YOU'RE NEXT Filmmakers Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett: "We are the horror audience."

Midnight Madness Alumni Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett talk about their film You're Next with The Los Angeles Times.

You're Next had a rollicking world premiere in 2011 as part of the Midnight Madness section of the Toronto International Film Festival that had the audience on its feet cheering during the screening.That first showing has become part of the film's lore, a signal of its effect on audiences. It opens Aug. 23 around the U.S.

"We came to realize that the best way to deconstruct horror nowadays is actually just to make a really great horror movie," Wingard, 30, said recently in East Hollywood, not far from where he and Barrett live on the same block. "You don't have to sell the reference thing or be that clever. Recognizing all the horror tropes and playing off audience expectations is kind of the new deconstruction."

Though the film is full of spiky scares and elaborate bloody kills, it is also driven by a sharp wit[.]

"We went into the recesses of our minds and said, 'What got us into filmmaking?'" noted Wingard. "And we realized it's fun, action-y horror stuff geared toward having a good time."

Read more here.

Pics From The Premiere of THE ABC'S OF DEATH!

Friday night was the equivalent of a marathon as the Midnight Madness audience was subjected to an unprecedented 26 films about death in The ABC's Of Death!  Ian Goring captured all the mayhem at what had to have been one of the most fun experiences in the Midnight lineup this year!

Midnight Madness fans about to learn their ABC's all over again

An absolutely titanic line-up of directing talent!

"MAT" spells producers Marc Walkow, Ant Timpson,  Tim League with MM Programmer, Colin Geddes.

Kaare Andrews

The ABCs of Death co-producer Todd Brown interviewed by Robert Mitchell

'U' is for Unexplained Levitation

The dynamic duo, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett!

Marcel Sarmiento

'R' is for 'RUINING THE RED CARPET BACKDROP AT THE RYERSON'

Ahhhh! Yoshihiro Nishimura!

Well this can't possibly end well...

Sometimes it sucks to be right.

Colin Geddes or Jay-Z? It's almost impossible to tell!

Talk about an entrance!

ABCs Of DEATH World Premiere: Interviews. Video.

Warning: Some directors may have been injured during these interviews.

The ABCs of DEATH premiered last night and words like bedlam, tumult, total and utter choas can only begin to paint the picture of last night's red carpet. There is even a creepy sihoutte in the window behind the photo backdrop. To be completely honest the red carpet was removed because of speculation of what could happen when a ton of the most talented genre directors working today assembled.

Not much remains outside of the Ryerson this afternoon but some frayed velvet ropes and Robert A. Mitchell's video of the proceedings....


THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

ABCs of DEATH World Premiere Intro/Q&A Video

This year's installment of Midnight Madness just keeps rocking on. The ABCs of DEATH premiered last night and the stage was packed with directors: Jason Eisner, NachonVigolondo, Adam Wingard to name a few. Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the introduction and post-screening Q&A.



THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Craploads of Animal Masks - Ian Goring's Pics from YOU'RE NEXT!

Saturday night may well have been the creepiest, most unsettling Midnight Madness screenings in a while and it wasn't even entirely from the film (which, to be fair, was pretty friggin' creepy and unsettling).  You're Next brought the crazies out in force even more than usual, many clad in the uber-bizarre animal masks worn by the killers in the film.  Looking out into an audience of lambs and tigers staring back at you may be the weirdest thing you'll see all year.  Here's Ian Goring's menagerie of pictures from the screening that turned the Ryerson into a literal zoo.

Aw, they think they're people!

Three of these ladies won't make it throughvthis movie alive.  In a way, it's a lot like The Bachelor - with 20% more blenders to the brain.

Before...

AHHHHHHH(fter)

The whole You're Next crew was momentarily distracted by a squirrel and a passing mailman.

In hindsight, we never should've left all those chew toys on the seats.

Robert Mitchell interviews the almost implausibly lovely Sharni Vinson

These guys wouldn't stop hanging around the entrance to the theatre, so we threw a ball of yarn across the street and they dispersed.  WHO'S A GOOD KITTY! YOU ARE!

Midnight Madness Programmer Colin Geddes, Adam Wingard, and Simon Barrett discuss the influences for the script , which included Scream and Home Alone (really!)

Writer Simon Barrett and Director Adam Wingard's next project will be a mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the remainder of star Sharni Vinson's skirt.  

