OCULUS: Cover Your Mirrors!

Ian Goring: "Was I the only one?"

MM Photographer Ian Goring went home and covered his mirror right after the premiere of Oculus. I doubt he was the only one.  You still have time before the screenings tomorrow and Sunday. It really is best to be proactive in this matters. So: Cover your mirrors!

Also, since we really don't know what is going to happen in The Afflicted tonight here are some basic proactive measures to take:

Do not touch unidentifiable goo!  (Do I even need to tell you not to eat it?)

Even the poster tells you not to!

Stay away from "Blood Glaciers!"

See that? Stay away!

Do not experiment on apparently dead alien creatures you discover--and if your boss makes you and you really think its necessary, wear protective clothing and keep the critter contained. You don't want that in you.

This antarctic giant isopod stands for all things that could get in you.

Do not annoy old women, and if you do, immediately apologize.

"I aplogize for my thoughtless and cruel remark about your dentures."

And most of all: Stay away from dead ladies wherever you find them--naked on gurneys, naked in space ships, in decaying forest mansions wearing fashions from 300 years ago.

This here? This is really bad waiting to happen.

This is not a drill.
  
 

THE AFFLICTED Screening Times:

Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

OCULUSScreening Times:

Tuesday, Sept 10th, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK 14

Sunday, Sept 15th, 6:00 PM SCOTIABANK 11

 

THE STATION Screening Times:

Friday, Sept 13th, 9:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9

 

WITCHING AND BITCHING Screening Times:

Saturday, Sept 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Sunday, Sept 15th, 12:00 PM SCOTIABANK 14

Top 5 CANADIAN HORROR Films

Canada is no stranger to scares, and Midnight Madness is proud to showcase homegrown horror as part of our programming. Before The Afflicted debuts tonight, we thought we'd come up with a list of the top 5 horror films that make us proud to be Canadian.

#5 - Father’s Day (2011)

When Canadian up-and-comers Astron-6 teamed up with horror heavyweight Troma, the brual and hilarious Father's Day was born. Premiering at the Toronto After Dark film festival in 2011 with another feature Manborg, Father's Day blew audiences away with a unique blend of horror and politically incorrect humor.
 
#4 - Pontypool (2009)

Snow. Sleet. Zombies. Everything Canadians have come to fear get mashed together in Bruce McDonald’s adaptation of Tony Burgess’ zombie fever dream of a novel. Set in the tiny town of Pontypool, Ontario (look it up on a map, it's seriously tiny) Pontypool combines the bleakness of Canadian winters with the claustrophobia of being trapped by a zombie onslaught.

#3 - Cube (1997)

Vincenzo Natali's first feature film Cube was filmed with a modest budget but an overwhleming surplus of creativity and creep factor. The novel concept and simplistic execution made the film a cult hit, and endures as one of Canada's most talked-about cinematic exports.

#2 - The Fly (1986)
David Cronenberg's 1986 adaptation of the classic sci-fi tale The Fly is often cited as the best example of a remake done right. The special effects are astonishing, but it's the chemistry between costars and then real-life couple Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum make the film a harrowing emotional experience that sets the film apart from its kind.

#1 - Black Christmas (1974)

Bob Clark's holiday classic Black Christmas put Canadian horror on the map. Credited as the first film to define the slasher subgenre, Black Christmas is also said to have been the inspiration behind John Carpenter's Halloween.

Don't miss what could be the latest contribution to this list! The Afflicted premiers tonight, only at Midnight Madness!

THE AFFLICTED Screening Times:
Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

THE AFFLICTED Premieres Tonight!

We've only had this one image from The Afflicted to go on and even we don't know what is going on here. Is he undergoing a metamorphosis? And if he is, is he becoming a vampire or a werewolf--or maybe some kind of Thing? Is he possessed? Has he gotten too much sun pool-side? Or is it just the unfortunate result of a slip and fall in a hotel bathroom?

Find out tonight at The Ryerson!
 

