BLOOD IN THE SNOW: Kelly Michael Stewart talks Horror from Canada's Newest Genre Film Festival

Canada's a pretty scary place, eh?

Sure, people think we're all nice and polite up here, sipping our Tim Horton's and watching our hockey, but if you look at the genre films that are steadily sneaking out of Canada, it's hard to deny that there's something wonderfully macabre happening in the independent Canadian film community. And there's no better proof of Canada's claim on the creepy than the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival.

Festival Director: Kelly Michael Stewart

Earlier this month, Toronto's The Projection Booth theatre played host to the first annual Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival -- a three-day showcase of some of the best new horror and genre films to come from our home and native land. Horror in the Hammer was able wrangle festival director and Fangoria writer Kelly Michael Stewart for a little post-festival chat and a run-down of what's hot in Canadian horror.

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HORROR IN THE HAMMER: So, now that the first year of Blood in the Snow has ended, let's go back to the beginning. What was your inspiration for starting the festival?

KELLY MICHAEL STEWART: Well I have been writing for Fangoria and more recently for Planet Fury, which led to me hosting my own monthly movie night at the Projection Booth theatre in Toronto called Fright Nights. That has been going on for about a year now, and during that time I would get submissions for content from all walks of life, but much of it was Canadian content. I had so much great content on my plate for the fall season it occurred to me that I would need to expand it to an entire weekend to show all the films on my plate. So that led things organically to making it into a film festival. Thus Blood in the Snow was born.

HITH: For decades, Canada has been a simmering birthing ground for cinematic horror. Why do you think that is, and what does Canadian horror bring to the table that we don't see in other genre offerings?

KMS: In Canada it tends to come in waves, but overall it's a good breeding ground for it because horror films aren't really expensive to make compared to other genres.

What has happened in the past few years to help nurture this local talent is that two of the four major horror publications are produced mainly out of Canada. First of course Rue Morgue but since Chris Alexander took over Fangoria magazine three years ago he has been making the magazine out of his underground lab in Oakville. The magazine is still published out of New York but he has also brought on a number of more local writers like myself, Lianne Spiderbaby and Dave Pace that have given some more attention to emerging Canadian content. Other festivals have certainly paved the way as well like Fantasia and Toronto After Dark.

L-R:  Gabriel Carrer, Chad Archibald, Kelly Michael Stewart,
Robert Nolan, Navin Ramaswaran and Ryan M. Andrews.

HITH: Independent Canadian films produce their fair share of bloody and disturbing movies. In your opinion, who are some of the indie creators and talent in Canada that horror fans should be keeping their eyes on?

Fangoria editor-in-chief and
Blood for Irina director Chris Alexander

KMS: Well obviously I need to mention the filmmakers in my festival like Gabriel Carrer, Christopher Harrison, Chris Alexander, Ryan Nicholson and Ryan M. Andrews, but what is amazing is that Blood in the Snow 2012 really just scratches the surface. Justin McConnell (The Collapsed) is working a major feature with Michael Biehn that I am excited about. The Foresight team (Monster Brawl/Exit Humanity) up in Collingwood of Jesse Cook, John Geddes, and Matthew Wiele has no less than three features in the can that will be out in 2013. Also I can't forget the Astron-6 boys (Father's Day/Manborg) who are like nothing else out there right now. It’s an exciting time in Canadian cinema and things are just getting started.

HITH: Of all the films that you screened, which do you think shocked the audience most? Which do you think were the most surprising?

KMS: Well, planning a festival, you never know what is going to hit and what is going to miss. Both Sick and In the House of Flies were expected to debut to packed houses and they both delivered. Once and a while you get a film that might be a little more dangerous though. In dangerous I mean the audience just might not get it. The risky choice for me this year, hands down, was Blood for Irina. This European-styled art film was done completely without dialogue and shot in an intentionally deliberate and static way. It has either has won awards or had walkouts depending on the audience. In our case the audience really embraced it. People packed the theatre and it got an excellent reaction (winning Best Music Score), so it was a relief to end the festival on such a high note.

HITH: It's never too early to think about the future. Any plans or machinations you can let us in on for BLOOD IN THE SNOW 2013?

Plans are in the works for BITS 2013 for sure. The festival was too successful to make it a one-time event. We are just going over ideas right now and we should have some news to announce likely in early 2013, but it would be safe to say that you'll hear more from us really soon. The blood has just hit the snow.

Click for more Fright Nights events at The Projection Booth.

Celebrate Canadian Horror at the BLOOD IN THE SNOW FILM FESTIVAL

Canada's not just our home and native land. It's also a country that generates some fucking twisted and awesome horror movies!

