Your Favourite MIDNIGHT MADNESS Moments!

Maniacs gathering for the Madness!

The Line of Madness!

Can you believe that we're just slightly over a week after the whirlwind of the Toronto International Film Festival and, of course, Midnight Madness 2012.  If you're anything like me, you've been getting way too much sleep (over 3 hours? Whaaaaa?), catching up on Homeland, and not watching three or more movies a day, which has given me time to reflect back on those crazy ten days and my favourite moments from TIFF.

Our fantastic Midnight Madness audience has been doing the same thing on Twitter and Facebook, and we wanted to share some of those with you! (additional photos by Ian Goring)

Turns out that Godwin's Law applies at the Ryerson 

Who was that, I wonder?

Oh.

Remember, if you've got any favourite moments and memories to add, tweet them to us using the #mmadnesstiff hashtag or post them up in the Midnight Madness Facebook group! 

By the way, if you want to keep the Midnight Madness party going for a little longer, don't forget to check out Programmer Colin Geddes' exhibit at Scotiabank Nuit Blanche this year! If this piece doesn't satisfy your cravings for zombie kills, nothing will!

CG Magazine's 'Geek Friendly TIFF Awards' Honours SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS, DREDD 3D, LORDS OF SALEM, and ABC's OF DEATH!

Comics and Gaming Magazine has posted their favourite 'geeky' films from the 2012 Toronto International Film Festival, with several Midnight Madness selections taking away some of their prizes.

Rob Zombies Lords of Salem picked up their 'Best Horror' honour, the star-studded Seven Psychopaths won for Future Cult Classic, The ABC's Of Death earned a 'Best Body Count' nod and, in another slap in the face of the Sly Stallone abomination of 1995, Alex Garland-penned Dredd 3D  snagged the 'Finally Got It Right' award.

Check out all the awards here, and congrats to all the winners!

5 Questions with Lee Hardcastle, the 26th Director of THE ABCS OF DEATH

Lee Hardcastle's insane short "T is for Toilet"won him a slot as the 26th director of The ABCs of Death. He was nice enough to answer some questions for the Midnight Madness Blog.

1. Congratulations on being the 26th director of The ABCs of Death! When you first heard about the contest, how did the idea of a collection of death scenes strike you? Did you think, "Oh, this is me--I got this"? Or did you have some hesitation?

Thanks! I stumbled upon The ABCs of Death as it was just announced. I read the concept and saw which directors were involved and I instantly wanted to be a part of the project! And honestly, in a panic I quickly tried to find a contact for the producers so I could beg them to let me be a part of it--which is when I found the "26th Director" contest, the greatest film-making contest I'd ever seen in all my life. It felt like it was utter fate and I waited for a couple months in anticipation for the competition to start. I had not had so much passion and excitement for anything like that for a long time--like waiting for Xmas I tell you.

2. You went with "Toilet" as the mode of death in your ABCs short. What other "T" options did you consider? Did you get as far as writing out any other concepts? Or did you just always know it was going to be "Toilet"?

I went through hundreds of words. I came close to "T is for Toad." It was gonna be a group of redneck type hunters in the woods being picked off one by one by a huge monster toad. But I thought the idea of toad was too easy--it was a competition after all. I went with "Toilet" because, I thought about the title "T is for..." and I wanted a "T" word that was simple yet intriguing to the viewer. Plus "toilet" is such a beautiful word. I started with that word with no idea what the story was going to be.

3. You've made an impressive collection of what you call "Claymations that are NOT for children." How did you find this niche? What did you watch growing up? Were you a horror freak? An animation freak? Both?

It's a bit of a long story how I got into claymation but in a nutshell, I've always wanted to be a filmmaker and one day a video that I'd made went viral. It was a 60-second claymation remake of Evil Dead. And so, I found my audience and continued down that road.

I was very much a horror nut growing up, a real obsessive. Things got scary when the Internet came into my life at age 14. I was suddenly exposed to horror communities and websites. Mix that with eBay and I was ordering so many VHS tapes, bootlegs even of films that were originally only available on a German Laserdisc or something ridiculous. It peaked when I was about 17, I reckon, and then the obsession slowly faded.

I wasn't big on animation, but I grew up with Will Vinton, MTV animation, Wallace and Gromit, and The Adam and Joe Show, all of which are responsible for putting me on the claymation path.

4. The Midnight Madness audience went crazy for the world premiere of The Raid last year. Much of that audience no doubt went on to enjoy your wildly popular, sped-up claymation version of the film, Claycat's The Raid. How did the concept of a claymation adaptation of that film come about? How was the experience of it turning viral and even ending up as an extra on DVD/Blu-ray releases of The Raid?

