Pics From The Premiere of CUB!

It was a dark and stormy night as the Midnight Madness audience packed the Ryerson for Jonas Govaerts CUB. Cardboard masks were handed out for an unprecedented second time, and there was even a certain murderous feral scout in attendance.  Ian Goring captured all the chills here!

Neither rain, nor snow, nor sleet, nor the ever-present threat of Kai could keep this audience away from CUB!

The folks behind CUB (and Colin Geddes) are well on their way to earning their "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK" badge.

Ah, that's better.

Blogger Robert Mitchell interviews Jonas Govaerts

It wouldn't be Midnight Madness 2014 without some people in surprisingly-detailed cardboard masks.

A surprisingly stylish Kai, direct from the beach.

Kai seems pretty jazzed for a sequel.

You've got only one chance to catch CUB before TIFF wraps, so get yourself out of bed on Saturday and scare yourself silly!

CUB screening times:
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

CUB World Premiere Post-Screening Q&A With Director Jonas Govaerts

Cub the first feature film from director Jonas Govaerts was very well received by the always awesome midnight madness crowd. Here is the complete world premiere introduction and post-screening Q&A.



CUB screening times:
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

CUB World Premiere Interview With Director Jonas Govaerts

Cub just had it's world premiere at midnight madness. Robert A. Mitchell was there and spoke with the director Jonas Govaerts on the midnight madness red carpet. Cub is a very strong first feature from Mr. Govaerts. It is safe to say he earned his feature film merit badge. If you are looking for horror film with old school practical effects and a movie that stays true to genre conventions while still surprising Cub should be seen. Scouts honor!!! Cub also marks a first in the history of midnight madness -- the first film in the Flemish language. There are still two more screenings as of this writing.




CUB screening times:
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

CUB: Scouting... Murder Scouting, that is.

So if the trailer and stills from Cub are anything to go by, it's a heartwarming, coming-of-age story of a boy becoming a man and discovering himself as a Murder Scout.

Is it a coincidence that the image on the poster bears an eerie similarity to the terrifying children of Goodnight Mommy? Obviously not. Murder Scouts is an international--non-profit--organization. They have branches in Belgium and Austria. Everywhere!

Arts and crafts day for the Murder Scouts of Goodnight, Mommy.

Arts and crafts day in Cub. Coincidence? NO.

But while their penchant for masked mayhem is clearly a marker of the modern Murder Scout, Murder Scouts can earn merit badges in traditional Scouting skills like Athletics, Knot-Tying, Basketry,  Archery,  Chemistry, Backpacking, and Citizenship in the Community. But they also earn special merit badges in areas such as: Profiling, Carcass-Disposal, Blood Spatter Analysis, Sprees, Backstory, White Van Automotive Repair, Behaving Perfectly Normally, Blending In, and Being Quiet And Keeping To Yourself Mostly.

Working on an Orienteering Merit Badge or a Creepy Deserted Shed Badge?

And note the subtle differences in the Murder Scout Oath:

On my honor I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country
and to obey the Murder Scout Law;
To appear to help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong,
mentally awake, and appear perfectly normal even though I am a terrifying Murder Scout."

Did you catch it?

Can you find the Murder Scout in this picture? EXACTLY!

It was the Murder Scout cases that made Manny Patinkin walk away from Criminal Minds. (So I suppose we have them to thank for Homeland.) Because seriously, the whole thing is just messed up.

"The UNSUB has merit badges in Electronics and Small Appliance Repair."

But as the Scouts say, "Be Prepared." What preparations can the average non-Murder Scout citizen or regular Scouts take against Murder Scouts and Murder Scouts, Int'l.? As far as I know, Murder Scouts cannot endure the cooties of the Vancouver-based indiepop punk Cuddlecore band Cub. Here Cub reveals that their Magic 8 Ball makes them unstoppable.




Also,  I'm pretty sure the only natural predator Murder Scouts have are isopods, as Dr. Barry Levinson proved years ago. I don't think weaponizing isopods is a good idea--as Dr. Barry Levinson also proved years ago.

Kicking back, secure in the knowledge that Murder Scouts are not a threat.

So fill your rucksacks with survival materials, refresh your first aid certifications, fill your MP3 player with Cuddlecore and stay the hell ouf of the woods, because Cub plays Midnight Madness tonight!

Boy Scout or Newly Blooded Murder Scout? You decide!

CUB screening times:
Wed., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

And catch more Murder Scout shenanigans in the Vanguard Program's GOODNIGHT MOMMY:
Wednesday, Sept 10th, 9:30 PM SCOTIABANK 14
Friday, Sept 12th, 3:00 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

CUB Premieres Tonight!

Cub has its World Premiere at midnight madness tonight!

This what director Jonas Govaerts had to say about what he was doing with the horror genre,

As a life-long horror fan, I've been disappointed with the direction the genre has taken lately, at least in main stream cinema: loud bangs, cheap CGI, grubby shaky-cam, cardboard characters... It's just not my thing. With Cub, I've tried to bring back those elements I miss most in modern horror: a decent build-up, some humor to contrast with the violence, a certain visual poetry, characters you can actually relate to... Oh, and a cool, Carpenter-style title font, of course!

You can the full interview here. Cub is going to be a fun, scary adventure. Don't miss it!




CUB screening times:
http://www.tiff.net/festivals/thefestival/programmes/midnight-madness/cub
Wed., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

CUB: 5 Creepy Kids in Horror Cinema

From The Village of the Damned to The Children of the Corn, cinema is crammed with creepy kids. Jonas Govaerts's Cub, which receives its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness programme, follows a group of scouts on a camping trip in the woods. One of them, Sam, tries to convince the others that there's a feral child stalking them but naturally, because it's a horror movie and he's a kid, no one believes him.

