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!

TWEETS OF THE DAY! #MMadnessTIFF

It's only Tuesday and it's already been a pretty crazy Festival, from the wild ride of No One Lives to the metal mayhem of Lords of Salem, the Ryerson has been on fire.

Also on fire is our old friend Twitter, as Midnight Madness fans have been posting away from Ryerson lines to their seats (not during the movie, of course, you rubes!) and beyond.

Don't forget to use the official Midnight Madness hashtag, #MMadnessTIFF, and you might see your tweets here in this space!

Midnight Madness screening times:


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


THE LORDS OF SALEM
Wed., Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6


NO ONE LIVES
Fri., Sept 14th, 4:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

Pics From the Premiere of NO ONE LIVES!

Somebody call my momma! Brodus Clay and the rest of the cast were in town to promote WWE Films newest acquisition, No One Lives, the bizarrely inverted slasher/revenge flick that showed everyone at the Saturday night screening at the Ryerson just what it looks like when a pro wrestler 'gives birth' to what some of the females (and a few males) in the audience described as a 'breathtakingly beautiful man'.

Anyways, Ian Goring, our resident shutterbug, was on the red carpet as the Funkasaurus and the other survivors (just kidding, there are no survivors) of No One Lives rocked the house!

Badass, foul-mouthed, and controversial director Ryûhei Kitamura

The only living, breathing Funkasaurus in captivity, It's Brodus Clay!

The lovely America Olivo returns to Midnight Madness

F-Bombs.  So very many F-Bombs.

NO ONE LIVES screening times:
Mon., Sept 10th, 9:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Fri., Sept 14th, 4:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

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

Ryuhei Kitamura, America, Olivo & Brodus Clay Talk NO ONE LIVES

Last night marked the return of Ryuhei Kitamura the director of Midnight Madness crowd favorite Versus after eleven years with his latest film NO ONE LIVES. Let's just say this, the film delivers upon it's title, definitely a midnight film. Robert A. Mitchell was on the red carpet hoping to make it out alive -- at the moment we have not heard from him, but a festival volunteer found this footage....



NO ONE LIVES screening times:
Mon., Sept 10th, 9:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Fri., Sept 14th, 4:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

NO ONE LIVES World Premiere Intro/Q&A Video

Last night marked the return of one of Midnight Madness' favorite directors Ryuhei Kitamura with his latest film NO ONE LIVES.

Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the Introduction and post-screening Q&A at the world premiere.




NO ONE LIVES screening times:
Mon., Sept 10th, 9:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Fri., Sept 14th, 4:45 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

NO ONE LIVES: A Ryuhei Kitamura Retrospective

No One Lives premieres tonight at Midnight Madness, but it's not his first time here. In 2001, he really brought the Madness with Versus' combination of zombies, samurai and style.

Kitamura returned to Midnight Madness with Alive in 2002.




Since then, Kitamura directed the 28th Godzila film, Godzilla: Final Wars (2004). Bringing his frenetic style and mad science to a giant monster movie (with aliens).




And he directed Bradley Cooper as a photographer who photographed something he shouldn't have in Midnight Meat Train.




 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 

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

5 Things You Should Know About NO ONE LIVES' America Olivo

America Olivo is one of the stars of NO ONE LIVES. Here are five things you should know about her:

1) This isn't her first time in Midnight Madness. She played Camero, one of the Villains from Bitch Slap!

2) She's a classically trained opera singer who graduated from The Julliard School in New York. Cadence is important to opera singers so make sure you pronounce her name right: Ah-mer-ee-kah (Like Costa Rica).

3) If you think you saw her around Toronto, you probably did because she just wrapped up shooting a guest appearance on the Warehouse 13.

4) She was the understudy for the actress playing the villian, Arachne, in the Broadway musical Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark. Don't worry, she survived!

5) I hear she has a thing for Indian guys in Hawaiian shirts. Hey, a guy can dream can't he?

So, does the lovely America make it to the end of NO ONE LIVES? Only one way to find out!

NO ONE LIVESScreening 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