The TIFF Midnight Madness Blog

9/17/12

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Interview with Don Coscarelli, Chase Williamson & Rob Mayes

JOHN DIES AT THE END closed out the 2012 edition of Midnight Madness. I had the opportunity to speak with director Don Coscarelli and actors Chase Williamson, Rob Mayes and Tai Bennett.

Robert A. Mitchell may or may not have been under the influence of Soy Sauce while conducting the following interviews....

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '12 Ep. 10: John Dies at the End

Well, it sure was a fun ride... TIFF 2012 Midnight Madness - 10 crazy nights of bloodshed and bat-shit insanity, courtesy of genius programmer Colin Geddes, whose mom was kind enough to chat with us! Host Matt Brown of MAMO asks her and critic Tom Clift of Moviedex.com the hard-hitting questions and nearly has a mental breakdown from exhaustion - but it's a good kind of exhaustion: Midnight Madness is a special kind of fun that is not to be taken for granted... It's a long wait for 2013!

Thanks again to everybody who helped us out and was nice to us over the past week and a half. We had a blast and hope you did too! Smell ya later...

www.thesubstream.com

JOHN DIES AT THE END Intro/Q&A Video With Don Coscarelli

The final film of 2012 edition of Midnight Madness was JOHN DIES AT THE END directed by Don Coscarelli (Bubba Ho-Tep, Phantasm). Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the introduction -- featuring a shout out to the Midnight Madness crew -- as well as the post-screening Q&A.

9/16/12

ABCs of DEATH: Interview with Director Yudai Yamaguchi

...And as our dearly disturbed festival comes to a close for the year, we catch up with the final Japanese director of The ABCs of Death, and Sushi Typhoon member Yudai Yamaguchi! His action-packed horror directing credits include: Deadball, Yakuza Weapon, Meatball Machine and Battlefield Baseball!

Having now seen The ABC's of Death, I must say I found Yamaguchi's to be exceptionally unique and entertaining -- I was actually laughing several hours later remembering the bizarre imagery.

MM: How did you get involved with doing a short for ABC's of Death?

YY: Participating in Sushi Typhoon was how I heard about the project. I wanted to join it so much because I was very honoured to be involved in the project with these top directors. I had a plan to shoot action with my sworn friend, Tak Sakaguchi, at the beginning, but I wanted to do something I had never done for such a rare opportunity.

What is your highest priority when making a film; to scare, shock, be original, or raise the bar for your competition? Without giving away the story, which approach can we expect in your ABC'S short?

First thing I think when I make movies is, "something that has impact," and, "something original." I have many adapted movies, but for me these must be original even though they are based on the original source material. I hate the most to make movies that are called, "Like something." I aimed to be original and simple for ABCs. Generally, the directors are all fired up with the feeling that they don't want to lose against others when it comes to omnibus films. I remember that I tried too much when I did other omnibus films in the past, But if there are only such films, people who watch would be tired-- especially with ABCs, which has 26 films--so people would be exhausted in the middle and it wouldn't resonate at all. My letter was "J," which is kind of the middle, so I had decided to do something simple and calm; But still with an impact. I made it with those points of view. And also, because there had never been a project like this before, with such diverse directors from all over the world participating, I thought that I'd like my film to be a reminding image of "Japan", so I did historical drama.

How would you define your specific styles of filming, and did you use your traditional approaches or decide to try something new for a foreign produced film?

I think my previous answer covers that.

Meatball Machine! …Tiny aliens invading human bodies and transforming them into epic bio-war machines. Where did this over-the-top idea come from?!

Originally the Meatball Machine project had started with my desire to direct Japanese robot anime or special effects super heroes with grotesque taste. So it was settled by borrowing the fundamental idea that a human goes inside of and control a huge robot, which is natural for Japanese robot anime. Even though Meatball Machine is a human size, it has the taste of robot anime such as Gundam. Also I got inspiration about the robots cooperating with the human body movement from the special effect drama Jumborg Ace.

When I first visited Tokyo, I saw several ads on TV for Tamami: The Baby's Curse, and was instantly intrigued by how staggeringly unique it was compared to any film commercial I've seen on TV over here. I made sure to see the movie before I left, and was amazed at how it rode the line between family sentiment and straight up horror. What were your goals with this project?

The author of Tamami, Sensei Kazuo Umezu, is a master of horror manga in Japan. But because horror manga didn't have a high position at that time, it had to be released as a girls comic. Later, after Mr. Umezu became famous from such manga as The Drifting Class Room, it was published as A Mansion of Grudge. Since it was written as a girls comic, it has a more heroic tone than is typical with horror. When making the movie, I wanted to make not only a horror movie with scary baby attacks, but also be true to the heroic part as in a girls comic.

When adapting Battlefield Baseball, how were your ideas different from the source material, and what kind of freedom did you have with Deadball?

