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Five films to see at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Friday October 17th 2014As the chill of October kills off leaves and rattles bones, the time has come to enjoy the things that go bump in the night.
Halloween is almost upon us, which means more than just annual sales records in the bite-size candy industry. It’s also the one time of year when it is socially acceptable for everyone to enjoy horror movies.
To celebrate, the annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival is showcasing the best in genre cinema. This year’s program is highlighted by riches like the zombie/Nazi sequel Dead Snow 2 and the acclaimed New Zealand haunted house yarn Housebound.
It can be tough to decide which freaky films to choose, so we’ve selected five of the finest flicks at the fest, running from Oct. 16 to 24, organized from A to Z.
ABCs of Death 2
This anthology sequel hired 26 international directors to create a brief horror short about death based on each letter of the alphabet. Like the first entry, the results are inconsistent, but at its best the film is alternately terrifying, disgusting and darkly humorous. Highlights include Hajime Ohata’s zombie court case fighting for the rights of those afflicted with “apparent death syndrome,” Canuck Steven Kostanski’s hilarious ’80s action figure commercial-turned-nightmare and Chris Nash’s pregnancy horror involving an adult-sized fetus. If nothing else, ABCs of Death 2 offers a full festival’s worth of spooky cinema for a single ticket and should inspire at least a dozen different nightmares.
Hellmouth
Hellmouth delivers hallucinogenic Canadian horror from the mind of Pontypool writer Tony Burgess. The ambitious production tells the disturbing tale of Stephen McHattie’s gravedigger drawn into a series of hellish episodes due to his unfortunate line of work. The elastic reality the filmmakers achieve through a mostly digital world is as technically stunning as it is unsettling and McHattie holds it all together through one of his typically hard-nosed performances. There are times when Hellmouth feels like a living nightmare and that might be enough to earn the movie a cult following from its world premiere at this year’s festival.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Not exactly scary, but certainly haunting, David Zellner’s film is about a troubled young woman from Japan (Rinko Kikuchi of Pacific Rim) who discovers a VHS copy of Fargo and travels to America to find the buried bag of money from that 1996 classic. A prizewinner at Sundance, Kumiko hinges on Kikuchi’s pained performance and builds a richly evocative atmosphere around her bizarre quest. Combing deadpan culture clash comedy and tragic character study with dreamlike visuals and mesmerizing music that heighten reality without departing from it, Zeller achieves a tone that is almost inexplicably moving and eerie. It’s easily the best film of the festival and unlike anything else that you’ll see on screens this year.
Open Windows
Timecrimes director Nach Vigalondo delivers a digital twist on Rear Window. The creatively structured thriller occurs entirely on the hacked laptop of Elijah Wood’s nerdy blogger. A psychotic killer takes over Wood’s computer and surrounding technology for a stalk ’n’ slash adventure that unfolds entirely through a series of open webcam windows. The script goes about five or six twists too far down the whodunit rabbit hole, but Vigalondo’s skilfully employed suspense and inventive staging ensure that the movie is gripping enough to overcome a knotted narrative.
Zombeavers
It’s rare for a movie like Zombeavers to live up the title, but thanks to some delightfully phoney beaver puppetry, ridiculous gore effects and self-mocking humour, writer/director Jordan Rubin pulls it off. After brilliant comic Bill Burr’s thoughtless trucker spills some toxic sludge into a beaver dam, a group of horny college kids fall victim to a rabid pack of zombie beavers. It’s silly, stupid fun with just enough knowing laughs and jump scares to get the heart racing. The bucktooth makeup effects resulting from radioactive zombeaver bites are worth the price of admission alone.
Five questions for Why Horror? Creator Tal Zimerman
Toronto comedian and genre journalist Tal Zimerman spent his life obsessed by and addicted to horror. Eventually, that led to the documentaryWhy Horror? which screens at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Zimerman travelled the world to interview filmmakers, authors, artists, theorists and scientists to discover why anyone would be attracted to the genre. In advance of the premiere, Zimerman sat down with the Star to answer five questions about his one big question.
What led you to this concept?
I originally approached a production company to make a television project about how Toronto is a mecca for horror fans. The producers asked me why I liked horror so much and I didn’t have a simple answer. This discussion opened up the possibility of a broader, feature-length doc about the appeal of horror and why we love to be scared. Well, some of us anyway.
Was it difficult to narrow down your focus?
