What MM Movies Rue Morgue Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander Can't Wait For

I got the chance to chat with Dave Alexander, editor-in-chief of the world's leading horror magazine, Rue Morgue, and naturally, had to ask him what Midnight Madness movies he's most looking forward to.

Baskin

If Can Evrenol’s Baskin is as creepy as the short film of the same name that it’s based on, it’ll be the kind of hard horror hellride perfect for midnight audiences in need of a genuine creep out. I love movies in which the protagonists must investigate large buildings that reveal a multitude of horrors – think the original Dawn of the Dead, the remake of The Toolbox Murders or Silent Hill – and the chilling occult angle offered here drives things in a particularly harrowing direction. The official description of Baskin being inspired by Quest for Fire, Apocalypse Now and Hellraiser, but also the paintings of Caravaggio, Bosch, and Giger” seals the deal.

Final Girls 

If you watch a lot of horror movies, like I do, films that cleverly deconstruct the genre tropes we’re so familiar with – and sometimes tired of – are cathartic. When they also deliver all the fun in those formulas, all the better. Todd Strauss-Schulson’s Final Girls promises the same amount of laughs and lacerations found in slasher-savvy titles such as Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and Cabin in the Woods. That it was co-written by actor-turned-screenwriter Joshua John Miller – of Near Dark, River’s Edge and Halloween III fame – is a bonus for us genre geeks.

The Devil’s Candy

The Loved Ones (2009) is one of my all-time favourite Midnight Madness movies, and six years is too long of a wait for a follow up from Aussie writer/director Sean Byrne. The premise for The Devil’s Candy (a painter in Texas is possessed after moving his family into their dream home) is as simple as the set up for The Loved Ones (a high school boy is kidnapped and tortured by a deranged classmate on prom night) but you can bet Byrne has some nasty surprises in store, as well as some very strong visuals. All that aside, seeing as it comes from the same producers as popular Midnight Madness films The Guest and You’re Next, it’s a no-brainer.

Thank you for your time, Dave! 

BASKIN screens:

Fri, Sept 11, 11:59 PM RYERSON 

Sun, Sept 13, 4:00 PM SCOTIABANK

Thurs, Sept 17, 6:00 PM SCOTIABANK

FINAL GIRLS screens:

Sat, Sept 19, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Sun, Sept 20, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK

THE DEVIL'S CANDY screens: 

Sun, Sept 13, 11:59 PM RYERSON

Tues, Sept 15, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK

Sat, Sept 19, 1:15 PM SCOTIABANK

Day Two with Kari's Scaries

I'm fairly certain time works differently during TIFF. Yesterday was only my second full day at the festival (thanks to the Kari's Scaries bursary), but I've managed to pack in a whack of screenings, sightseeing and, since the reason I'm here is a little something called Midnight Madness, some truly deranged carnage. I don't ever want to leave.

Yesterday started with a screening of Dredd 3D, after which we hoofed it across town to catch Hotel Transylvania at the beautiful Princess of Wales Theatre. Afterwards, we met up with some of the hardest-working folks in the horror biz: assorted components of the Rue Crew, who are punch-drunk and sleep-deprived after finishing Rue Morgue's massive Halloween issue (on stands October 1!). My colleagues at RM are some of my favorite people in the world, so it was an absolute pleasure to meet up with Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander and contributors Liisa Ladouceur and Marie-Eve Larin. 

When you see why this guy needed to rinse off, you'll fall madly in love with No One Lives. Trust me.

Afterwards, we headed over to the Ryerson for the Midnight Madness screening of No One Lives, the insanely gory new flick from Midnight Meat Train director Ryuhei Kitamura. There was a long wait in line, but luckily Toronto Batman was there to make sure things didn't get out of hand. Shit got profound. Case in point—the following exchange between Toronto Batman and a Midnight Madness attendee:

Toronto Batman: "What movie is showing tonight?"

Moviegoer: "No One Lives."

Toronto Batman: "No One Lives? My parents died."

Well played, Toronto Batman. Well played.

The night ended with Knoxville Horror Film Fest director William Mahaffey and me riding around Toronto with Dave and Don Coscarelli, who's in town with his new film John Dies at the End. Don is an incredibly friendly guy, and, incidentally, had some very nice things to say about No One Lives. 

So the bar is high for tonight's Midnight Madness premiere of JT Petty's Hellbenders 3D. Maybe JT will buy me a cupcake.

NO ONE LIVES screening times:

Mon., Sept. 10, 9:45 PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10

Fri., Sept. 14, 4:45 PM,  CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS  6

JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:

Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59 PM, RYERSON 

Sun., Sept. 16, 5:00 PM,  CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS  2

HELLBENDERS 3D screening times:

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

Greetings from Possum Holler

Greetings from Possum Holler, fellow midnight mavens! I’m April Snellings, and I have the unique and considerable honor of being the first recipient of the Kari’s Scaries bursary. One week from today, I will make my way from Knoxville, Tennessee to Toronto, where I will eat my weight in poutine* and indulge in the non-stop debauchery known as TIFF Midnight Madness.

If you’re unfamiliar with Kari’s Scaries, please allow me to explain. Kari Ramjattan was a TIFF volunteer and staffer whose passion for genre movies–horror flicks in particular–knew no bounds. Kari passed away in 2010, so her family, friends and colleagues created Kari’s Scaries in her honor. The idea is to remember Kari by giving a horror journalist the opportunity to travel to Toronto, attend the Midnight Madness screenings, meet with Festival delegates, enjoy special events hosted by Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes, and have one hell of a time at North America’s coolest film festival. (Incidentally, the lovely art you see at the top of this post was provided by Kari’s son, Kelvin Ramjattan Jr. I really hope I get to meet him soon.)