Go show your love for Canadian horror this week at the first-ever BLOOD IN THE SNOW Canadian Film Festival at Toronto's Projection Booth (1035 Gerrard St. East). Featuring Canadian-made horror films and shorts, the Blood in the Snow Film Festival launches November 30th.
 

BUY TICKETS

Although the film festival is taking place in Toronto, Hamilton will be well-represented as the boys from Nictophobia Films bring their slasher homage DEVIL's NIGHT to the big screen on December 1st @ 9:00pm!

Devil's Night stars Danielle Harris in the story of a group of students throwing a Halloween party full of sex, booze, drugs, and rock and roll. On Devil's Night, things go horribly wrong when a masked killer with connection to a horrific accident the previous year turns up and starts picking off the kids one by one. Is it the psychotic pig farmer currently on the run from the police or someone even more sinister? This homage to 80's slasher films is directed by Christopher Harrison of Hamilton and also stars Shawn Roberts (A Little Bit Zombie, Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Boyd Banks (Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, Land of the Dead).


FULL FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

Friday, November 30th

7:00 p.m. "Sick" (World Premiere) - dir. Ryan M. Andrews
with the short film "The Post-Lifers" (Toronto Premiere) - dir. Greg Kovacs

9:30 p.m. “Beyond the Black Rainbow” - dir. Panos Cosmatos
with the short film “Roachfar” - dir. Steven Cerritos

Saturday, December 1st​

3:00 p.m. – “Fright Nights: Class of 2012”
Familiar, Melissa!, Doll Parts, Inside, The Devil Walks Among You + Cinemall

6:30 p.m. "In the House of Flies" (World Premiere) - dir. Gabriel Carrer
with shorts “The Stolen” (Toronto Premiere) - dir. Karen Lam & "Self Portrait" - dir. Jovanka Vuckovic

9:00 p.m. “Devil’s Night” (Toronto Theatrical Premiere) - dir. Christopher Harrison
with the short film “Red” (Toronto Premiere) - dir. Maude Michaud

11:45 p.m. “Famine” (Toronto Premiere) - dir. Ryan Nicholson
with the short film "Hellvetica" - dir. Kalen Artinian​
​
Sunday, December 2nd​​

7:00p.m. "Blood for Irina" (Canadian Premiere) - dir. Chris Alexander​
9:00p.m. Closing Night Cocktail and Awards Ceremony

GAME OF WEREWOLVES (Review) - Toronto After Dark

GAME OF WEREWOLVES (2011)

*Toronto Premiere*

review by AARON ALLEN 

Directed by Juan Martinez Moreno
Starring: Carlos Areces, Secun de la Rose, Gorka Otxoa
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There's only one curse worse than the curse of the werewolf: the curse of unfulfilled expectations

Of all the films I was most looking forward to at Toronto After Dark 2012, Game of Werewolves was at the top of my list. Promising practical werewolf makeup, an exotic Spanish locale, and a mixture of horror and comedy, Game of Werewolves actually turned out to be a hit-or-miss game of cinematic musical chairs that never finds a firm seat in the horror, comedy, or action genre.

After an intriguing animated opening sequence explaining how the rural village of Galicia, Spain was doomed by a werewolf curse for 100 years, we are introduced to Tomás (Gorka Otxoa), a writer looking to return to his roots in Galicia and write his next novel. Unbeknownst to him, the locals who are planning to throw Tomás a hometown hero's welcome have sinister ulterior motives. After a series of bumbling mistakes, Tomás, his shady agent Mario (Secun de la Rosa), and Tomás's childhood friend Calisto (Carlos Areces) accidentally release a howling, murderous beast into the village. Then things get really hairy when Tomas and friends attempt to break the curse but only make things worse.

He cut himself shaving.

I have a real soft spot for the aesthetics of Spanish werewolves, especially the ones played by legendary Spanish horror actor Paul Naschy. While I prefer my North American werewolves to look as wolf-like as possible, I have a great fondness for the "Big Foot" werewolf of Spain: a man in a big hairy monster suit with more or less human features. Game of Werewolves certainly brings all the wolf I was looking for, packing the screen with an army of shaggy lycanthropes brought to life via the magic of practical makeup FX.

Imagine the smell of all that burned hair.

Unfortunately, Game of Werewolves wastes its werewolves. Aside from standing around snarling into the camera, these creatures really don't do much to threaten the heroes, and they're about as easy to kill as zombies. One or two well-placed shots from a pistol or shotgun are enough to bring down one of these hairy marauders. It seems a real shame to put so much effort into creating some great looking beasts and not give them much to do except jump around (on the assistance of wires) and die.

