The closing night gala of this year's
Toronto After Dark was the Spanish horror comedy Game of Werewolves.
Tomas (Gorka Oxtoa) seeks solace by
returning to the village of his childhood, but soon finds himself on
the run from the townsfolk who think his sacrifice will free them
from a hundred-year-old gypsy curse.
Going in, I wasn't sure what to make of
this movie with its jokey title, but it turned out to be a pretty
decent movie. I guess I shouldn't be shocked, as I thinking back I
don't think I've ever been disappointed by a Spanish genre film.
These guys are a talented bunch and just make great movies.
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Gorka Oxtoa (front) & Carlos Areces in Game of Werewolves. |
All the ingredients for a successful
horror comedy are here. The head trio of the piece Tomas, Calisto
and Mario (Oxtoa, Carlos Areces & Secun de la Rosa, respectively) are
all great with impeccable comedic timing, but the scene stealer is
Tomas' Jack Russell terrier, Vito. It really is true that this breed
make the best actors. Director Juan Martinez Moreno wears his
eighties film influences on his sleeve, but it never feels like he is
merely aping. The comedic beats are handled really well and the
result is a lot of laugh-out-loud moments.
As you can imagine, the real highlight
of the movie are the werewolves. The makeup effects are top notch,
and frankly some of the best I have seen in quite some time. And to
top it all off, we not only get quality, but also quantity. My hat
goes off to Moreno for insisting on going practical with his
creatures, it made the movie ten times what it could've been.
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Director Juan Martinez Moreno. |
So, the curtain comes down on another
Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The crowds were good and all the
filmmakers that came out seemed to have a really good time. I think
TAD is building momentum in terms of recognition from filmmakers.
While it may not have the most pull in the “buying and selling”
side of things – though the Soskas' American Mary did ink a deal
with Anchor Bay the evening of their premiere – I get the sense
that genre directors really like to play here.
Anyway, I'll be back in the next few days with a Shorts rundown and a post on the official TAD awards, so stay tuned.
Anyway, I'll be back in the next few days with a Shorts rundown and a post on the official TAD awards, so stay tuned.
2 comments:
This was supposed to be at a convention I went to a couple of months back. They had a screening set up for it, but the DVD that the director sent didn't work for whatever reason. They promised to screen it at another upcoming conventions, so hopefully I will be able to watch it soon.
Aww that's too bad, it is a good film to watch with an audience.
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