In addition to the usual reviews and comments you would find on a horror movie blog, this is also a document of the wonderfully vast horror movie section of the video store I worked at in my youth.
I have posted before about the awesome Blood In The Snow shorts compilation Bloody Bits, but yesterday they released a snazzy new trailer.
I know you're probably tired of me saying how surreal it is to see my short Lively being promoted on this thing, but I'm really proud to be a part of this. If you'd like to get your paws on a copy of your very own, click here.
Blood In The Snow featured a record number of shorts this year, screening twenty-four bite-sized tales over the course of the weekend. I've always found the loving attention that BITS gives its short films really admirable, and with some of the stuff that's coming out of here lately, it must be getting harder to choose. Here are the shorts I dug the most from the line-up.
Evan Hamza's My Brother Charlie was a well told little short that really conveyed a sense of dread throughout and offered up one of the most memorable (and diabolical) moments of the fest.
Perhaps my favourite short that played was Ingrid & The Black Hole by Leah Johnston. I loved its unique take on memory as a version of time travel and its flowing camerawork really reminded me of Mike Flanagan's Oculus. I really appreciated that BITS programmed this, as it is not outwardly genre, but still absolutely wonderful.
Also, I was really glad to see Larica Perera's Tik Tik finally get its Toronto premiere. Taking place in a single shot, its a super effective telling of an old Filipino folktale. I very much look forward to Perera's next project.
There were also a lot of returning filmmakers this year. Greg Kovacs' continued his streak (having had a short play every year since BITS' inception) with his fun romp Mrs. Rafferty's Red Red Roses and festival fave Renaud Gauthier gave us his animated take on the heist genre with Storm of the Century. I was most impressed with Charlie Hanilton & Zach Ramelan's newest What Do You See? though. Anchored by one of my favourite up-and-coming actresses Raven Cousens, there's a lot to like in this hybrid of Western and Eastern paranormal narratives.
Lastly, I really liked Cauchemar Capitonné from Jean-Claude Leblanc. It had an awesome visual style, terrific gore effects and is likely one of the best cursed object shorts I've seen in a long time. I was not surprised when it was awarded Best Short at this year's Bloodies.
In addition to the shorts on display this year, the Bloody Bits DVD also went on sale.
Featuring some of the best shorts from BITS' previous years (including one of mine!) it's a great little package. But, don't take my word for it, click here for more info.
The fifth edition of the Blood In The Snow Canadian Film Festival kicks off tonight. Be sure to check back over the weekend for some reviews of what went down. Or better yet, if you live in the GTA, why not come out to a screening or two. Find out about tickets here.
I'm pretty stoked this year, as we're rolling out the Bloody Bits DVD (featuring my 2013 short Lively) at the opening party tonight.
This past weekend saw the third edition of Horror-Rama descend on the Big Smoke.
The organizers Chris Alexander & Luis Ceriz have prided themselves on delivering a convention that celebrates horror media in all forms. Horror-Rama is designed to be a more intimate experience, where attendees can mingle with their favourite icons and hangout with fellow cinephiles and collectors.
Familiar faces like Sam for instance.
And once again, they have delivered. Switching to the showroom across the hall within the Hyatt downtown, Horror-Rama this year was home to almost fourty vendors and several celebrity guests that included Bill Lustig (Maniac), Jeff Lieberman (Squirm), Geretta Geretta (Demons) and Dyanne Thorne (The Ilsa series).
I unfortunately didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked, as I had double duty with Toronto After Dark on the Saturday, and killer fucking traffic on the Sunday, but I did get some time on the floor.
There was even a dedicated booth for the classic eighties horror flick The Gate featuring not only Joe Hart's impressive collection of memorabilia, but also two actors involved with the production, Linda Goranson and Jonathan Lyr were in attendance.
Gate Fest pics courtesy of Michael Schwartz.
Though there was a conspicuous lack of poster vendors this year (Suspiria was the only one I recall), VHS was still about in full force. I picked up these beauties below fairly early on.
Now in its fifth year, I am pretty stoked about some of the titles which include the much anticipated 24 x 36 poster documentary, Black Fawn's new thriller Sublet, and Jason Armstrong's Inspiration starring Emily Alatalo. For more info on the fest, click here.
Even more awesome was the unveiling of a joint venture between Black Fawn and BITS called Bloody Bits, a collection of eight fan favourite shorts from the past four years, including - wait for it - my short film Lively!
I'm so glad I can finally talk about this. Looking at that poster is almost surreal. I believe they are hoping to have the DVD ready in time for BITS.
But, enough about me. I was super stoked that Lustig & Lieberman, basically two of the most important figures in independent American horror, were there. I usually don't get autographs, but I couldn't resist getting Lieberman's.
