Pictures from the JOHN DIES AT THE END Premiere!

This year's closing night film was John Dies At The End, an adaption of David Wong's novel, filled with the awesome of interdimensional critters, a drug called, "soy sauce,"  a character named after an author's pseudonym and a Meat Monster!  Here are pictures taken on the red carpet and the Ryerson stage by intrepid MM photographer, Ian Goring, a man who fears neither interdimensional critters nor isopods!

Actor Chase Williamson who plays, David Wong.

Rob Mays, who plays the titular John. (And, dude,

right now, he can see your soul).

MM blogger Rob Mitchell interviews Chase Williamson

with videographer Sarah Dillard rocking the pink and zebra-striped headset.

Director Don Coscarelli, a man who knows a good book when he reads one.

The dapper Tai Bennett, who plays, Jacob Marley.

Cesare Gagliardoni, who played the Meat Monster. Suit actors, represent!

MM Programmer Colin Geddes and Don Coscarelli are quite decorous 

as befits a premiere screening. 

Holy cats, they're outta control!

On state at the Ryerson. Probably trash talking isopods in comparison to

other-dimensional creatures made visible only by ingesting soy sauce.

Coscarelli and Gagliardoni discuss acting choices in playing, The Meat Monster.

Thanks, everybody!

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Interview with Don Coscarelli, Chase Williamson & Rob Mayes

JOHN DIES AT THE END closed out the 2012 edition of Midnight Madness. I had the opportunity to speak with director Don Coscarelli and actors Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes and Tai Bennett.

Robert A. Mitchell may or may not have been under the influence of Soy Sauce while conducting the following interviews....

JOHN DIES AT THE END Intro/Q&A Video With Don Coscarelli

The final film of 2012 edition of Midnight Madness was JOHN DIES AT THE END directed by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep, Phantasm). Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the introduction -- featuring a shout out to the Midnight Madness crew -- as well as the post-screening Q&A.

Midnight Madness: Wait, It's Not Over!

Sure the awards have been handed out and the film critics have gone home, but you can still participate in the Madness with more screenings today!

AFTERSHOCK shakes Cineplex Yonge and Dundas! 3:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 9

BlackBerry Midnight Madness People's Choice Runner-Up JOHN DIES AT THE END screens one more time this evening! 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

THE ABCS OF DEATH--a whole alphabet of horror plays at the responsible witching hour of 9PM
at SCOTIABANK 9

HELLBENDERS knocks on Hell's door and curses out whoever answers at 9:15PM  at SCOTIABANK 2

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Soy Sauce and You

Soy sauce, it's omnipresent--in our kitchens, on our restaurant tables, even in our snacks. But how much do you really know about soy sauce?

The world of film has depicted the dangers of many drugs from "Mary Jane" and "horse" or "skag" to the esoteric consciousness modification of Videodrome,   Strange Days and just plain jacking yourself in.  John Dies at the End promises to be an object lesson on the dangers of seemingly harmless soy sauce.

I'm waiting for my Kikkoman. $3.59 in my hand.

Kikkoman, Kimlan, it's more than a packet here or there--or even a bottle. Master Chef Martin Yan breaks down the vast Lee Kum Kee network that manufactures and distributes soy sauce on an unbelievable scale. Worse yet, the network has been able to respond to market demand with new varieties of soy sauce: Low Sodium, Chili, even "Panda."





It seems like a shake here and there, maybe a dish with wasabi adding a little piquancy to your sushi, but soy sauce overdose is not a pretty sight.

Watch what happens to a man who ingests over 150ml / 5oz of pure, uncut, high sodium shoyu.





Soy sauce does more than season your life.


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

Excerpt from David Wong's THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS

The first fifteen pages of the sequel to John Dies At The End is available for your reading pleasure. Click through to read This Book Is Full Of Spiders: Seriously, Dude. Don't Touch It in a good, safe, online, environment.

After all, spiders.

And probably not normal spiders, but spiders like this:

The part of an abnormal spider that lives in that book
will be played by this antarctic giant isopod.

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

Review Round-Up: David Wong's JOHN DIES AT THE END

Zack Handlen reviewed David Wong's John Dies At The End for The Onion's AV Club.  Here's a taste, you'll have to click through for more.

