Fantasia 2024

Well, I'm a week removed from my Fantasia trip and suitably recovered enough to talk about it. Now a veteran of over fifteen years at this fest, it's become just as much about visiting restaurants and cocktail bars in Montreal as it is about watching movies...

(from top left) The Mayahuel at Caifan MTL, the pan-seared hanger steak at Joe Beef & the counter at Neo Tokyo.

...but here is a sampling of my festival faves.

#3: Retro screening of The Carpenter (1988)

Perhaps surprisingly, I had never seen this. It was a delight to watch for many reasons, including viewing it with a hometown audience (the movie was shot in Montreal) and a rare performance by Wings Hauser where he is decidedly charming. A gleefully absurd romp.

#2 Kryptic (2024)

A somber and atmospheric debut piece by Canadian Kourtney Roy. This movie has a lot going for it in a committed performance from Chloe Pirrie, the perfectly utilized scenery of British Columbia and a meandering, yet engaging, mystery.

#1 Frankie Freako (2024)

Director Steve Kostanski is back at it again. Utilizing a pair of his Astron 6 cohorts (Conor Sweeney & Adam Brooks), a gaggle of misfit puppets and just a couple of locations, he has paid homage to one of his favourite movies, Ghoulies III. Edibles are optional, but everyone in attendance had a blast with this one.

Short of the Week #16: W is for Wish.

Filmmakers I have been following for a long time are Astron 6 alumnus Steve Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie. Here is one of their most infamous collaborations, W is for Wish from ABC's of Death 2.

After cutting their teeth on numerous short films in the 00's, they graduated to features helming cult favourites like Father's Day and Manborg (both 2011). Then, after a wildly successful film festival market push - and subsequent effects crowdfunding campaign - they came out with their Lovecraft & Carpenter adoration piece The Void in 2016.

This is all in addition to the effects work both have done on studio productions that have shot here in Toronto, including It, Suicide Squad & The Shape of Water.

Currently, Gillespie is working on the Star Trek TV series and Kostanski is shooting the newest Leprechaun movie for Syfy (a direct sequel to the 1993 one) in South Africa.

Short of the Week #3: Heart of Karl

I'm gonna throw up some CanCon this week. This year marks the tenth anniversary of me discovering the work of Winnipeg collective Astron 6. These guys made many great shorts over the years, but my favourite still remains Steve Kostanski's Heart of Karl.

I love the world building - that he would later employ in his 2011 debut feature Manborg - and inherent weirdness of this piece. Several A-6 members now live & work in Toronto, so it's definitely cool seeing them around town at different events and involved in various projects.

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Hey all. I hope you're having a good weekend, I'm enjoying a quiet one after a hectic week. Here's some bits of news that I came across this week.

Channel 6.

Astron 6 and The Voice Of Cassandra recently released a mix onto MixCloud. It contains a lot of cool tracks, including stuff cribbed from horror soundtracks, metal albums and eighties artists. Enjoy it below.

Meal Time.

I found a trailer for a cool looking short by Timothy Vanderberg called Agatha this week.

I love the look of this piece, as well as the fact it shows you just enough to whet your appetite. Hopefully, I can get my hands on it soon.

R.I.P. Miguel Ferrer (1955-2017)

I was really hoping I wouldn't have to eulogize anyone so soon after last week. I was very sad to hear that Miguel Ferrer passed away last week due to throat cancer. He was 61.

R.I.P. Miguel Ferrer 1955-2017.

Ferrer was a prolific actor who had over one-hundred film and television credits under him. His most iconic role was likely that of Bob Morton, the ill-fated project head of the RoboCop program, but I will always most fondly remember him as Albert Rosenfeld on Twin Peaks. He also appeared in three Stephen King adaptations of The Stand, The Shining and The Night Flier. Rest in peace, Mr. Ferrer.

I Got A Fever!

Hey all. I'll be gone for a few days while I take in some TIFF flicks, but I'll be back next week with some reviews on what I've been catching. In the meantime, here's a great VHS supercut put together by Steven Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie of Astron 6 fame (and the upcoming horror movie The Void). Some clips you will recognize, some you won't, and some will just confound you, but enjoy!

I Love Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! However you plan on celebrating, hope it's full of cheer! For now, enjoy this Canadian holiday classic from the boys at Astron 6.

B-Movie Odyssey.