The Fearless Werewolf Killers

Worst of all, Game of Werewolves neither commits to its horror nor its humour elements, so it feels consistently half-finished. Except for an outrageous scene involving a severed finger, the jokes left me either lukewarm or completely cold. Perhaps the flavor is all in the language and something is lost in translation. Then again, except for one or two creepy moments early in the movie before the frame explodes with werewolves, Game of Werewolves is rarely scary -- and fear is an international language. Game of Werewolves tries to do lot of everything and ends up giving not much of anything. North America has been unable to produce a werewolf movie to satisfy me since Gingersnaps, and I had high hopes that Game of Werewolves would finally scratch the itch I've had for a good werewolf picture. Looks like I'll have to keep hunting.

Does anyone remember where we parked?

Game of Werewolves should be praised for its makeup effects, but it failed to satisfy this reviewer's hunger for the wolf.

GRABBERS (Review) - Toronto After Dark

GRABBERS (2012)

*Toronto Premiere*

review by AARON ALLEN 

Directed by John Wight
Starring: Richard Coyle, Ruth Bradley, Russell Tovey
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There are plenty of excuses in this life to get stinking drunk.

Divorce, for example. Bereavement, for another. College, of course. But how about getting completely shitfaced to increase your chances of surviving an attack from blood-thirsty tentacle monsters? Bet you didn’t see that one coming.

In Grabbers (from Irish director John Wright and Irish writer Kevin Lehane), the small fishing village of Erin Island suddenly finds itself under attack by squid-like alien creatures. These blood-thirsty creatures emerge from the sea and attack with whip-sharp barbed tongues that pierce their victims and suck them dry. They thrive on blood and water, but have one fatal weakness: a severe allergy to alcohol. To save their own lives, the isolated residents of Erin Island must do serious damage to their livers as they pound back the beers and the liquor in hopes of staying out of the slimy grasp of the grabbers!

Not yer average catch o'the mornin'

In tone, Grabbers pulls much of its influence from monster and critter films like Tremors with more than a little Gremlins and Jaws thrown into the mix, but its distinctive Irish setting and memorable cast of oddball characters does for monster movies what Shaun of the Dead did for zombies: elevate a relatively tired genre to a place of sharp comedy without losing sight of the scares thanks to its European wit and raucous combination of the horrific and the hilarious.

It's quite a whale of a tale. (forgive me)

While the monsters take most of the spotlight, Grabbers is supported by a wonderful cast of characters led by Ciaran (Richard Coyle), an alcoholic local cop, and Lisa (the ever-so-funny and gorgeous Ruth Bradley), his new straight-laced partner. Along with the town’s lovable old coot (Lalor Roddy), the local marine ecologist (a brilliant turn by Russell Tovey from the UK Being Human), Ciaran and Lisa follow the predictable monster movie formula, even finding the perquisite odd couple romance we’ve seen time and time again. However, while hitting every monster movie cliche imaginable, Grabbers embraces the B-movie structure but gives it a good spit and polish with some genius ideas and fresh gags. Grabbers plays its humor straight as an arrow that hits the mark each time, with rising hilarity as the film goes on. While never winking to the audience or taking itself too seriously, Grabbers is a near-perfect blend of horror and comedy. It's neither too gory nor too silly but is, instead, full of Irish flavour (the scenery is breathtaking) and never veers into the cheese-ball world of excessive Irish stereotyping of which American cinema is guilty (faith and begorrah!).

The most hilarious monster-fighting arsenal ever assembled

Accomplished special effects and CGI creature design round out this wonderful twist on the monster movie formula. A joyous B-movie with something for everyone, Grabbers was overwhelmingly cheered by the crowd in attendance at The Bloor Hot Docs Cinema for the opening night of Toronto After Dark. I wouldn't be surprised if it were a strong contender for best picture of the festival. Charming as feck, Grabbers had its Toronto audience hook, line, and sinker.

Just wait until Grabbers gets ahold of you!

TONIGHT: GRABBERS and AMERICAN MARY Open Toronto After Dark 2012

It's that time of year again when it's good to have no life because you'll have all the time in the world to see ever single one of the awesome horror, sci-fi, action, and cult movies in store for you at the 2012 Toronto After Dark Film Festival (Oct 18-26).
  
Returning to the newly christined Bloor Hot Docs Cinema (506 Bloor Street W), Toronto After Dark begins today with a gala opening night screening of blood and monsters.

The night begins with the Toronto Premiere of the Irish monster film GRABBERS.

