TADFF 2012: ‘Universal Soldier – Day of Reckoning’: a generic action movie disguised as art house
Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning Directed by John Hyams Written by John Hyams, Doug Magnuson and Jon Greenhalgh USA, 2012 Although it looks like a generic action movie on paper, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is actually a lot messier on screen, both physically and stylistically. Combining Gaspar Noé-style strobe light disorientation and long takes with David Cronenberg-inspired body wreckage, the movie looks and feels like a departure from the normal action movie affair; yet, at its heart, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is still fairly generic. The story centers on John (Scott Adkins), a man recovering from a coma… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Lloyd the Conqueror’ is sporadically fun and games
Lloyd the Conqueror Directed by Michael Peterson Written by Michael Peterson and Andrew Herman Canada, 2011 Society has an outrageous double standard. If you like to play Dungeons and Dragons and watch sc-fi fantasy movies, you’re a bit of a dork, but if you love to watch NFL football and take part in fantasy sports (read: fantasy sports), then you’re a real hard nut. If you get dressed up in cosplay or costumes of your favourite fictional character and LARP (live action role play) for a lark, you’re a delusional git who needs to snap back to reality, but if… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Doomsday Book’ a highly ambitious sci-fi anthology
Doomsday Book Written and directed by Jee-woon Kim and Pil-Sung Yim South Korea, 2012 H.G. Wells, a godfather of modern apocalyptic literature, once said that, “all this world is heavy with the promise of greater things, and a day will come, one day in the unending succession of days, when beings who are not latent in our thoughts and hidden in our loins shall stand upon this earth as one stands upon a foot-stool and shall laugh and reach their hands amidst the stars”. Decades later and continents away, Jee-woon Kim and Pil-Sung Yim’s Doomsday Book, an anthology of apocalyptic… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Cockneys vs. Zombies’ a raucous and entertaining zombie comedy
Cockneys vs. Zombies Directed by Matthias Hoene Written by James Moran and Lucas Roche UK, 2012 As with something like Snakes on a Plane, Cockneys vs. Zombies derives much of its promise and purpose from the title. How you enjoy the film is contingent on how well it manifests said title, so, by that very notion, Matthias Hoene’s Cockneys vs. Zombies is really quite enjoyable. With a good cast of characters, some funny sequences, and not-so-subtle political commentary, Cockneys vs. Zombies is a raucous and entertaining zombie comedy. The film is set in London’s East End, obviously, where a zombie… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘[REC]³ Génesis’ forges a misbegotten identity of its own
![TADFF 2012: ‘[REC]³ Génesis’ forges a misbegotten identity of its own](http://www.soundonsight.org/wp-content/themes/arts-culture/timthumb.php?src=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soundonsight.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F10%2FREC%C2%B3-G%C3%A9nesis-4.png&q=90&w=630&h=350&zc=1 "TADFF 2012: ‘[REC]³ Génesis’ forges a misbegotten identity of its own")
[REC]³ Génesis Directed by Paco Plaza Written by Paco Plaza, Luiso Berdejo and David Gallart Spain, 2012 The first [Rec] was a haunting and sinister horror film that ended on an intended note of malevolent ambiguity. [Rec] ², for better or worse, tried to elucidate the questions posed in the first. In [REC]³ Génesis, however, it feels like the franchise was hijacked by misguided works of fan fiction, by people who loved the two previous chapters, but who fundamentally misunderstood why they were so effective. As a result, [REC]³ is a film that forges a misbegotten identity of its own… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Inbred’ an ever-escalating series of gore, gore and more gore
Inbred Directed by Alex Chandon Written by Alex Chandon and Paul Shrimpton UK/Germany, 2011 If you’re acquainted with Karl Pilkington, the most idiosyncratic and avant-garde thinker of the 21st century, then you’ll know that Northerners are “a bit weird, innit?” In the United Kingdom, Northerners are the equivalent to American Southerners (or, if you’re Canadian, anyone outside Toronto), and are often at the brunt of aren’t-they-poor, aren’t-they-backwards, aren’t-they-stupid, and, yes, even aren’t-they-inbred jokes. A country’s regional divide can serve as fodder for socio-economic and cultural insight, or gory and insular hillbilly horror; Inbred dabbles in the former, but ultimately ends… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Crave’ an engaging debut that’s more evocative than innovative
