Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2009 – First Lineup Announcement

Ah yes, the moment I have been waiting weeks, no, months for! The first 8 films that will show at Toronto After Dark Film Festival this year have been announced. Since their website is only providing a brief synopsis of the films so far, I’ve gone out of my way to provide all you guys with some trailers and some info on the films. There’s a couple I’m super excited for, a few that sound very interesting and a few that don’t really interest me at all right now. That’s pretty much how it’s gone every year for me. Usually I’m surprised by how much I enjoy some of the films that I wasn’t really looking forward to. Anyway, on to the previews for all the flicks. It’ll be a long read today! I’ll start with the one that I’m the least interested in and work my way down to my favorite.

Let me warn everyone in advance that some, if not all, of these trailers can be pretty graphic. Lots of blood and some boobs and butts here and there. They probably aren’t very appropriate for small children. So send those tiny people outside for some sunshine and than enjoy the trailers!

BLACK

Directed by – Pierre Laffargue

Written by – Pierre Laffargue, Lucio Mad, Gabor Rassov

Starring – MC Jean Gab’1, Carole Karemera, Francois Levantal, Anton Yakovlev, Christophe Aquillon

When an armored car heist goes bad, “Black” goes into hiding. His cousin lets him know about a stash of diamonds in a poorly guarded bank in Dakar.”Black” then decides to take a little working vacation in Dakar.

According to the site it’s “a nouveau-blacksploitation adventure awash in, black magic, African mysticism, mutant arms dealers, gargantuan machete-wielding mercenary armies and a truckload of knuckle-sandwiches.” I checked the trailer which I couldn’t find on youtube for the life of me but have the link for the site here instead and wasn’t really blown away. Since the site itself is calling it a ‘nouveau-blacksploitation’ I think I know what I’m in for. It may be great, I don’t know, it just happens to be the least interesting to me at this point. Check the link HERE for the trailer, sorry no subtitles for it though.

FRANKLYN

Written and Directed by – Gerald McMorrow

Starring – Eva Green, Ryan Phillippe, Sam Riley, Richard Coyle, Bernard Hill, Art Malik, Kika Markham

A story that takes place in contemporary London and a future metropolis. Four lost souls on parallel worlds are headed for a collison course where all their fates are decided with one bullet.

The few comments I’ve come across so far claim this film to be extremely boring. I don’t normally care for random comments from people I don’t know. There’s too many factors that could change their opinion of the film and everyones taste is different. The trailer doesn’t blow me away but the idea sounds interesting enough. I also liked the look of the masked detective in the future city. Kinda sounds like a movie with lots to say and I’m wondering how well the message will be delivered.

SOMEONE’S KNOCKING AT THE DOOR

Directed by – Chad Ferrin

Written by – Chad Ferrin, Roham Ghodsi, Rosie Roberts

Starring – Noah Segan, Andrea Rueda, Ezra Buzzington, Timothy Muskatell, Vernon Wells, Lew Temple, Ricardo Gray, Jon Budinoff, Silvia Spross, Elina Madison, Jordan Lawson, Joseph Pilato

A group of drug addled, sexual deviant med students are terrorized by The Hoppers, a man and woman who have mysteriously returned from the 70′s.

Here’s what will probably be one of the hidden gems of the festival. A throwback to the days of grindhouse flicks, I imagine this one will be a shocking one. The trailer suggests some very uncomfortable ways to die and that poster isn’t trying to hide any of the facts. This one has got to be pure midnight madness and looks to contain alot of funny, sick and creepy stuff going on.

TRICK R’ TREAT

Written and Directed by – Michael Dougherty

Starring – Quinn Lord, Brian Coz, Dylan Baker, Leslie Bibb, Rochelle Aytes, Anna Paquin, Moneca Delain, Tahmoh Penikett, Lauren Lee Smith, Britt McKillip, Isabelle Deluce, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Alberto Ghisi, Samm Todd, Connor Christopher Levins

4 seperate stories that are woven together through the use of Halloween and a little kid named Sam.

These compilation flicks usually work out in the end because if you’re not into one of the short films, there’s still 3 others to change the tide. I know there was an older film by the same name and I had thought that the Sam character had been in it as well but beyond that there is no similarities. It’s got Anna Paquin in it so I’m at least looking forward to watching her in action in something other than True Blood. I’m guessing this will be an almost straight up slasher flick and I’m always down for one of those.

