Midnight On The Vanguard.

Every year at TIFF, my most anticipated programme line-ups are Midnight Madness and Vanguard. Offering up the newest in off-the-wall entertainment, the titles in these two groups are invariably what us genre geeks will be talking about - for better or worse - for months afterwards. Here are my top five picks for my most anticipated in both Midnight and Vanguard.

MIDNIGHT MADNESS

Action flicks have always had a stellar history at Midnight (Ong Bak, Chocolate, SPL and both Raid movies to name a few) and this newest effort called Headshot from Indonesian filmmakers Timo Tjahjanto & Kimo Stamboel starring Iko Uwais & Julie Estelle looks to be on point.

A name you can count on is Ben Wheatley and his newest Free Fire will be here this year. Including a cast such as Cillian Murphy, Armie Hammer and Brie Larson, I'm sure this one will deliver, as well.

Does the mix of Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) and James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) sound awesome to you? It does to me. And that's what were getting in this year's survival horror comedy The Belko Experiment.

Filmmaking icon Paul Schrader returns with Nic Cage in this crime thriller, Dog Eat Dog.

I should also mention that I'm stoked for the new Blair Witch film and the adaptation of the Mike Carey novel, The Girl With The Gifts. But fortunately, the rest of you won't have to wait long for those as they release wide later in September.

VANGUARD

Festival favourite Nacho Vigalondo teams up with Anne Hathaway to give us his take on the giant monster movie, Colossal.

I was impressed with Osgood Perkins' film February last year, so I'm interested to see his follow-up this time around called I Am the Pretty Things That Lives in the House starring Ruth Wilson.

Same goes for Ana Lily Amirpour. The young director of the hit A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night is back with another female-centric tale called The Bad Batch.

I have seen three films from Belgian filmmaker Fabrice du Welz at TIFF, and this year will be the fourth, as his revenge thriller Message from the King will screen here.

Lastly, on the animation front comes Dash Shaw's My Entire High School Sinking Into The Sea.

This isn't even counting the other titles outside of these programmes that I have my eye on. Yes, I think it's gonna be an interesting year.  

Under The Shadow.

Last weekend, I attended the fourth edition of LEFT (Lost Episode Festival Toronto) to catch a screening of Babak Anvari’s Under The Shadow. After its successful showing at Sundance – and my missing it at Fantasia – I was very excited to see what all the fuss was about.

Tehran, 1988. Shideh (Narges Rashidi) must not only protect her daughter Dorsa (Avin Manshadi) from the constant bombing attacks, but also a supernatural force that has set up residence in their tenement complex. 

Under The Shadow was an excellent film. I had expected to enjoy it, but I had no idea it was going to be such an exceptionally well rounded piece of work. Everything about this effort was top notch, right down to the eighties production design. Although, the themes were so timeless, it could’ve just as easily been set in present day.

I’d heard about the comparisons to 2014’s The Babadook and they are valid, as both tales involve a mother and child, supernatural forces and have metaphorical underpinnings. However, Under The Shadow was far less flashy, and I believe that worked in its favour. A lot of The Babadook’s appeal was in its visual style and production design, whereas this relied solely on its characters. I also saw shades of 2002’s Dark Water in here too, but this was way more articulate and affecting.

Narges Rashidi (right) & Avin Manshadi in Under The Shadow

The way Anvari was able to convey so much about the political climate and attitudes in such a short time was really impressive. Using the tenement building in which Shideh lived as a microcosm of Tehran itself, where communities were orphaned of their able-bodied men through conscription, was really interesting to me. As her complex emptied out, she and her daughter became more vulnerable to the unknown force lingering inside.

The more I think about it, the more I appreciate how well it all linked together. Rashidi was terrific in this film, and her character was extremely well written. It wasn’t a surprise to see that she was credited as a writer, as there was a perspective here that no man would have been able to duplicate.

As a genre film, this movie packed a punch due to its double-pronged approach. It had several conventional scare moments, including one or two well conceived jump scares, but there was also an underlying sense of dread throughout. Imagine living in a place where you could be blown to bits at any moment. Anvari used this to full effect by making even the most mundane scenes thick with tension. There was an early scene where Shideh was talking on the phone, but the shot was a lot wider than it needed to be to frame in the large window behind her. All I could do was stare at it, sure that an explosion was going to shatter it at any moment. Tremendous stuff.