The Edmonton based collective House of Heathens recently won funding through Storyhive to bring their web series Straight To Video: The B-Movie Odyssey to life. The first season of five episodes have just dropped and you can check them out below. Look out for appearances by Tristan Risk, Christian Pitre and some of the boys from Astron 6.

Will Kevin ever make it back home? I guess we'll just have to cross our fingers for season 2.

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Now that were finally in May and we've finally managed to string a bunch of double-digits temps together, I can finally relax and put that shitty winter behind us. It was a slow news week, but here are some bits & pieces for you to mull over.

Editor Blitz.

The guys over at Astron 6 recently unveiled a new poster for their giallo love letter, The Editor. 

The poster is courtesy of Blitz Cadet aka Brett Parson. There's so much crazy stuff in the movie and somehow this talented artist managed to cram most of in there. Great stuff.

Slashdance.

This video for Common Shiner's song Social Mediasochist isn't new, but I thought it was cute, so enjoy if you haven't seen it already.

Vamps Take Manhattan.

Here's the new trailer for the upcoming sophomore season of FX's The Strain.

I'm looking forward to this coming back this summer. The story isn't anything spectacular, but I do like the characters and, like Hannibal, it is fun seeing Toronto locations pop up every once and a while.

Best Horror of 2014

So, here we are again at the end of another year. I took a look back and threw together some faves, but I can’t help but feel that I’m missing something. There were a lot of horror titles that I didn’t get a chance to see, including Starry Eyes, The Borderlands, Kristy, Among The Living, Cooties, Berkshire County and Live, so this year feels a bit incomplete.

Sadly, the same goes for movie-going in general. I didn’t even do up a 2014 list for CAST because there were so many glaring omissions. Oh well, it just would have been Nightcrawler with a bunch of exclamation marks next to it anyway.

I don’t regret this though, as 2014 was a really great year for me creatively. I worked on a record number of projects and fulfilled a longtime dream of getting something into Toronto After Dark. And truth be told, I don’t think I watched less movies overall, just less new ones. The only thing I really cut out this year was gaming, but with Until Dawn and Uncharted 4 releasing next year, I plan to get back on that digital horse soon.

Anyhoo, here are my faves in no particular order.

It Follows
USA, Dir: David Robert Mitchell

I loved this flick. It's exactly the kind of thing I like to point to in regards to modern horror being alive and well. The success of its brilliant premise – that of a sexually transmitted haunting – was largely due to its classic urban legend-style simplicity. Anchored by a wonderful lead (Maika Monroe) and an unforgettable score by Disasterpiece, anybody who cares about horror should be flocking to theatres to see this when it releases wide in March.

The Babadook
Australia, Dir: Jennifer Kent

The massive hype about this film was well deserved. Used in tandem with all the great technical aspects that the genre has to offer, it was the perfect balance of psychological and supernatural horror. The story was much more layered than I was expecting, and actress Essie Davis was a real standout as the mother, Amelia. I really can’t wait to see where Kent goes from here.

The Guest
USA, Dir: Adam Wingard

Although this newest effort from Wingard & writing partner Simon Barrett was more of an eighties style action movie, damned if this wasn’t one of the most enjoyable films I saw at this year’s Midnight Madness. Dan Stevens is perfectly cast as the title character, emanating equal parts charm and menace. The synth accompaniment from Steve Moore was also another highlight in a year of great film scores.

The Harvest
USA, Dir: John McNaughton

I was really taken by McNaughton’s official return to the director’s chair after a ten-year absence. It's the type of story to which I really respond and the performances from young & old are stellar. I don’t know what kind of release this film is going to get, but I sure hope it doesn’t get buried like Joe Dante’s similarly themed (and rated) The Hole from five(!) years ago. Both films have a wonderful eighties, told-from-a-child’s-perspective sensibility that is severely lacking these days.

The Editor
Canada, Dir: Adams Brooks & Matthew Kennedy

I still have to smile knowing that this whole thing started out as a poster, just like the days of the home video boom that cultivated the very style that The Editor itself emulates. The movie is so much fun! Astron 6 infuses their comedic overtones into this love letter to Italian horror, creating a wonderfully absurd hybrid chock full of gore, girls and gut-busting ADR.

Honourable Mentions

I really dug Spring, Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead’s follow-up to 2012’s Resolution. First and foremost a romance – the popular byline is it’s a genre-centric Before Sunrise – I liked the character chemistry in this piece. Also, by moving their dialogue driven sensibilities from a stuffy cabin to the wonderful wide open vistas of Italy, Benson & Moorhead took a huge step forward visually.