The manga series Battlefield Baseball was cancelled before it was completed, so the story finishes in the middle. I wanted to complete the story. Also, I added the basic backbone to characters by, for example, adding a mother character for Jubei. I think the story got richer for that. But the original Battlefield Baseball was published in a young teen magazine, and had regulated limits for bloody scenes or human body dismemberment. So the first goal for Deadball was to make a movie in a limitation free environment. It came true to use the characters from Battlefield Baseball and Cromartie High School by getting permission from the original author.

One more chance to catch ABCs in Style:

THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Midnight Madness: Wait, It's Not Over!

Sure the awards have been handed out and the film critics have gone home, but you can still participate in the Madness with more screenings today!

AFTERSHOCK shakes Cineplex Yonge and Dundas! 3:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 9

BlackBerry Midnight Madness People's Choice Runner-Up JOHN DIES AT THE END screens one more time this evening! 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

THE ABCS OF DEATH--a whole alphabet of horror plays at the responsible witching hour of 9PM
at SCOTIABANK 9

HELLBENDERS knocks on Hell's door and curses out whoever answers at 9:15PM at SCOTIABANK 2

SEVEN PSYCHOPATHS Wins Midnight Madness' Audience Choice Award!

This year's winner of The Blackberry Midnight Madness People's Choice Award is Seven Psychopaths!

Director Martin McDonagh responded on behalf of the cast:

We were so thrilled to be a part of the Toronto Film Festival, to take part in the crazy fun of a Midnight Madness screening, and now so honored to be given the People's Choice Award. On behalf of the cast I'd like to thank everyone who voted, and everyone involved in the festival, from the programmers to the volunteers. It felt like most democratic film festival I've ever been to, and we had such a blast being there.

Congratulations to the cast and crew! And remember, every vote counts.

UPDATE: From the Toronto International Film Festival Press Release:

@thesubstream - Midnight Madness '12 Ep. 9: The ABCs of Death

The ABCs of Death! It was the penultimate TIFF 2012 Midnight Madness screening and as Drew McWeeney said in our first episode, the film is basically "Midnight Madness: THE MOVIE." Our host Bridget van Voorden talks with directors Jason Eisener (Hobo With A Shotgun) and Nacho Vigalondo (Timecrimes) about their involvement in the most ambitious anthology film of all time, which saw its world premiere before a ravenous crowd of gore-hounds the likes of which you'll only find in Toronto during the 2nd week of September.

9/15/12

JOHN DIES AT THE END: Soy Sauce and You

Soy sauce, it's omnipresent--in our kitchens, on our restaurant tables, even in our snacks. But how much do you really know about soy sauce?

The world of film has depicted the dangers of many drugs from "Mary Jane" and "horse" or "skag" to the esoteric consciousness modification of Videodrome, Strange Days and just plain jacking yourself in. John Dies at the End promises to be an object lesson on the dangers of seemingly harmless soy sauce.

I'm waiting for my Kikkoman. $3.59 in my hand.

Kikkoman, Kimlan, it's more than a packet here or there--or even a bottle. Master Chef Martin Yan breaks down the vast Lee Kum Kee network that manufactures and distributes soy sauce on an unbelievable scale. Worse yet, the network has been able to respond to market demand with new varieties of soy sauce: Low Sodium, Chili, even "Panda."

It seems like a shake here and there, maybe a dish with wasabi adding a little piquancy to your sushi, but soy sauce overdose is not a pretty sight.

Watch what happens to a man who ingests over 150ml / 5oz of pure, uncut, high sodium shoyu.

Soy sauce does more than season your life.

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

Tweets of the Day! #mmadnesstiff

There's been isopods in my internets for the past few days but I dumped a crapton of chlorine into my keyboard and it seems to be working now. Which means it's time to check in with Twitter to see what the Midnight Madness audience has been saying about The Bay, Come Out And Play, and The ABCs of Death!

OMG WTF BBQ LOL!

Say hello next time! He doesn't bite (unless he catches you texting during a movie)!

Aw!

So very true. Those beach balls are not to be messed with.

The very last screening for Midnight Madness 2012 is TONIGHT! Don't miss John Dies At The End!

Remaining Midnight Madness Screening Times:

JOHN DIES AT THE END
Sat., Sept. 15th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Sun., Sept. 16th, 6:00 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 7

THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

HELLBENDERS
Sat., Sept. 15th, 9:15 PM SCOTIABANK 2

AFTERSHOCK
Sun., Sept. 16th, 3:30 PM CINEPLEX YONGE & DUNDAS 9

Excerpt from David Wong's THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS

The first fifteen pages of the sequel to John Dies At The End is available for your reading pleasure. Click through to read This Book Is Full Of Spiders: Seriously, Dude. Don't Touch It in a good, safe, online, environment.

After all, spiders.

And probably not normal spiders, but spiders like this:

The part of an abnormal spider that lives in that book
will be played by this antarctic giant isopod.

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

ABCs Of DEATH World Premiere: Interviews. Video.

Warning: Some directors may have been injured during these interviews.

