Giving Satan The Middle Finger.

Next up, was two-time Midnight alumni JT Petty's exorcism horror comedy Hellbenders.

When an ancient demon plans to open a portal to hell, a group of ex-communicated priests working as exorcists-for-hire may be the world's only hope.

Petty has shown that he is a versatile director. Over the last decade, he has given us a creature feautre with Mimic: Sentinel, a chilling faux doc with S&Man, and the period western The Burrowers. Hellbenders is his stab at the horror comedy.

This was a reasonably good time, but as a film it's pretty uneven. The tone seemed fragmented throughout, which put the direction in question at points. This wasn't helped by the weird “talking head” interview segments that pop up from time to time. I get the random demonic possession bits, as they had to do with a contest run through Bloody Disgusting, but the interviews didn't really gel with the rest of the narrative at all.

The film's strong points were its concept and cast. The idea of a group of rogue exorcists that actively live a life of sin – if they cannot exorcise a demon, they'll invite the demon into their worthy vessel and take them both the hell after committing suicide – is pretty ingenious. It was the first half of this movie, where we saw their day-to-day, that was the most enjoyable. In fact, I don't think this movie would've worked at all if it didn't look like the cast was having so much fun. Clancy Brown was fantastic as Angus, spewing more vitreol and “cocksuckers” than an episode of Deadwood. The “moral” center of the group, played by Clifton Collins Jr. was also great, with some of the best lines of the piece. I'd also like to say that the effects work was well done, as the various demonic designs looked great and translated well onscreen.

Actor Clancy Brown (left), TIFF programmer Colin Geddes, Director JT Petty & actor Don Fogler.

As well as the 3D looked in Hellbenders, I don't think it was really necessary. It didn't particularly enhance the movie experience – certainly not like it did with Dredd 3D, which I saw a few days earlier. Of course, it didn't help that the glasses they hand out at the Ryerson Theatre were some of the most uncomfortable I've ever worn.

Hellbenders had its moments, but lacked the substance I was expecting from such a juicy premise.

My Kind Of Vamps.

One of the films I was most looking forward to at TIFF this year was Neil Jordan's newest Byzantium.

Two-hundred year old vampire “sisters” Clara (Gemma Arterton) & Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) flee to an English seaside town to start over, after a particular messy kill. However, it isn't long before their past catches up with them.

From that synopsis, you can imagine that this was an easy sell for me, but even I wasn't expecting to like it this much. There wasn't one facet of this film that didn't work for me. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, as Jordan has already given us two solid “monster” genre pictures in the past with Interview With The Vampire and The Company of Wolves.

Perhaps it is just the sheer skill involved that left me reeling. Byzantium has moments of action and flashes of extreme gore, but at its core remains a dense dual character piece that juggles two time periods. The film smartly skirts several of the more exuberant tropes of the vampire genre, which immediately distinguishes it from the more commercial fare that we've been seeing over the last few years.  It also doesn't hurt that the film is absolutely gorgeous, finding beauty in even the most drab of locations. There are so many frames of this movie that still stick out in my mind.

Case in point.

Ronan & Arterton are fantastic in this film as polar opposites. Ronan expands on a character similar to that of her title role in last year's Hanna, and continues to be able to emote more with just a stare than most actresses can with a full scene of dialogue. I did see shades of Let The Right One In here, but what's tremendous is that section is but one sliver of this delicious cinematic pie. As for Arterton, you can see that she loves playing this character and relishes Clara's more villainous attributes. When her and Ronan are together onscreen, you can see their history. They bicker fervently, their accents becoming more pronounced – which only further proves how well realized these characters are – yet they are the only thing they truly have in this world.

Actors Gemma Arterton (left), Saoirse Ronan, Caleb Landry Jones & Director Neil Jordan.

And if that wasn't enough, all the music in the film is elegantly arranged. Byzantium is bathed in classical and choral music that perfectly accentuates that these characters have been around a long time. Ronan reportedly spent three months learning the Beethoven piece she performs in the film. It is this attention to detail that put the film over the top for me. It is like a symphony where all of its parts work together in perfect harmony.

