Break The Mirror!

Last Wednesday, The Black Museum held its newest lecture at The Royal.

This long running series has put on many great events in the past, but this one in particular was extra special, as filmmaker Gary Sherman was particularly well suited for this forum. I've seen him speak at a few events now and man, does this guy have stories. He's an extremely affable individual who would describe himself as “someone who has been very lucky and often been at the right place at the right time”, but I'd say there's a bit more to it than that. It takes more than luck to find a crew that would follow him into the insanely ambitious project that was Poltergeist III.

While it is true that Sherman has always been a very technical director, whether it be that impressive opening tracking shot in Death Line or the abundant special effects (courtesy of Stan Winston) in Dead & Buried, Poltergeist III would be the culmination of his talents. Not bad for a project that Sherman himself said that he initially did not want to do. He explained that the studio had first tapped him for Poltergeist II, but he was unavailable. When they came back to him for part three, he agreed because they'd been instrumental in getting his debut Death Line made. His one condition was that he wanted everything to be done in camera with no optical effects.

Filmmaker Gary Sherman talks Poltergeist III.

We sometimes forget there was once a time when computers did not rule the day and Poltergeist III might be one of the most impressive examples of pre-CGI filmmaking out there. To most I'm sure, the third Poltergeist entry was a throwaway sequel, overshadowed by the tragic death of its young star, Heather O'Rourke. I can assure you that no one thought that after this lecture. Everyone in attendance walked away with a new appreciation for this movie. Although I believe we're still not sure who was crazier, Sherman for attempting it or the studio for signing off on his requests.

The evening consisted of a screening of Poltergeist III with running commentary from Sherman. Whenever a significant effect happened, they would stop the film and he would explain how it was done. We would then watch the scene again with this new context. Perhaps the most impressive thing about Sherman's techniques was that they were honest-to-God magic tricks. When he pulled back the curtain, the audience reaction was that of true awe.

Movie magic!

Using mirrors and double sets, Sherman created an veritable amusement park haunted house – or rather skyscraper. You add in the talents of Dick Smith, the inventor of modern make-up (and the reason I grew up thinking Max Von Sydow was twenty years older than he actually was) you have a gift that keeps on giving. The session ran about three hours and Sherman regaled us about every facet of the production, including the parking garage explosion debacle and the three different endings.

The late Heather O'Rourke in Poltergeist III

Sherman also talked at length about O'Rourke who he absolutely adored, saying that being a pallbearer at her funeral was one of the worst days of his life. He's decidedly not happy with how the film turned out overall, but he's really proud of the effects, which is why he was glad to talk about them at this event. I hope does this talk in more cities because it's a film clinic for filmmakers and cinephiles alike, especially ones with a love of practical and in-camera effects.

I can't reiterate enough how super cool a night this was. It was a Black Museum for the ages that struck the perfect balance of subject and subject matter. Huge thanks to Paul, Andrea & Gary for putting it on.

Filmmaker Gary Sherman w/ BM curators Paul Corupe & Andrea Subissati

*Event pics courtesy of Brian Baker.

I'm Into Survival.

Last Tuesday night, The Black Museum held its third debate, this one featuring a quartet of pairs arguing the Greatest Final Girl. It was a rather contentious affair that saw the closest contest yet.

This one was a little different for me, as two weeks out I became a part of it after debate regular Steve Kostanski had to drop out. This involved me doing a shit-ton of research and when the time came, I actually forgot to record the damn thing. So, alas I won’t have any quotes this time around, but I can still give you the gist of what went down.

This iteration of the Debate Club saw some more new faces in addition to my own. Here were the teams fighting for their chosen character's honour.

Returning champions Alison Lang (writer, Women With Guts) & Simon Borer (musician, Entire Cities) were Team Thomasin from 2015's The Witch.

I was partnered with Tal Zimmerman (filmmaker Why Horror?) as Team Sally from 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Joshua Cross (film programmer, Queer Fear) & Cameron Crookston (horror academic) made up Team Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Alicia Faucher & Larissa Thomas (co-creators, Allie & Lara Make a Horror Movie webseries) comprised Team Gale from the Scream series.

Left to right, Team Sally, Team Thomasin, Team Nancy & Team Gale.

Taking over judging duties from Stuart “Feedback” Andrews was another Rue Morgue alumni in Liisa Ladouceur. After some event housekeeping, the opening statements got underway.