JDATE is the rare genre novel that manages to keep its sense of humor strong without ever diminishing the scares; David is a consistently hilarious narrator whose one-liners and running commentary are sincere in a way that makes the horrors he confronts even more unsettling. Plot-wise, for a good two-thirds of the book, it seems like Wong is more interested in piling on weirder and weirder threats than fitting the pieces together, and while his invention never flags, the accumulation of horrors eventually threatens to turn the narrative into a breathless series of “And then?”s. Still, the tone and white-knuckle pacing cover up a lot of sins, and Wong manages to pull everything together for a finale that’s both stomach-churningly freaky and oddly moving. It’s the sort of thing that leaves readers breathless and nauseous, but surprisingly hungry for more.

At Kirkus, the nameless literati write:

Originally offered online in serial form, Wong’s debut is creepy, snide, gross, morbidly dark and full of lots of gratuitous weirdness for weirdness' sake, not to mention penis jokes. So why is it so funny? Perhaps it's the author’s well-tuned eye for the absurd, which gives his tale a compelling-against-all-odds, locker-room-humor-meets-Douglas-Adams vibe. 

And it turns out there was a book trailer!




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

JOHN DIES AT THE END Premieres Tonight!

Director Don Coscarelli returns to Midnight Madness tonight with John Dies At The End!


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

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

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Interview with Director Don Coscarelli

One of my most cherished memories is seeing Bubba Ho-Tep premiere at Midnight Madness back when the screenings took place at the sadly departed Uptown Theatre on Yonge St.  Director Don Coscarelli and Bruce "Elvis" Campbell were both present at the screening and it as amazing to see on the Uptown's titanic screen.  But I was just as excited that the film was based on a Joe R. Lansdale story.

Coscarelli is returning to Midnight Madness just over a decade later with another movie based on another novel, David Wong's John Dies At The End.  I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Coscarelli a few questions.

What draws you to a short story or novel and what about makes you think it would be interesting as a film?

When I read a short story and I'm pissed it's short, and I'm hungry for more, that's usually when I start wondering if it's filmable. That's exactly what happened with BUBBA HO-TEP. What's interesting was the source novel for my most recent film, JOHN DIES AT THE END, was a long 350 pages...and I was pissed when it was over. I immediately started thinking about filming it. Both stories share some common traits which drew me to them, including elements you don't usually find in horror, such as a focus on friendship, and an outrageous and unexpected sense of humor.

What are some of the challenges in working with someone else's story and prose or adapting their prose to a visual medium?

Length is always a big issue. BUBBA HO-TEP was very short, so I had to add material to get it to feature length. With JOHN DIES AT THE END it was the opposite. It was a sprawling, epic novel with so much great material that I was always struggling with tightening it. There is no question in my mind though that to adapt a work such as one of these, that one needs to fully buy into the original author's work. If you're not going to treat the source material as your "Bible", why make the movie?

Your stories often take place at an intersection between the mundane and the dreamlike, surreal or absurd. What are some of the challenges of maintaining the right balance and what do you find appealing about the juxtaposition?

I like to laugh. I think humor is one of the most underrated aspects of human existence. What's life without it? That's why I'm always looking for it when I'm creating my movies. As to the dreamlike and surreal, I'm just naturally drawn to looking at things from different perspectives.

I recently watched your Trailers From Hell commentary on Godzilla, King of the Monsters. I was wondering if you see any influence from Godzilla, Ishiro Honda or Akira Ifukube on your own filmmaking or writing? If so, what might they be?

Despite just loving Godzilla as a monster and his massive size, what haunted me most when I saw it as a child was a sentimental power it had, especially when Serizawa sacrificed himself for his fellow citizens as he set off the oxygen bomb under Tokyo bay. Certainly BUBBA HO-TEP has some similar themes when President Kennedy and Elvis sacrifice themselves for the sake of their fellow rest home residents!

Every now and then there's a news story about Bubba Nosferatu that keeps hope alive for a sequel to Bubba Ho-Tep. Are there any developments you'd be willing to share?

