Toronto After Dark Film Festival

Saw this one at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival and it ranks up there along with Schizopolis and a midnight showing of Army of Darkness as my favourite theater experience. Surreal, hilarious, stylish and lots of fun, this is a perfect cult film with lots of opportunity for audience interaction. As always Tadanobu Asano and Susumu Terajima (who is quickly becoming one of my favourite actors) were excellent.

Excellent film. Ninjas with superpowers, do you really need more reasons to see it?

A wacky comedy that could only come out of Japan. Though I've heard it compared to Shawn of the Dead (which I think is stretching it quite a bit) this movie towers over Shawn's mediocre attempts at comedy. Tadanobu Asano (in yet another great film) and Sho Aikawa play loser buddies who's jujitsu skills come in handy after the inevitable zombie takeover. Where that may sound a tad predictable, about halfway through the movie takes a sharp turn, landing it in Romero country. There are a lot of laughs to be had and the movie never lets up for a second. I can see why some audience members were turned off, Asano's character is so dumb and pig-headed that he is easy to hate in the third act, but to some audience members that is the joy of this film, characters who do not follow the beaten path.

It's really nice to be in the hands of a truly talented director. This is the first Tsukamoto film I've seen in the theater, and I was really excited, and holy eff, was I not disappointed.
The film starts out as a sort of artier and meaner Dreamscape (an awesome film in it's own right) with folks gettin' killed off in their dreams and a detective who can enter them is talked into solving the case. It's great until that point, but then it becomes a Tsukomoto film and starts kickin' ass and takin' names. The climax of this film is nothing short of astonishing, and seeing it on the big screen was a true joy. I can't say too much about it (not just because of spoilers, but I'm still figuring parts out) but it's some of Tsukomoto's best work.
Also, in his favour, it's probably his best performance as an actor I've seen so far. His scenes in the final act are amazing and he emotes better without speaking than most folks who act for a living.
A great film and a great film experience.

Total, unadulterated awesomeness. Sure I really liked Kiltro, but this is leaps and bounds ahead of it. Blending comedy, melodrama, the vigilante film, the superhero film and martial arts, the filmmakers/star have created a masterpiece. Apparently, a lot of the hits are real in the fights, and that definitley adds to the excitement, but it's the shifting moods and surprising decisions in storytelling that elevate this to a five star film. A must see.

Awesome! A great anthology film with some great scares and big laughs. All the directors do an amazing job with the the stylish stories. Of course, anyone who's seen it is going to leave remembering "In Between" the most, frankly it is the best with some incredible comic performances, but every story shines, proving Asian horror is far from dead. It just has to be done right, and every segment is a textbook example of how to accomplish that. Should become something of a classic if there is any justice.

God, I loves me some Coffin Joe. Ole CJ is back and still in search of a woman to birth him a superior child. Along the way we see a vision of Hell/Purgatory, CJ's torture chamber and an insane priest/WWE wrestler. Awesome stuff.

Another winner in the new wave of Japanese gore/horror/comedy flicks. Unlike the far inferior Guinea Pig films and other nasty gore flicks of the past (Naked Blood, Red Room, Eat the Schoolgirl, etc) the audience doesn't feel quite as dirty after viewing. In fact, this is quite the crowd pleaser. Where Tokyo Gore Police may have worn out it's welcome by having a 2 hour plus running time, VG vs FG is a lean, mean 85 minutes of fun, comedy and gore. Plenty of entertainment with a good cast and inventive set pieces. A must see if you are a fan of Meatball Machine, Machine Girl or Tokyo Gore Police.

Another great one in the vein of Machine Girl and Meatball Machine. Some very funny and (of course) very gory moments make this one I'll be returning to again and again. The only criticism is that it's not as good as Meatball Machine and Machine Girl, but heck, what is?
Next time one of your friends says Japanese horror is all long haired ghosts, show him this... and then cut him in half, the opinionated prick.

Great ghost story that has some really chilling moments. Despite some scenes leaving the audience scratching their heads, that is pretty much expected from Kurosawa. Not his best film, but very good indeed.

One of the saddest things I've ever seen, and yet advertised as a comedy about an average joe who has a bad reaction to medication and believes he is a superhero. Rappaport gives the performance of his career in this sad, downbeat and great film.

Good, but unfortunately not great Pang brother film. There are some great moments, but it's very much a "journey" film, which I've never been that fond of. However, the ghost story in this is excellent.
SPOILER ALERT:
I gotta say, there is a part in this film that is anti-abortion, pretty blatantly and it was fascinating to see the reactions of the people in the theater I saw it in. People who were previously enjoying the film turned on it like it was snuff. It's odd, the more "liberal" a lot of people are, the more vicious they are when other express their views. So what if the Pangs are anti-abortion? They come from a completely different culture than ours which does view abortion as a sin. Get over it. Not everyone lives in a world where controversial subjects like abortion are discussed over Big Macs and on daytime TV shows. The reason I watch films from other countries is to see things outside my culture (I especially find foreign exploitation cinema fascinating in this respect) not to have my own beliefs justified and played out before me. It's funny how people who insist they're open minded can be the most closed minded when confronted with other viewpoints. But, in their defense, the ending was played highly melodramatic, which can be viewed as hilarious, but I certainly heard some very "holier than thou" laughter mixed in. Rant over.