SHOWTIME: Oct 18, 6.45 PM at Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street W)
Door Tickets from: 5.15pm
Seating from: 6.15pm. 
TICKETS: $14 Regular, $24 Double Feature Ticket with AMERICAN MARY at 9.45 pm.

In Grabbers, a horror comedy from director Jon Wright (Tormented), a sea-side town is besieged by tentacled aquatic beasties with an allergy to alcohol, so the only way to stay off their menu is to drink, drink, and drink some more. 

From possibly alien monstrosities to the freaky world of blackmarket body modification, Toronto After Dark welcomes you to the Canadian Premiere of the new film by the infamous Soska Sisters: AMERICAN MARY

SHOWTIME: Oct 18, 9:45 PM at Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street W)
Door Tickets from: 5.15pm, Seating from: 9.15pm. 
TICKETS: $14 Regular, $24 Double Feature with GRABBERS - OPENING GALA FILM at 6.45 pm.

Sister directing team Jen & Sylvia Soska (Dead Hooker in a Trunk) return with American Mary in which a disillusioned medical student (Katherine Isabelle of Ginger Snaps) decides to ply her trade in the shady underworld of unregulated surgeries and body modification. How can the results be anything but bloody and horrifying?

For full festival schedule information and advanced tickets for future films, visit www.torontoafterdark.com

Rob Zombie's THE LORDS OF SALEM (Review)

THE LORDS OF SALEM (2012)
by AARON ALLEN

Directed and Written by
Rob Zombie

Cinematography by
Brandon Trost
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Last night in Toronto, Rob Zombie’s new film The Lords of Salem had its world premiere as part of the Midnight Madness program at the Toronto International Film Festival.

After the film, while addressing a question about his artistic philosophy, Zombie made an off-hand statement that, in retrospect, I think explains exactly why he’s such a divisive figure in the horror and film community. About The Lords of Salem, Zombie said his intention was to fill the frame by “putting interesting things everywhere even if they don’t matter.”

Interesting things everywhere -- even if they don’t matter.

The Lords of Salem at Midnight Madness.
(L-R) Colin Geddes (Midnight Madness Programmer), Rob Zombie (director),
Sheri Moon Zombie (star), Jeff Daniel Phillips (star),
Brandon Trost (cinematographer)

I don’t think I can come up with a more concise review of The Lords of Salem than the director’s own words. The Lords of Salem is a disappointing dud about witches and Satan worship amounting to a shallow sensory experience that proves conclusively that Rob Zombie’s natural state as a director is of style over substance and story. And surprisingly, for a horror aficionado like Zombie, style over scares as well.

(L-R) Colin Geddes (Midnight Madness Programmer), Rob Zombie (writer / director),

Set in modern day Salem, The Lords of Salem introduces us to Heidi Hawthorne, a rail-thin and tattooed late-night radio DJ played by Sheri Moon Zombie. One night, Heidi receives a strange wooden box. Inside is a record from a group called “The Lords”. On the same night she and her on-radio partners Herman and Herman (Jeff Daniel Phillips and Ken Foree) interview an author about the Salem witch trials (Bruce Davison turning in a fantastically flustered performance), Heidi decides to play the strange record on the air. As its eerie, discordant melody spreads out across the airwaves, it begins to have a puzzling effect on some of the women who hear it, including Heidi who soon falls into a nightmare-plagued and hallucinatory downward spiral. After the anonymous “Lords” announce a free concert in Salem, Heidi’s condition takes a turn for the Satanic as she falls victim to an ancient witch’s curse on the female bloodlines of Salem that is fated to bring about a great darkness over all mankind.

The Lords of Salem begins with a lot of potential. Stepping off the Halloween remake franchise and before stepping into his upcoming film about The Philadelphia Flyers, Rob Zombie had a chance to show he can write strong, original material and construct films that are more than music-video montages filled with references to his love for horror movies, black and white film, and Southern-style grindhouse sleaze. At first, The Lords of Salem seems to represent a maturation of Rob Zombie's film-making style. Zombie seems more restrained in his visual proclivities. Instead of bombarding us, he focuses on building a quiet, solemn world of characters going through their mundane lives. In this element, I can see the realism that Zombie could bring to his upcoming hockey period piece The Broadstreet Bullies, his first non-horror feature film.

 The cast is also exceptionally strong. Zombie assembles a great roster of lesser-known actors and actresses, many from the world of cult cinema such as Patricia Quinn, better known as Magenta from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Stealing the show, however, is Meg Foster as the witch Margaret Morgan who chills the spine with a feral performance and otherworldly vocal work reminiscent of the demonic cadences Mercedes McCambridge provided for The Exorcist (with a little bit of Gozer from Ghostbusters thrown in for good measure). Unfortunately, there’s no real story generating the momentum here. Worst of all, Sheri Moon Zombie, who is at her most tolerable, is shafted as a character into becoming little more than a visual prop for a series of meandering dream sequences.

