Toronto Film Fest: Midnight Madness

The annual Toronto Intn’l Film Festival has posted its schedule. What do I focus on first? The Midnight Madness line-up of course — that’s where genre films are usualy slotted. In past years, they’ve shown Bubba Ho-Tep, Saw, and other movies I should have gone to see. Perhaps this year I’ll make the trek to Canada for a screening or two.

The line-up:

Hostel
Directed by Eli Roth
Roth is a huge horror fan who can talk a mile a minute. This tends to annoy some fanboy types who thought his Cabin Fever was overhyped. I liked it a lot — it was fun and gross, delivering both laughs and suspense. So I’m looking forward to Hostel. Something tells me this will be a bit more serious.

Evil Aliens
Directed by Jake West
Speaking of disgusting and funny, this sounds like the alien invasion answer to Cabin Fever. Or the Irish version of Peter Jackson’s Bad Taste. Either way, reviews say it’s a riot, so I’m eager to see it with an audience.

Banlieue 13
Directed by Pierre Morel
Yet another action film written and produced by Luc Besson. I’m sure it will be entertaining, with a slightly off kilter European sentimentality and sense of humor. But after paying my money for Kiss of the Dragon, Unleashed, The Transporter (okay — I didn’t pay for that one), I’m itching to see Besson himself direct another picture. See the French website and trailer here.

Bangkok Loco
Directed by Pornchai Hongrattanaporn
A black comedy from Thailand, featuring murder, Buddhism, and rock n’ roll.

The District!
Directed by Áron Gauder
Animated. South Park meets gritty Eastern Europe.

The Great Yokai War
Directed by Takashi Miike
The director of super-popular, super-violent Japanese gangster movies brings us… a kids movie. Also known as “Hobgoblins & the Great Wall” or “The Big Spook War,” this is a sort of Alice in Wonderland tale full of unusual Japanese demons and mythological creatures.

Isolation
Directed by Billy O’Brien
On a remote Irish farm, five people become unwilling participants in an experiment that goes nightmarishly wrong.

Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey
Directed by Sam Dunn, Scot McFadyen, Jessica Joy Wise
See beyond the stereotypical orgy of drugs and groupies to the reality of life as a musician – the struggles and the triumphs.

Sarah Silverman: Jesus is Magic
Directed by Liam Lynch
You know her and love her from her appearances on Conan O’Brien. A stand-up comedy feature? Sounds great.

SPL
Directed by Wilson Yip
Simon Yam, Sammo Hung, Donnie Yen along with Wu Jing star in this new dark, gritty actioner directed by Wilson Yip.