There's no question that fans want more adventures of Elvis battling the supernatural. I do too! Bubba Nosferatu was a great script and I'm sorry the project crashed and burned as it were. However, much like Elvis, I share a positive, can-do attitude and am thinking that the time might be right again to just get get off my ass and take care of business. Time to TCB, baby!

Thanks to Don Coscarelli for taking the time to answer my questions.


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

Tweets of Madness 2: Return of the Twitter!



Looking for more tweets from people behind this year's Midnight Madness Films? Look no further!



@ABCsofDeath: Official Twitter of THE ABC'S OF DEATH.

@Simon_Barrett: Writer Simon Barrett

@jasoneisner:  Director Jason Eisner  

@XavierGens: Director Xavier Gens

@JTCM: Director Thomas Cappelen Malling
@jorgemichelgrau: Director Jorge Michel Grau 
@JohnSchnepp: Director Jon Schnepp 
@tiMObros: Director Timo Tjahjanto

@Vigalondo: Director Nacho Vigalondo

@TiWest: Director Ti West 
@mr_wheatley: Director Ben Wheatley
@AdamWingard: Director Adam Wingard
@mikaelwulff: Director Mikael Wulff 
@leehardcastle: Director Lee Hardcastle
@AndrewTraucki: Director Andrew Traucki 

@OneGodMakinov: Makinov, mysterious director of COME OUT AND PLAY.

@DonCoscarelli: Don Coscarelli director of JOHN DIES AT THE END.

@JohnDiesattheEn: David Wong author of the book JOHN DIES AT THE END.



@TheRealLukeEvans, @Esotericam, & @BrodusClay: Luke Evans, America Olivo, and Brodus Clay (George Murdoch) stars of NO ONE LIVES.

THE ABCS OF DEATH Screening Times:
Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

COME OUT AND PLAY Screening Times:
Thurs., Sept. 13th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Fri., Sept. 14th, 3:15 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10
Sat., Sept. 15th, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 11

JOHN DIES AT THE END Screening Times:
Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS

NO ONE LIVES Screening Times:
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

Empire Magazine Picks Midnight Madness!

Empire readers plans their festival.

Empire Magazine picks six of programmer Colin Geddes' selections in, "22 Must Watch Movies From The Toronto Film Festival" --five from the Midnight Madness programme and one from the Vanguard programme. Although, by my count, there are only 20 films in the list. The last two must be secret and are surely two more Midnight Madness films.

Woman attempts to figure out what the last 2 films are...

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS screening times:
WORLD PREMIERE: Fri., Sept. 7 11:59PM:  RYERSON THEATRE
Sat., Sept. 8, 3:30PM:  SCOTIABANK 1 

 AFTERSHOCK
Tue., Sept. 11th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thurs., Sept. 13th, 6:15 PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 3
Sun., Sept. 16th, 3:30 PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 9

THE ABC'S OF DEATH
World Premiere: Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

THE BAY

Wed., Sept. 12th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Thurs., Sept. 13th, 2:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

JOHN DIES AT THE END
Canadian Premiere: Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

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

HOBO WITH A SHOTGUN Director, Jason Eisner's Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks

Hobo with a Shotgun and The ABCs of Death segment director, Jason Eisner was awesome enough to tell us which 3 films he's most excited for in this year's Midnight Madness programme and why. Check them out!!

John Dies At The End

Coming from a family where the idea of wanting to become a filmmaker seemed very foreign, I took my father to a screening of Bubba Ho-Tep. After seeing the energy and reaction from the audience my dad took me aside and told me that he now "get's it" and understood what it was I was trying to do, and told me he would fully support me in my filmmaking future. That film holds a very special place in my heart and you can bet that dad and I will be strapped in and ready for anything Don Coscarelli brings to the screen.

The Lords of Salem

The Devil's Rejects is a huge inspiration. Before it's release I remember hearing that Rob Zombie was going to use Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Free Bird". I thought "how the hell can you do justice to Free Bird?" Well Rob Zombie sure as hell did! It's the perfect song to be destroyed too. It inspired me to have a playlist on my iphone that reads "Incase of plane crash" which only features Free Bird.

