Isolationist horror with Lovecraftian overtones and readily apparent influences of both Clive Barker and John Carpenter; coupled with the school of less is more when showing the monster, combine in The Void. Toronto After Dark’s closing night film for 2016 at the Scotiabank Theatre. Let me get two things out of the way, as much…
Category: Did You See That?!? (Tv & Film)
Toronto After Dark 2016: The Lure -Agnieszka Smoczynska
The last night of the Toronto After Dark film festival got underway at Scotiabank Theatre with the Polish musical/drama/horror The Lure. Taking its cues from the original Hans Christian Anderson tale, The Little Mermaid, as well as playing with mermaid mythology this one toys with expectations, sexuality and strange lyrics in a kind of fevered…
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008) – Chris Carter
The last episode of season 9, and the presumed end of the series before its relaunch in 2016 aired on 19 May, 2002, six years later Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are put into action again, and so am I as I investigate the cinematic entries for the Sci-Fi Chronicles book….
Toronto After Dark 2016: Antibirth – Danny Perez
I was a little underwhelmed with Toronto After Dark’s screening of Afterbirth this evening at Scotiabank Theatre. I always try and find something I enjoy about all the films that screen there, and this time it was the people involved in the making of the film, both in front of and behind the camera. I…
Toronto After Dark 2016: As the Gods Will – Takashi Miike
Things got nigh on bizarre this evening at Toronto After Dark, as it continues to entertain at the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto. It was Japanese cinema night, and sadly, thanks to work constraints, I was only able to make one screening today, but what a screening! If you aren’t familiar with Miike’s work, it’s…
Toronto After Dark 2016: Blood Father -Jean-Francois Richet
Action night concluded Sunday night for the Toronto After Dark film festival as Mel Gibson, previous person non grata in Hollywood, returns to form in this pulse-pounding thriller. This is not the place for me to ruminate on Mel Gibson’s career or his personal life and substance abuse, instead I want to talk about the…
Vertigo (1958) – Alfred Hitchcock
Perhaps one of Hitchcock’s best films, Vertigo, is next on the list of recommendations from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book. With the combined star power of James Stewart and Kim Novak, this romantic thriller defines obsession as well as fear. Stewart is John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson a San Francisco police detective on…
Toronto After Dark 2016: In a Valley of Violence – Ti West
It was action night at Toronto After Dark on Sunday, wonderfully hosted by the Scotiabank Theatre here in Toronto, and they delved a little further west than they have in the past by screening the latest Ti West film, the western, In a Valley of Violence. West has gotten a lot of love from Toronto…
Ghosts of Mars (2001) – John Carpenter
Natasha Henstridge leads a bit of a cult cast in the next John Carpenter film up for a look-see in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. In a bit of an iffy film, and one that saw Carpenter at his most burnt out on the Hollywood scene, Henstridge stars as Lt. Melanie Ballard, a Mars police officer…
Toronto After Dark 2016: Train to Busan – Sang-ho Yeon
Train to Busan, the Korean zombie film that played to great acclaim at Cannes was the second feature of Toronto After Dark’s Zombie Night at Scotiabank Theatre Saturday night. A big budget, bloody kills, cool special effects and a solid story made for an engaging screening that saw zombie lovers out in force in the…
The Mind Reels 