When the credits were rolling on Byzantium, I was really curious to know where this story came from. It had to be from some existing source material, as I couldn't believe that this was written directly for the screen. It turns out that it was adapted by Moira Buffini from her play A Vampire Story. I tip my hat to her for mining so much fresh and interesting material from a stale genre. Byzantium was dense, vibrant and I loved it.

There's Always A Bigger Fish.

I'll start my long list of festival reviews with Ryuhei Kitamura's No One Lives.

When a gang of criminals (headed by Oz's Lee Tergeson) run a couple off the road and steal their car, they later discover a kidnapped heiress (Adelaide Clemens) in the trunk. She quickly explains that her captor (Luke Evans) is a dangerous psychopath who will kill them all. Sure enough, he soon comes calling.

No One Lives is a strange balancing act. It has a very intriguing setup and premise, but there were several things I thought worked against it. I found the dialogue was really clunky, and some of the performances suffered because of it. Though the idea was sound, I felt the relationship between Clemens and Evans a little muddied. They were both solid in their roles, especially Evans as Driver, the stoic killer, despite the fact that his almost superhuman abilities were never really explained. These are all things that, singularly, could've been overlooked, but all together added up to a degree I could not ignore.

Driver (Luke Evans) brings the pain.

However, the two people responsible for keeping this from being a painfully average B-movie are Kitamura and makeup effects artist Robert Hall. Hall's gore work is always exceptional, so it was not surprising that when the film peaks, it is usually due to something he has splashed onscreen. No One Lives shares several similarities to Hall's own film series Laid To Rest, although this movie is nowhere near as mean spirited. Kitamura's wonderful eye is again on display here, with inspired camerawork and a gritty aesthetic that fits the setting well.

Director Ryuhei Kitamura (left) & writer David Cohen.

While evaluating No One Lives, I was initially confused as to why I did not enjoy this as much as I should have. On paper, it has all the staples of something I would be on board with, as well as a delicious little twist on convention, so what gives? After thinking about it some more I came to the conclusion that had to do with tone. Kitamura has a very over-the-top style which I find better suited to his more supernatural outings like Versus and Midnight Meat Train. Though No One Lives inhabits a more heightened reality than your average slasher, it is still reality and it took me a long time to clock into the ridiculousness of the piece.

In the end, No One Lives is a fun gorefest, but you have to make a conscious decision to just “go with it”. I do think that Kitamura is a good fit for WWE Studios though, as he brings copious amounts of skill and class to the table.

TIFF Ahoy!

The 37th edition of The Toronto International Film Festival kicks off today, and so does my rammed schedule.  I'm not sure when my reviews will start appearing here, but rest assured you'll be the first to know, so stay tuned.

Laser Blast Gulag!

At some point in the recent past, one of my fellow Laser Blast-ers brought up the idea of doing a movie marathon. For those who don’t know, The Laser Blast Film Society is a Toronto film club that meets on Sundays.  We watch a pair of flicks and then (usually) follow it up with a podcast. This group is made up of a dozen or so cinephiles and since there are only two slots per weekend, it stands to reason there is a sizable list of films that are often suggested, but have yet to be shown. Thus, the twenty-four hour Laser Blast Gulag was born. With twelve titles to screen, everybody would be guaranteed at least one pick. Now, it was just up to us to remain conscious throughout.

This epic journey began on Sunday, Sept 2 at 630pm.

I saw this for the first time a few years ago. I can definitely appreciate the artistry of the piece, but it does feel a little long in the tooth. The opening slot was definitely the right place for it.

After GI Joe: The Movie screened at my friend Peter’s birthday party a few months ago, there has been some debate about which of these two is better. Even though Transformers has the better soundtrack and is much more traumatizing (damn you Hasbro!!!), I think we all agreed that GI Joe wins this battle.

An early movie from Stephen (Kung Fu Hustle) Chow. I wasn’t really into it, until the Garfield mask showed up...

This movie rocks! I’d never seen it before and almost instantly fell in love with it. It has this charming quality that reminded me of the British science-fiction stuff from my childhood like Day of the Triffids and Jon Pertwee era Doctor Who.