2014 was good year for sequels, if you can believe it. The second installments of both The ABC’s of Death and Dead Snow eclipsed their predecessors and The Town That Dreaded Sundown was a beautifully shot, no-nonsense pseudo sequel that I think caught a lot of people off guard when it played Toronto After Dark.

At Fantasia this year, I caught a solid werewolf flick called Late Phases. It has a lot going for it, including a centered performance from Nick Damici and whacked-out creature effects from Bob Kurtzman. Think Silver Bullet by way of Bubba Ho-Tep!

Though its inclusion here maybe in part due to it still being fresh in my memory after playing Blood In The Snow, I was realy impressed with Nick Szostakiwskyj’s Black Mountain Side. Its pace will no doubt frustrate a good number of viewers, but I admired its commitment to the slow burn. I thought the cinematography was amazing and, in a real stroke of genius, the lack of a score only accentuated the isolation.

Worst of 2014? This might sound ridiculous, but I got nothing. I mean sure, Zombie TV was utter shit, but to be honest, I slept through most of it. No, seriously, I was really lucky this year, most likely due to staying away from mainstream fare. Although, even the few I did catch – Deliver Us From Evil for instance – were decent.

Lastly, I almost can’t believe it, but once again my list was largely domestic titles! Are we finally catching up with the rest of the world in terms of twenty-first century horror filmmaking?

I guess we’ll have to see what 2015 brings. Happy New Year everyone!

TIFF Vids 2014

As in many previous years at TIFF, videographer Robert Mitchell has been on The Ryerson's red carpet to talk with the cast and crews of the Midnight Madness lineup. Here below are highlights from this year's crop.

And, if you're not concerned about spoilers, you can also check out Mitchell's coverage of the post-screening Q&A's on his YouTube channel. Enjoy!

Canadian Giallo.

Midnight Madness got a welcome dose of CanCon last Friday with the world premiere of irreverent collective Astron 6's newest effort, The Editor.

An over-the-hill film editor (Adam Brooks) becomes the prime suspect in a series of brutal murders on the set of the schlocky horror flick he is working on.

Just over two years ago, The Editor was nothing but a poster created for the art installation If They Came From Within. Then, after a successful Indiegogo campaign and a lengthy post-production process, the guys from Astron 6 found themselves onstage at The Ryerson in front of a frenzied crowd.

Astron 6 has always had a retro sensibility, but meshing their style with the gialli worked even better than I expected. They not only nailed the look of the genre, down to the colours and lighting, but also the way these films were often shot, in terms of camera movement, focus and framing. The film was also, in true Italian fashion, shot in MOS to be dubbed later. The Editor even goes so far as to recreate moments from some of the greats.

And if Astron 6's commitment to authenticity wasn't already enough, they also enlisted Goblin member Claudio Simonetti to contribute to the score. His masterful touch, in addition to the usual flourishes from Brain Wiacek & Jeremy Gillespie, brings a soundscape that transcends mere fabrication.

This is, however, where the similarities to the gialli end, as the material is never played for anything but laughs. It obviously worked because I can't remember one scene where I didn't get a least one chuckle, whether it be from a visual or audio cue, or a line of dialogue. It's also splattered with Astron in-jokes which always remind you that these guys were having as much fun making this, as we were watching it. It was truly absurd and never let up, whether it be characters noticing the cigarette burns at the corner of the frame or random naked ladies stretching or playing patty-cake in the background.

And speaking of ladies, The Editor has no shortage of lovely talent in this. Sheila Campbell is great as Margarit – in an inspired reference to Cinzia Monreale of Lucio Fulci's classic The Beyond – and you can be sure no one is happier than me that Tristan Risk made an appearance. Paz de la Huerta is... well, I think Astron member & star Adam Brooks put it best during the Q&A when he said; “Paz is Paz.” My favourite though, had to be Samantha Hill as the editor's assistant. She absolutely lit up the screen during her scenes.

Astron 6 (Matt Kennedy, Conor Sweeney, Jeremy Gillespie, Steve Kostanski & Adam Brooks)

At over one-hundred minutes, The Editor should feel long, but I can't recall anything that didn't deserve to be in its running time. It's a true love letter to the genre drenched in the goofy and illogical shenanigrams that we've come to know and love from Astron 6.

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Hey everyone. It's been a long week, but here's a rundown of some of the cooler stuff that went down in the last few days.

Console Carnage.