I love old, rusty carnival haunted house rides, especially the ones where you fear that the ride could break down and you could actually get hurt. House of 1000 Corpses is one of the closest's cinematic experiences to capturing that feeling. It's watched every Halloween at my place.

Which brings me to Halloween 2. Brandon Trost's DOP work in that film is fucking incredible! And Zombie brings some insane moments that brought a huge smile to my face. I'm an obsessed fan of the Halloween series, and I appreciate that this film steers away from what we're used to seeing. It offers something different, so much so that I wish the character wasn't named Myers, and was just some pissed off homeless guy who eats dogs, kills pimps, hicks and is haunted by his mom's ghost, riding a white stallion!!

The idea of Brandon Trost and Rob Zombie working together again on The Lords of Salem has me extremely excited. I'm not gonna lie, I watched the damn bootleg trailer that was recorded on an iphone from one of Zombie's concerts and it had me screaming "Hail Satan"!

ABC's of Death

Might sound lame that I'm picking a film that I have a short featured in, but I have yet to see the other 25 short films. Before being a filmmaker, I'm a film fan and there are so many directors involved with this that I'm a huge fan of. I can't wait to see how this turns out. With 26 short films of non-stop insanity, this is sure to be an endurance test. So make sure you sneak something stiff in your drink before the curtains roll, and I'll be there to hold you tight after the show!

Jason Eisner grew up in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia working on short movies every day after school. Inspired by genre films of the 70’s and 80’s he entered the 2007 Grindhouse trailer contest and won. The massive success of his entry (Hobo with a Shotgun) led to a full-length feature version. He's currently working on his new feature, Blatant Violence High, and he has a segment in this year's Midnight Madness selection, The ABCs of Death. 












Screening Times:
JOHN DIES AT THE END
Canadian Premiere: Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

THE LORDS OF SALEM
World Premiere: Mon., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

THE ABC'S OF DEATH
World Premiere: Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

"Ghoulish" Gary Pullin's Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks

"Ghoulish" Gary Pullin is an award winning, freelance artist residing in Toronto and the former long time art director for Rue Morgue Magazine. He's now their resident art columnist, curating, "The Fright Gallery." 

I'm no stranger to the Midnight Madness program. I've been attending for almost a decade now and each year seems to get better and better. Thanks to Jeff Wright and Colin Geddes for having me here. Honestly, it was tough to pick only three, but here's my short list I'm most eager to see:

#1 - The ABC's of Death

Inspired by educational children's books, twenty-six up and coming film directors were assigned a letter of the alphabet to create a shocking short. This film event has genre fans salivating for bite sized bits of cinema nastiness written and directed by students of modern horror from around the globe. Ti West (House of the Devil, Innkeepers), Angela Bettis (Roman, May), Xavier Gens (Frontiers, The Divide), Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Srdjan Spasojevic (Serbian Film), Yoshihiro Nishimura (Tokyo Gore Police, Machine Girl), Adam Wingard (You're Next) and many more bring the pain. Jason Eisener's "N for Nature," for instance. Sounds innocent enough, doesn't it? Far from it. Jason's contribution will test your gag reflex, ignite uncomfortable laughter and give you those icky feelings I'm still trying to shake. You may not look at high school sports the same way ever again. Perhaps the most ambitious anthology ever made, these are bedtime stories for big kids.

#2 - John Dies At The End

The Phantasm films are weird. And I mean that as a huge compliment because that's how I like 'em. They defy category and come to think of it, so does Don Coscarelli's entire filmography. John Dies At The End, based on the cult novel by David Wong, looks like no exception. Don has a knack for making absurd, mind-bending concepts work, which in the hands of many directors, may not fly so well. I'm admittedly green to the source material, so I'm just showing up to drink the Kool-Aid and wait for the inter-dimensional fun. With Don's films, you can always expect an unconventional experience, and really, you had me at Clancy Brown. That guy's face is a movie.