It'd been about twenty years since I’d seen this and though it is a little dated, it’s still a fun watch. There were a ton of genre regulars like David Warner, Patrick Macnee and Deborah Foreman to keep me entertained. By design, it was a clever way to make a anthology horror film, but I think I prefer the follow-up, Lost In Time.

Yes, if you can believe it, I actually got these guys to watch this movie with me. Bruno Mattei’s post-apocalyptic killer rats movie finally graced the Laser Blast screen! Even though the last act slows to a crawl, there is so much to love about this movie. Oh, and by a stroke of coincidence, we actually viewed this movie in 4D. By that I mean, there was a mouse running around the apartment while we watched the film. I guess he came out to support his peeps.

This was okay, not really my wheelhouse, but I liked the animation of the mouse. After this one we shifted locations, with a coffee break at Timmy Ho’s in between.

This is a nineties thriller from the director of Highlander, starring Denzel Washington and John Lithgow. I watched it when it originally came out on video, as it was one of a glut of similar movies to release when I was working at my store. Personally, if we were going to go with nineties cop thrillers starring Denzel, I'd have chosen Virtuosity.

After a last minute switcheroo – we bailed on Equinox because we couldn't decide whether to watch the “rapey” version or not – Torso was amongst a pile of DVD's I brought with me. I adore it. It's sleazy, it's stylish, and there's lot of boobies.

This was a favourite from my childhood. It came out when I was around the same age of the protagonist (played by Henry Thomas) so I naturally latched onto it. It was made the year that parental pressure finally made the MPAA create the PG-13 rating.

I'm not well versed on this subject, but it seems appropriate that there was a Godzilla movie wedged in here somewhere. I find watching dudes in rubber creature suits beating on each other infinitely entertaining.

Yeah, I avoided this one when it came out with good reason, as it is horrendous. My parking was about to expire, so I cut out of there well before it ended.

So, all in all, it was a success. There were three of us that managed to stick out the entire thing, with about five or six part timers. Many thanks to Trevor and Pierce for offering up their places. It was good training for the craziness of the next few weeks.  

Don't Kill The Messenger 153

Hello all.  I hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend.  Here are some really cool things I came across online in the last week or so.

Ain't Technology Grand?

This thing blew my mind.  Using 3D software called Unity and Qualcomm Vuforia, Swedish company Fingerfunk was able to do this.

So, the idea is that you have the source code design printed on a T-shirt, so that it looks like it is bursting out of your chest.  Now, ever more awesome is that if you need more convincing that video above isn't bullocks, there is a free Android app that recreates the effect on your phone.

You can be sure I have been showing this to pretty much everyone I come in contact with this week.

VHS Love.

I found a great article from British blogger Bruce Walken over at Grizzly Bomb about the joys of the VHS format. Walken begins the article by talking about the ballooning number of sites, Facebook pages and YouTubers that reminisce about the everyone's favourite analog format, like vhshitfest and Horror VHS Collectors Unite.  He the shows off some of his most memorable cover boxes from the day, as well as touching on some of the history in the UK, like the devilish Video Nasties era.  It is a great piece that you can check out by clicking the image below.

Zombie Walkin'.

If you're kickin' up your feet this Labour Day, why not listen to this awesome mix made by Eric von Eric. Enjoy.

That's all for today.  I have to get mentally prepared for tonight's twenty-four hour movie marathon with the Laser Blast guys.  Let's hope my mind isn't mush by the end of it.

The TAD Ten

Yesterday, The Toronto After Dark Film Festival finally revealed the names of the first ten titles of their lineup for those who were not fortunate enough to attend the Expo last weekend. Here they are below. You can click on the images for more info on the films. On top is the awesome new festival poster and T-shirt design created by local artist Gary Pullin.

It's quite an eclectic bunch.  I'm naturally looking forward to [REC]3 and Grabbers, as well as Excision, which has me very intrigued. I also can't wait to see Wrong again, as that delightful bit of absurdity was one of my favourite moments from last month's Fantasia.  The festival runs from October 18-26th at The Bloor. For more info on Toronto After Dark, click here.