Yes. There are many fascinating aspects to horror, from its trajectory in popularity to the feminist angle or the diversity in cultural forms. We ultimately focused on the “why,” which is difficult to answer because it’s a philosophical question. But that elusiveness was appealing. I’ve always felt that the horror genre is deeper than entertainment. We went looking for horror’s place in the narrative of humanity, not just as a fan activity or an autumn holiday. We asked everyone we talked to what horror means to human beings and got some great answers that affirmed my suspicions. We discovered there’s much more to the genre than simple entertainment.
Why do you think the genre seems to work best in film?
There are several reasons, but the main one is that it’s a physically demanding genre. It incites us to act out physically and in a movie theatre, people react to each other as much as the screen. One might argue that TV and video games are the best venues for horror these days, but I still can’t find a better experience than sitting with a packed audience who are fully engaged with a solid horror movie. It’s the dragon I persistently chase.
How do you feel about the fact that in your lifetime, horror has grown from a niche genre with stigma into mainstream culture?
I’m naturally a bit torn, but in the end, I think it’s great. It’s fascinating that office water cooler discussions now include vivid descriptions of evisceration by undead hordes. I come from a time when “geek” was used as an insult instead of a badge of honour, but I’d be petty to want to hog all the fun, despite enduring decades of turned-up noses.
Was it a dream come true for you to force your mother to watch horror movies as part of the film?
No, I was happy to let that one go, but it’s my favourite part of the movie. She has been extremely supportive and now everyone will see that. I think a lot of horror fans whose parents take some issue with their tastes have wanted to do that.
Source: Toronto Star
Front Page, Industry News
Five films to see at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Friday October 17th 2014As the chill of October kills off leaves and rattles bones, the time has come to enjoy the things that go bump in the night.
Halloween is almost upon us, which means more than just annual sales records in the bite-size candy industry. It’s also the one time of year when it is socially acceptable for everyone to enjoy horror movies.
To celebrate, the annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival is showcasing the best in genre cinema. This year’s program is highlighted by riches like the zombie/Nazi sequel Dead Snow 2 and the acclaimed New Zealand haunted house yarn Housebound.
It can be tough to decide which freaky films to choose, so we’ve selected five of the finest flicks at the fest, running from Oct. 16 to 24, organized from A to Z.
ABCs of Death 2
This anthology sequel hired 26 international directors to create a brief horror short about death based on each letter of the alphabet. Like the first entry, the results are inconsistent, but at its best the film is alternately terrifying, disgusting and darkly humorous. Highlights include Hajime Ohata’s zombie court case fighting for the rights of those afflicted with “apparent death syndrome,” Canuck Steven Kostanski’s hilarious ’80s action figure commercial-turned-nightmare and Chris Nash’s pregnancy horror involving an adult-sized fetus. If nothing else, ABCs of Death 2 offers a full festival’s worth of spooky cinema for a single ticket and should inspire at least a dozen different nightmares.
Hellmouth
Hellmouth delivers hallucinogenic Canadian horror from the mind of Pontypool writer Tony Burgess. The ambitious production tells the disturbing tale of Stephen McHattie’s gravedigger drawn into a series of hellish episodes due to his unfortunate line of work. The elastic reality the filmmakers achieve through a mostly digital world is as technically stunning as it is unsettling and McHattie holds it all together through one of his typically hard-nosed performances. There are times when Hellmouth feels like a living nightmare and that might be enough to earn the movie a cult following from its world premiere at this year’s festival.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Not exactly scary, but certainly haunting, David Zellner’s film is about a troubled young woman from Japan (Rinko Kikuchi of Pacific Rim) who discovers a VHS copy of Fargo and travels to America to find the buried bag of money from that 1996 classic. A prizewinner at Sundance, Kumiko hinges on Kikuchi’s pained performance and builds a richly evocative atmosphere around her bizarre quest. Combing deadpan culture clash comedy and tragic character study with dreamlike visuals and mesmerizing music that heighten reality without departing from it, Zeller achieves a tone that is almost inexplicably moving and eerie. It’s easily the best film of the festival and unlike anything else that you’ll see on screens this year.
Open Windows
Timecrimes director Nach Vigalondo delivers a digital twist on Rear Window. The creatively structured thriller occurs entirely on the hacked laptop of Elijah Wood’s nerdy blogger. A psychotic killer takes over Wood’s computer and surrounding technology for a stalk ’n’ slash adventure that unfolds entirely through a series of open webcam windows. The script goes about five or six twists too far down the whodunit rabbit hole, but Vigalondo’s skilfully employed suspense and inventive staging ensure that the movie is gripping enough to overcome a knotted narrative.
