Toronto After Dark

If you are a genre fan and DEATHGASM plays a festival in your city, do yourself a favor, round up all of your pals, and catch a screening.

Patchwork is an examination of life death in the modern age, mixed with violence, gore, and a cheeky tone sure to delight fans of classic 80’s scream-fests.

Tag offers enough cryptic symbolism to fuel countless hours of discussion among cinephiles (be it in coffee shops or on reddit), while the movie’s violence ensures that gorehounds can turn off their brains and enjoy numerous well-choreographed blood baths.

Perhaps no other film making the rounds at Toronto After Dark is receiving as much buzz as Love & Peace

Gridlocked is an unrelenting, unapologetic throwback to the no-brainer all brawn action movies of the 80’s.

Here is a list of five must see films that will be screening at Toronto After Dark 2015.

The tenth annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival kicks off in a couple weeks and the festival has finally announced the second half of titles for this year’s lineup as well as the Canadian and International shorts. PopOptiq will once again be covering the event so be sure to check back at the end of …

In an episode of Community, Britta (played by Gillian Jacobs) once said that an analogy is “a thought with another thought’s hat on.” It may be laboured, clumsy, and teetering on the gobbledygook, but what she said was not altogether incorrect. In fact, that’s pretty much the reason why the scene was funny. Jacob Vaughan’s Bad Milo, in which Jacobs co-stars, deals with a metaphor that, in its execution, feels very much the same way: laboured and ridiculous, but not altogether unfunny.

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 …

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 …

The Pact Directed by Nicholas McCarthy Written by Nicholas McCarthy USA, 2012 Chances are, you’ve probably seen a film like The Pact. But, conversely, chances are you’ve never seen it done quite like this. Although bereft of groundbreaking originality or genre epiphanies, Nicholas McCarthy’s modern take on the haunted house horror picture manages to use …

Juan of the Dead Directed by Alejandro Brugués Written by Alejandro Brugués Cuba, 2011 The only thing more recycled than zombie films are the zombies themselves. It takes a special talent to reinvigorate the genre of the undead, and when Edgar Wright made Shaun of the Dead, it seemed like he finally created the be …

For fans of all films macabre, The Toronto After Dark Film Festival is the venue for you. But for those that can’t wait until October for nine nights of horror, sci-fi, action and cult movies running from the 18th to the 26th, the good people behind TADFF have answered your counter intuitive prayers. For two …

We recently wrapped up our coverage of the Toronto After Dark Film Festival but we haven’t had a chance to post the festival winners, until now. The big winner was the cult action film Father’s Day from Winnipeg-based film collective Astron-6 which won the festival’s top prize, the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film …

“The gothic horror genre has been fairly maligned in cinemas lately – shoddy stories and appeals to the lowest common denominator are largely to blame. Thankfully, Heartless is the movie to buck the trend.” Heartless Dir. Philip Ridley (2009, UK, 114 mins.) Heartless is an uncommon film from an uncommon director. Philip Ridley is, among …

Once more, Toronto After Dark has proven why it stands out in a city full of film festivals.  Fans were treated to a wild ride full of Old Ones, exorcisms, ninjas, pot brownies, demons, centurions, robogeisha, and a human centipedes. Here are some notes from the festival: –       The horror-comedy is picking up speed and …

“Doghouse is proof positive that the Brits are cornering the market of entertaining horror-comedies…” Doghouse Directed by Jake West Director Jake West’s British horror-comedy Doghouse is an absolutely exhilarating gore-fest.  Two parts Shaun of the Dead and one part Hangover, Doghouse is a recipe that horror fans should devour. When Vince’s (Snatch’s Stephen Graham) marriage …

————– Centurion Directed by Neil Marshall Genre director Neil Marshall is not what you might call an “ideas man.” His best film, the terrifying spelunking creature feature The Descent, thrived not on any elaborate concepts or carefully developed characters, but instead on the shrewd, cunning use of the film’s incredibly claustrophobic spaces to generate naturalistic …

The Dark Hour Directed by Elio Quiroga Any attempt to unearth hidden meaning behind Spain’s Sci-Fi thriller The Dark Hour would simply give it too much credit. While watching this film, it becomes glaringly obvious that writer-director Elio Quiroga heavily borrows visuals and themes from the Alien franchise, but fails miserably to evoke the same …

Black Dynamite Directed by Scott Sanders Although director Scott Sanders’ Black Dynamite is being touted as a brazen spoof of 70’s blaxploitation films, its tone is less ‘spoof ‘ than it is simply tongue-in-cheek.  Yes, there are pimps, pushers, ho’s, nunchucks, polyester suits and 8-track tapes, but Sanders does not rely on these conventions to …

The Warlords 2007, Hong Kong/China Directed by Peter Chan Written by Xu Lan, Chun Tin-Nam, Aubery Lam, Huang Jian Xin, Jojo Hui, He Jiping, Guo Jun Li, James Yuen Starring Jet Li, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro, Xu Jinglei 127 minutes, English 35 mm Generally speaking, when an action star attempts a role that requires delivering …

Black Dynamite has been officially announced as the opening gala film at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival. Directed by Scott Sanders the film stars Michael Jai White and is shot in the style of a blaxploitation film of the 1970’s. Inspired mostly by such films as Shaft, Dolemite and Superfly it was a Sundance …