It was super great week for horror gaming. Coming out of Gamescom, we got trailers for not just one, but two upcoming titles. The first is the teen-slasher game Until Dawn.

The trailer doesn't give too much information on gameplay, but damn if it doesn't look like fun, and if it is really as infinitely CYOA as their site suggests, this is a game for which I have been waiting years and years.

The second was for P.T, which we now know is the new Silent Hill game. Although, for the first few days the only ones privy to that information were the ones who braved the playable teaser on the PSN. Making it through to the other side, you saw this;

Kojima and del Toro seems like a wonderful pairing, and I can't wait to play this (perhaps even with the Project Morpheus?) Since I don't yet have a PS4 though, I have to live vicariously through the walkthroughs on YouTube, like this one, though my favourite reaction video has to be from Gamespot's Mary Kish.

Nice Spread.

Last week, I posted the trailer for Astron 6's new film The Editor. Well, late this week, they revealed the new poster, which is a thing of beauty.

Created by renowned UK artist Graham Humphreys, I think it perfectly captures the sensationalist tone they are going for with this project. The Editor premieres at TIFF's Midnight Madness next month.

More Trailers.

Speaking of posters, another documentary I contributed to was Kevin Burke's poster art exploration Twenty-Four by Thirty-Six. This week, a new trailer hit the Web;

Lastly, my good buddy Jeff Sinasac, who has appeared in two of my short films, is now hard at work on a feature he wrote & produced called Red Spring. This week, they released a concept trailer.

As you can see, it looks super ambitious and I can't wait to see the finished product.

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It's been a depressing week, but let's start off with some good news, shall we?

From Poster to Reality.

The tenth title in this year's Midnight Madness lineup, Astron 6's giallo homage The Editor, was announced this week. It's pretty awesome that something that was originally conceived as a poster for the show If They Came From Within had enough gusto to become an actual production with the help of a Indiegogo campaign. Here is the newly released teaser trailer.

I don't need to tell you how authentic this looks, right down to the camera moves. Even though this movie boasts the likes of Udo Kier and Tristan Risk, I am not ashamed to admit I am just as excited to see it play The Ryerson because I was a contributor to the cause.

For more information on the Midnight programme, click here.

R.I.P. Marilyn Burns 1949-2014.

Actress Marilyn Burns passed away this week in Houston, Texas. She was 65. 

This one stings, as we were still celebrating the fourtieth anniversary of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre; her crowning achievement. It wasn't the only film that she appeared in, having roles in other titles like Eaten Alive, Kiss Daddy Goodbye and Helter Skelter, but Texas Chainsaw was the one that had us covering our eyes and ears in theatres and living rooms. If there was ever a list of actresses that endured hell for a role, Burns would be at the top of it. From the stories of the gut-wrenching prolonged takes to Gunnar Hansen actually cutting Burns with a knife, every bit of her anguish transferred onto the screen. It is one of the many reasons why the film, even decades later, still retains its power. Rest in peace, Marilyn.

R.I.P. Menahem Golan 1929-2014.

And as if losing Marilyn wasn't enough, we also saw movie mogul Menahem Golan pass away this week, as well. He was 85. 

One half of the producing team Golan & Globus, their contribution to my childhood is immeasurable. As a kid, my love of horror movies was only matched by my love of ninja flicks and these two guys had a hand in pretty much every one that made it to my neighbourhood video store. When the Cannon Video logo came up onscreen of a rented VHS, it meant I was about to be whisked away on an adventure, that had lots of action, blood, bullets, and maybe, if I was lucky, some boobs.

The mark of quality!

As was announced in July, the Cannon documentary Electric Boogaloo is playing TIFF this year, so I'm sure there will be some sort of commemoration for his passing. I can think of no better tribute than this film, save perhaps a flaming car full of ninjas flipping twenty times and then exploding. Though, I think the people at The Ryerson may frown upon that.

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Hello all. Here's what I've got for you this week.

Blood On The Lens.

Those crazy Canucks Astron 6 have set their sights on their next project and they need our help. Check out the video below to see how you can contribute.

To kick in some cash, check out the Indiegogo page here. On a related note, If They Came From Within - the event that first premiered the poster for The Editor - is coming to Toronto! 

That's right, if you were not able to attend the show at Fantasia last year, it is coming to The Big Smoke next month as part of the Festival of Fear celebrations.

Fire City.

Here below is a cool short I found via Rue Morgue. Behold, Fire City: King of Miseries.