The guy's just such a straight shooter, yet incredibly affable. I've always maintained that he has one of the most pure and original voices in horror. This leads me to the panel where Lustig, Leiberman, David Decouteau (Puppet Master III, Creepozoids) and Chad Archibald (Bite, The Drownsman) talked about surviving the film business. Check it out below.
So, it was another great year at Horror-Rama. Hopefully next year, I'll be able to spend a little more time there. There's always an embarrassment of genre riches in October. Anyway, check back tomorrow for my continuing Toronto After Dark coverage.
To celebrate this day before Halloween
edition of VHS Fridays, I give you Gary Graver's 1982 flick Trick or Treats.
Linda (Jacqueline Giroux) is stuck
babysitting Halloween night and not only has to deal with her
rambunctious charge, but also the escaped madman who comes calling.
I have a soft spot for Trick or Treats,
as it served as one of the major influences of my 2013 short film
Lively, but man this movie is a hot mess. The tone is puzzling from
the get-go, as even though it is structured like a horror, the scattershot gags would have you believe it to be comedy. I mean,
there's no other way to take the painfully long scene where Peter
Jason struggles with the two orderlies carrying him away to the loony
bin. Bits like this will make you laugh, but mainly in response
to how they got onscreen. It's possible it was meant to
be a spoof, but it's really too obtuse to be considered one. Student Bodies is a spoof, this is just confused.
Trick or Treats then fails as a horror
film because there's little suspense or edge to it. And considering
that the first murder doesn't happen until past the seventy minute
mark, it doesn't live up to the promise of its poster or slasher
underpinnings either. Christ, they actually had to add a
subplot halfway through the movie just so they'd have someone to off.
Its biggest flaw though is just that so little
of it makes any sense. Why does Linda accept a babysitter job the night of Halloween?
Because her “agency” will drop her if she doesn't. What talent agency books babysitting jobs? Why is Steve Railsback's
character in this movie? Did they just need filler? The little kid pretty much spends the entire movie fucking with the
babysitter, and she keeps falling for his pranks. After the ninth or tenth prank, why doesn't she just tie
him up somewhere? And don't get me started on how Jason's character spends half of the movie in drag and no one seems to notice. Because that's the joke, right? Okaaaay.
Peter Jason (right) makes a new friend.
Perhaps the biggest question is, if the
script was such a disaster, why were there so many people in this? David Carradine was probably on set for a day, and was clearly winging it.
Carrie Snodgrass was there because well, they apparently shot it in her
house. But Railsback, Catherine E.“Log Lady” Coulson and Paul Bartel? I
suppose the latter isn't too much of a surprise as he often cameoed
in other people's genre films.
Regardless of its WTF nature, the
babysitter/problem child/escaped maniac dynamic has always intrigued
me and Trick or Treats is one of the very few instances where all
three get equal play. So I'll take what I can get. The Vestron VHS & Code Red DVD releases are hard to find, but it is online if you feel so inclined.
Even the drives there and back were smooth as could be, to the point it made me contemplate whether traffic is a Canadian phenomenon. Absurd, of course, but maybe not so much when all the American roads I encountered were free and clear.
The weekend got off to a fine start when I showed up at the theater on Friday evening and bumped into Ti West who happened to be in lobby awaiting his impending Q&A for his latest film The Sacrament. It was a surreal moment, considering what was about to transpire in the Lone Star state only a day later. I didn't mention it when I introduced myself.
Ti West Q&A
The U of I theater is a fantastic place to watch a film and rivals that of my favourite venues in Montreal and Toronto. I stuck around for the screening of The Innkeepers - on 35mm! - after which I decided, having seen it on the big screen three times now, that it is his best film. Though I still stand by my original comments about The Sacrament being his most consistent, there is something to be said about West's use of subtlety in his tale about the Yankee Pedlar Inn. Due to said restraint, I think it possesses a huge rewatchability factor.
The wonderful U of I Cinema.
On Saturday, I headed back to the theater for the first of six blocks of short films. I have to say that the range and quality of short films that Diabolique brought together was extremely impressive. I'll go into more detail about the standouts in a later post, but holy hell, what a great lineup!
My short film Lively played in the third block at 4pm. It was a good turnout, with the numbers likely swelled by cinema studies students due to the theater being located right on campus. I was very happy with the reception (nobody booed, always good) and was excited to talk about it afterwards. It was a really awesome day and it ended well beyond last call with fellow filmmakers Alrik Bursell, Michele Lombardi & I closing down the after party.
Livin' the dream...
