Oh my! The Chickening opened Midnight Madness before Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room. Nick DenBoer and Davy Force's cinegraffiti short film was five minutes. Was it five minutes?!?! Man that was a TRIP! Is this what drugs feels like? I'm sure someone with access to a thesaurus could arrive at a million adjectives to describe what we all witnessed -- is there a million adjectives? -- all I can say is man that was a laugh out loud, fun, crazy, amazing, mind-blowing, mind melting cinematic experience! -- Robert A. Mitchell
Here Nick and Davy talk to programmer Colin Geddes about making The Chickening!
Hey, everyone, it's your last chance to see The Chickening and Green Room at the Festival! So hurry on over to the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema and ready your mind for the brain-altering power of The Chickening and get ready to see Patrick Stewart stage-dive. At least I assume he stage dives in Green Room. Though it doesn't say anything about that in the MM programmer Colin Geddes' description:
Life on the road is tough for The Ain't Rights.
Broke, tired, and at each other's throats after
a cancelled gig, the DIY punk band accepts
one more sketchy matinee show, at a compound
in the backwoods of Oregon, just so
they won't have to keep siphoning gas for
the long drive home to Virginia. The booker
assures them things will go fine as long as
they "don't talk politics" — which seems easy
enough, until they take the stage facing an
audience of neo-Nazi skinheads. The Ain't
Rights' decision to kick off the set with a
cover of the Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks
Fuck Off" does not go over well. Amazingly,
the rest of their set does.
I'm sure we can take the stage-diving as implied. [Don't take the stage-diving as implied. I'm pretty sure Patrick stewart does not stage dive. ~ ed.]
To get in the mood, why not enjoy the Dead Kennedys' "Nazi Punks Fuck Off."
I'm not sure what I'm looking at, but it's not good. Not good at all.
Baskin premieres tonight, promising a tale of police officers who are unfortunately dragged through a portal to Hell while breaking up a cult ritual. We've been here before, fellow Acolytes of Madness. So it seems like a good time to smudge the room, raise the four quarters, draw a pentagram on the floor in chalk and take a look at some other cinematic visions of Hell--from within a protective circle of salt of course.
If Baphomet suggests you don't bother with the circle of salt, don't listen. Baphomet says a lot of things.
See? Always saying things.
The Hellraiser series has a lot of interesting ideas about hell. The paramount being, you don't really want to go there. Not even people who think they do want to go there. In fact, they find out that they SO don't want to go there that they'll find a way to sneak back using other people's blood to make a new body and then steal someone else's skin and live even the most boring of lives after that if they have to. In Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1987), we see a little more of Hell itself. It's very neat and it's both very Escher and kind of German Expressionist. One can imagine Kafka spackling and tidying it for eternity.
If you look closely, you can find Cesare from The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari wandering around here.
And floating above the labyrinth of Hell is unfortunately not Tim Curry
But a big ol' geometry problem that abhors any kind of chaos and really thinks you should get with its program of boring architecture and chains that fly out of nowhere to tear your soul apart.
Huge ass jerk.
In Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981), Liza inherits a cursed hotel. It has things like "The Seven Doors Of Death," which I assume was not listed as legally required. One of them is a gate to Hell, and Liza accidentally opens it with a combination of fixing up the place and The Book of Eibon. There is a whole lot of trouble at the hotel. Aside from demons in the plumbing and people dying and mysterious acid attacks, there creepy painting by an artist murdered by a mob in her otherwise quaint, b'n'b ready hotel. Seeing the painting, Liza does what any sane person would do and decides to leave. Ha ha, no sorry, she decides that even though looking at the painting makes her bleed, she'll barge right into the one room she's been told to stay out of. And that's where she finds The Book Of Eibon, which I assume is bound in human skin. Long story short, turns out Hell is in her basement.
I don't know, maybe a dehumidifier would help.
People can't leave ancient tomes alone in The Gate (1987) either. The Gate is a Canuxploitation classic directed by Tibor Takács. Stephen Dorff--I assume his character has another name, but we all know that The Gate is the true story of Stephen Dorff's life. Stephen Dorff and his friend discover a cursed geode beneath a lightning blasted tree in Stephen Dorff's yard. It's a good one and I really can't blame him for taking it home. But there is an accident during excavation and the Blood of Stephen Dorff is spilled upon the Earth beginning the summoning of cute little demon guys.
