JOHN DIES AT THE END: Poster Gallery!

 On its journey from digital horror novel to film adaptation, from SXSW and Sundance to reaching its perfect audience in closing out Midnight Madness, Don Coscarelli's John Dies At The End has accumulated a whack of poster art, including some weapons--The Bible Belter above and the Paintball and Propane Flamethrower below.

 (This individual kindly demonstrates the importance of wearing safety equipment)

The poster promoting the South By Southwest screening.

And here are two covers for David Wong's original novel. 

(via Creative Book Design)

(via City on Fire)

JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:

Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59PM:  RYERSON  

Sun., Sept. 16, 5PM:  CINEPLEX YONGE AND DUNDAS

Rob Zombie on THE LORDS OF SALEM (One Year Ago)

Here's an interview with Rob Zombie about THE LORDS OF SALEM from August 2011. It's interesting to look back and hear Zombie's thoughts on the film before it had begun production. Oddly enough, he was in Toronto when the interview was conducted.



THE LORDS OF SALEM Screening Times:
WORLD PREMIERE: Mon., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

LORDS OF SALEM Still Image Gallery

Rob Zombie is an extremely detailed film director and a consummate visual stylist. His use of color in film is very audacious. The world he creates is completely affecting and enthralling. LORDS OF SALEM marks Zombie's return to an original horror story. The stills that have been released thus far show a glimpse into a world created by a masterful storyteller.

 

THE LORDS OF SALEM
Mon., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

ABCs OF DEATH Posters and Trailer

Apart from the Midnight Madness Pass, the best bang for your buck at TIFF has got to be THE ABCs OF DEATH. 26 films. 26 directors. Sign me up! Check out the posters below as well as a trailer promoting the 26th director contest. Sorry folks, the contest is over but all the entries are posted here. Yeah, the trailer looks pretty badass... But this is the stuff that didn't make it into the film. Imagine how awesome the stuff they did put in is!



THE ABCS OF DEATH Screening Times:

Fri., Sept. 14th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

HELLBENDERS: Animal House meets The Exorcist

Check out We Are Movie Geeks interview with Dan Fogler one of the stars of Hellbenders. So, Hellbenders is like if Animal House met The Exorcist... I'm in!




HELLBENDERS 
Sun., Sept. 9th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Tue., Sept. 11th, 7:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat., Sept. 15th, 9:15 PM SCOTIABANK 2

NO ONE LIVES Posters!

With a filmography that includes stylish flicks like Versus and the greatest-titled film of all time Midnight Meat Train, it's fitting that a slick filmmaker like Ryuhei Kitamura would end up with an equally slick poster for his latest, No One Lives.

And for you completests out there, check out the equally moody international one sheet just below.

NO ONE LIVES

Sat., Sep. 8, 11:59pm: RYERSON

Mon., Sep. 10, 9:45pm: CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Fri., Sep. 14, 4:45pm: CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

HELLBENDERS: Found Footage of JT Petty

Found footage of JT Petty holding a contest seeking found footage to include in Hellbenders.  What does it mean? If the camera's not shaking how can I tell if this is fictional or not? 

I don't know what's real anymore!


HELLBENDERS screening times:

Sun., Sept. 9, 11:59pm:  RYERSON
Tues., Sept. 11, 7pm:  CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat. Sept., 15, 9:15pm:  SCOTIABANK

LORDS OF SALEM Posters!

There are a slew of sick images for Rob Zombie's Lords of Salem at Zombie's Facebook page, including these excellently wicked teaser posters.

Though this one seems a little more winsome than wicked.

LORDS OF SALEM
Mon., Sept. 10, 11:59pm:  RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12, 5pm:  CINEPLEX YONGE AND DUNDAS 6

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS. Seven Posters.

In Bruges writer/director, Martin McDonagh's new dark comedy, Seven Psychopaths recently got a series of 7 character posters. One for each of its titular psychopaths, who're being played by an impressive ensemble cast including Sam Rockwell, Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Abbie Cornish, and Woody Harrelson. Sam's the man, so click on his poster below to be taken to Indiewire to check out all of them. Two of the posters have "Shih Tzu" as "Shit" jokes, but it's unclear if there are one or two Shih Tzus in the film. I guess we'll find out on the 7th.

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS screening times:

WORLD PREMIERE: Fri., Sept. 7 11:59PM:  RYERSON THEATRE
Sat., Sept. 8, 3:30PM:  SCOTIABANK 1

An Introduction to the Madness

Since this will be my first TIFF, my first Midnight Madness and my first time aiding the fine guys and gals of this fine MM blog (heck, it'll be the first time I've left the country), I'd like to take a few sweet, precious moments of your time to introduce myself. My name is Justin Souther, and I'm a film critic based out of Asheville, NC, where I help run the Asheville Film Society, and co-curate a weekly horror film series at the local theater.