THE AFFLICTED Screening Times:

Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Rev Up for AFFLICTED with 4 Road Trip Movies!

Road trips. They're kind of terrifying. No matter how much you prepare, you’re still launching yourself headfirst into the unknown and it’s impossible to prepare for everything. Thus, it’s no small wonder that there are numerous horror movies about road trips into the strange and unfamiliar. Before Midnight Madness hosts Afflicted, the feature debut of Canadian co-directors Derek Lee and Clif Prowse, let’s reminisce a while on a few of our favorite movies and franchises about road trips gone awry.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Tobe Hooper's instant cult classic follows a group of friends who pick up a very strange hitchhiker. Things go from bad to worse when they run out of gas and start getting picked off by Leatherface and his family of cannibal freaks.  

The Hitcher (1986)

Although panned by critics upon its original release, Robert Harmon's The Hitcher is a suspenseful psychological thriller about a man travelling from Chicago to San Diego who picks up a psychotic hitchhiker (played by none other than Rutger Hauer). Not to be confused with the film's terrible 2007 remake, it endures as one of the best road horror flicks out there.

Rutger Hauer as Ryder in The Hitcher

Wrong Turn franchise (2003-2012)
On the surface, the Wrong Turn franchise is little more than a knockoff of Texas Chainsaw Massacre: teens on vacation get lost and encounter inbred cannibal family. What sets it apart is smattering of particularly creative and memorable kills, particularly the opening scene in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End which costarred Henry Rollins as a hard-assed drill sergeant!

Death Proof (2007)

In Quentin Tarantino's contribution to Grindhouse, Kurt Russell plays "Stuntman" Mike who has a thing for finding pretty girls and smashing into them with his car. After dispensing with some girls he met at a bar, he targets four ladies cruising in a vaunted Dodge Challenger. He tries his luck but quickly realizes that these plucky girls have some tricks of their own up their sleeves.

Who's up for a game of "ship's mast"?

Hit the road with Afflicted, screening Monday night!

AFFLICTED Screening Times:

Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

How To Kill A Vampire

Midnight Madness is a whole secret organization of ne'er-do-wells, ancient evils and scholars who delve too deeply into forbidden knowledge while working in the shadows to bring The Madness to you every year. Now one of the secret scribes has stepped into the light with a new book. Liisa Ladouceur helps keep MM Programmer Colin Geddes in check as his MM programme copy editor. (She's also helped him at ActionFest). She's also a scholar of all things gothic and macabre.

Liisa's new book, How To Kill A Vampire: Fangs in Folklore, Film and Fiction, came out on September 1, just in time to help you survive The Madness this year. RIGOR MORTIS clearly has some kind of vampire situation going on. And Colin's being cagey about what happens in THE AFFLICTED, so you should probably read it before then. In fact you can even order a signed copy directly from Liisa right now!

And if you survive this year's programme, there's also a book launch and signing, on Tuesday, September 17. Of course, it's after 8pm for the convenience of the undead.

And while you wait, listen to Liisa talk about vampires with the CBC's Karen Gordon and check out Liisa's picks for this year's Midnight Madness and Vanguard Programmes.

THE AFFLICTED Screening Times:

Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

RIGOR MORTIS Screening Times:

Wednesday, Sept 11th, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Thursday, Sept 12th, 12:45 PM TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

Friday, Sept 13th, 6:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Don't mess with the directors of THE AFFLICTED!

Despite my best efforts to find all you info starved Midnight Maniacs the inside scoop on THE AFFLICTED, I've come up empty handed. Apart from Colin's description on the TIFF site there is just nothing out there. There's more information out there on Makinov than there is on THE AFFLICTED, or its directors: Derek Lee and Cliff Prowse.

I did manage to stumble upon this short the duo directed called, Snakehead. The main character, who goes all "John Rambo meets Bruce Lee" in the short, is Derek Lee. So try to keep you comments polite during the Q&A, okay?





THE AFFLICTED Screening Times:
Monday, Sept 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 11th, 8:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9