#3 - Dredd 3D

I think most would agree, Stallone's 1995 adaption of DC's popular comic book hero is better left in the Mega City dump. It was a huge let down for fans of the comic. It broke the rules by showing Dredd's face, a major offence and something comic creator John Wagner was adamant about keeping sacred through the span of the series. Director Peter Travis (Vantage Point, Endgame) is set to correct all the wrongs made by that film with a darker, ultra-violent version, a most welcome return to the futuristic wasteland. Travis is sticking close to the source this time and injecting noir grittiness back into the material. The film was shot using the latest 3D technology and initial online buzz is extremely positive. All rise. Your honourable Judge, Jury and Executioner is back!

Gary's artwork has infected publications and galleries across the globe. He's worked with collectible poster boutique Mondo in Austin, Texas, DC Shoes, and Death Waltz Records for a vinyl release of John Carpenter's THEY LIVE score. Look for his illustrations in Glass Eye Pix's upcoming documentary YEAR OF THE LIVING DEAD, about the making of George A. Romero's NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD during the civil unrest of the 60s.

Visit http://www.ghoulishgary.com/ to see more of his work.





Screening Times:

THE ABC'S OF DEATH
World Premiere: Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

JOHN DIES AT THE END
Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

DREDD 3D
Thurs., Sept. 6th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8th, 12:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Festival Programmer Steven Landry's Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks

Today's Top 3 Midnight Madness Picks are from Toronto After Dark Film Fest programmer, Steven Landry. TAD just announced their first 10 titles, so go check out their site after reading Steven's picks!

When I think about that lovely synaptic buzz we call anticipation, it's not that I'm remembering my favourite meal, or looking forward to entering a pre-established world of characters I've grown to love over the course of a sequel or two. The greatest form of anticipation for me comes from the unknown. Think about that first time as a child you ventured out past the boundary of your neighbourhood, or that first date with someone you've been crushing on for awhile. You never forget your first time, they say, and that's because there's a level of excitement when something is brand new that doesn't compare to the return to a well worn experience. Show me something new!  

#1 - Hellbenders

It's the three-peat at Midnight Madness this year for writer/director JT Petty with Hellbenders, a raunchy exorcism horror comedy, shot in 3D, and staring The Kurgan himself, Clancy Brown. As far as anticipation goes, you had me at JT Petty, a filmmaker who's work is as varied as anyone working in genre today. Midnight Madness audiences first met JT with S&MAN, a "documentary" about extreme horror that delved into the reasons why we would want to watch such terrible things. Next up was the epic western / creature feature The Burrowers, a film that played with the conventions of the western, and showed its usual heroes to be the true monsters. Now with Hellbenders he switches gears again, and I can't wait to see his take on the horror / comedy. A consistently skilled filmmaker tackling different types of stories, Hellbenders may be my most anticipated film of this year's crop.

#2 - John Dies at the End

Based on the book I've passed along to a number of friends, it's hard for me not to be excited for Don Coscarelli's take on John Dies at the End. Imagine if Hunter S. Thompson and William Burroughs collaborated on the script for Ghostbusters, and naturally thought ghosts were pretty passe, so they added Shadow People, inter-dimensional drugs, Lovecraftian bug demons, and a creature made of various cuts of meat. Oh... and a floating dog. For a story that is completely out there, it's the droll sense of humour that won me over, and how despite the fact that you may be battling the minions of an ancient god in your spare time, you still have to make your shift at a shitty day job to pay your bills. Add Clancy Brown (yet again) and Paul Giamatti to the mix, and I can't wait to finally see this whacked out story of the big screen. 

#3 - Come Out and Play

Seemingly out of nowhere we get a remake of the Spanish film Who Can Kill a Child?, by a director who is literally unknown, as he uses a pseudonym and wears a mask on set. Now that's something to look forward to right there! The original 1976 film is quite notorious for obvious reasons, a young couple end up trapped on an island off the coast of Spain and have to fight for their lives, as all the children have gone mad and murdered all of the island's adult residents. Let's face it, everyone knows kids are creepy. Have you seen The Brood? I rest my case. I think though that the real horror comes from the question that's right there in the title... could you bring yourself to do the unspeakable in order to survive? I think the anticipation in this film comes from the audience wondering just how far it will go, given the premise, and how often we'll feel the need to squint our eyes and turn away from the screen. This is Midnight Madness after all, so the chances are good that this film will indeed go farther than we'll be comfortable with, and I think that's a good thing.