THE FORBIDDEN DOOR

Directed by – Joko Anwar

Written by – Joko Anwar, Sekar Ayu Asmara

Starring – Fachry Albar, Marsha Timothy, Ario Bayu, Tio Pakusodewo, Henidar Amroe, Verdi Solaiman, Putri Sukardi, Ade Firza Paloh, Atigah Hasiholan

An artist finds a secret organization whose members watch dysfunctional families in their town through hidden cameras. When the artist sees a troubled boy he attempts to save him which leads to the discovery of a hidden door in his own home.

This one gives me a slight ghost feeling and brings me memories of Alone. I honestly don’t know what to think about this one. Something about the trailer interests me and I’ll make sure to see this one. It’s an Indonesian film and I’m usually impressed by any foreign effort, they always seem to have their own twist on genre’s.

EMBODIMENT OF EVIL

Directed by – Jose Mojica Marins

Written by – Jose Mojica Marins, Dennison Ramalho

Starring – Jose Mojica Marins, Jece Valadao, Adriano Stuart, Milhem Cortaz, Rui Resende, Jose Celso Martinez Correa, Cristina Ache, Helena Ignez, Debora Muniz, Thais Simi, Cleo de Paris, Nara Sakare, Giulio Lopes, Eduardo Chagas, Luis Melo

A gravedigger searches for the perfect woman to bear his child.

This one is apparently the conclusion for Coffin Joe. I know the name but beyond that I know nothing! I think I should be slapping myself for that and will begin my mission to find everything about Coffin Joe. What I do know is that the trailer is sick. It’s full of really gory violence and even some nudity. That alone intrigues me enough to really want to see this one. Even I wasn’t prepared for the violence in the trailer and it made me go back to the beginning of this post and put a warning in. Gorehounds everywhere should be happy!

GRACE

Written and Directed by – Paul Solet

Starring – Jordan Ladd, Gabrielle Rose, Samantha Ferris, Malcolm Stewart, Stephen Park, Serge Houde

A woman insists on carrying her child to term even after the baby has died. Once born, the baby returns to life with an appetite for human blood.

I’m sure everyone has heard of this one by now. I know I have and I was hoping it would be at the fest this year. I figured it would but decided to keep my mouth shut so I didn’t jinx anything! I keep hearing about how good this one is and the trailer proves to be quite a creepy thing. The flies everywhere and that plinky, tinkly piano. Brrrrr, sends some chills my way! I’ve heard reports of people fainting at a screening which I always take with a grain of salt. I’ve never seen anyone faint from watching a movie but if it at least made some people walk out, I’m in for that one!

VAMPIRE GIRL VS FRANKENSTEIN GIRL

Directed by – Yoshihiro Nishimura, Naoyuki Tomomatsu

Written by – Naoyuki Tomomatsu, Shungiku Uchida

Starring – Eri Otoguro, Takumi Saito, Jiji Bu, Erina, Sayaka Kametani, Yukie Kawamura, Sayako Nakoshi, Aya Nishisaki, Sayo, Eihi Shiina, Takashi Shimizu, Kanji Tsuda

I have been looking forward to this one the most. Yoshihiro Nishimura directed Tokyo Gore Police which showed at the fest last year. Toronto After Dark still has 9 more movies to announce and I don’t think there’s anything they could come up with that I want to see more than this one. If you’ve seen TGP than you know exactly what to expect from this one. Blood spraying everywhere, guns in places there shouldn’t be guns, limbs strewn about, just pure, over the top, cartoon action violence. I’m sure it will carry the same flavor that made me enjoy TGP so much and I cannot wait until this film graces my eyeballs!

There you have it, the first 8 films announced for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. I’m just wondering what surprises the next 9 films hold for me. This is an impressive lineup already with only 1 flick I wasn’t really interested in. I’m still on the fence about Franklyn. With Vampire Girl VS Frankenstein Girl and Grace showing this year, every other movie could be garbage and I’d still be the happiest gorehound out there. The next round of films will be announced on the 29th of this month (I believe) and the festival kicks off on August 14th. Just a little over a month for me to prepare.

I’ll be doing my best to bring you guys reviews for almost all of the films since I always end up missing one or two. I’ll also be trying to get my hooks into festival director Adam Lopez for an interview as well as getting as many of the Q&A’s as possible on video. I’ll warn you now though, I’ve only got a hurting little digital camera to take video with so you’ll have to bear with what will probably be some terrible looking video! Anyway, I’ve been writing this post for 2 hours now so I’m off to take a break.

Under the marquee (patiently holding my breath till the fest) – Will