Latest

Anthology

Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2019: ‘8’, ‘The Assent’ and ‘The Mortuary Collection’

October 29, 2019Shahbaz Khayambashi1 Comment

8 (DIR. Harold Holscher) Horror can be found just about anywhere, however not all horror is equal.  This is why films that incorporate real-life horrors must be particularly aware of how they incorporate the various elements.  Former TAD presentation Under the Shadow is a great example of how to do this correctly.  But, this is why Harold Holscher’s 8 is so conflicting.  It doesn’t really have much to say about its source events, creating a final product…

Read More
Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2018: ‘Extracurricular’, ‘Lifechanger’, ‘Nightmare Cinema’, and ‘You Might Be the Killer’

October 27, 2018Wylie Writes Staff3 Comments

Extracurricular (DIR. Ray Xue) As the Canadian pop-punk band Sum 41 once sang, “motivation, such an aggravation.”  That seemed to be Ray Xue’s complaint as well when he was directing Extracurricular, which is the only way to explain why anything in this film happened.  Long time readers may recognize the number one rule of TAD: if a film is having its world premiere here, it will be terrible.  This is not a knock against any of…

Read More
Reviews

Galaxy of Horrors

March 1, 2017Addison Wylie0 Comments

The team behind last year’s efficient horror anthology Minutes Past Midnight return to bring similar chills and thrills with Galaxy of Horrors, another feature-length anthology hand-picked by Torontonian film programmer Justin McConnell.  This time, he’s showcasing horror shorts with a sci-fi twist.

Read More
Reviews

XX

February 15, 2017Shahbaz Khayambashi1 Comment

It’s no secret that women are all too frequently shut out of the film industry, with few of them being able to make a living or having their work seen.  In recent years, there has been a renaissance of genre films made by women, but their work is still a minority in cinemas or at film festivals.

Read More
Festival Coverage

Toronto After Dark 2015: ‘A Christmas Horror Story’ and ‘Love & Peace’

October 25, 2015Addison Wylie1 Comment

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….

Read More
Festival Coverage

Wylie Writes at Toronto After Dark ’14: ABCs of Death 2

October 22, 2014Addison Wylie1 Comment

By: Addison Wylie With recent horror anthologies, it seems as though the first instalment serves as an extreme experimental period.  There’s a foreboding feeling of failure when making a project that draws in different visions from all over a filmmaking pallet, but horror nuts who are true to their craft will let their audacious attitudes plow through anything resembling an obstacle. This was a clear example for the V/H/S series – an easy comparison to…

Read More
Reviews

STRANGE PARADISE: Coffee and Cigarettes

July 30, 2014Addison Wylie3 Comments

By: Addison Wylie TIFF Cinematheque opens up a wonderful world of  weird with Strange Paradise: The Cinema of Jim Jarmusch. The retrospective – which began on July 24 and runs until August 16 – screens Jarmusch’s unique filmography in pristine condition at the TIFF BELL Lightbox.  The scheduling of the program jumps around, so faithful watchers are never following the career in chronological order.  Something tells me this quirk is much like Jarmusch’s unpredictable sensibilities. Wylie…

Read More
Reviews

V/H/S/2

September 3, 2013Addison Wylie6 Comments

By: Addison Wylie I see V/H/S/2 as a sign that these bruised and battered anthology pieces could become something very exciting. The series started on a raw note with V/H/S.  An extremely raw note.  The set-up that a group of ruff-and-tuff thugs start dying from watching mysterious found footage located in a skeezy house was a bit too vague to go off on.  It didn’t help that the acting by those random criminals all felt forced….

Read More