J.T. Petty's Hellbenders

Though this is my fourth trip to Toronto (I’m a contributing writer and online editor for Rue Morgue Magazine), it will be my first time at TIFF. I can’t imagine a better year to go–I’m crazy excited for several of the films on this year’s roster, including J.T. Petty’s Hellbenders, Don Coscarelli’s John Dies at the End and Drafthouse Films’ The ABCs of Death. I’m jazzed about The Bay, psyched for Come Out and Play and pumped about No One Lives (in these parts, I’m known as That Chick Who Liked Midnight Meat Train). In other words, I’m looking forward to everything.

Making the journey with me will be my close friend and Knoxville Horror Film Fest Director William Mahaffey. We’ll head out at ridiculous o’clock on the morning of September 6 to make sure we roll into Toronto in time to see people get shot in the face in slow-mo (and 3-D!) in Dredd. If you’ve never driven from Tennessee to Toronto, I ask you: Where’s your sense of adventure? And by “sense of adventure” I mean, of course, your complete disregard for your own sanity.

If you’re interested, keep an eye on this space; I’ll be blogging about our trip and about the movies I’m so excited to see. I never had the pleasure of meeting Kari, but I hope her family–both the one she was born into and the one she picked up along the way–knows how much this trip means to me. I intend to make the most of it, and to honor Kari by doing exactly what she’d do: watch movies until my eyeballs shrivel up, and enjoy every last bit of Midnight Madness that Colin and the gang can sling my way.

Cheers, Kari, and thank you.

* If you’re unfamiliar with poutine, it is a pile of French fries roughly the size of your head that has been slathered with gravy and buried beneath a mound of fresh cheese curds. It’s amazing. Fries, gravy and cheese–can you think of a reason we don’t have this in Tennessee? Me neither. 

HELLBENDERS screening times:
Sun., Sept. 9, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Tues., Sept. 11, 7PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Sat., Sept. 15, 9:15PM, SCOTIABANK 2

JOHN DIES AT THE END screening times:
Sat., Sept. 15, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16, 5PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 2

THE ABCS OF DEATH screening times:
Fri., Sept. 14, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 15, 3:15PM, SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16, 9PM, SCOTIABANK 9

THE BAY screening times:
Wed., Sept. 12, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Thurs., Sept. 13, 2:45PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

COME OUT AND PLAY screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 13, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Fri., Sept. 14, 3:15PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 10
Sat., Sept. 15, 6:45PM, SCOTIABANK 11

NO ONE LIVES screening times:
Sat., Sept. 8, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Mon., Sept. 10, 9:45PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7
Fri., Sept. 14, 4:45PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 6

DREDD screening times:
Thurs., Sept. 6, 11:59PM, RYERSON
Sat., Sept. 8, 12:30PM, CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

Midnight Madness Picks: Rue Morgue's Dave Alexander

More Midnight Madness Picks -- this time from Rue Morgue Magazine's Editor-in-Chief Dave Alexander. Besides producing a heck of a mag every month, he programs Rue Morgue's monthly Cinemacabre screenings at the Bloor Cinema, runs MSN Movies' Blogtastic Voyage, and knows the lines to Magnum Force verbatim.

1. Fubar 2

Being from Alberta, the hoser headbanger epic that is Fubar is close to my heart (well... maybe closer to my liver...), so I plan on putting on my tightest pair of black jeans, crackin' a few cold ones before the screening and just givin' 'er for this opening night MM film. With a bigger budget, eight years for the story to germinate in co-writer/director Michael Dowse's head, and a killer premise that sees dirtbags-in-arms Dean and Terry seeking fame and fortune in the Northern Alberta oil patch, I fully expect the good to be cranked waaay up on this one, and the suck to be turned down. Besides, with their balding buddy Tron returning, there's no way this one can funkin' blow.

2. Stake Land

I love director Jim Mickle and writer/star Nick Damici's Romero-influenced rat apocalypse movie Mulberry Street, so I expect their politically-charged vampire apocalypse tale to make a big, bloody splash. Glass Eye Pix – Larry Fessenden's company – has a great track record and seems like the perfect indie film fit, plus I like the grim atmosphere of the trailer and that they use a Leadbelly tune on the soundtrack. I'm anticipating the welcome antithesis to a certain popular tween wuss-vampire franchise. That's right, suck it, Twilight, Stake Land will PWN you. OMG! LOL!

3. Super

James Gunn made one of my favourite horror comedies, Slither, plus the little seen superhero spoof he wrote called The Specials has some great moments in it (if not quite enough budget to match its ambitions). With that nerd cred, you can expect serious laughs out of movie about a costumed vigilante armed with a monkey wrench. But wait, we've also got The Office's Rainn Wilson in the lead, Ellen Page in the role of sidekick, and shore it up with the likes of Liv Tyler, Kevin Bacon and Michael Rooker in supporting roles? That's a recipe for spandex-busting wannabe superhero shenanigans if ever there was one.

--

Super screens:
Monday, September 13. 9:30AM Varsity 8
Saturday September 18 6:00PM Scotiabank 4

Fubar II screens:
Thursday September 9. 11:59PM Ryerson
Saturday September 11 12:00PM Varsity 8

Stake Land screens:
Friday, September 17. 11:59PM Ryerson
Saturday September 18, 12:15PM Scotiabank 4
Sunday September 19 9:00PM AMC 2

You can purchase tickets from the official TIFF website.