Tis the season to be gory as Toronto After Dark Film Festival rolled like a severed head down Spadina to it’s new home a little closer to hell at the Underground Cinema for it’s 6th year. Horror, Cult movies, Sci-fi & Action in the order of preference had me chomping at the bit like a classic Romero zombie for Thursday’s opening night.
Riding the wave of anticipation in a line shaped like a game of snake on a Nokia phone everyone seemed surprisingly calm to be packed along side one another waiting to flood the theatre. A gift from above in the shape of a roof was more than welcome adjustment from queuing outside the former Bloor Cinema site for the nocturnal viewing veterans.
Kicking off the feature proceedings with a hairy hoof after the epic Legend of Beaver Dam (3rd time viewing for I & it’s still awesome!) Monster Brawl broke the fourth Wall and a few limbs along the way with a wrestling match to settle those late night drunk conundrums of who’s bigger & badder in the catalogue of critters from myth or legend. The opening remarks added a little shadow cast dynamic to the screening as the stars came up on stage for surprising bit of banter involving festival director Adam Lopez. Played as a pay per view style event on the big screen it was easy to imagine the transmission from a graveyard being show in to auditoriums across the globe.
The creatures on call included a host of dead and deranged creations with my personal favourites being Witch Bitch, a persecuted hag hoping to earn some respect from her townsfolk, Swampgut, an endangered indigenous algae floater/bloater with a taste for Steam Whistle cans and canoeists, and finally The Mummy, you can’t beat bandages.
The top trumps of terror played well as the first offering up for the slaughter at the festival with the high-laugh-lights being Mortal Kombat-esque quips from none other than legend Lance Henriksen (which the film makers would be wise to make downloadable message alerts – who wouldn’t want to hear “discombobulated” every time they got a text?!) as well as Dave Foley, complete with never drying up hip flask, and Art Hindle barking out quips as the commentators on the dead death match.
While the pacing took a few slow plods like the arthritic bones of an Egyptian pharaoh in parts it was overall a great crowd experience. Reminding me of my childhood watching Monster Squad I hope this movie becomes a cult hit among young friends & get’s a rib cracking response from the wresting community.
What’s choke slammed you at Toronto After Dark so far?
Great article!
Thanks Marina, the audience really laughed when the cans floated on screen!