There’s a Barker/Lovecraftian feel to the gritty dirtiness of this entry in the Toronto After Dark film festival. Couched in a house covered in unnerving art, and filled with troubling apparitions and visions there is an aggressive edge to The Assent in the way it is shot, and the way the story unfolds. Mostly. Halfway…
Tag: sarah
Toronto After Dark 2019: 8 (2019) – Harold Holscher
Toronto After Dark brings us a tale out of South Africa tonight with 8. Marrying the feel of a haunted house tale with the legends and myths of the tribes of South Africa this film plays almost as a gentle tale, and while light on real scares, there are some character moments that resonate and…
Day of the Dead (1985) – George A. Romero
DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies brings me a Romero zombie classic, the last installment of the original trilogy, Day of the Dead, as I continue to explore the chapter focusing on the walking dead, the zombie. With makeup effects work by Tom Savini, and a cool score by John Harrison, Romero’s classic is a…
Miami Vice (1985) – Back in the World, and Phil the Shill
Detective Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson who also serves as director of this episode) recalls his time in Vietnam, when an old friend, Stone (Bob Balaban) resurfaces with a story about some heroin that made it out of Saigon and is now resurfacing in Miami. Back in the World was written by Terry McDonnell and first…
The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) – Roman Polanski
Originally known as Dance of the Vampire’s Roman Polanski’s horror comedy is the next film in the Vampire section of DK Canada’s Monsters in the Movies, written by legendary director John Landis. With the snow covered Alps standing in for Transylvania, and some nicely designed gothic castle sets, Polanski plays with the cliches of the…
The Twilight Zone (1962) – Little Girl Lost, Person or Persons Unknown, and The Little People
Buckle up, folks. It’s time for another trio of episodes from Paramount Pictures superlative The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series blu-ray collection. Up first is Little Girl Lost. Richard Matheon wrote this eerie tale that first debuted on 16 Match, 1962. Chris Miller (Robert Sampson) hears his daughter call out in the night, and goes…
Star Trek: The Animated Series (1974) – Albatross, How Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth, and The Counter-Clock Incident
Captain’s log: stardate 5275.6 Dario Finelli pens the ante-penultimate episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series. Airing on 28 September, 1974, the story idea is a smart one: Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) finds himself accused of causing an alien plague. Kirk (William Shatner) is stunned, and he and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) investigate the events and…
Deep Impact (1998) – Mimi Leder
Releasing the same year as Michael Bay’s big budget, small story, extravaganza, Armageddon, Deep Impact got a little lost in the rubble. But with Steven Spielberg’s name attached to it as executive producer, it’s my next stop on the Sci-Fi Chronicles. Eschewing the flash-bang, style over substance, popcorn nature of Bay’s film, Deep Impact, ably…
Orphan Black S04E02 – Transgressive Border Crossing
Sarah (Tatiana Maslany) is back in Toronto tonight as Orphan Black roars on to screens courtesy of Space. After the revelations of last week, tonight’s episode jumps right into the rush, the science, the terror and a bit of body horror. Sarah gets into contact with Cosima and Alison (both Maslany) and reveals the…
Orphan Black S4E01 – The Collapse of Nature
Tonight Clone Club returns to Space with the fourth season premiere of Orphan Black, and right from the off, Tatiana Maslany’s spectacular acting ability is back front and center, and despite having to wait too long between seasons, in moments, we learn that that, as always, the wait was worth it. We find ourselves…
Magnum, p.i. (1986) – All Thieves on Deck and This Island Isn’t Big Enough
It’s crime on a cruise ship in All Thieves On Deck! This episode aired 30 January, 1986 and was penned by Reuben Leder. When Higgins (John Hillerman) is busy with other things, including poor Apollo the dog who was shot when someone broke into the estate, he offers Magnum (Tom Selleck), T.C. (Roger E….
JeruZalem (2015) – Doron and Yoav Paz
Opening today in Toronto at the Carlton Cinema, and also being released on VOD, is this could-have-been-great found footage (don’t we have enough of these yet?) from the Paz brothers. This time, the film’s camera is supposedly in the form of a pair of Smart Glasses. This ends up being a nice touch, because…
