S-VHS Trailer

     My brother recently sent me a link to the trailer for the sequel to the film VHS. I reviewed the first VHS last year on this link. Check out the new trailer for the sequel, S-VHS, now!

Toronto After Dark Film Festival 2012

     A couple of months ago I went to a special summer screening put on by the Toronto After Dark Film Festival for the movie VHS. Today I received an Email listing the first ten films announced for this year's festival taking place October 18-26.

   The trailers for the first ten films are available in THIS YOUTUBE PLAYLIST. The selected moves are:

REC 3: GENESIS (Spain) 
An official selection of the SXSW Film Festival, the latest instalment of the hit Spanish zombie movie series relocates the action to a lavish wedding where the guests - including the bride wielding a chainsaw - try to survive a terrifying outbreak of the undead! 

EXCISION (USA)
A disturbed teenager (AnnaLynne McCord) deals with the stresses of her home and school life by escaping into a world of bloody fantasies where she performs surgeries on herself and and those around her. A major hit at Sundance, the film co-stars cult icons John Waters, Traci Lords and Malcolm McDowell. 

GRABBERS (Ireland) 
In this Sundance audience crowd-pleaser in the mould of TREMORS, when a small Irish town is invaded by bloodsucking tentacled aliens, the locals discover that getting drunk may be their only way to survive as it gives them some resistance to the creatures!

A FANTASTIC FEAR OF EVERYTHING (UK)
A dark and quirky comedy about a very nervous writer played by fan favourite Simon Pegg (SHUAN OF THE DEAD, HOT FUZZ, STAR TREK, SPACED) struggling with a slew of mental demons while working on a new novel about Victorian serial killers.

DEAD SUSHI (Japan)
A vacation resort faces an attack of killer sushi in this outrageous horror comedy from the same deliciously deranged Japanese filmmakers who brought you MACHINE GIRL and TOKYO GORE POLICE!

LLOYD THE CONQUEROR (Canada)
A crowd-pleasing fantasy comedy about three male college students who are roped into battle with Derek the Unholy, a dark wizard who is determined to hold onto his title as champion of the Larpers. Co-stars Mike Smith (aka “Bubbles” from TRAILER PARK BOYS), Harland Williams (DUMB & DUMBER) and Brian Posehn (SARAH SILVERMAN PROGRAM). 

DOOMSDAY BOOK (Korea)
Winner of Fantasia Film Festival’s Best Film Award, this trio of apocalyptic tales features the rise of sentient robots, a zombie virus outbreak and an asteroid on a fatal collision course with earth. Co-directed by acclaimed Korean filmmaker Jee-woon Kim (I SAW THE DEVIL, THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE WEIRD,  A TALE OF TWO SISTERS) 

SUSHI GIRL (USA)
A reunion dinner for a gang of vicious criminals reopens old wounds with deadly consequences. This stylish, ultraviolent crime film in the mould of Tarantino’s RESERVOIR DOGS features a genre cast to die for including Tony Todd (CANDYMAN),  Michael Biehn (TERMINATOR), Danny Trejo (MACHETE), Sonny Chiba (KILL BILL) and Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill! 

WRONG (USA)
A hit at Sundance, fans of David Lynch and the Coen Brothers will delight in this latest cinematic oddity from the deranged mind of Quentin Dupieux (RUBBER): an absurd crime thriller about a man and the very strange things that happen to him as he tries to track down his kidnapped dog. 

UNIVERSAL SOLDIER: DAY OF RECKONING (USA)
Action legends Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme reunite in the latest bone-crunching chapter of the popular Universal Soldier sci-fi action movie series. Joining them is Scott Adkins (EXPENDABLES 2). This time to survive, the Unisols must battle anarchy amongst their order, weeding out the weak, and testing their strongest warriors in brutal, life-or-death combat!

     The list looks good to me and I would totally be interested in checking out Grabbers, A Fantastic Fear Of Everything, Doomsday Book and Universal Solider: Day Of Reckoning! There are ten more movies to be announced at the end of September and I'll be sure to post them up here when the list becomes available.

     200 all-access passes are available for purchase now. For $168  (40% less than buying the tickets individually) you get admission for all the films and priority access (they let you enter the theatre first).

V/H/S Review

     On Wednesday July 11th, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival presented a summer screening and the Canadian premier of the horror film V/H/S. The movie was a sellout and it received a great reception from the audience. As of right now there is no Canadian theatrical release planned but it is scheduled for a limited release in the USA on October 5th, 2012, and on VOD in late August.

     The movie is made up completely from found footage, which after the Blair Witch, Paranormal Activity 1, 2 & 3, Cloverfield, Super 8, The Zombie Diaries, [REC] 1 & 2, Diary Of The Dead, Quarantine, The Last Exorcism, Apollo 18, The Troll Hunter, Chronicle and Project X some people may be getting tired of. However, unlike some of the previously mentioned films, the found footage concept is integral to the story of this movie.

     The concept of the film (without revealing any spoilers) revolves around a bunch of scummy hipster d-bags who are hired to steal a VHS tape from an old man's house. While in the house the group finds a bunch of tapes and plays several of them to find the one they were sent to steal. Each tape played is a separate film from a different director who was instructed to make a short (roughly 20 minute) horror movie using the found film genre. During the course of the anthology there are 5 tapes played in addition to the wraparound story that features the home invasion.

     The film works well because unlike many horror films where you sit around for an hour and a half waiting for something scary to happen for 3 minutes, the various directors of the V/H/S anthology only have about 20 minutes each to create their story and deliver the horror resulting in a nice fast pace. Some of the stories are better than others but they are all very good. I won't describe the short films for fear of spoiling some of the movie. The features have a nice mix of horror and some genuinely funny moments to break up the tension.

     I'm not convinced that the film is one that needs to be seen in a theatre as I believe it would be just as effective on the small screen. However, if you are a horror fan I would definitely suggest seeing this movie in some form. I give V/H/S a 9/10

     Check the trailer out!