By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Once again, the sun sets on another successful edition of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. On the tenth anniversary of this local darling, I felt it necessary to shine a light on what I have consistently felt to be an important and underappreciated part of this festival: the shorts. The first time that I went to the festival, about six years ago, my first screening was the Shorts After Dark program and I…
Deathgasm (DIR. Jason Lei Howden) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Think to yourself for one moment: what do you imagine when you think of a film entitled Deathgasm? Jason Lei Howden’s film is basically that. The plot is simple enough: four teenage New Zealand metalheads decide to form a band, after sneaking into a Varg Vikernes stand-in’s house and coming into possession of music and lyrics to a demonic song which turns the inhabitants of their small town…
A Christmas Horror Story (DIR. Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban & Brett Sullivan) By: Addison Wylie It’s easy to picture the pitch meetings around the anthology project A Christmas Horror Story. The movie, after all, is strung together by ideas that probably sounded better on paper than how they look on the big screen. However, no matter how awesome they first appear to be, A Christmas Horror Story doesn’t know how to assemble them together into a cohesive flick….
By: Shannon Page Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious 6, Guardians of the Galaxy) carries most of the weight in The Last Witch Hunter, director Breck Eisner’s fantasy-thriller about a medieval warrior (Diesel) cursed with immortality and locked in an eight-hundred year battle against evil magical forces bent on the destruction of humanity. Diesel’s wooden performance does nothing to distract from the fact that the script is tired and obvious, but even the most worn-out premises…
Elaine Constantine’s Northern Soul has been praised as an authentic reenactment of the music scene in 1970’s England – Lancashire to be exact. The film also stands as a strong example of a filmmaker accomplishing their goals because they have been able to put so much of their heart and life experience into their project. Wylie Writes’ Trevor Jeffery liked the film when he caught it at this year’s TIFF – Northern Soul had its North American premiere at the…
The Hexecutioners (DIR. Jesse Thomas Cook) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi If I can give one bit of advice to a first-time attendee of Toronto After Dark, it would be to avoid the festival’s world premieres. In my time of attending this festival, I have had the opportunity to see three world premieres – I’m zero for three. Now, I can say, after having viewed The Hexecutioners, I can chalk up another clunker. This film is an absolute mess…
Backtrack (DIR. Michael Petroni) By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Michael Petroni’s Backtrack contains a villain that does not often end up in horror films: guilt. Adrien Brody portrays a psychiatrist, still seeing patients as he is being torn apart inside by the death of his young daughter. It is at this juncture of his life where he realizes that he needs to come to terms with a traumatic accident that he witnessed, and inadvertently caused, as a child….
By: Shahbaz Khayambashi Lenny Abrahamson follows Frank, his underrated study of the effects of mental isolation on the human psyche, with the TIFF People’s Choice Award-winning Room, which looks at the other side of the matter: the effects of physical isolation on the human psyche. The film tells the story of a woman (Brie Larson) and her five year old son (Jacob Tremblay), both of whom have been kept prisoners in a man’s shed for seven…
By: Addison Wylie If you haven’t heard of African journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas, he’s doing a good job hiding his identity. Few have seen him face-to-face, but this is because his safety and his flourishing career depends on staying incognito. Even in Ryan Mullins’ documentary Chameleon, Anas’ face is either blurred out or obscured for good reason. Anas’ groundbreaking investigative journalism mixes elements of crime-fighting. Using his ability to illustrate a story and set up…
By: Shannon Page Directed by Jeffrey Schwarz (I am Divine, Vito) and based on the memoir Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, Tab Hunter Confidential explores the life and career of matinee idol Tab Hunter. After he was discovered by a movie agent, Hunter became, as fellow actor George Takei so aptly states in the film, the “embodiment of youthful American masculinity”. With his blond hair, blue eyes, and natural charm, Hunter…