The whole twisted crew behind You're Next.  They're a pretty bunch, no?

What sort of axe-wielding maniacal bastard would want to extinguish that smile?

You're Next screens twice more this week - make sure that you check it out, unless of course you want an axe to the skull.

You're Next screens:

Monday September 12 6:30pm AMC 7

Friday September 16 4:00pm TIFF Bell Lightbox 2

Red Carpet video of YOU'RE NEXT

There is nothing like the excitement of a world premiere of film by a highly anticipated emerging director. Such was the case at the Ryerson theater Saturday night when Adam Wingard's latest film, You're Next, was about to screen.

I had the opportunity to talk to Adam, writer Simon Barrett and stars Sharni Vinson and the legendary Barbara Crampton looking amazing lovely as usual. Here is Sheleigh and my red carpet video:



You're Next screens two more times:

Monday Sept., 12th AMC 7 6:30pm
Friday, Sept., 16th TIFF Bell Lightbox 2 4:00pm

Intro/Q&A Video for YOU'RE NEXT

Saturday Sept., 10th marked the World Premiere of Adam Wingard's and Simon Barrett's latest collaboration, You're Next. Hot of the heels of their breakout film, A Horrible Way To Die, which screened in TIFF's Vanguard programme, there was a lot of anticipation for this follow-up film.

Ryerson theater had all the energy of a world premiere at midnight on the first Saturday of the festival. It also helped that the masks prominently featured in the film were being handed out to the die hard fans waiting in the lineup and that Banksy-inspired street was popping up all around the theater.


Here is Sheleigh and my video of the Introduction and Q&A of You're Next:



At the time of this posting You're Next screens two more times:

Monday Sept., 12th AMC 7 6:30pm
Friday, Sept., 16th TIFF Bell lightbox 2 4:00pm

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '11 Ep. 03: You're Next!

Imagine if a bunch of masked assailants interrupted your fancy schmancy family dinner with crossbows and machetes... How freaky would that be? In the tradition of films like Last House on the Left and The Strangers, festival favourites Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett bring us You're Next, a home invasion thriller that was not only scary but pretty funny, and most importantly, believeable. thesubstream.com's own Tara Mason hosts this instalment of our coverage of Midnight Madness at TIFF 2011...

YOU'RE NEXT: A Gallery of Masked Villainy!

You're Next premieres tonight at Midnight Madness and looks to be an amazing entry into the annals of masked villainy, creatively-masked villainy that is. One that sets a villain apart from a mere criminal is that sense of pananche.

Sterling Hayden had it with his creepy clown mask in Stanley Kubrick's ice cold 1956 heist movie, The Killing.

And say, that mask does look familiar...

Who me reference Kubrick?

The Town's heavies brought in a heavily armed elderly nun look.

Ave Maria, Motherfuckers.

Kathryn Bigelow's 1991 Point Break set a new standard in rubber masks, with bank robbers who even took the time to choose appropriate suits for each president.

Ex-Presidents often really come into their own after their term is over.

Andy Lau's Tok was clearly a fan in Johnnie To and Wai Ka-Fai's Fulltime Killer (2001)

And speaking of presidents, these aren't masks in Albert Hughes' Dead Presidents (1995), but the face paint is eerily striking.

The gentlemen executing the heist in Joseph Sargent's The Taking of Pelham One Two Three rely on the fake moustache, what old timey detective fiction called, "false whiskers."  And dressing as men no one would ever notice is surprisingly effective in confusing investigators and victims alike. And they might even be stylish for 1974.



See how You're Next's masks stack up tonight!

YOU’RE NEXT screening times:

Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

YOU'RE NEXT Premieres Tonight + Adam Wingard Speaks!

The last time Adam Wingard had a movie at TIFF he inspired Bobcat Goldthwait to make God Bless America. What kind of madness will his new flick You're Next inspire? There's really only one way to find out and that is to be at the Ryerson tonight at midnight.

Adam also has a great five questions interview up over at filmmakermagazine.com. Here are a few highlights:

On twists in You're Next: ...we decided to make ours more of a fun ride, one that doesn’t punish its audience or take itself too seriously.

On directing directors Ti West and Joe Swanberg: It’s great; they both know what a pain in the ass making a movie can be so I felt a lot of empathy from them when the scenes were getting rough.

If you want to know more ask him yourself tonight at midnight!