Team Thomasin came out strong right of the gate. Due to their unorthodox choice, they had to immediately convince everyone that she was indeed a Final Girl. To do so, they went about listing all the ways she met the criteria laid out by the originator of the term Carol J. Clover. They then put forth the clever idea that Thomasin’s family in the film were the oppressors and the rejection of their puritanical ways was her particular triumph over adversity.

Thomasin from The Witch

Team Sally took a more literal approach. We had to lean on the fact that Sally was the pioneer and also cribbed passages from Clover’s tome to back up she was the truest definition of a Final Girl. Mainly we argued that Chainsaw was the most dramatically potent, and Sally endured the worst of all the characters being discussed.

Sally from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

Team Nancy had the valid point that she actively fought back against Freddy. She pro-actively investigated and challenged him while her friends rejected or ignored that they were being stalked.

Nancy from A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Team Gale took things up a notch with their presentation. Having baked cookies for everyone beforehand and streamed the event using a selfie-stick camera dubbed “Kenny”, these two took over the whole stage and posed that Gale's take charge attitude and willingness to run toward danger instead of away from it made her the best.

Gale from Scream.

After the video presentations (which gotta say wreaked havoc with my neck as it is a lot harder to watch them when you are actually onstage), Team Thomasin & Team Nancy led the way. Next came the rebuttals.

Having the least evolved Final Girl of the four, Team Sally knew we had to bring it here. Thankfully, we crushed it and made some headway. Again, a lot of it was adherence to the literal meaning of the term – two final girls in Scream, only one qualifying character in The Witch and the fact that Nancy ultimately dies disqualifies her etc – but Tal did slay with the crowd with a joke about Nancy being held back a few grades because canon tells us she was actually a nineteen-year-old high schooler.

The other teams all suitably shot down each other’s arguments, but fortunately the judge came down in favour of Team Sally this round. After the closing arguments, Team Thomasin & Team Nancy were still battling for the top.

Fortunately, there was trivia. Tal had won this round at the previous two debates and I fancy myself fairly knowledgeable so we racked up points here and again got within striking distance.

It all went to hell (for us) during the audience vote though when the crowd largely got behind Nancy & Thomasin. In the end, a tie-breaking lightning round was needed to declare a winner – Team Nancy!

Joshua and Cameron walked away with the coveted Golden Tentacle Trophy and in hindsight, Nancy does seem like the obvious choice. However, I was surprised by Team Thomasin’s game. I guess the fact that The Witch can be interpreted two completely different ways just speaks to how fantastic the film really is.

For me, it was a surreal experience for two reasons. First, I have seen perhaps hundreds of movies at The Royal Theatre, but looking out from, instead of looking at, the stage this time was a trip. I'm glad I had so many facts swirling around in my head that night to keep my anxiety from getting the better of me. Second, it's counter intuitive to argue against films that you adore. Four important titles representing four decades of horror were showcased that night and the debaters were constantly saying “I hate to say this because I love this movie, but…”

At the end of the day, it was fun. I got to re-watch some movies I cherish and also did a lot of book learnin’. I believe the Debate Club will be returning in the Spring and I’ll be there – in whatever capacity – for certain.

Black Tuesday.

Tonight's the night! My compadre Tal & I will be participating in the latest Black Museum debate, arguing that Sally Hardesty is the Greatest Final Girl.

It should be a bloody affair and when the dust settles I will attempt to give you a blow-by-blow as impartially as possible -- no promises.

Wish me luck and I'll see you back here at the end of the week.

Girl #2

Toronto's Black Museum is having its latest event tomorrow featuring a heated debate about who is horror's greatest Final Girl. In a bizarre twist of fate (really it was just competitor Steve Kostanski got a gig) I have been called upon to fill in and fight for Team Sally.

Today though, I wanted to focus on horror females a tad more unsung. The Girl #2's -- the ladies that almost made it through their respective movies. Most characters in slasher flicks are just fodder, archetypal meat to up the body count, but sometimes there are ones that you are sad to see go.

Growing up, slashers were (still are to a certain extent) my bread and butter and with it being the home video era, I would often watch them several times. With some particular titles though, I'd wish scenes would somehow turn out differently. Maybe Brinke Stevens won't go back for her textbook this time in The Slumber Party Massacre. Or perhaps Lesleh Donaldson will decide to stay home at the beginning of Happy Birthday To Me. Insane I know, but those thoughts arise every time I re-watch those movies.

She seems like a nice kid. #ihatewhentheycallthemkids

They were unfortunately among the first to go in their respective movies, but the women below almost made it to the credits or some cases did, only to die in a subsequent sequel.

