Dengue Fever executes at The Castro with expert precision

The Castro Theatre marquee

Who can really forget the classic Amazonian dinosaur adventure story that is The Lost World? The silent 1920s release paved the way for Hollywood hits like King Kong (a blatant rip off if you ask me, but when it's the same animator, you can't really expect much) with its nearly-defunct stop-motion techniques. You would think with the kind of clout this picture has behind it, The San Francisco International Film Festival would have a hard time finding a showstopper to fit the bill. Wrong.

Enter Los Angeles-based, Cambodian psychedelic-pop stars, Dengue Fever, who played the live score from beginning to end with expert precision. Barely taking even a 15-second break throughout the entire 90-100 minute film, singer, Ch'hom Nimhol's vibrato was in rare form, hitting every note with a strange, dream-like quality. Known for featuring snippets from every genre under the sun, Dengue Fever pulled out all the stops to deliver a score that emphasized full use of their ska and jazz influences. The crowd was clearly pleased with their brass transitions and smooth, flowing catchy beats.

Quite simply, I'm not sure if SFIFF could have picked a more adept band to match the unprecedented weight that comes with a timeless treasure like The Lost World.