Toronto After Dark: Motherhood Scares Chris L. and donna g Says "It's A Wrap"

I really wanted to go to the closing night gala for the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TAD), but no way could I bring myself to see a movie about a blood-craving baby and its devoted mother. Lucky for me, Chris L. was available. Thank you Chris for being my horror drama proxy, and being plucky enough to see GRACE.

Chris L.: I'd become rather blasé about horror films over the past few days, having seen more suspense and horror comedies than anything else at TAD (my schedule didn't always match TAD's screening of horror dramas) and then I saw GRACE. I will never underestimate the creepiness of the closing gala film any more. GRACE was... unsettling, or as one girl remarked on the way out, "a little nasty". (No wonder I couldn't convince donna g and many of my friends to come with me! They must have sensed something I didn't.)

Kudos to the filmmakers! The picture is actually fairly restrained in terms of violence and blood. Its effectiveness lies in the gradual introduction of disturbing moments and images (got milk anyone?) as the film unfolds; subtly at first, until things end both madly and badly. The film works well because it takes the wholesomeness of motherhood and clean living and thoroughly perverts it by focusing on the obsessive qualities of mothers in providing for their children and on the vegan mission for food purity. I felt itchy all over at the end of the film. I even itched when I handed in my film rating ballot (4 out of 5, by the way). Who can forget that one-liner ending! Thanks After Dark, but I'm seriously "horrored out" right now. Signing off.

It's a Wrap for Toronto After Dark
Yea, Chris, you're right. What I "sensed" about GRACE was the poster showing a baby bottle filled with blood! As I said in my first After Dark post, I go to TAD for the other types of films that are offered...

I thoroughly enjoyed the French/African action/fantasy BLACK, the Nazi zombie comedy DEAD SNOW, and the wonderful Chinese epic, WARLORDS (love Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro, but who knew that Jet Li could really act! Wow!).




I had fun at the Japanese school girl bubble gum battle film, VAMPIRE GIRL VS. FRENKENSTEIN GIRL (who can't appreciate a severed arm propeller?),
was enthralled by the production values of Meanwhile City in FRANKLYN (could have done with less screen time for Eva Green, but Ryan Phillippe wasn't bad), and very much appreciated the classic sci-fi end-of-the-world plot of THE DARK HOUR (really should be The Cold Hour since the Spanish title is La hora fría, but I guess "dark" seems more scary).


My Choice for the Audience AwardI'll have to wait until the audience ballots are counted to find out what the favourite film at TAD was, but
my absolute favourite film was the amazing Romanian political vampire movie STRIGOI. I've been going around muttering "strigoi" since I saw the film. I love the sound of the word, and it evokes images of the main character's grandfather reclaiming blood from his grandson ("It's my blood. I gave it to you"). A well-executed tale about the undead, property rights, communism, and endurance. Bravo to the filmmakers (who flew in to spend their anniversary evening at the screening of Strigoi) for making a horror comedy about Romania's lingering past!

Toronto After Dark: Chris L. Goes Beyond The Forbidden Door

No way was this Scardy Cat going to see a movie called The Forbidden Door. Thanks to Chris L. for not only braving the storm last night to attend the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TAD), but for finding out just what popular Indonesian sculptor, Gambir (Fachri Albar) and his beautiful wife (Marsha Timothy) are hiding behind that door.

Chris L.: I don't often hear of horror films from Indonesia- and so despite a crazy tornado storm last night, I appeared at the steps of the Bloor Cinema, looking as though I had just jumped into a swimming pool, ready to enter The Forbidden Door. The film starts off normally enough, except for a slightly weird (but hot) wife and some jarring creepy music, then things get a little strange as events of increasing bizarreness are layered on (I especially liked the choice of home decor), with some child abuse thrown in (which seems like something of a theme in this year's film fest), and you're not sure any more what kind of film you're in (which I appreciate). At its heart, the film is a mystery to which there are only so many solutions. The film pulls a familiar kind of "bait and switch" plot device, which I don't generally like in stories of this type, but I'll forgive it because when our protagonist finally entered that door, I was pretty tense, the hairs on the back of my neck were up and I still wasn't sure what exactly would happen- all good signs.

Chris L's Rating: 4 out of 5

The hairs stood up on the back of his neck? No thank you! No way could I have made it through that film, not even for the chance to see TAD's first ever selection (co-presented by Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival) from Indonesia.

TONIGHT'S CLOSING GALA
I wonder how Chris will react to seeing tonight's closing gala, GRACE. As with every TAD screening, the film will be preceded by a Canadian short, and even though I absolutely love Denis Villeneuve's brilliant work, Next Floor, and would love to see it again, I don't think I can watch a movie about a new mom and her blood craving little baby. Tonight looks like a wonderful conclusion to TAD for those of you who are not as easily scared as I am. 7PM. Bloor Cinema. Tickets $12/$10 students.

Info: www.torontoafterdark.com
Photo Credit: TAD website

Toronto After Dark: Chris L. Gets Rough

What are you doing after dark? Well, Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TAD) fan, Chris L. took in some martial arts action on Day 6 of the festival. I asked Chris his opinion of director, Hun Jang's Rough Cut, since I couldn't make it to the screening.

Chris L.: I thought Rough Cut was a surprisingly well-thought out action drama. From the handful of Korean films I've seen make it to North America, I've noticed that the Koreans are pretty good at taking elements from seemingly different genres of film and merging them together into a coherent, even plausible whole. In Rough Cut, there are unexpected bright spots of comedy and the hint of romance or, at least, of tangled relationships. It's also a good gangster yarn with well-executed scenes of violence. There are times where betrayal and deception beg the ultimate martial arts movie question:how much can a man change if given a good enough beating?

Chris's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

Info: www.torontoafterdark.com
Photo Credit: TAD website

Toronto After Dark: Chris L. Saves Scardy Cat, donna g from The Children

I've shared with you the fact that I can't watch scary films, but love the Toronto After Dark Film Festival (TAD) because it offers other genre films that I can watch (see my other posts). So, having been creeped out by some of the TAD movie trailers, I've asked Chris L. to help me out. Below Chris shares his reasons for going to TAD and his take on The Children.

donna g: How long have you going to TAD?

Chris L.:I discovered the fest last year and really enjoyed it, being also a fan
of the Midnight Madness venue at TIFF. TAD also turned out to be an interesting (although slightly unusual) event to take dates to.


donna g: Why do you go to TAD?

Chris L.:
1. For the thrills (much like why someone might ride a rollercoaster) and also to see something surreal
2. I like to comment/talk/make snide remarks/shout during movies, and at TAD, that's not (or at least less) annoying to people
3. There's a lot of innovation to be found in the horror genre (well, at least right now), unlike other areas of film.


donna g: So what did you think of The Children?

Chris L.: It's always nice to see yet another taboo broken down by a horror film- namely killing kids. There's also a lot of satisfaction in seeing certain parents get killled by their own darling little brats; and in seeing said brats get murdered (in self-defense, of course). Not to sound crude or insensitive or anything, but I have to say there wasn't enough child-killing in the movie. I also kept thinking if it were me in that film, I'd be wacking li'l kids left and right with a baseball bat. No mercy.

Chris L's Rating: Good effort overall, 3 out of 5 stars.