Steven Landry is tall, bald, and never had wisdom teeth. When he's not assisting programmers or trafficking film prints at the TIFF Bell Lightbox, he's programming films for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival, where he works from his kitchen as the entire Programming Administration and Print Traffic departments.

His mother says Gypsies left him as an infant on her doorstep. He regrets nothing. Not even his love of Akiva Schaffer's 2007 amateur stunt man opus, Hot Rod.




Screening times:

Hellbenders
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

John Dies at the End
Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Come Out and Play
Thurs., Sept. 13th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Fri., Sept. 14th, 3:15 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10
Sat., Sept. 15th, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 11

Greetings from Possum Holler

Greetings from Possum Holler, fellow midnight mavens! I’m April Snellings, and I have the unique and considerable honor of being the first recipient of the Kari’s Scaries bursary. One week from today, I will make my way from Knoxville, Tennessee to Toronto, where I will eat my weight in poutine* and indulge in the non-stop debauchery known as TIFF Midnight Madness.

If you’re unfamiliar with Kari’s Scaries, please allow me to explain. Kari Ramjattan was a TIFF volunteer and staffer whose passion for genre movies–horror flicks in particular–knew no bounds. Kari passed away in 2010, so her family, friends and colleagues created Kari’s Scaries in her honor. The idea is to remember Kari by giving a horror journalist the opportunity to travel to Toronto, attend the Midnight Madness screenings, meet with Festival delegates, enjoy special events hosted by Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes, and have one hell of a time at North America’s coolest film festival. (Incidentally, the lovely art you see at the top of this post was provided by Kari’s son, Kelvin Ramjattan Jr. I really hope I get to meet him soon.)

J.T. Petty's Hellbenders

Though this is my fourth trip to Toronto (I’m a contributing writer and online editor for Rue Morgue Magazine), it will be my first time at TIFF. I can’t imagine a better year to go–I’m crazy excited for several of the films on this year’s roster, including J.T. Petty’s Hellbenders, Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End and Drafthouse Films’ The ABCs of Death. I’m jazzed about The Bay, psyched for Come Out and Play and pumped about No One Lives (in these parts, I’m known as That Chick Who Liked Midnight Meat Train). In other words, I’m looking forward to everything.

Making the journey with me will be my close friend and Knoxville Horror Film Fest Director William Mahaffey. We’ll head out at ridiculous o’clock on the morning of September 6 to make sure we roll into Toronto in time to see people get shot in the face in slow-mo (and 3-D!) in Dredd. If you’ve never driven from Tennessee to Toronto, I ask you: Where’s your sense of adventure? And by “sense of adventure” I mean, of course, your complete disregard for your own sanity.

If you’re interested, keep an eye on this space; I’ll be blogging about our trip and about the movies I’m so excited to see. I never had the pleasure of meeting Kari, but I hope her family–both the one she was born into and the one she picked up along the way–knows how much this trip means to me. I intend to make the most of it, and to honor Kari by doing exactly what she’d do: watch movies until my eyeballs shrivel up, and enjoy every last bit of Midnight Madness that Colin and the gang can sling my way.

Cheers, Kari, and thank you.

* If you’re unfamiliar with poutine, it is a pile of French fries roughly the size of your head that has been slathered with gravy and buried beneath a mound of fresh cheese curds. It’s amazing. Fries, gravy and cheese–can you think of a reason we don’t have this in Tennessee? Me neither. 

HELLBENDERS screening times:
Sun., Sept. 9, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Tues., Sept. 11, 7PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat., Sept. 15, 9:15PM, SCOTIABANK 2

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

THE ABCS OF DEATH screening times:
Fri., Sept. 14, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15, 3:15PM, SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16, 9PM, SCOTIABANK 9

THE BAY screening times:
Wed., Sept. 12, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Thurs., Sept. 13, 2:45PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

COME OUT AND PLAY screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 13, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Fri., Sept. 14, 3:15PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10
Sat., Sept. 15, 6:45PM, SCOTIABANK 11

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

DREDD screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8, 12:30PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7