But even these little guys don't know better than to leave ancient cursed texts alone.
There are a lot of demonic shenanigans. Dead people reappear. A dog dies and is deposited in the geode hole. Teenagers listen to heavy metal. Demons rearrange the family VHS library and eat the last piece of cake. But you know, with a combination of the Bible and a rocket, the kids set things right. Well, mostly right. The house is a wreck but the dog's okay. So the lesson of The Gate is really, buy your geodes at those stores that sell pewter wizards and enamel dragons' eggs, kids.
I always forget that Paul W. S. Anderson directed Event Horizon (1997). Anyway, the event horizon in Event Horizon is that of a black hole and an experimental ship that mysteriously disappeared. And also, probably Hell. After receiving a signal, a rescue ship is deployed carrying Dr. William Weir, the engineer who designed Event Horizon's experimental black hole-powered drive. Weir is played by Midnight Madness alumnus, Sam Neill (Daybreakers). When the rescue team arrives, they discover everyone on board Event Horizon dead in really horrible ways. And the Event Horizon's gravity drive powers up on its own. People start having hallucinations. And, most importantly, Sam Neill's Dr. William Weir has hallucinations. About this time they discover the ship's video log which records the Event Horizon crew losing it and the captain saying, in Latin, "Save yourselves from Hell." Latin is always a bad sign. It turns out that the ship passed through a Hell dimension and came back possessed, but they're real problem turns out to be a possessed Sam Neill.
Nobuo Nakagawa's Jigoku (1960) is chock full of sinning and people just doing plain crappy things to each other, but it's all a prelude to theology student Shiro's journey to rescue an infant who has floated on the river running through the underworld into Hell. Not just any infant, but Shiro's child who died with his fiance in a car-wreck. Shiro (Shigeru Amachi) has a lot of issues. And I don't think he feels any better as he travels through Hell seeing the specific punishments for each group of sinners. Shiro is like Dante without Virgil--though maybe he does have a Beatrice. And the Hell Shiro travels through is made from each suffering soul's own sense of guilt. Oh, and it's another film with a painting of Hell in it.
"Just turn left at the sign. You can't miss it!"
In High Plains Drifter (1973), a stranger (Clint Eastwood) rides into town full of people hiding their sins and being all casual about having whipped the previous marshal to death. the Stranger kills people easily, and doesn't seem able to die. When the men the town had hired to kill the marshal are due out of prison, the people of Lago get understandably nervous and they hire the Stranger to help them. He makes them plan a big party, paint their town red and paints "Hell" in red letters on the town sign. High Plains Drifter is an inversion of Pale Rider, with (maybe) the Devil--sometimes called, "The Strange"--coming to town and sorting things out himself. But even if it's not exactly literally Hell in the sense that Hellraiser is about Hell, High Plains Drifter is worth pondering.
And I'm pondering what Can Evrenol's vision of Hell will be in Baskin. But I must tell you, my friends. My mind unquiet. I can't help thinking, "But what of The Chickening?"
How could you not have something to say about a remixed version of The Shining that goes in every bizarre, surreal direction possible? I can safely say that not one person in the Midnight Madness audience was prepared for The Chickening, but Twitter was afire with the audience's reactions and social media watchdog Jonny Bunning was monitoring the action all the way from the UK! See if your tweets made it into our Storify!
Check out this weird short film a first or second time tomorrow!
When you have Patrick Stewart, a batshit remix of The Shining featuring chickens, and the wildest audience in the whole Festival all together under one roof, mayhem is going to ensue. Fortunately for the sorry souls that weren't in attendance last night, or for the Midnighters too bleary-eyed to remember, our intrepid blogtographer (that's a word, right?) Ian Goring was taking shots all night for posterity.
The lovely Alia Shawkat shimmers on the red carpet!
Did you know that Alia Shawkat is in both the opening and closing night films (Green Room and Final Girls) of Midnight Madness 2015? That's c-c-c-crazy!
Anton Yelchin spies something fishy on the red carpet.
My second-favourite Nazi in Green Room, the lovely Imogen Poots!
Green Room director Jeremy Saulnier!
The stylish cast of Green Room!