Possibly a bit too smart for it's own good and a little late on the draw of being a post-modern slasher film, Behind the Mask is still a good time that wears it's heart on it's sleeve. A sleeve covered in blood!

Another excellent offering from the great Bill Plympton. This one is more serious than the other films I've seen from him (some might call it pretentious), but just as good. Not a word is spoken throughout the film, yet it states pretty clearly, something people seem to often forget; happiness is fairly easily achieved if you let yourself achieve it.
A very good film.

Gore galore (though it does put itself in the line of fire by using the same title as Peter Jackson's classic) and stupid characters doing stupid things make this a great watch that seems to transport you back to the eighties. Heck, if I was told that this film was from the eighties I would have no problem believing it.
A lead character who is written to be charming and funny but has all the charisma of a doctor telling you that you have cancer, and an ensemble cast of characters that seem like they were taken when someone raided a softcore porn set. The story is something you've seen a million times before, a bunch of folks lock themselves up to fight an outside force, but I'm cool with that. Hell, I'm willing to watch that concept a million more times as long as it's done in a fun or scary way (don't be mistaken though, there is nothing scary about this one). Recommended as a decent way to get a gore fix and cheap laughs.

For a guy who's Indonesian movie knowledge consists of ludicrous sword and sandal films, crazy horror/action hybrids and insane mystic hijinks (mostly due to the awesome Mondo Macabro label) it was nice to see an Indonesian film that is actually trying to be insane.
This is a stylish, well-paced and interesting film which has moments that are must see. Unfortunately, a lot of conventions that are "old hat" here in North America are probably not as cliche over there. Not to give anything away, but there are a few surprises that are somewhat letdowns. Also, though I don't speak Indonesian, I suspect our main character wasn't the greatest thespian. Now, in the movie's defense, the usually amazing Toronto After Dark Film Festival had serious problems during the screening of the film, which had it shutting down a few times. What made it harder to get back into the film was that the audience who is hooting and hollering during the breaks took a while to calm down and get back into the film. Laughter at bad subtitles and such. Or maybe I'm just an old curmudgeon. Regardless, it definitely did hinder the enjoyment of the film.
I'll absolutely be watching this again and hopefully will be able to enjoy if for what it is and without interruptions. Still, despite the mediocre review, I would say this is a must see for people who enjoy adventurous, offbeat and bizarre cinema.

Good film, but gets a bit repetitive by the hour mark. However, a good ending helps it out tremendously. I went in thinking that if it's half as good as the amazing Shutter, I'll be happy, and it was a bit more than half as good...so I'm happy.

Fun film that is perhaps a bit too repetitive, but if the mood is right, it can be pretty kickass and weird.

Good horror film. You've seen it all before, but if your like me, when has that ever stopped you from enjoying something? But enough with the shaky camera already!

Decent first person film with interesting performances. Sort of the Blair Witch version of Joshua.

An interesting horror film that takes a while to build up. I was reminded of the Korean film, Paradise Villa, when I watched this, because it takes a strange approach to horror. Sure a lot of nasty things happen, but they really are organic to the story and seem based within reality. There is no outside force, no other, just people doing terrible things.
It's a shame that most know this film because of it's fairly explicit sex (which isn't even that necessary), because there is definitely a very interesting film here.

This is a truly awful film. The writing, directing, editing, shot composition and acting (except by one particular fella) are terrible. But it's got 2 redeeming values, and boy are they redeeming. The kills and the awesome Crispin Glover. When someone gets Glover in a film it's like God visits them in a dream and personally blesses the film. There is no possible way that it can suck. Glover is a blast, overacting like hell and making up for the rest of the truly unwatchable characters. Honestly, the movie spends the first 40 something minutes on these teens and it takes a strong man not to run from the theater screaming like a Banshee. I'm sure if you were in the woods with these kids there, you'd decide to kill them as well. And speaking of killin', the majority of deaths in this film are pretty effin' great. Lots of gore in store for anyone who can make it past the first bit.
The movie's a complete mess, couldn't expect much else for the guy who did Harry and the Hendersons when he tries to make a horror film, but oh what a glorious mess it is.

Probably the weakest of the Toronto After Dark Film Fest, this is a really schizophrenic film that doesn't quite know what it wants to be. Moments of deadly seriousness (that cause laughter more than anything else) are mixed with, what can only be, intentional camp, leaving the audience wondering how to react to each scene. Fortunately (and I'm sure it's because I enjoy the TADFF so much) I just went with the flow and quite liked it. The visuals are interesting and I always enjoy Thomas Jane. Yet it would be easy to tear this film apart if you felt like it. All in all, watch if you are in a very noncritical mood.

Another film I'm sure I enjoyed more because of the Toronto After Dark Fest experience rather than the film itself. But I never look a gift horse in the mouth, so I should just be happy I enjoyed it.
Another horror film that uses rednecks to scare/induce laughter (cause they all just so damned stoopid, aint they?) which mostly fails in the horror department, but does keep the viewer moderately entertained through out it's running time. Almost a lesser version of The Devil's Nightmare (AKA: Succubus).