I was also pleased that there was limited CG used in the film. The scares, for the most part, came from the threat to the main characters, and that’s how it should be. And thankfully, Anvari didn’t go for that one last jump scare, something that’s almost required in North American scare flicks these days. Under The Shadow was highly effective and concentrated on all the right elements that make a great horror film.

Lastly, I just wanted to give a shout-out to Johnny Larocque and LEFT for an impressive line-up this year. They may not be as visible as some of the other genre fests in Toronto, but with the acquisition of high profile titles like Under The Shadow, they soon will be. Excellent job, guys!

Trailer Tuesdays: Planet of the Vampires

Today, I give you the trailer for Mario Bava's uber-influential 1965 science fiction flick Planet of the Vampires.

I wanted to go for something space-y here, because No Man's Sky comes out today. If posts become somewhat infrequent over the next few weeks, that's the reason.

Time to get off this rock, ladies and germs. So long and thanks for all the VHS!

Familiar Things.

This review was a long time coming. Stranger Things released on Netflix the day I left for Fantasia, so I wasn't able to tear into it until after I returned. Of course, by that time, pretty much almost everyone had binged watched it, created memes and moved on. So, I wondered if it was even worth posting about. But, in the end, it seemed wrong not to.

As you would expect, I really, really enjoyed this series. It was a simmering pot of so many things I hold dear. Imagine the three witches from Macbeth perched in their cave, throwing in every scrap of beloved eighties pop culture they can get their hands on. Let's break it down...

Stranger Things succeeds in large part due to its casting. I was impressed by the instant camaraderie built between the four friends, Mike (Finn Wolfhard), Will (Noah Schnapp), Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) In real life groups of chums, there are always smaller pairs that are closer than the rest, and this was the best portrayal I've seen of this since Stephen King's Stand By Me. But, as you no doubt realized early on, Stranger Things was seventy-five per cent Spielberg and King. Rounding out the young cast was Millie Bobby Brown as the mysterious Eleven. She was superb, having to run the gamut of emotions from rage to sadness.

McLaughlin (left), Matarazzo, Wolfhard & Brown in Stranger Things. 

Most importantly, I was so happy to see Winona Ryder in this. I heard some online chatter about how sobby she was, and I'll never understand that. She played it perfectly in my opinion. Do you know how hard it is to play someone that wrecked with grief? Not only that, but make you want to, at times, reach through the screen, wrap them in a blanket and tell them everything is going to be okay. During the bit with the Xmas light messages showed up, I think that was where I went, yeah there's really something to this. Oh, and Matthew Modine doing his best David Cronenberg impression, that was ace!

The music of Stranger Things played a huge part in this series. First off, Netflix has proved once again that they have more money that God to be able to afford all those wicked eighties songs they put in there. Then, to furthermore have it accentuated by a ton of synth-wave goodies from Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein that sounded like the resulting offspring of a three-way between John Carpenter, Alan Howarth and Tangerine Dream. I can assure you that upcoming soundtrack release is going to do very, very well.

When most people were talking about Stranger Things, they weren't only praising the show, but also pointing out all the references of which were legion, as almost every scene, character and set dress harkened back to that age of pop culture. It brought a lot of smiles to my face, and there were only a few times where I thought perhaps they were reaching (just how easy were posters of Evil Dead and The Thing to come by in 1983?). However, I did love that, “take that down, it's inappropriate” bit in regards to Raimi's aforementioned masterpiece.

Even though I did really love this show, I have to admit that I liked the first four episodes better than the last four. It was those first few episodes that, even though they were built on the backs of two iconic Steves, there was a lot of originality, the characters felt real and there was tremendous thematic weight. Then around episode five-ish, I found myself having to suspend my disbelief where I hadn't before. Rather than doing things organically, characters began to more noticeably do them to drive plot. Whereas before I was thinking to myself, geez if my brother & I watched this back in '83, would we have known?, I then began to see more modern conventions, like the CG monster that consequently became less scary the more it was shown. Even the more we saw of the “upside down” (which, by the way, was a fucking awesome name for a parallel dimension), the more it reminded me of Silent Hill. I was always enjoying myself, and it by no means went off the rails like the similarly-themed Super 8, but the last few episodes were difference between super great and just great.

Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers In Stranger Things

So there, I think I've said my piece. I will definitely watch this through again before Season 2 comes around because it really is something special beyond all its nostalgic ingredients. Mainly, it gives me hope, as I am currently working on a script that borrows from a lot of beloved eighties tropes and it's nice to know there is still an accepting audience of it.

DKTM 310

Hey guys, squeezing this in before hitting the trail this morning. Here's what I got for you.

Fantastic!

Fantastic Fest announced its lineup this week and among them were three particularly anticipated titles.

One of these years, I've got to make it down to Austin. I hear it's a blast and more and more of my Toronto brethren are making it out each year. Maybe one day. Fantastic Fest runs September 22nd-29th.

Let Her Out!

A trailer has arrived for Black Fawn's latest title in their deal with Breakthrough Entertainment, Let Her Out.

I like the look of this one, so hopefully it shows up here sometime during festival season.

The Big Vee Lives.

There is probably no more beloved VHS-era home video label than Vestron Video, as their titles were ubiquitous in the eighties and nineties. Well, Lionsgate has recently resurrected the label and will be re-releasing special editions of cult B-classics like Blood Diner, Chopping Mall and Return of the Living Dead 3.

Long Live Vestron Video!

EVIIIIIIIIIIIIL!

In keeping with the Loose Cannons Podcast, I recently re-watched the 1980 slasher New Year's Evil.

A psychopath (Kip Niven) leaves a trail of bodies on his way to a New Year's Bash celebration hosted by popular VJ Diane Sullivan (Roz Kelly). Will she still be alive at the stroke of midnight?

Now, I say re-watched, but I remembered very little of it, as this was another title that I saw through Elvira's Movie Macabre in the early nineties. As far as eighties slashers go, this is pretty low on the totem pole. The movie featured very little gore, was overly convoluted at times, and seemed to often forget that it is a slasher, like when the killer suddenly decided to start wearing a mask well into the last reel.

Black Christmas styles!

Having said that, New Year's Evil does have some entertaining qualities. The theme song was so catchy that the filmmakers decided to use it in its entirety a total of three times. The depiction of “New Wave Rock” culture was pretty laughable, as seen when the band was playing some weird blues-y riff and the crowd basically looked they were moshing to a ballad. It was also pretty amusing to see them try and fill the venue with thirty or so extras. You can actually hear the echoing emptiness of the room as they shuffle around.

I think the filmmakers were trying to create another slasher icon by naming him Evil, but he's actually kind of shit at his vocation. I admit that the idea of a guy who kills people every hour leading up to New Year's Eve – representing each time zone – was pretty cool, but the closer he got, the more he started mucking things up. I suppose I should say SPOILER here, but do you really give a shit? By the time he reached Diane Sullivan, and it was revealed that he was, in fact, her husband – I wonder if Nightmares in A Damaged Brain scooped this twist from here – the gig was pretty much up.

He proceeded to spew out some misogyny just before the cops showed up and he threw himself (or at least a poorly disguised mannequin) off the roof. The movie then ends with her son Derek (Grant Kramer), who has spent most of the running time doing all sorts of weird stuff with pantyhose, picking up where his father left off. As you would.

We need to talk about Derek.

In complete contrast to the films of today, almost everybody in the movie is played by someone who is older than they should be. I think in that regard I prefer it the way it is today. It also had a scene in a Drive-In and I always like those. If I'm not mistaken, the movie playing may have been footage from an earlier Cannon release (The Lady In Red Kills Seven Times). There's a bit of free trivia for you. New Year's Evil isn't great, but it's serviceable, much like a lot of the horrors that were being churned out by this point in the early eighties.

Trailer Tuesdays: Beyond Evil

Sorry, I'm falling behind a bit here. To be honest, I kinda burned myself out after script writing all last week. Everything else, including a post about Stranger Things, has just fallen by the wayside. Anyhoo, here's a trailer for 1980's Beyond Evil.

Well shit, this trailer just keeps better and better. John Saxon AND Lynda Day George (the BASTAAARDS! lady from Pieces) AND laser eyes!! 

SOLD!!!