Hey TORONTO! Are You Ready To Come Out AFTER DARK?

It's been a bit of an odd experience working on the lineup for Toronto After Dark this year. Due to travel commitments and other factors this year there has not been a single all-staff meeting for the fest this year. Nary a one, and all of us involved have simply worked away on our own little areas while getting the occasional update from fest honcho Adam Lopez to let us know what was going on. The end result of this being that I hadnt actually seen the full lineup of films - and didn't even know what was being pursued outside of my own block of five titles - until late last week. And let me tell you: It's one damn good lineup. In fact I'm quite comfortable saying that this is - by a healthy margin - the best top-to-bottom lineup the festival has had in its entire history, including the year that I programmed the whole damn thing myself so boo to me and hurray to everyone else.

But you don't have to take my word for it! The first programming announcement wen public earlier this morning, including the first eight feature titles. And they are: Trick 'R' Treat; Grace; Franklyn; Black; Embodiment of Evil; Vampire Girl Versus Frankenstein Girl; The Forbidden Door and Someone's Knocking At The Door. Anyone who can guess which of those were mine gets a cookie. The remaining nine titles will be announced at the end of the month.