I was hired by Momentum Pictures to do a claymation remake of the film. I'd never heard of The Raid, so I went to Soho and sat in a cinema by myself and watched the film and I was like "How the hell am I gonna remake this?!" Daunting stuff--I wasn't feeling confident. But it turned out to be one of my best works. The corny jokes get some big laughs--the ball of wool and stuff like that. I can't believe people find it funny. For it to go viral? I was not expecting that at all. That's the science of being a filmmaker--you unexpectedly do something that gets a good audience reaction and you keep that in mind for the next time you make a film.

5. I understand you're coming to Toronto for the premiere of The ABCs of Death. What directors' segments are you most anxious to check out in ABCs? Are you hoping to catch any other films in Midnight Madness while you're in town?

To be painfully honest, I've not seen too many of the directors' works, or heard of half of them. The 2 big names that got me excited were Ti West and Jason Eisener. But the way I see The ABCs of Death is like those sample CDs that record labels put out--you buy them because there's a band or two on there that you dig a lot and you end up discovering a new artist that impresses you. Then you go out and look at all their other stuff.

I want to see Dredd 3D!

You can read more about the "26th Director" contest in our earlier post hereand see more of Lee's grisly claymation videos at leehardcastle.com.  

THE ABCS OF DEATH

Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Day Two with Kari's Scaries

I'm fairly certain time works differently during TIFF. Yesterday was only my second full day at the festival (thanks to the Kari's Scaries bursary), but I've managed to pack in a whack of screenings, sightseeing and, since the reason I'm here is a little something called Midnight Madness, some truly deranged carnage. I don't ever want to leave.

Yesterday started with a screening of Dredd 3D, after which we hoofed it across town to catch Hotel Transylvania at the beautiful Princess of Wales Theatre. Afterwards, we met up with some of the hardest-working folks in the horror biz: assorted components of the Rue Crew, who are punch-drunk and sleep-deprived after finishing Rue Morgue's massive Halloween issue (on stands October 1!). My colleagues at RM are some of my favorite people in the world, so it was an absolute pleasure to meet up with Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander and contributors Liisa Ladouceur and Marie-Eve Larin. 

When you see why this guy needed to rinse off, you'll fall madly in love with No One Lives. Trust me.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Ryerson for the Midnight Madness screening of No One Lives, the insanely gory new flick from Midnight Meat Train director Ryuhei Kitamura. There was a long wait in line, but luckily Toronto Batman was there to make sure things didn't get out of hand. Shit got profound. Case in point—the following exchange between Toronto Batman and a Midnight Madness attendee:

Toronto Batman: "What movie is showing tonight?"

Moviegoer: "No One Lives."

Toronto Batman: "No One Lives? My parents died."

Well played, Toronto Batman. Well played.

The night ended with Knoxville Horror Film Fest director William Mahaffey and me riding around Toronto with Dave and Don Coscarelli, who's in town with his new film John Dies at the End. Don is an incredibly friendly guy, and, incidentally, had some very nice things to say about No One Lives. 

So the bar is high for tonight's Midnight Madness premiere of JT Petty's Hellbenders 3D. Maybe JT will buy me a cupcake.

NO ONE LIVES screening times:

Mon., Sept. 10, 9:45 PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10

Fri., Sept. 14, 4:45 PM,  CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS  6

JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:

Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59 PM, RYERSON 

Sun., Sept. 16, 5:00 PM,  CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS  2

HELLBENDERS 3D screening times:

Sun., Sept. 9th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Tue., Sept. 11th, 7:00 PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat., Sept. 15th, 9:15 PM, SCOTIABANK 2

Day One with Kari's Scaries

Yesterday was my first full day at TIFF and my first Midnight Madness screening (thanks to the Kari's Scaries bursary program), and all I can say is this: If you love genre cinema, this is something you must experience at least once in your life.

We headed out of Possum Holler, Tennessee at insane o'clock on Thursday morning, rolling into Toronto fourteen hours later. In case you're curious, much of Canada looks like this:

Incidentally, this is a visual aesthetic that is shared my most of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan, so the drive was grueling but somewhat less than stimulating. Happily, most of Toronto looks like this:

...and our hotel looks like this:

...and even this:

...so things certainly got way more interesting and lots fancier.

We kicked off our day with a screening of Ben Wheatley's Sightseers, which was terrific and absolutely supports my theory that romantic comedies set in the bucolic British countryside are much better when lots of people get their heads cracked open. After that was a press screening of Midnight Madness selection John Dies at the End, (directeed by the great Don Coscarelli), which was completely batshit and a lot of fun. Next up was Pusher at the newly renovated Bloor Hot Docs Cinema, followed by the high point of the entire day: the Midnight Madness screening of Seven Psychopaths.The experience was spectacular; I wish I could see every movie with a theater full of 1,200 cheering genre nerds and Christopher Walken.