Kenny! Colin! You boys quit that horseplay or I swear to god I will turn this whole theatre around!
How messed up is it that Kenny damn Hotz is the most traditionally-dressed person in this picture?
Two Weird Dudes In Four Weird Shoes: The Chickening creators Nick DenBoer and Davy Force on the red carpet at the Ryerson.
Nick DenBoer attempts to explain the inexplicable when asked to introduce The Chickening.
Possible future X-Men cast?
Jeremy Saulnier explains the influences behind Green Room as a fan of hardcore music and 70's horror and action films.
Patrick Stewart explains why his Kickstarter for 'the largest and most obtrusive earbuds ever' is not terribly successful.
Double mics! Make it so!
Jeremy Saulnier talks about his twisted vision for Green Room
Never let it be said that Midnight Madness isn't a place of love. Misguided, highly-disturbing love.
If you missed the midnight mayhem, catch a second screening of Green Room and The Chickening at a very reasonable hour tomorrow!
In past years, we at the Midnight Madness blog have warned you of many dangers. The dangers of hooking up with or dating dead people and the heartbreak of "intimate hauntings" (e.g., Dead Girl; It Follows). The dangers of Tony Jaa taking you apart like a chicken with his powerful and frightening muay thai skills, which we face again this year in SPL 2: A Time For Consequences. (The consequences? Tony Jaa takes you apart like a chicken), The dangers of Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim or Yayan Ruhian (The Raid; Yakuza Apocalypse) taking you apart with their pencak silat and judo skills. The dangers of 3-D-inducing drugs bringing Judge Dredd's justice down on you and Soy Sauce-based drugs just making you see... things you really don't want to. Just last year, we warned you about Murder Scouts. And despite their being our informal Midnight Madness blog mascot, we always have a wary eye on our "friends," the isopods--giant or otherwise.
"Otherwise."
Tonight The Chickening begins this year's Madness. It becomes a part of not only Midnight Madness' history, but a part of a select history, a history of films warning you of dangers to be prepared for. Sure you know about The Birds and I assume you've been briefed on the precautions necessary during a Birdemic, Poultrygeist or even a Thankskilling.
Throw the egg out and wash your hands. Do not touch your mucus membranes.
Abandon your house. Go get Chinese food.
Preparedness is next to Not Getting Your Ass Killed. Sure, Bubo the mechanical owl from Clash of hte Titans is cute. But have to stopped to consider what would happen if Bubo went bad? He has the wisdom of Athena and his cuteness is unstoppable.
Sure, Bubo's cute and helpful, but its name is also evocative of the Bubonic Plague. Best wash your hands.
We haven't heard from Rodan or the Giant Claw in a while, but not so long ago, Bangkok dealt with a very Rodan-like Garuda situation. Does your city have a Giant Bird Preparedness Plan?
Garuda will mess up the Greater Metropolitan Area.
Have you considered all the eventualities of a Roc roosting in a densely populated city? And I'm not talking about the effects of Dwayne Johnson on the native cod population and how that trickles down to depleted fish and chips options. I'm talking about this Roc:
City officials attempt to enforce zoning regulations.
What about this mysterious goose visible for a good while in Harinam Singh's vampire classic Shaitani Dracula? It seems innocent enough--as if it had just wandered into the shot. But it is in a movie about Dracula. Is it some kind of Dracula itself? What is it doing? Should we fear the Goosening?
I think... I think it's looking at us...
And that's not even getting into the more prosaic dangers of, say, Sam the Eagle running a political campaign. (I'm thinking Senate).
Sam's anti-"weirdo" policies would be devastating for Midnight Madness.
But we do have some fine feathered friends on our side. Bubo, probably. Rodan stood up for Earth against King Ghidorah and the alien jerks hiding in our lakes and laughing at human emotions that one time.
And for every goose Dracula, there is a heroic wonder bird like Sheroo in Dharam Veer. Sheroo the Wonder Bird catches imperiled babies.
Baby saved!
But if you see Mr. Chicken... Goddamn, your goose is cooked. Run. Just run. And we'll pray for you.
My God, he sees us. HE SEES US.
In the meantime, as always, make sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling poultry products and always cook your chicken to an internal temperature of 74 degrees Celsius or 165 degrees Fahrenheit.
