As the organized chaos of another Toronto After Dark Film Festival descends upon the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, we have taken the time to pull together from our massive collective brain and summarize our feelings about a few of the films that we have caught at other festivals around the world. But don't take our word for it.
And if you're good, perhaps there will be another video from Aaron and Justin from
at the end.
Guest contributor Alex Koehne caught the opening night film, Irish horror comedy
Grabbers, earlier this year. He had this to say in his
review. "...Jon Wright's
Grabbers scratches the
horror-comedy sweet spot in a manner seldom seen since 1990's
Tremors. Like that film,
Grabbers draws its humor far less from
slapstick and gags than character interactions, closely observed
quirks of behavior from a cast of characters just slightly larger
than life. And, like
Tremors,
Grabbers manages to ratchet up the
tension when desired while also remaining almost entirely bloodless
(though that never distracts). This is a film that plays its shocks
for entertainment rather than revulsion and it does so remarkably
well. For the first half of its run time
Grabbers is every thirteen
year old geeky kid's perfect film, basically, and while it struggles
to sustain itself through the back half of its run time it still
remains a thoroughly entertaining romp".
Rachel Fox caught the Soska sister's follow-up to
Dead Hooker in a Trunk. The latest film
American Mary has been tearing up the festival circuit and after catching it she had this to say in her
review. "...the Soskas offer up a social
statement about the potentially disastrous modern perception and
preoccupation with physical beauty. Weirdly compelling, interesting,
drily amusing yet never mean-spirited,
American Mary quietly contains
a totally unexpected yet thoughtful commentary that surfaces as a
profound, resounding element within the framework of the film...
American Mary is certainly not the kind of garden variety,
over-the-top, white-knuckle, cheap-thrill bloody gore-fest that some
audiences may be expecting due to its unusual subject matter. Rather,
the Soskas have crafted an experience that is thoughtfully restrained
and refreshingly nuanced enough to leave them thinking, instead".
The flying Dutchman Ard Vijn caught this British horror film and perhaps was a touch hesitant to recommend it? In his
review he wrote, "...
Inbred cannot easily be
written off as a sickie quickie as it's far too well-made for that.
The long buildup to the first killing establishes most of the
characters without any bloodshed involved and it speaks volumes that
this part of the film is not boring at all. Instead it is funny and
sometimes even deliciously wicked, and especially the two coaches and
their "treatment" of their young wards are good for laughs
and plenty of satire... Awfully mean-spirited and often sickeningly
gory, I would normally never recommend the likes of
Inbred.
But the technical virtues of filmmaking on display here, coupled with
a roster of well-played incredible characters, go far in redeeming
the film. So if you have the stomach for it I do urge you to
check this out. Call it cautiously recommended.."
So it looks like Zombie Day is on the Saturday this year and as the horde finds their seats at the Bloor they will cast what eyes they have left on the third [REC] film: [REC] 3: Genesis. The Belgian Neils Matthijs had this to say in his review, "Even though the change of setting and
camera style may be serious hurdles for fans of the series who aren't
flexible enough to let the [rec] films evolve, the biggest shock will
come in the form of the comedy elements that are scattered throughout
the film. The humor is actually quite fun and introduces some great
moments (SpongeJohn and the stealth-knights), but once things get
serious Plaza is quick to pick up the pace, avoiding the traps many
other horror/comedies fall into. The horror and gore is still
top-notch, the comedy scenes are merely interludes to brighten the
atmosphere a little".
Another one of those 'take it with a grain of salt' reviews as James Marsh was less than thrilled with the end result of Cockneys vs Zombies. In his review James confessed, "Cockneys Vs. Zombies... proves as
over-reliant on its high concept premise as its title might suggest,
bringing precious little of note to either the urban crime film or
shuffling undead sub-genre. The problem at the centre of Cockneys Vs.
Zombies is not that the dead are walking the streets of London, but
that scriptwriters James Moran and Lucas Roche don't know what to do
about it. After establishing two mismatched groups of unlikely
heroes, the script bends over backwards to bring them together for an
obvious third act climax of indomitable pensioners squaring off
against the zombies".
Anthologies are always a tough sell. And being relegated to the dreaded Sunday afternoon spot sure doesn't help but it you're up for it you'll want to check out Doomsday Book. Josh had this to say in his review, "Although not anything mindblowing,
Doomsday Book is a fine anthology for fans of Korean cinema. I'll
admit to expecting more WOW! from Jee-woon's segment, but that could
be due to expectations built up by The Good, The Bad and The Weird
and I Saw The Devil. He was on such a genre roll with those two, the
prospect of him making a sci-fi film had too much potential to
deliver, especially in the short form. Still, a nice package overall,
and a nice apertif for Jee-woon's upcoming
Arnold-Schwarzenegger-starring-American-debut-that-can't-possibly-be-good-can-it?".