Phyllis from Black Christmas (Andrea Martin)

This film is arguably the first North American slasher and features some of the most well-drawn and fleshed out characters in horror. Phyl was a genuinely nice person. She was loyal and her concern for her friends is ultimately what led to her death when she went to check on Barb. I've always been glad her death was off-screen.

Marcia from The Initiation (Marilyn Kagan)

The Initiation still remains one of my favourite slashers. It puts you at ease to start with a first act feels more like Animal House featuring a bunch of likable goof-offs. Among them is Marcia, the stereotypical prude. However, it isn't until deep into the film you find out she was molested by her music teacher when she was young. It's a scene that catches you off guard, but always came off to me as sincere. Later, when she commits the mortal sin of sleeping with her best friend Ralph, she sadly becomes fair game to the genre Gods. The image of her being pulled back into that elevator is burned into my brain.

Kirby from Scream 4 (Hayden Panetierre)

There are several characters in the Scream franchise I didn't like to see get killed (Sarah Michelle Gellar in Part 2 and Parker Posey in Part 3 for instance), but Kirby is the one that irked me the most. She was genre savvy and did everything right, but her desire to help someone in distress was her downfall.

Violet from Friday the 13th Part 5 (Tiffany Helm)

Violet wasn't the last girl to die, nor was her character particularly established – I'm not even sure what she was doing at Pinehurst; she wore bracelets to cover up wrist wounds maybe? - but she was the one I lamented the most in that movie. Thinking on it, I'm sure that my late-eighties infatuation with Samantha Fox probably had something to do with me taking a shine to her.

Kristen from Nightmare on Elm Street 4 (Tuesday Knight)

Kristen was a great final girl who was unfortunately written out of the series. I was pretty smitten with Patricia Arquette's replacement though, again probably due to that aforementioned crush – I definitely had a type back then. When I recently re-watched the Nightmare movies all in a row I was glad to see the fourth part was just as good as I remembered.

Lastly, the Entire Halloween series.

I don't think there is any series that is as unforgiving as the Halloween franchise.

Though she was a jerk and often selfish I always, always hate seeing Annie (Nancy Loomis) die in that car. She reminds me of that friend you have when you are young who's a bad influence on you and inevitably lose touch with when you get older, but those times shared were some of the funnest ever.

Halloween 4 was a significant film in the series for me as it was the first one I was able to watch in the theatre. Rachel (Ellie Cornell) embodied all the best characteristics of the Final Girl which is why I was really put off by Part 5. The number of reasons that movie was shit are legion, but the way she was dispatched in that movie was so lame, it actually made me angry.

However, there is no greater offense than how the quintessential Final Girl of all time Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) gets unceremoniously killed off in Part 8. It was a big fuck you to the fans and I hope this new one coming in 2018 is first and foremost and apology for that abomination.

Ugh.

Whew, I wasn't actually expecting that piece to be so personal, but there you have it. I hope to see some of you at The Royal tomorrow for the debate. Who Will Survive and What Will Be Left of Them?

Meta Museum.

Toronto's Black Museum lecture series returned after a long hiatus with a one-off screening a few weeks ago. Curators Paul Corupe & Andrea Subissati took over The Royal to screen, rather fittingly, the 1959 film Horrors of the Black Museum.

I was really excited to see this film because it has special significance to me. Growing up I learned pretty fast that my mother had - and still has - zero tolerance for onscreen violence. My predilection for horror and all things macabre was fostered solely by my father. Anyhow, the conversation eventually arose between my mother and I about why I liked that stuff and why she didn't. 

I got an earful about the horrible pictures that my Dad had taken my Mom to when they started dating circa 1960. She was scarred by Psycho, but the one movie that seemed to do the most damage was one she couldn't even remember the title of. All she could remember were two harrowing scenes - a bit where a woman went to look through a set of binoculars and spikes shot out into her eyes, and another where a guillotine came down on a lady lying in bed.

My mind played with these delicious images, but this was long before Google, so it was twenty years before I even discovered which movie these scenes appeared in. Even when I did, the film wasn't high on my list of priorities while I was being deluged with new titles each and every day. So, imagine my delight when I saw The Black Museum would be playing its namesake?

This was a fun event. Paul did an introduction where he talked all about the history of curious collections throughout the ages and the creation of the original Black Museum at Scotland Yard. He then movde onto their influence on film and the many horrors that have featured museums and sideshows over the years.

TBM Curator Paul Corupe. Photo courtesy of Brian Baker.