We're off to a screening of Dredd 3D (we missed its Midnight Madness premiere, sadly), followed by whatever we can squeeze in between it and tonight's MM screening of No One Lives.

Many thanks to the family and friends of Kari Ramjattan, in whose honor Kari's Scaries was established, and to Colin Geddes and the rest of the TIFF crew. Our reception has been amazing, and they're taking great care of us. Off to Day Two!


Screening Times:

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS :
 Sat., Sept. 8th, 3:30 PM SCOTIABANK 1

NO ONE LIVES:
Sat., Sept 8th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Mon., Sept 10th, 9:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Fri., Sept 14th, 4:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6 

PUSHER:
Sun., Sept. 9th, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10 12:00PM

SIGHTSEERS:
Tue., Sept. 11th, 9:00 PM RYERSON
Thurs., Sept. 13th, 12:00 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 7:00 PM BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

JOHN DIES AT THE END:
Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59pm:  RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16, 5pm:   CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 2

DREDD 3D: "Grimy, Hyper-violent, Faithful"

At Hitfix, Drew McWeeny reviews Dredd 3D:

I'd heard good things after the Comic-Con screenings of the film, and it seems to be picking up a head of steam as far as critical reactions are concerned.  There were rumbles about behind-the-scenes difficulties during production, but none of that is visible in the final product, which is a hyper-violent action film that manages to perfectly capture a sort of world-weary attitude that really sells the reality of life in Mega City 1.  Karl Urban's performance as Judge Dredd, a legendary figure in the city, is suitably grim and badass, and there's not a hint of ego in the way he vanishes into that costume and that permanent scowl.

Catch the last screening of DREDD 3D at the Festival:
Sat., Sept. 8 12:30PM:  CINEPLEX ODEON

Karl Urban & Olivia Thirlby Talk DREDD 3D!

Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby talk to Robert A. Mitchell about their roles in DREDD 3D.


DREDD 3D's last Festival screening:
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

DREDD 3D World Premiere Intro/Q&A Video

The 2012 edition of the Midnight Madness programme got off to a rocking, action-packed start with the World Premiere of DREDD 3D. Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the introduction and post-screening Q&A featuring Karl Urban and Olivia Thirlby.




DREDD 3D last screening:
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Pics from the Premiere of DREDD 3D!

It's been about six hours since DREDDs bombastic credits were thrust into the faces of a ravenous Midnight Madness audience in glorious 3D, but I'm sure I'm not alone in saying that I'm still reeling from the experience.  Copious blood, gore, and absolutely intense action were served up with a heaping side of justice - this was exactly the thing to wash the taste of that other Dredd film out of your mouth after all these years.

Official Midnight Madness photog and the hardest-working shutterbug at The Festival, Ian Goring was back this year to shoot all the action!

Justice has never been so popular. These folks stuck it out despite a delayed start time (thanks for nothing, Jack Kerouac!)

Let's just say that no shenanigans were going to happen at the Ryerson with these guys keeping watch.

This week on American Chopper - "I AM THE LAW!"

Programmer Colin Geddes with DREDD director Pete Travis.

Writer Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later, Sunshine) mean muggin'.

DREDD himself, Karl Urban, casts a formidable shadow over the red carpet
(not pictured: carpet).

"So, who's your favourite glitchy dance act, Mr Urban?"
"JUSTICE, motherfucker!"

The dashing Karl Urban and his delightful DREDD co-star Olivia Thrilby.

Olivia Thirlby signs a DREDD helmet that would make its way all over the Ryerson.

A night of firsts! Programmer Colin Geddes introduces the first film at Midnight Madness 2012,
and it's also the first 3D film in the programme!

Director Peter Travis talks about how to make an exploding face look beautiful
(spoiler: it does).

What else can we say? Karl Urban is THE MAN.

Writer Alex Garland explains an unintentional reference to Blade Runner.

Karl Urban signs one of the cooler pieces of memorabilia to grace Midnight Madness.

A Judge in Training!

Don't forget to check out more Midnight Madness action tonight with Seven Psychopaths!


DREDD 3D screening times: 
Sat., Sept. 8 12:30PM:  CINEPLEX ODEON YONGE & DUNDAS

TWEETS OF THE DAY (also NIGHT)! #MMadnessTIFF

As always, Twitter is afire with audience members chatting about the face-meltingly intense DREDD 3D and Midnight Madness in general.

We'll be collecting tweets to the official Midnight Madness hashtag #MMadnessTIFF every day, so make your voices heard and maybe your tweet will be in this space tomorrow!

Check out all the films in the Midnight Madness schedule here!