Zombeavers
It’s rare for a movie like Zombeavers to live up the title, but thanks to some delightfully phoney beaver puppetry, ridiculous gore effects and self-mocking humour, writer/director Jordan Rubin pulls it off. After brilliant comic Bill Burr’s thoughtless trucker spills some toxic sludge into a beaver dam, a group of horny college kids fall victim to a rabid pack of zombie beavers. It’s silly, stupid fun with just enough knowing laughs and jump scares to get the heart racing. The bucktooth makeup effects resulting from radioactive zombeaver bites are worth the price of admission alone.
Five questions for Why Horror? Creator Tal Zimerman
Toronto comedian and genre journalist Tal Zimerman spent his life obsessed by and addicted to horror. Eventually, that led to the documentaryWhy Horror? which screens at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Zimerman travelled the world to interview filmmakers, authors, artists, theorists and scientists to discover why anyone would be attracted to the genre. In advance of the premiere, Zimerman sat down with the Star to answer five questions about his one big question.
What led you to this concept?
I originally approached a production company to make a television project about how Toronto is a mecca for horror fans. The producers asked me why I liked horror so much and I didn’t have a simple answer. This discussion opened up the possibility of a broader, feature-length doc about the appeal of horror and why we love to be scared. Well, some of us anyway.
Was it difficult to narrow down your focus?
Yes. There are many fascinating aspects to horror, from its trajectory in popularity to the feminist angle or the diversity in cultural forms. We ultimately focused on the “why,” which is difficult to answer because it’s a philosophical question. But that elusiveness was appealing. I’ve always felt that the horror genre is deeper than entertainment. We went looking for horror’s place in the narrative of humanity, not just as a fan activity or an autumn holiday. We asked everyone we talked to what horror means to human beings and got some great answers that affirmed my suspicions. We discovered there’s much more to the genre than simple entertainment.
Why do you think the genre seems to work best in film?
There are several reasons, but the main one is that it’s a physically demanding genre. It incites us to act out physically and in a movie theatre, people react to each other as much as the screen. One might argue that TV and video games are the best venues for horror these days, but I still can’t find a better experience than sitting with a packed audience who are fully engaged with a solid horror movie. It’s the dragon I persistently chase.
How do you feel about the fact that in your lifetime, horror has grown from a niche genre with stigma into mainstream culture?
I’m naturally a bit torn, but in the end, I think it’s great. It’s fascinating that office water cooler discussions now include vivid descriptions of evisceration by undead hordes. I come from a time when “geek” was used as an insult instead of a badge of honour, but I’d be petty to want to hog all the fun, despite enduring decades of turned-up noses.
Was it a dream come true for you to force your mother to watch horror movies as part of the film?
No, I was happy to let that one go, but it’s my favourite part of the movie. She has been extremely supportive and now everyone will see that. I think a lot of horror fans whose parents take some issue with their tastes have wanted to do that.
Source: Toronto Star
Leave a Reply
Front Page, Industry News
Five films to see at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Friday October 17th 2014As the chill of October kills off leaves and rattles bones, the time has come to enjoy the things that go bump in the night.
Halloween is almost upon us, which means more than just annual sales records in the bite-size candy industry. It’s also the one time of year when it is socially acceptable for everyone to enjoy horror movies.
To celebrate, the annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival is showcasing the best in genre cinema. This year’s program is highlighted by riches like the zombie/Nazi sequel Dead Snow 2 and the acclaimed New Zealand haunted house yarn Housebound.
It can be tough to decide which freaky films to choose, so we’ve selected five of the finest flicks at the fest, running from Oct. 16 to 24, organized from A to Z.
ABCs of Death 2
This anthology sequel hired 26 international directors to create a brief horror short about death based on each letter of the alphabet. Like the first entry, the results are inconsistent, but at its best the film is alternately terrifying, disgusting and darkly humorous. Highlights include Hajime Ohata’s zombie court case fighting for the rights of those afflicted with “apparent death syndrome,” Canuck Steven Kostanski’s hilarious ’80s action figure commercial-turned-nightmare and Chris Nash’s pregnancy horror involving an adult-sized fetus. If nothing else, ABCs of Death 2 offers a full festival’s worth of spooky cinema for a single ticket and should inspire at least a dozen different nightmares.