And here’s the core of the problem with The Lords of Salem. Rob Zombie isn’t concerned about characters, story structure, or theme. He strike me as the kind of man who goes with his own instincts – what feels cool – and composes them into a series of self-indulgent visual vignettes. Without restraint, Zombie tries to pack the frame full of everything he loves even if it doesn’t serve the story he’s trying to tell. Unfortunately, when it comes time to cut the film, a lot of that gets left on the cutting room floor and probably does a disservice to what's left over. For example, the highly publicized fact that The Lords of Salem would feature Richard Lynch in his last role and also feature cult icons Udo Kier, Clint Howard, Daniel Roebuck, and Camille Keaton turns out NOT to be true. All their scenes ended up on the cutting room floor because Rob Zombie shot too much to fit in one movie. Could Zombie have done more to improve the core characters and story of his film rather than trying to cast every one of his cult icons that he can get to come on set? Perhaps, however, that’s not Zombie’s real problem. He may just be incapable of seeing the forest from the trees; can Zombie resist the urge to treat every scene like a separate project at the expense of the movie as a whole? His wife, Sheri Moon Zombie, seems to confirm that he can’t. “Before every shot,” she told the audience at Midnight Madness, “[Rob Zombie] was like, let’s get weird!” Doing so is even done at the expense of some scares when Zombie chooses to put a strange figure silently in the corner of the room or out in broad daylight with no other build-up or attempt to increase the tension. I guess he just wanted to be weird!

But is weird for weirdness’ sake enough? Some may make the claim that The Lords of Salem is Rob Zombie’s attempt at an art film since it is very abstract in places. I would counter, however, that The Lords of Salem is no art film; it’s Rob Zombie’s attempt to adapt his musical style to a visual medium. Like his albums, which feature a series of tracks dominated by chilling noise, punching grooves, and a camp/nostalgic reference for horror movies of the 1970s and before, the scenes in The Lords of Salem play out like a series of tracks, each sharing similar themes but being their own distinct work. Assembled together, however, they don’t tell a story. Just like you can pick and choose Rob Zombie tracks to listen to on their own and forget the ones you don’t like, you could cut individual scenes out of The Lords of Salem to appreciate them over and over in isolation. Put back in sequence, however, they don’t communicate any more coherent story or theme than they do on their own.

There is a quieter, more human Rob Zombie film buried deep within The Lords of Salem that I would have liked. However, I was left very cold at the conclusion of the movie, which seems to end with a shrug because it has nothing new or interesting to say. The Lords of Salem stands as an interesting premise and an interesting / powerful cast of characters that are abandoned so Rob Zombie can make a series of music videos about witches, Satan, and cult imagery. When you look past all the flashy images, The Lords of Salem is really nothing more than some interesting things everywhere even if they don’t matter.

Find Horror at The Canadian Film Fest (Mar 28 - 31)

The Canadian Film Fest is back and ready to bring 100% Canadian films to Toronto, including some locally grown horror films!

Starting March 28, the Canadian Film Fest launches its 2012 program at The Royal Theatre in Toronto. Among the films being screened are three horror films that feature serial killers, ghosts, and zombies.

READ --  THE ZED WORD INTERVIEWS BERN EULER (FESTIVAL DIRECTOR)

For more information and full ticket details, visit http://canfilmfest.ca


HORROR SCREENING SCHEDULE

MARCH 29: Below Zero (Toronto Premiere)

Jack (Edward Furlong, Terminator 2), an out of luck screenwriter attempts to finish a career-saving project in solitude by arranging to be isolated in a meat locker. While the temperature drops, the line between fiction and reality begin to blur as Jack's screenplay comes dangerously to life after he suspects that a serial killer may be lurking outside the locker.

MARCH 30: The Unleashed

Madison Kennard, a troubled woman dealing with her dark past, must venture home after an 8-year absence following her mother's death. Almost instantly after her return, Madison must cope with bizarre and unexplainable events that occur within the house after old friends come together and dabble with the infamous Ouija board. With the help of Andrew Porter, a renowned writer and expert on paranormal phenomena, Madison soon discovers that there is more to the board than she realizes and must uncover truths of her family's past to contain what has been unleashed.

MARCH 31: A Little Bit Zombie (Toronto Premiere)

Infected by a virus, a mild mannered HR manager attempts to fulfill his overwhelming desire for brains, all while trying to keep it together so as not to incur the wrath of his bridezilla-to-be.