I want to thank festival organizers Scott Schirmer, Joshua Coonrod, Leya Taylor & David Pruett for not only inviting me to be part of their festival this year, but also being such gracious hosts. The possibility is very high that I will be visiting future editions of DIFF whether I have something to show there or not.
If you live in Indiana, why not come by the U of I campus and check out an awesome block of shorts this Saturday. My short film Lively is playing the third block of shorts at 4pm. Come on by!
Have a great weekend, and I'll see you all next week.
Hey all. I just wanted to update you on the status of Lively, as it has a couple of screenings coming up. Tonight, it plays Toronto at a place called 3030 as part of the short film showcase Come To Daddy, co-presented by Fangoria and DJ John Nicol.
And a week from today, Lively has its US premiere at the Long Beach International Film Festival in NYC, as part of its inaugural Midnight Madness Series.
It looks like a pretty cool event, so if you are in NYC and decide to attend, let me know how it went.
Here's a little video from a few months ago about the Blood In The Snow Film Festival. About halfway through, I show up promoting my short film Lively.
I was wondering when this video was going to surface. This was my first interview, so that's why I appear a little stiff. Mainly, it just reminds me how fun that weekend was, and gets me geared up for the third installment this November.
Next up for Lively's bid for world domination is the B4 Film Festival in Oshawa this Saturday.
My lead actress Ali Chappell is from the area, so I expect the dollar tour of all her childhood haunts after the event. Have a good weekend all, and see you back here Sunday morn.
Hello all. We're at the end of another week. How's your weekend looking? If you have a hankering for a some horror to spruce up your Saturday afternoon, and happen to be in the Hamilton area, come to Fright Night Theatre!
My short Lively will be screening, as well as some other choice cuts and we'd love to see you there. Doors open at 3pm with the programme unspooling promptly at 3:15. Tickets are a measly five bones! For more info on the event and lineup, click here.
I just wanted to update you on the latest edition of Little Terrors.
It went really well. Serving as an encore presentation for some shorts that played Blood In The Snow, as well as some others, it was the biggest turnout I'd seen for the monthly short film showcase in quite some time. The Q&A was fun, as was after party/drinking session afterwards.
Me (left) with Fodder director David Dollard & Spookslayers director & cast members Mike Pereira, Tim McCarthy & Serena Whitney.
So, the next few weeks I'll be scouring the globe looking for more festivals to submit Lively, and then I guess onto the next project.
Also, I'd like to mention that if you are in the Kansas City area this weekend, Manure - the short I co-wrote with my buddy Schwartz - will be playing the Panic Film Festival tomorrow.
Manure will be part of the Short Film Showcase and also features the short film Make Believe from talented Nebraskan filmmaker Summer Johnson. For more info on the fest, click here.
Good news on the Lively front. It's going to be screening again in Toronto on Wednesday, January 29th at the Carlton Cinema as part of Justin McConnell's monthly short film showcase Little Terrors.
Poster design by Darryl Shaw.
If you are in the GTA and want to see some kick-ass genre shorts, come on by and say hello. For more info on the line-up, click here. Have a great weekend, guys!
Here is some video that was taken at the Blood In The Snow Film Festival last weekend. The first video is Ali & I being interviewed by Katie Uhlmann for her web show Katie Chats. Watch as Ali cracks bad jokes and I almost walk off camera before the outro.
The second video is footage from my intro at the screening graciously filmed by my co-producer Darrin Suzuki. The whole experience all weekend was so surreal that I barely stopped to take any pictures. Thankfully, several of my peeps had it covered.
The 2nd annual Blood In The Snow Film Festival went down this past weekend, and what a blast it was! It is remarkable how well run and polished this event is in only its sophomore year. With its relocation to the Carlton Cinema, BITS also expanded to include a “vendor village” in the lobby, which included the likes of Fangoria, Suspect Video, Black Fawn Films and IndieCan Entertainment.
I had a wonderful time all weekend, meeting filmmakers & moviegoers alike, as well as taking in some quality homegrown genre efforts, Tricia Lee's Clean Break, Renaud Gauthier's Discopath and Greg Kovaks' short film Tasha and Friends being my personal faves.
The world premiere of my short Lively took place on Sunday evening in front of the closing film Discopath and I couldn't have wished for a better reception. I was overwhelmed with how well people seemed to respond to it. At the after party, I was plied with questions about what I was doing next, and whether Lively would someday be a feature.
Lively star Ali Chappell & I introducing Lively.
Ali & I with BITS programmer Kirk Haviland on the red carpet!
All I know is that I'm pretty darn proud of what my team & I accomplished and forever indebted to them for all their efforts. Lastly, thanks to Kelly, Kirk and everyone at Blood In The Snow for not only accepting Lively with open arms, but also being so welcoming and accommodating all weekend long. You guys rock!