As for the movie, I thought it was a hoot. I was surprised to find that the binoculars bit was the opening scene. My poor mother! She must have been like, “that was awful and I still have a whole movie to sit through!” The movie is obviously tame by today's standards, but I do love the deliberate pace of these British dialogue-driven pictures. All the little quirks had me grinning from ear to ear, like one scene where a kid spends an entire scene eating a banana just left of frame. She then just tosses the peel over her shoulder when she's done. Nothing beats the ending though. In the middle of a carnival as two people have just been violently killed in front of a crowd, the cops say their piece and then, as the camera zooms out, the Ferris wheel starts up again and everyone unceremoniously goes about their business. Classic stuff!

So after the thirty-five years of waiting to see this film, I learned one thing. My Mom must have really liked my Dad.

Trailer Tuesdays: Black Roses

Even though the Black Museum lecture series' have wrapped up for the foreseeable future, they are still hosting awesome events around town. This past weekend, in conjunction with the recent book launch of Satanic Panic, BM offered up some

BM co-founder Paul Corupe offered up an hour-long video chock full of eighties pop-culture paranoia. Among them was this trailer for the 1988 heavy metal horror opus, Black Roses.

So much going on here and it fits in well with all the other satanic exploitation films of the eighties, which also included the likes of Evilspeak, Trick or Treat and 976-Evil.

Good times.

I'd Expect Nothing Less From Japan.

Last week I checked out the latest lecture from The Black Museum presented by Toronto-based visual artist and filmmaker Jennifer Linton.

So, naturally Linton began the lecture by breaking down the meaning of Ero Guro (short for Ero guro nansensu which translates as erotic grotesque nonsense) for which she described as “a cultural phenomenon that devoted itself to explorations of the deviant, the bizarre, and the ridiculous.” 

Using a scene from Sion Sono's 2005 film Strange Circus, she pointed out the three main themes that permeate Ero Guro,

-deviant representation of gender and sexuality

-violence, either overt or suggested

-underpinnings of absurdity and humor

Following that, Linton laid out a brief history of early twentieth century Japan that ushered in an environment that gave birth to the Ero Guro. After Tokyo was decimated after the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, women joined the workforce to help the rebuild. This, of course, gave way to whole new attitude and, as Linton put it; “it was within this atmosphere of social freedom and modern pleasures that the Erotic Grotesque was born.”

Linton then went on the introduce the most influential figure in Ero Guro, writer Edogawa Ranpo (Tarō Hirai, 1894-1965). He was a writer of mystery fiction and inspired by the works of Arthur Conan Doyle and Edgar Allen Poe – you may notice his pen name sounds quite like the latter. In the 1930's, his works began leaning more toward Ero Guro and over the years many of his stories have been adapted. As Linton explained;

“He was known for mystery stories that incorporated elements of the fantastic, the provocative and the disturbed. They have an ability to unsettle and delve deeply into a fear of the unknown that all humans share.”

Linton's favourite tale of Ranpo's was one called The Human Chair. It's a bizarre tale about a chair maker who builds a secret compartment for himself into one of his creations to facilitate his fetish of having ladies sit on his lap. 

It was made into the above pictured manga by Junji Ito (of Uzumaki and Gyo fame), although it has also been represented in more overtly sexual ways, as well.

Linton showcased five films that best illustrated the genre, the first of which was 1969's Horrors of Malformed Men by Teruo Ishi.

She did her best to lay out a synopsis; 

“This film is best described as avant garde theatre meets an exploitation film. It's a hodgepodge of at least four Rampo stories, including the Human Chair, as well as H.G. Well's novel The Island of Dr. Moreau and its 1932 adaptation Island of Lost Souls. Describing the plot of this movie is a near impossible task... but I will tell you that the story begins with a young doctor named Hirosuke (Teruo Yoshida) who suddenly finds himself in an asylum. The story also involves almost three murders, circus performers, flashbacks, topless girls, snakes, more topless girls and Hirosuke's mysterious double named Genzaburô”

That sounds like one hell of a movie. But the most striking thing I noticed was the performance of Tatsumi Hijikata as the Dr. Moreau character, Jôgorô Komoda. Hjikata was not an actor, but a trained performer and it is fairly obvious that his performance influenced the J-horror genre that would emerge three decades later.

Tatsumi Hijikata in The Horrors of Malformed Men.

One cannot see Hjikata in this film and not think of Sadako in Ringu and Kayako in Ju-on. It was really interesting to see.