Beyond that, I write reviews for Asheville's alt-weekly the Mountain Xpress, record the very haphazard film podcast Elitist Bastards Go to the Movies (hence the quite frightening piece of artwork up top--that'd be me in the middle) with my cohorts Ken Hanke and Steve Shanafelt. In my free time, I'm usually watching whatever Netflix true crime program my wife Laura Marie is currently into, and occasionally tweeting embarrassing nonsense from @veryanal.

I'm quite giddy about my first trip to Toronto, hoping to find out what the big deal about Tim Hortons is, and praying mightily that Mayor Rob Ford does something silly while I'm in town. And of course, watching way too many movies.

THE LORDS OF SALEM Teaser!

A figure wearing a faceless, iron mask, seemingly hammered directly into bone, handed me a slip of crumpled, bloody paper before falling to the ground convulsing, shrieking unspeakable things. I turned away, I am ashamed to admit, the paper still clutched in my hand. It was no more than a URL. As you will see, it leads to what is apparently a teaser for The Lords of Salem shot at a concert.

Risk madness and despair--watch with the gathered crowd and gasp as Rob Zombie ascends what appears to be a cherry-picker, probably an unholy one.





LORDS OF SALEM
Mon., Sept. 10, 11:59pm:  RYERSON
Wed., Sept. 12, 5pm:  CINEPLEX YONGE AND DUNDAS 6

DREDD 3D Poster and Clip: Judgment Is Coming

Midnight Madness 2012 opens with Dredd 3D, the first 3D movie ever to play the program and the first of two this year!

Check out the official poster and this clip from San Diego Comic Con that Bloody Disgusting says  "[puts] the slow motion madness on display." (More at Bloody Disgusting).

DREDD 3D screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM:  RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8 12"30PM:  CINEPLES ODEON

It's Official! MIDNIGHT MADNESS 2012!

It's official! Okay, so this news might be old stuff for the Midnight Madness faithful, but this post kicks off the 2012 Festival season for our humble little blog!

Stay tuned for exclusive info on these killer flicks as well as all the other things you want/need to know about TIFF 2012!

Drum roll, please!

CALLING ALL GENRE GEEKS:
WHEN THE WITCHING HOUR STRIKES, MIDNIGHT MADNESS
SHOCKS AND EXCITES

Action-packed thrillers, nerve-wracking chillers and pitch-dark comedies will bewitch audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival®, with a Midnight Madness programme chock full of shocking and rocking cinematic experiences. Nine world premieres stack this slate of international works programmed by Colin Geddes, guaranteed to awe even the most devoted genre fans.

“Audiences clamouring for this highly anticipated lineup can expect wild rides and crazy adventures into the most chimerical and wicked worlds imaginable,” said Geddes, TIFF Programmer. “Expect everything from outrageous horror comedies to mock-doc eco-apocalypse thrillers, featuring trans-dimensional bugs, lewd Catholic priests, meat monsters and dog-napping psychopaths that will animate the Ryerson Theatre when the clock chimes 12.”

The Midnight Madness selection includes films from Don Coscarelli (Phantasm, Bubba Ho-Tep), Academy Award® winners Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) and Barry Levinson (Diner, Rain Man), JT Petty (The Burrowers, S&Man) and heavy-metal horror maven Rob Zombie. Onscreen performances feature Clancy Brown, Abbie Cornish, Colin Farrell, Paul Giamatti, Selena Gomez, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Eli Roth, Tom Waits, Christopher Walken and Karl Urban.

Midnight Madness Opening Night

Dredd 

Pete Travis, USA/United Kingdom/India

World Premiere

The endlessly inventive mind of writer Alex Garland (28 Days Later) and director Pete Travis bring the iconic masked police officer Dredd to life in this futuristic neo-noir action film. Filmed in 3D with stunning slow-motion photography sequences, the film returns the celebrated comic book anti-hero to his dark, violent and visceral roots. Starring Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby and Lena Headey.

The ABCs of Death

Kaare Andrews, Angela Bettis, Adrián García Bogliano, Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet,
Ernesto Díaz Espinoza, Jason Eisener, Xavier Gens, Jorge Michel Grau, Lee Hardcastle,
Noboru Iguchi, Thomas Cappelen Malling, Anders Morgenthaler, Yoshihiro Nishimura,
Banjong Pisanthanakun, Simon Rumley, Marcel Sarmiento, Jon Schnepp, Srdjan Spasojevic,
Timo Tjahjanto, Andrew Traucki, Nacho Vigalondo, Jake West, Ti West,
Ben Wheatley, Adam Wingard, and Yûdai Yamaguchi

World Premiere

Twenty-six directors... 26 ways to die! The ABCs Of Death is perhaps the most ambitious anthology film ever conceived, featuring segments directed by over two dozen of the world’s leading talents in contemporary genre film. With each director assigned a letter of the alphabet, they were then given free rein in choosing a word to create a story involving a tale of mortality. It’s an alphabetical arsenal of destruction orchestrated by some of the most exciting names in global horror including Ben Wheatley (Kill List), Ti West (House of the Devil), Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun), Adam Wingard (You're Next), Xavier Gens (Frontieres), and Nacho Vigalondo (Time Crimes).

