects and an incredibly tense atmosphere. This one's just kind of burst onto the scene with minimal - ie virtually no - advance fanfare but people are taking notice fast.

Storm Warriors. If you're going to make a digital backlot film in Hong kong is there really any other choice to direct it but the Pang Brothers? Universe only have two scenes fully complete so far - the release isn't slated until 2010 - but they've got those two scenes on display and they are spectacular. Comparisons to 300 are inevitable on this sort of project but Storm Warriors has an aesthetic all its own.

Blood The Last Vampire. The ultimate success of this one is going to depend largely on how convincing star Gianna Jun ends up being in English but on a purely visual level? Damn. This thing has definitely got the goods.