Next up was Hiroshi Harada's animated film Midori from 1992.

Mostly due to problems with Japanese censors, it is pretty hard to find, only available on DVD through a small French distributor. As Linton explained;

“Due to the controversial nature of the content, Harada was unable secure investors for the project, thus he financed and worked on the fifty-two minute film alone, creating all of the artwork over a five-year period using the technique of cell animation. Midori is a faithful adaptation of Suehiro Maruo's manga Mr. Arashi's Amazing Freak Show.”

Midori is a relentlessly bleak tale about a flower girl, who after being orphaned, becomes the sex slave of a band of circus performers. This trailer (for a past Cinefamily screening) below should give you an idea of the extreme perversity within.

The third film was Nagisa Ôshima's 1976 film, In The Realm of the Senses.

The movie is based on the Sada Abe Incident in 1936 Tokyo. Abe was a waitress who strangled her lover to death, cut off his penis and testicles and proceeded to carry them around in her purse. Wow, THAT'S where that phrase came from? She was subsequently arrested and convicted of second-degree murder and mutilation of a corpse.

Sada Abe shortly after her arrest.

After serving five-years of a six-year sentence, she was released. That may seem a little odd, but Linton offered compelling evidence as to why her sentence was so light;

“Pre-war writings such as Sada Abe's 1937 psychological diagnosis took her as an example of the dangers of unbridled female sexuality and a threat to the patriarchal system. In the post War era however, she was treated as a critic of Tokyo's totalitarianism and a symbol of freedom from oppressive political ideologies.”

The fourth film was Yasuzô Masumura's 1969 film, Blind Beast.

Based on one of Ranpo stories, Linton gave a pretty accurate synopsis;

“A psychopathic blind sculptor disguises himself as a massage therapist in order to gain access to young women. He sadistically murders and dismembers his victims using their body parts to make strikingly realistic sculptures. In the film, the many women are reduced down to one and the filmmaker maintains the blindness of the sculptor, but with a significantly less monstrous appearance than in the story to make him more sympathetic to the audience.”

Linton showed a lengthy clip of the film that was pretty awesome – you can see it here if you don't mind there are no subs – and though possibly inspired by Salvador Dali's set design in 1945's Spellbound, Blind Beast certainly added a visual flair largely absent from the other films I've seen with this storyline, such as H.G. Lewis' Color Me Blood Red (1965) and Santos Alcocer's Cauldron of Blood (1970). This still below should give you some idea of what you're in for.

The last film that Linton referenced was Kôji Wakamatsu's 2010 film Caterpillar.

Caterpillar tells the story of a lieutenant returned to his village after the war (now quadriplegic, deaf, dumb and disfigured) to much fanfare. His wife, whom he was previously abusive toward, is now expected to be his caretaker. Even though she is revolted by him, and gains a sense of power in his helplessness, she still feels compelled to fulfill his needs which, mirroring that of a caterpillar, are solely food and sex.

This was another adaptation of a Ranpo tale, one which was banned on its initial release in 1934 for its perceived anti-military sentiment. Wakamatsu embraces this in his film, using it as a critique of ultra nationalism.

The evening concluded with the sad announcement that this was to be the last Black Museum lecture at The Royal. Save for a screening of Dario Argento's Deep Red on 35mm next month, it appears that classes are now done. I'm optimistic that Andrea & Paul will be able to set up shop somewhere else, but I'll guess we'll just have to wait and see. It was a good run either way.

Who You Gonna Call?

The Black Museum kicked off its fifth semester of lectures last week with a comprehensive look at the steely character known as the paranormal investigator.

Toronto journalist Brian Baker was on hand to guide us through the creaky mansions, abandoned asylums and hallowed grounds that have made the paranormal investigator the most earthly trope of supernatural horror. 

Baker began with saying that ghosts have always been a part of our history. Even though the ghost story dates all the way back to 33 B.C, he chose to focus his talk on the transition from Victorian Gothic hauntings into modern horror.

But what are hauntings exactly? Well, Baker explained they could be broken down into three categories.

Ghost – is an apparition, the spirit of a dead person appearing to the living.

Poltergeist – is a supernatural being that can physically move objects.

Demon – is a spirit that is otherworldly, and not human.

This can also be seen as an evolution; a shift due to audiences needing to be more scared by their eerie entertainment. So, ghosts became poltergeists, and poltergeists became demons.

Brian Baker ain't afraid of no ghost.