I love short films that, in only a few moments, can insinuate a world larger than what is shown. I also feel that the mix of practical and digital effects is well executed here. I hope there are more of these coming in the future from director Tom Woodruff Jr.

Far From...

Turning to the gaming side of things, here's some game play from a early build of something called Routine.

At first glance, Routine just looks like a mash-up of Dead Space, Portal & Half Life, but there are two things about this that excite me. First, the sound in this video is spectacular, and secondly, this will apparently support Oculus VR, something that I have grown increasingly excited about over the last few months. Planetary tours and dogfight simulators are one thing, but this? Well, this is the dream, folks.

Festival Of Fear 2012: The Panels

Ed- I'm sorry if this post seems a little rough, I had it all beautifully worded and ready to go when Blogger promptly erased it. What is below is my frazzled and defeated attempt to recreate it.

One of the things I am really appreciating is the Festival of Fear's recent emphasis on interesting and unique panels. I first became aware of these last year when I checked out a discussion about the Video Nasties of the home video era. This time around, the schedule was positively brimming with panels like these.

On the Thursday, was the Collectible Horror Poster Art panel moderated by Toronto Cult Paper and 27 x 41” curator Tal Zimerman.  What transpired had to be one of the funnest things I've witnessed in the nine years I've been going to the Expo. Accompanied by local artists Gary Pullin, Jason Edmiston and Justin Erickson, all collectors themselves, they spoke about their favourite posters and what inspired them to get into the business.

Even though the floor was littered with folded pieces of paper, Tal insisted this was but “point five percent of his collection” which was rather astonishing. He then showed off some of most prized pieces.

Unconquerable indeed.

Tarman & Tal.

Tal with two helpers.

Pullin then blew my mind when he brought up the 'face in the hand' on the classic Halloween poster. I will now impart this revelation onto you.

Can you see it?

Now you can't unsee it, can you? Upon further reflection, I wonder if it was a nod to Black Christmas, as it certainly bears a resemblance to the suffocated victim that adourns that poster.

The next day, was the Gore, Girls and Godforsaken Cinema which was also helmed by Tal who, flanked by a quartet of Rue Morgue writers, opened the festivities by saying;

“If you are easily offended... Fuck off!”

What followed were three compilations of the sickest, goriest and most depraved scenes ever put to film or, in some cases, video. Some choice cuts included Burial Ground, Guinea Pig, Dagon, Cutting Moments, Takeshi Miike's Masters of Horror segment Imprint as well as his Audition. I was sitting at the back, so I was able to count the walkouts during the show. The most was six during the climax – pun intended – of Jörg Buttgereit's Nekromantik 2. The blood soaked proceedings closed with a scene from a 2009 film I'd never even heard of called Maskhead, where the August Underground crew basically reenacted the inferred “Lust” crime from David Fincher's Se7en.

Yeah... that happened.

On Saturday, Schwartz & I attended the Black Museum Presents Canadian Horror Revisited. The Black Museum is the brainchild of two local scribes Paul Corupe (of Canuxploitation.com) and Andrea Subissati. Starting next month, they will be hosting a series of lectures on genre film at The Projection Booth in East Toronto. The best part of this panel was Corupe's rundown of the entire history of horror in the Great White North. Check it out below.

Right click to enlarge.

I also have audio of this panel, which I'll post at a later date.

Last, was the Astron 6 panel, with members Jeremy Gillespie and Steve Kostanski. If you are not familiar with these guys, Astron 6 are a filmmaker collective based out of Winnipeg. Recently, they have been burning up the indie circuit with their two latest features, Father's Day and Manborg. I highly recommend checking out their website as many of their early shorts are available for your perusal. My personal favourite is Heart of Karl.

Gillespie & Kostanski talked about their origins and overcoming the obstacles of producing films with almost no money.

Jeremy Gillespie (left), moderator Dave Alexander & Steve Kostanski.

They also have a feature length documentary in the can called No Sleep, No Surrender which was made in tandem with Father's Day. They played a bit of it during the panel and it looks every bit as entertaining as the film.

Despite that fact that one of their other members has been saying that a feature length version of their short Fireman is a go, nothing has been confirmed yet. Gillespie then commented about what's next for Astron 6.

“We have a few irons in the fire, but not really things we can talk about. One of them could possibly be a western. But we'll have to see.”

I sincerely hope Rue Morgue continues doing these panels, as they perfectly compliment the slate of celebrity guests they bring in each year.

Check back tomorrow for my last installment which details some of the events that were happening off site during Expo weekend.