Filled with the requisite amount of jump scares the haunted house sub-genre demands, Paranormal Activity 3 delivers the goods in an interestingly different manner than its two predecessors and in a way that will leave fans of the micro-budget horror series clamouring for a fourth entry. Not everything adds up perfectly, but the one thing that many people will deride it for doing is actually the biggest strength of the film: hinting at a possibility that the series might be ready to go in a more interesting direction. In this respect the film is certainly an improvement over the second film and in many ways it manages to be superior to the original.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2011: Final 10 Films include Ti West’s INNKEEPERS! Lucky McKee’s WOMAN! Two World Premieres and More! Toronto After Dark Film Festival is THRILLED to officially announce its FINAL WAVE of exciting new Horror, Sci-Fi, Action, and Cult feature film selections that will screen at the festival’s 6th Annual Event this October 20-27, 2011! […]
There might not be a more colossal misfire this year than Creature . That’s not to say that it’s the worst horror film of the year. but there are a few things worth recommending in this tale of a monster living in the Louisiana bayou. Worst of all, Creature feels no need to overcome its shortcomings by at least being fun. There’s very little joy to be had in how bad this film is.
Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark is the kind of film that will probably freak out pre-teens in the same way Goosebumps books or TV’s Are You Afraid of the Dark? did. It feels lovingly crafted by people who missed being stuck home on a Friday or Saturday night with their parents. In its own […]
The Final Destination series of films have officially become the movie-going equivalent of the tuxedo T-shirt. The first time you see it you say to yourself, "That's a really clever subversion of my expectations at this party." But after a while you begin to wonder just how long this gag is going to be milked because it really stopped being amusing several years ago. Final Destination 5 is an atrocious mess, but it is admittedly barely better than the last installment.
Coming after not only a ten year hiatus, but also after the rise of torture porn, remakes, and reboots, Scream 4 is almost a breath of fresh air. Series creators Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson (who's absence from the third film in the series was wholly apparent) are back with another entry in the lucrative yet entertaining franchise, with a bit more material to chew on this time around.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the creative team behind the original Saw , director James Wan and writer/actor Leigh Whannell. We discussed their new film Insidious , the horror genre, their film inspirations and influences, their favourite Toronto haunts and the dark secrets that their respective dork shelves undoubtedly hold.
I'll admit I have never been a fan of Kevin Smith. I wouldn't necessarily call him a bad filmmaker; more that the worlds he creates and the characters that inhabit them have never held any interest for me. So when the teaser trailers appeared for Red State , I was intrigued. It neither looked nor sounded like a typical Smith film. And it isn't, and that is entirely in its favour. Smith has proven he can create a dark, intense film that is riveting and raw, and unabashed in its examination of the serious threat of the religious right in America.
We caught up with the cast of SPACE and SyFy's new supernatural dramedy Being Human this afternoon in Toronto. The series is adapted from a BBC3 show of the same name about a vampire, a werewolf, and a ghost who share a flat. We joined Sam Huntington, Meaghan Rath and Sam Witwer to talk about the show, their schools of vampirism, lycanthropy and poltergeisting, shooting the show in Montreal, and what they have on their dork shelves.
So a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost walk into a bar... No, that's not the beginning of a lame dad joke, that's the premise of SPACE's supernatural dramedy Being Human . Okay, more like a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost move into a house together and hilarity/shenanigans/brutal killings ensue.
If you’re one of the many people who think Canadian TV is crappy, maybe it’s time you stop tuning in to Little Mosque on the Prairie and start watching SPACE network’s Todd and the Book of Pure Evil . This home-grown Canuck series finishes off tonight with an hour long bound to be epic season finale and believe us, this show is worth watching.
About 15 minutes into Tucker & Dale, you will think to yourself: why did no one have this brilliant idea before? Maybe if they did, it would not the work of horror comedy genius that this film is. While initially worried that I saw all the best jokes in the trailer, I was amazed at how Craig and Jurgenson kept the entire film fresh and brilliantly funny.
Our North American, contemporary version of Santa Claus apparently comes from Coca-Cola; the red suit trimmers with white, the beard, the jolly laughing belly. Santa Claus or some version of him has been around for several centuries, of course, but our modern age has skewed the origins quite a lot. In this tale of the man, director and writer Helander conceives not of a jolly person who brings presents to little children, but of a demon buried deep under a mountain, a demon that eats children. And it will take a child to stop him.
La Casa Muda has become fairly well known on the fantastic festival circuit mainly for its modus operandi: it was shot in one long take. And deservedly so: this technique, which frequently incorporates first person perspective, creates one of the most terrifying atmospheres in any horror film I’ve watched.
It must be hard to be a director like John Carpenter. When you create such classics as Halloween , The Thing and Escape from New York within four years, any subsequent films will never apparently measure up. And his new film The Ward , does not, but it is still a solid old-school horror film with plenty of scares and a twist that is only obvious after the fact.