From here, the lecture was broken into two halves, the first being the real-life ghost hunters and then those of fiction. Though not officially recognized by the scientific community, paranormal investigation has ballooned in recent years with chapters popping up in every major city. There are programs functioning in several universities, but they often funded by like-minded philanthropists and not the school system. A dip in the interest in the eighties saw many of these programs shut down – as evidenced at the beginning of the film The Ghostbusters.

But we've come a long way since then, as now we are over-saturated with media about paranormal investigations, including the likes of Ghost Hunters and Ghost Adventures. However, the two most widely known investigators were the husband and wife team of Ed & Lorraine Warren.

The Warrens claimed to have investigated over ten-thousand cases over their long careers, the most famous being turned into the popular movies The Amityville Horror, A Haunting In Connecticut & The Conjuring. 

Paranormal pioneers Lorraine & Edward Warren.

“These forces are eternal, and they exist today. The fairy tale is true. The devil exists. God exists. And for us, as people, our very destiny hinges upon which one we elect to follow.” - Ed Warren.

Moving onto fiction, Baker pointed out the two most influential pieces of literature on modern supernatural horror were Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House (1959) and Richard Matheson's Hell House (1971), later adapted into the films The Haunting (1963) and The Legend of Hell House (1973) respectively. These works brought about two of the main themes of the subgenre, faith vs. science and characters denying the existence of the supernatural despite the evidence in front of them.

The Amityville Horror (1979) based on Jay Anson's account from two years previous featured the most famous icon of supernatural horror, 112 Ocean Ave and its foreboding quarter-window eyes. Focusing more on the second film of the film franchise, Baker brought up perhaps the most popular trope of the haunting/possession films, isolation. Very often you see the evil spirit isolate its target from the rest by breaking down the family unit. This then brings about the last common theme of Good vs. Evil.

112 Ocean Ave, the infamous Amityville house.

Moving into the eighties saw one of the most popular films of the genre, Poltergeist. Its notoriety went beyond the film when people began speaking of a Poltergeist “curse” after several tragedies befell several members of the cast. It is rumoured that the crew used real skeletons in the swimming pool scenes and that brought about a curse that then inadvertently caused the deaths of Dominique Dunne, Julian Beck, Will Sampson and Heather O'Roarke. Complete nonsense to be sure, similar stories surround other such films of the time, like The Omen, but it makes a great story.

Moving into present day, Baker brought up films such as The Frighteners, which saw the ghost hunter using his gifts for personal gain, and Grave Encounters that played up the hammy reality television host angle. He also spent some time on the solid 2012 film The Awakening, which brought the Victorian ghost tale full circle. He also didn't leave out Paranormal Activity, which is a perfect example of what can happen when you wait too long to reach out for the professionals. Nope, your idiot boyfriend is no substitute for Zelda Rubenstein.

As with television, films about paranormal investigation are everywhere with five titles being released just this year (Insidious 3, The Conjuring 2, the Poltergeist remake, Amitville: The Awakening & Paranormal Activity 6) and no sign of things slowing down.

Baker's talk was a solid and informative walk down the annals of paranormal investigation. And who knows, maybe, someday, one of these guys will actually nab some irrefutable proof of the other side.

DKTM 255

Hey all. It's been a solid weekend filled with the new season of House of Cards and watching Rousey defend her title in fourteen seconds flat, but now it's time for some genre news.

Picture The Void.

The IndieGogo campaign for The Void has been going excellently, with over ten-thousand dollars raised in less than a week. On Thursday, the filmmakers (Steve Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie) announced perhaps their best contribution perks yet.

These three posters were commission from some of the best in the business (Graham Humprheys, Justin Erickson and Gary Pullin respectively). One-hundred twenty dollars will get you one of these three (each limited to 100) prints, and three hundred will get you the trio.

To visit the campaign page, click here.

Black Museum V.

The fifth semester of the Toronto lecture series, The Black Museum kicked off last Thursday with a screening of Andrea Bianchi's batshit crazy film Burial Ground on 35mm.

Poster art by Trevor Henderson

Before the screening, they announced the first lectures of their fifth stanza. Check it out!

For more info on The Black Museum, go here.

Sans Head.

Headless, the companion piece to Found, one of my favourite films of 2013, has a new trailer.

I'm liking what I'm seeing here. I think the addition of the kid mirrors the dynamic of Found in an interesting way. If you are lucky enough to be in Indiana, you can catch an encore screening (the premiere was last night) today at the Buskirk-Chumley Theatre in Bloomington at 7pm. Say hi to Scott for me.