What is it about terrifying toddlers that gets us so worked up? Is it because children are considered innocents or because they're unformed beings upon which we project our darkest fears?

Here are five movies featuring some of the scariest children in cinematic history.

The Bad Seed (1956)
The original creepy kid movie. It shows us that The Little House On The Prairie's Nellie Olsen wasn't the first evil flaxen haired girl with braids. Rhoda only kills two people in the movie, but we learn that there's another murder in her past. 

The Brood (1979)
You know it's bad when Oliver Reed has to lock these mutant children up in a shed so that they don't kill people. Maybe the worst part about the kids in David Cronenberg's movie is that they wear brightly colored hooded footy pajamas. Or that they don't have navels. Whatever the case, they're terrifying.

The Children (2008)
Something is in the water and it's making the children sick. Unfortunately, their parents don't want to believe it until it's too late and death and dismemberment have already taken place. After all those slashers where teenagers try to tell the authorities that some kind of monster is on the loose, haven't the adults learned anything? Nope.

Citadel (2012)
Influenced by The Brood, the monstrous kids in this movie wear hoodies and look like mutants but unlike The Children, in this case it's an agoraphobic adult who's the whistleblower. Worst of all, the "hoodies" feed on fear, which isn't great if you're prone to panic attacks.

We Need To Talk About Kevin (2011)
Poor Tilda Swinton. No one believes that Kevin has serious issues until it's too late. (Do you sense a pattern?) Most of the violence happens offscreen, so it's Kevin's surly behavior and vicious comments that make women everywhere clutch their birth control pills.

Will the scary child in Cub join the legacy of creepy kids in movies? Catch a screening to find out!

CUB screening times:
Wed., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

CUB First Look! Poster & Trailer

Cub looks like one of those films you will be telling your friends that you saw at the world premiere at Midnight Madness. That is one of the most exciting aspects of midnight madness the discovery of new cinematic voices. Jonas Govaerts is holding true to old school practical effects and his love for the genre is clearly evident. You can check out my interview with him here! The poster by Justin Erickson is stunning. You don't want to miss this one--Scouts honor! Here is the trailer:

CUB screening times:
Wed., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13

INTERVIEW: CUB Director Jonas Govaerts Earns His Feature Film Merit Badge

One of the most exciting aspects of the Midnight Madness program is the the emergence of new cinematic voices and talent from around the world. A film and director to look out for this year is Cub directed by Jonas Govaerts. After directing several short films, Cub marks Jonas' first feature film and the first horror film produced in Flanders. I recently had the opportunity to speak with him. -- Robert A. Mitchell 

Using one or two sentences can you tell me what the basic story for Cub is? 

Cub is the story of a summer scout camp gone horribly wrong, seen through the eyes of Sam, our twelve year old protagonist. 

Where did the idea come from? Were you, yourself a Cub Scout?

 I've been jotting down loose ideas for this story since I was a cub scout myself. I had some wonderful leaders back then, who introduced me to the world of underground comics, horror movies and alternative music; it seemed only fitting I would set my first film at a scout camp, since that's where my imagination was first triggered. My scout totem is Imaginative Toucan, by the way--no lie! 

You have made several short films. Cub is your first feature length film. How was that transition? What were some of the difficult aspects of production you had to overcome? 

All of my shorts were based on existing short stories I loved: at least there I had the security of a decent script. On Cub, which I co-wrote, I was often second-guessing myself: do we need really this scene? What am I trying to say here? Also, the ambition and scope of the film far exceeded anything I had done in my earlier work. Luckily, I had my movie family around me: most of the crew have been with me since my first short, Mobius. I actually went to film school with my cinematographer Nicolas Karakatsanis (Michael R. Roskam's Bullhead & The Drop, John Hillcoat's upcoming Triple Nine): he flunked after the first year, while I needed six years to finish school! 

There is that old adage in show business, never work with kids or animals. Obviously your film is centered around a story featuring kids. How difficult was the casting to find the kids to play the characters? What was it like to work with these young actors? 

If I hadn't accidentally seen Maurice Luijten, who plays Sam, in the music video The Gift by Ralf Demesmaeker, I wouldn't be talking to you right now. He really was a gift from the movie gods. He looked like a young River Phoenix or something - that same effortless charisma. Once Sam was in place, it was really a matter of mixing and matching: for the other cubs, we saw a couple of hundred kids, and we tweaked the parts to fit their personalities, specific talents and looks. We didn't find Gill Eeckelaert,

who plays the Masked Feral Child, until very late in the game: in his audition tape, you can really see my face going from absolute exhaustion to huge relief!...Animals, though, are another matter entirely. The most grueling part of the shoot involved a dog - of course, I had to pick the dumbest breed in existence. Safe to say, I'm in no big hurry to work with dogs again - though I doubt I'll get offered many animal movies after Cub comes out! 

What would you say to folks looking at the film selection of why they should see Cub? 

As a life-long horror fan, I've been disappointed with the direction the genre has taken lately, at least in main stream cinema: loud bangs, cheap CGI, grubby shaky-cam, cardboard characters... It's just not my thing. With Cub, I've tried to bring back those elements I miss most in modern horror: a decent build-up, some humor to contrast with the violence, a certain visual poetry, characters you can actually relate to... Oh, and a cool, Carpenter-style title font, of course!

CUB screening times:
Wed., Sept. 10th, 11:59 PM, RYERSON
Thu., Sept. 11th, 8:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 8
Sat., Sept. 13th, 12:30 PM, SCOTIABANK 13