We don't think anyone could have predicted that the Universal Soldier films would have found new life these recent years. But here we are and that Limey bastard James Marsh saw this before me and had this to say in his review, "All told, Universal Soldier: Day of
Reckoning delivered enough thrills, bloodshed and jaw-dropping fight
scenes to whip up the... crowd into a blood-baying
frenzy. It's not perfect by any means - half an hour in I'm sure I
wasn't the only one struggling to see where the film was going - but
by the end I was grinning ear to ear. Hyams' enthusiasm for expanding
this universe, exploring the existential possibilities of his heroes
and villains (no, really - the guy cares!) serves to underscore that
good science fiction comes from great ideas, rather than huge budgets
and visual spectacle".
Coming out of the Emerald Isle is yet another horror film,
Citadel. This time the film is more atmospheric and thick with mood as guest contributor John Jarzemsky explains in his
review,
"Citadel looks great, with clean,
sterile camerawork highlighting Tommy's loneliness and despair in the
first half, and frantic, kinetic photography driving home the
action-oriented conclusion. The scares are never contrived and always
effective, and aside from the inherently confusing and half-baked
nature of the demonic children's mythology, the story is unique and
fascinating. Yet the entire film never quite gels as an allegory for
overcoming one's own fears, even though that goal is readily
apparent, as is Foy's immense talent and potential as a filmmaker".
Well clearly this is not a conflict of interest. Contributing Writer and short film programmer for the festival Peter K had this to say about
My Amityville Horror when he saw it this summer. In his
review he writes, "
My Amityville Horror is primarily
concerned with an individual's troubled recollection of a past
trauma, and the film does successfully manage to offer up a number of
possible psychological catalysts that would have induced and
perpetuated such traumatic memories. While I do not think the
material is presented elegantly or even as ethically as it should be,
I also do not doubt the sincerity of the filmmakers. For a debut
feature effort, the film boasts polished aesthetics, some impressive
research, bringing compelling new pieces to this supernatural puzzle,
and, I stress again, is worthy of any Amityville aficionado's time".
It is safe to say you're in for a treat if you can catch the defying horror film
Resolution. Clearly the filmmakers Justin and Aaron have been having a grand time touring with the film and making intro videos for most of the festivals their film has appeared at (just a little bit further and you can see the for one for TADFF). Our resident dean of cinema Kurt caught the film this summer and had this to say in his
review, "Having ably establish likable
and flawed characters, for whom you give a damn, the film
embarks on what it really is about; namely the audiences own
addiction to horror films. The rising tension over the first
act and much of the second shifts occasionally hyperreal
and positively surreal narrative folding in on itself that is
shocking in its effectiveness - thus making it both a critique on the
genre, but also a shining example of what it comments upon". Translated. He liked it.
Another review from the man in the hat, Peter K. This time it is Noboru Iguchi's
Dead Sushi. It shouldn't need an introduction but the one in Peter's
review says it all, "Noboru Iguchi's latest opus about
revenge-seeking-man-eating sushi may not fall under the already
infamous Sushi Typhoon label, but it bears many characteristics of
the J-splatter studio's usual shtick: high-concept comedy that
lampoons Japanese culture, manic scream acting from an ensemble cast,
grotesque prosthetics and gallons and giga-bytes of blood. And
while I have personally found that recipe a bit distasteful after a
few of the genre's latest dishes, Iguchi's
Dead Sushi serves up a
particular brand of silliness that was hard to resist".
And we're back to Kurt for his
review of Quentin Dupieux's
Wrong. It sounds from the review that
Wrong is a difficult film to categorize and summarize. Kurt wrote, "With a bigger thematic reach, and a far
more episodic structure, Wrong is likely as close as we will ever get
to stand-up comedy in cinematic language. It is an absurdist
masterwork, and this is only Mr. Oizo's second feature
film. When the film unfolds on screen not so much as narrative, but
rather as a 'metaphorical cinematic stand-up routine,' it is actually
pretty great".
Another one of our fine female writers Shelagh chimed in with her
review of
A Fantastic Fear of Everything starring a very much on his own Simon Pegg. She wrote, "This is not a film about gags, though,
or side-splitting laughter; it is a meditative humour, the kind where
laughter feels like conspiracy with the devil. The darker the film
gets, the better it is. Pegg shows he is much more than just the
comic relief (really, what other actor can run around a film in dirty
underpants, and make us both feel both laughter and fear, for him and
ourselves?) It's the kind of film that, watched in a dark theatre on
a rainy day, will leave you wondering just who might be the wolf in
sheep's clothing, looking over your shoulder and trying to remember
where you left your carving knife".
And we conclude our tour of the Toronto After Dark schedule with Ard's
review of the Spanish werewolf horror comedy
Lobos De Arga or
Game of Werewolves. He wrote, "It had been a while since I saw a
satisfyingly good werewolf film to be honest, but that particular
itch got royally scratched with the Spanish horror-comedy
Lobos
de Arga. Director Juan
MartÃnez Moreno has managed to craft a film which is a wee bit
scary, somewhat bloody, very funny and immensely entertaining... and
which is featuring many big hairy ravenous werewolves! A cleverly
made comedy which features a nice atmosphere, beautiful settings and
an army of kick-ass werewolves. What is there not to like?"