Crave Directed by Charles de Lauzirika Written by Charles de Lauzirika and Robert Lawton USA, 2012 Although this review is going to be about Charles de Lauzirika’s Crave, it seems appropriate to talk about it in relation to Taxi Driver, because despite its best efforts to differentiate itself, Crave just can’t seem to emerge from its obvious shadow of influence. Throughout the film, the anti-hero pontificates to his imaginary enemy while waving his gun at them, has relationship-ending theatre-going experiences with his date, is involved in convenience store stickups, and has a deep-seated hatred for pedophiles and pimps; but he… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘American Mary’ an affront to decent, moral thinking
American Mary Written and directed by Jen Soska and Sylvia Soska Canada, 2012 Do you know the feeling when you wash your hands with a bar of soap? How it makes your hands tensile, coarse, and uncomfortably dry? How it makes you squirm, uneasy, and perpetually unsettled? Like they were being constrained and sucked through your palms? Well, imagine if that feeling resonated throughout your entire body, multiply that by the biggest number you can think of, and you’ve only begun to understand what it’s like to watch Jen and Sylvia Soska’s surgical body horror movie American Mary. The British… Read more
TADFF 2012: ‘Grabbers’ a slight and impermanent genre affair
Grabbers Directed by Jon Wright Written by Kevin Lehane Ireland, 2012 For a movie about aliens, Grabbers feels all-too-familiar. Reaching as far back as Ridley Scott’s Alien, Grabbers is a perfectly serviceable and well-cultivated collection of creature features, but, despite its earnest convictions, it lacks a certain novelty to garner any postmortem traction. The movie stars Richard Coyle as Ciarán O’Shea, a foul-tempered, alcoholic Irish Garda (think Brendan Gleeson in The Guard, but drunk). With the temporary departure of his usual partner, Lisa Nolan (Ruth Bradley), a peppy and zealous Garda from Dublin Central, is brought to O’Shea’s humble island… Read more
Toronto After Dark Film Festival Announces Final Films
Toronto After Dark has announced the final films added to their 2012 line-up. You can see the list below. Also, check out the awesome t-shirt designed for the event (seen below), exclusively by award-winning artist Ghoulish Gary Pullin! The festival is planning to reissue the shirt for sale to fans attending this year. **** THE FINAL 11 FEATURES ANNOUNCED! American Mary (Canada) Canadian Premiere! In this new festival circuit sensation from Jen and Sylva Soska aka The Twisted Twins, a disillusioned medical student (Ginger Snaps star Katherine Isabelle in a standout performance) decides to ply her trade in the shady… Read more
Seventh incarnation of Toronto After Dark Film Festival promises blood and laughs
While the Toronto International Film Festival holds a well-deserved spot as one of the premier movie events in the city, fans of pulpier fare and cult classics never found a place for themselves the the event. In 2006, however, these fans were given an oasis in the desert in the form of The Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Taking place very October, the seventh annual event will take place this year from October 18th to October 26th, effectively leading in to Halloween with 9 days of movies geared towards the cult audience, ranging from horror to science fiction to action… Read more
Toronto After Dark Summer Screening: ‘Detention’; or my bloody breakfast club
Detention Directed by Joseph Kahn Written by Joseph Kahn and Mark Palermo USA, 2011 Remember that scene in A Clockwork Orange when Alex, constrained and with eyes pried open, is forced to watch nasty bits of ultra-violence underscored by Ludwig van’s 9th symphony 4th movement? Well, replace ultra-violence with ultra-style and Beethoven with some Backstreet Boys, and you have Joseph Kahn’s horror comedy, Detention. Although nowhere near as tortuous with the experience compared, Detention does subject the viewer to a flourish of nonstop visual stimulus and candy-coloured kinetic energy. Glossy and forever frenetic, this is an experience that, like a… Read more