It’s that time again. Everywhere you go, the smell of popcorn’s in the air. TIFF is upon us once again, so I hope you’ve been stocking up on your sleep, because for the next ten nights, Midnight Madness is going to keep you up waaaay past your bedtime.
It’s been awhile since a short film screened at Midnight Madness. Not since The Legend of Beaver Dam opened the festival in 2010. Tonight, before Patrick Stewart graces the screen as a skinhead in Green Room, the Midnight Madness audience will be treated to the clucked up lunacy of… The Chickening!!!
We've heard that The Chickening is an animated short that precedes Green Room, making it de facto the first film to play Midnight Madness 2015. We've heard that The Chickening is written and directed by Nick DenBoer and Davy Force, who have worked on Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Code Monkeys , Conan and Best Show In The Universe. (For more about DenBoer and Davy Force, please see Robert Mitchell's profile). Here we are focused on The Chickening itself, because we've heard rumors. Rumors that seem to be born out by this image
Is it the ultimate expression of human longing--marrying both technology and art, human and chicken?
Is it the next step in evolution? The final development of life on earth--perhaps all life everywhere? Wrought, perhaps through terrible surgeries at the seemingly innocuous Charbray's Chicken World?
Surgeries that cause chicken and human alike to glow with an eerie phosphorescence?
Is it the ghostly vengeance of thousands of the Colonel's victims? Ironically wrought by just the right combination of herbs and spices? Does The Chickening take possession of our very souls?
Is the Chickening the power of all of poultry-kind united in one dreadful display of Roost-Mind? Can they feel our souls deep within their gibblets?
Roost Mind feeling your soul with their gibblets.
And, God forbid, do they know what Werner Herzog has been saying about them?
Is there anything we can do but clutch our chickens close and gather at the Ryerson to discovering the truth--the liberating Truth of the Chickening? No. No, I don't believe there is.
The Chickening is being touted as, "remixed, augmented cinema" or "Cinegraffiti". In other words, this five minute short film is an innovative, unique cinematic experience that is going to blow your mind!
Let's meet the creative forces behind the film.
Nick DenBoer wears many creative hats. He is an animator, a writer, a director, a music composer, a video artist, as well as a producer. Nick is from Toronto, Canada. He has worked on the show Kenny vs. Spenny, Vice Magazine and DC Shoes USA. The past few years has seen Nick writing, directing and producing comedy bits for Conan on TBS. Here's his show reel.
Davy Force is from Los Angeles. He is also a commercial animation director, independent film/video maker, as well as an audio/video remix artist known as TV Sheriff. Davy has animated several title sequences for television, most notably for Adult Swim's Tim and Eric Awesome Show Great Job. His professional work has also included numerous television commercials, music videos and concert visuals. Mr. Force has been nominated for a Prime time Emmy Award. He is also creating a 24-hour independent television network called InfoChammel. Here is a look into Davy's work.
The Chickening precedes the 2015 Midnight Madness opening film Jeremy Saulnier's Green Room.
THE CHICKENING screens with GREEN ROOM:
Thu, Sept 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Fri, Sept 11th, 8:45 AM SCOTIABANK
Sat, Sept 12, 2:15 PM BLOOR HOT DOCS
It is rare that a short film plays at Midnight Madness so there is a lot of fascination to see Nick DenBoer aka SmearBalls and Davy Force's The Chickening. Above is the poster that was created for the TIFF premiere. Below is a couple of stills. Even with these glimpses the mystery still abounds. What is The Chickening?
THE CHICKENING screens with GREEN ROOM:
Thu, Sept 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Fri, Sept 11th, 8:45 AM SCOTIABANK
Sat, Sept 12, 2:15 PM BLOOR HOT DOCS
"Little is known about this five-minute short film scheduled to precede
Jeremy Saulnier's Nazi punk thriller Green Room, but the synopsis
hints at a crazy surprise: "It's hard for a boy not to get excited when
his dad gets a new job as Senior Chief Night Manager at Charbay's
Chicken World and Restaurant Resort, the world's largest fast-food
entertainment complex in North America. But things quickly get very,
very clucked." Elsewhere, the festival program refers to director Davy
Force and Nick DenBoer's "lucky fast-food horror flick." So it's a scary
movie about chickens? Rumor has it that The Chickening is something
far stranger..."