Aftershock 

Nicolás López, USA/Chile

World Premiere

In Chile, an American tourist’s vacation goes from good to great when he meets some beautiful women travellers. But when an earthquake ravages the underground nightclub they’re in, a fun night quickly turns to terror. Escaping to the surface is just the beginning as they face nightmarish chaos above ground. Starring Eli Roth and Selena Gomez.

The Bay 

Barry Levinson, USA

World Premiere

A brutal and harrowing film about a deadly parasite, The Bay chronicles the descent of a small Maryland town into absolute terror.

Come Out and Play

Makinov, Mexico

World Premiere

Beth and Francis vacation before the birth of their child. Francis insists on venturing to a more serene island, Beth hesitantly agrees. They set out to a beautiful island, but soon discover it’s mysteriously abandoned, and the only people on the island are children. Beth and Francis are left to uncover the mystery of the disappearances, and a day in paradise quickly turns into a struggle for survival. Cast includes Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Vinessa Shaw and Daniel Gimenez Cacho.

Hellbenders 

JT Petty, USA

World Premiere

Hellbenders, an R-rated 3D exorcism comedy, follows the Order of Hellbound Saints (Brooklyn Parish), a highly secretive and profoundly blasphemous men of God, as they battle demonic forces too terrible to be cast out by traditional Vatican-approved methods. Cast includes Clancy Brown, Clifton Collins Jr., Robyn Rikoon and Andre Royo.

John Dies at the End 

Don Coscarelli, USA

Canadian Premiere

In John Dies at the End, it’s all about the Soy Sauce, a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. Users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly, a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John (Rob Mayes) and David (Chase Williamson), a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't. Adapted from David Wong's audacious trans-genre horror novel, John Dies at the End is written and directed by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep) and also stars Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti.

The Lords of Salem

Rob Zombie, USA/United Kingdom/Canada

World Premiere

Heidi, a radio station DJ, receives a wooden box containing a record. Heidi listens and the bizarre sounds within the grooves immediately trigger flashbacks of Salem's violent past. Is Heidi going mad or are the Lords of Salem returning for revenge on modern day Salem?

No One Lives
Ryuhei Kitamura, USA

World Premiere

From the director of Versus and The Midnight Meat Train, No One Lives is a smart and original horror movie with, at its heart, a killer in the grip of a dark and twisted love affair. A ruthless criminal gang takes a young couple hostage and goes to ground in an abandoned house in the middle of nowhere. When the captive girl is killed, the tables are unexpectedly turned. The gang finds itself outsmarted by an urbane and seasoned killer determined to ensure that no one lives. Featuring Luke Evans, Adelaide Clemens, Derek Magyar, Lee Tergesen and America Olivo.

Seven Psychopaths 

Martin McDonagh, USA/United Kingdom

World Festival Premiere

Written and Directed by Academy Award® winner Martin McDonagh, the comedy Seven Psychopaths follows a struggling screenwriter (Colin Farrell) who inadvertently becomes entangled in the Los Angeles criminal underworld after his oddball friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s (Woody Harrelson) beloved Shih Tzu. Co-starring Abbie Cornish, Tom Waits, Olga Kurylenko and Zeljko Ivanek.

Tickets to screenings for this programme will be available for individual purchase as well as through the Midnight Madness Pack, which includes all 10 screenings for $156, or $100 for students and seniors. Purchase Festival ticket packages online 24 hours a day at tiff.net/festival, by phone Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. ET at 416.599.TIFF or 1.888.599.8433, or visit the box office in person from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. ET at TIFF Bell Lightbox. The 37th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 6 to 16, 2012.

THE DAY Drops On August 28th!

One of the coolest things about TIFF is being able to see a film before, and in some cases LONG before it's released to the general public.  Midnight Madness 2009 selection Solomon Kane is one of these - it's only seeing limited release in late September if IMDB is to be believed - and last years selection The Day is another.

The Day, however, is unique in that it's got the chokeslamming, powerbombing muscle of the WWE marketing machine behind it. It's being released on the 28th of August and Vince McMahon and his cadre of publicists ran a special sneak preview of the post-apocalyptic siege film with several wrestlers (don't worry, no cameos from The Big Show in this film) in attendance. Check it out!

With this in mind, don't forget to pick up your TIFF Midnight Madness passes, so when your friends are lining up like schlubs to see these films next year, you'll be able to lord over them the fact that you've seen them all already.  And isn't that what friendship is all about?

TIFF Midnight Madness passes for all ten films in the 2012 schedule are SOLD OUT, but you can still pick up single tickets to films in the Midnight Madness Programme (and others) starting on Sept 1.  

Deaner from Fubar at Wrongbar!

Deaner from Fubar is going to be playing March 16th at Wrongbar in Toronto. Anyone who was at the Midnight Madness World Premiere of Fubar II in 2010 will for sure remember what a rocking night that was.



Here is the link for all the 411 on the show. http://www.songkick.com/concerts/11026473-deaner-of-fubar-at-wrongbar