Hellmouth
Hellmouth delivers hallucinogenic Canadian horror from the mind of Pontypool writer Tony Burgess. The ambitious production tells the disturbing tale of Stephen McHattie’s gravedigger drawn into a series of hellish episodes due to his unfortunate line of work. The elastic reality the filmmakers achieve through a mostly digital world is as technically stunning as it is unsettling and McHattie holds it all together through one of his typically hard-nosed performances. There are times when Hellmouth feels like a living nightmare and that might be enough to earn the movie a cult following from its world premiere at this year’s festival.
Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Not exactly scary, but certainly haunting, David Zellner’s film is about a troubled young woman from Japan (Rinko Kikuchi of Pacific Rim) who discovers a VHS copy of Fargo and travels to America to find the buried bag of money from that 1996 classic. A prizewinner at Sundance, Kumiko hinges on Kikuchi’s pained performance and builds a richly evocative atmosphere around her bizarre quest. Combing deadpan culture clash comedy and tragic character study with dreamlike visuals and mesmerizing music that heighten reality without departing from it, Zeller achieves a tone that is almost inexplicably moving and eerie. It’s easily the best film of the festival and unlike anything else that you’ll see on screens this year.
Open Windows
Timecrimes director Nach Vigalondo delivers a digital twist on Rear Window. The creatively structured thriller occurs entirely on the hacked laptop of Elijah Wood’s nerdy blogger. A psychotic killer takes over Wood’s computer and surrounding technology for a stalk ’n’ slash adventure that unfolds entirely through a series of open webcam windows. The script goes about five or six twists too far down the whodunit rabbit hole, but Vigalondo’s skilfully employed suspense and inventive staging ensure that the movie is gripping enough to overcome a knotted narrative.
Zombeavers
It’s rare for a movie like Zombeavers to live up the title, but thanks to some delightfully phoney beaver puppetry, ridiculous gore effects and self-mocking humour, writer/director Jordan Rubin pulls it off. After brilliant comic Bill Burr’s thoughtless trucker spills some toxic sludge into a beaver dam, a group of horny college kids fall victim to a rabid pack of zombie beavers. It’s silly, stupid fun with just enough knowing laughs and jump scares to get the heart racing. The bucktooth makeup effects resulting from radioactive zombeaver bites are worth the price of admission alone.
Five questions for Why Horror? Creator Tal Zimerman
Toronto comedian and genre journalist Tal Zimerman spent his life obsessed by and addicted to horror. Eventually, that led to the documentaryWhy Horror? which screens at this year’s Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Zimerman travelled the world to interview filmmakers, authors, artists, theorists and scientists to discover why anyone would be attracted to the genre. In advance of the premiere, Zimerman sat down with the Star to answer five questions about his one big question.
What led you to this concept?
I originally approached a production company to make a television project about how Toronto is a mecca for horror fans. The producers asked me why I liked horror so much and I didn’t have a simple answer. This discussion opened up the possibility of a broader, feature-length doc about the appeal of horror and why we love to be scared. Well, some of us anyway.
Was it difficult to narrow down your focus?
Yes. There are many fascinating aspects to horror, from its trajectory in popularity to the feminist angle or the diversity in cultural forms. We ultimately focused on the “why,” which is difficult to answer because it’s a philosophical question. But that elusiveness was appealing. I’ve always felt that the horror genre is deeper than entertainment. We went looking for horror’s place in the narrative of humanity, not just as a fan activity or an autumn holiday. We asked everyone we talked to what horror means to human beings and got some great answers that affirmed my suspicions. We discovered there’s much more to the genre than simple entertainment.
Why do you think the genre seems to work best in film?
There are several reasons, but the main one is that it’s a physically demanding genre. It incites us to act out physically and in a movie theatre, people react to each other as much as the screen. One might argue that TV and video games are the best venues for horror these days, but I still can’t find a better experience than sitting with a packed audience who are fully engaged with a solid horror movie. It’s the dragon I persistently chase.
How do you feel about the fact that in your lifetime, horror has grown from a niche genre with stigma into mainstream culture?
I’m naturally a bit torn, but in the end, I think it’s great. It’s fascinating that office water cooler discussions now include vivid descriptions of evisceration by undead hordes. I come from a time when “geek” was used as an insult instead of a badge of honour, but I’d be petty to want to hog all the fun, despite enduring decades of turned-up noses.
Was it a dream come true for you to force your mother to watch horror movies as part of the film?
No, I was happy to let that one go, but it’s my favourite part of the movie. She has been extremely supportive and now everyone will see that. I think a lot of horror fans whose parents take some issue with their tastes have wanted to do that.
Source: Toronto Star
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