YOU’RE NEXT
Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7
Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

GOD BLESS AMERICA
Sun., Sept. 1tth, 1:30PM, AMC 6
Fri., Sept. 16th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Another Shot of YOU'RE NEXT Street Art

 A day time shot of promotional street art for You're Next.  A lot easier to find now.

YOU’RE NEXT

Sat., Sept. 10th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Mon., Sept. 12th, 6:30PM, AMC 7

Fri., Sept. 16th, 4:00PM, TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

BlogTO Submits Five Picks for MIDNIGHT MADNESS 2011!

Excited for Midnight Madness yet? If, for some reason, you haven't made your picks for this year's lineup yet, BlogTO has posted their five top picks to see in our little late-night fiesta of fists and phantoms!

First up is Midnight Madness opening film The Raid, which screens tomorrow night:

"I ALSO declare a thumb war!"

Sometimes the best ingredients for a film at Midnight Madness is fast-paced frenetic action film with a little bit of martial arts and perhaps some disposable criminals to punish. The opening night film Midnight Madness film, The Raid provides all of the above.

Next is, uh...You're Next. No, not you - the film! It screens this Saturday the 10th:

Brenda would stop at nothing to win Dinner Party Wars.

This year director and writer Adam Wingard returns with You're Next a locked-house horror film about a family reunion gone completely awry. Remember that feeling, which only arises at family functions, of wanting to commit matricide or patricide to get your parents to stop talking? How would you react if somebody else tried to beat you to the punch? You're Next attempts to find that out, as a dinner with the family turns deadly when a group of armed invaders attack and send the familial unit on the defense as they try to band together against their assailants.

Third up is the film I'm most looking forward to, that gruesome French fairy tale, Livid which screens this Sunday the 11th:

"Well dammit, now you owe me a new bedsheet, ya jackwagon! You are SO never sleeping over again."

The directors who presented the unapologetically gory and disturbing film Inside to horrified audiences at Midnight Madness in 2007 return this year with Livid, a dark, dream-like horror film about going where you don't truly belong...Rumoured to be the goriest film at Midnight Madness this year, Livid promises to be a terrifying fairy tale of horror that you won't soon forget.

Fourth is the dark post-apocalyptic road movie with a stellar cast and a distinctly bleak outlook, The Day, screening next Thursday the 15th:

"This commute is really starting to get to us."

The story sounds similar to other zombie-related apocalypse films, but The Day seems like it might have a more ambiguous edge to it that will propel the story further than your average survival flick. With an interesting ensemble cast with lesser known but respectable names such as Dominic Monaghan (LOTR), Shannyn Sossamon (The Rules of Attraction) and Shawn Ashmore (X-Men Franchise), there seems to be something a bit different here, while absolutely bleak at the same time.

Finally, the funniest Japanese flick you'll see at TIFF this year, Smuggler, providing you a necessary break from the high tension (see what I did there?) of the rest of the lineup next Friday the 16th:

"Dye job? WHAT DYE JOB??"

While there aren't too many laughs to be found on the programme this year, Smuggler makes up for that in spades as a ridiculous black comedy about Kinuta, a man indebted to the Yakuza and burdened with the unfortunate task of disposing of their dead. When a major Yakuza boss is murdered, Kinuta and his associates are imperiled when his minions plot revenge on anybody they believe may have had a part in his death. And let me assure you, stuff is only about to get stranger.

Don't forget that if you're still undecided, no one would fault you for foregoing sleep all week like your intrepid blog team will be doing, and coming out to all the screenings! Whoever said that sleep was integral to a healthy lifestyle (other than most health professionals)?!

The Raid screens:

Thurs., Sept. 8th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Sat., Sept. 10th, 12:15PM, AMC 2

You're Next screens:

Saturday September 10 11:59pm RYERSON

Monday September 12 6:30pm AMC 7

Friday September 16 4:00pm TIFF BELL LIGHTBOX 2

LIVID screens:

Sun., Sept. 11th, 11:59PM, RYERSON

Tues., Sept. 13th, 5:00PM, AMC 7

The Day screens:

Thur., Sept. 15th 11:59pm Ryerson

Fri., Sept. 16th 3:00pm Scotiabank Theatre 2

Sat., Sept. 17th 9:45pm Scotiabank Theatre 11

Smuggler screens:

Friday September 16 11:59 PM RYERSON

Saturday September 17 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK THEATER 4

Sunday September 18 12:00 PM SCOTIABANK THEATER 4