The ABCs of DEATH premiered last night and words like bedlam, tumult, total and utter choas can only begin to paint the picture of last night's red carpet. There is even a creepy sihoutte in the window behind the photo backdrop. To be completely honest the red carpet was removed because of speculation of what could happen when a ton of the most talented genre directors working today assembled.

Not much remains outside of the Ryerson this afternoon but some frayed velvet ropes and Robert A. Mitchell's video of the proceedings....

THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Review Round-Up: David Wong's JOHN DIES AT THE END

Zack Handlen reviewed David Wong's John Dies At The End for The Onion's AV Club. Here's a taste, you'll have to click through for more.

JDATE is the rare genre novel that manages to keep its sense of humor strong without ever diminishing the scares; David is a consistently hilarious narrator whose one-liners and running commentary are sincere in a way that makes the horrors he confronts even more unsettling. Plot-wise, for a good two-thirds of the book, it seems like Wong is more interested in piling on weirder and weirder threats than fitting the pieces together, and while his invention never flags, the accumulation of horrors eventually threatens to turn the narrative into a breathless series of “And then?”s. Still, the tone and white-knuckle pacing cover up a lot of sins, and Wong manages to pull everything together for a finale that’s both stomach-churningly freaky and oddly moving. It’s the sort of thing that leaves readers breathless and nauseous, but surprisingly hungry for more.

At Kirkus, the nameless literati write:

Originally offered online in serial form, Wong’s debut is creepy, snide, gross, morbidly dark and full of lots of gratuitous weirdness for weirdness' sake, not to mention penis jokes. So why is it so funny? Perhaps it's the author’s well-tuned eye for the absurd, which gives his tale a compelling-against-all-odds, locker-room-humor-meets-Douglas-Adams vibe.

And it turns out there was a book trailer!

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

ABCs of DEATH: Interview with Director Noburo Iguchi

Here's the second interview in our ABCs of Death: Sushi Typhoon director showcase! Sushi Typhoon is a vibrant collective of some of Japan's finest splatter directors. Here I catch up with Noboru Iguchi; director of deliriously violent films such as Machine Girl; Dead Sushi; Tomie: Unlimited; Robogeisha; and co-director of Mutant Girls Squad!

MM: How did you get involved with doing a short for ABCs of Death?

NI: It was presented by my old friend, Mr.Marc Walkow.

My priority themes are quite different for every project, however, if I say the common points, my wish is to shoot movies have an impact that nobody has seen before.

How would you define your specific styles of filming, and did you use your traditional approaches or decide to try something new for a foreign produced film?

Because ABCs of Death is a foreign project, I consciously introduced symbolic images of Japan, such as school girls and shrines. I intended to put the messages of my thoughts about earthquakes and radiation.

Machine Girl was the first movie of this new wave of Japanese super splatter horror that I saw, and definitely the first one to get lots of attention from my friends. What were your inspirations to make such a fun and crazy film?

I was requested to shoot snuff, a fake torture killing movie first, but it didn't fit in my nature, so I asked to do an action movie instead. To tell the truth, this project would not be approved in Japanese movie companies. My first idea was to shoot macaroni western (what they spaghetti westerns in Japan) with high school girls.

How did it feel to adapt Junji Ito's manga, Tomie? I've read several volumes of Tomie and loved it--I would say Ito isn't just my favourite Japanese horror writer, but my favourite horror comics writer period! For your film Tomie: Unlimited, how was it to work with Ito?

I am a fan of Mr. Junji Ito, too. I put a great deal of effort into grotesque description because there weren't many Tomie movies which were visualized grotesque. I am glad that I could visualize the scene of a no-neck Tomie running, because as soon as I read it, I knew this was a scene I would love to bring to life. I was deeply moved that Mr. Junji Ito himself liked "Unlimited".

You've created some memorable female horror heroes in Japanese cinema… is there any specific actress in Hollywood (or anywhere outside of Japan) you'd like to make a horror film with?

I really like Mia Farrow originally. I want Kirsten Dunst in my movie too. I love Spider-Man and Melancholia.

Be sure to catch Iguchi's contribution to ABCs of Death, and 25 other insane horror shorts from around the world!

THE ABCS OF DEATH

Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM: SCOTIABANK 9

Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM: SCOTIABANK 9

ABCs of DEATH World Premiere Intro/Q&A Video

This year's installment of Midnight Madness just keeps rocking on. The ABCs of DEATH premiered last night and the stage was packed with directors: Jason Eisner, NachonVigolondo, Adam Wingard to name a few. Here is Robert A. Mitchell's video of the introduction and post-screening Q&A.

THE ABCS OF DEATH
Sat., Sept. 15th, 3:15 PM SCOTIABANK 9
Sun., Sept. 16th, 9:00 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Pics From the Premiere of AFTERSHOCK!

The world premiere of the apparently hard drinkin' Nicolás López's Aftershock was anything but a disaster on Tuesday night. López, Eli Roth, and some of the rest of the cast of the earthquake horror walked the red carpet at the Ryerson and Ian Goring was there to catch all the action!