As October reaches its midway point, it’s just about time for the annual Toronto After Dark Film Festival. The film fest takes place over nine spooky nights, at the Scotiabank Theatre in downtown Toronto, Canada. Running from October 17th to 25th, Toronto After Dark will be the home to dozens of horror film premieres, as well as a handful of short films screening all festival long.
This year’s opening night films are Extra Ordinary; an Irish supernatural comedy starring Will Forte and directed by Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman, and Witches In The Woods; a Canadian horror film directed by Jordan Baker. Each film premiere will also be paired with a short horror film. We Three Queens will play before Extra Ordinary, while Eyes Open will play before Witches In The Woods.
On Saturday, October 19th, the festival’s International Shorts After Dark will take place where eight international short films ranging from horror to sci-fi to cult will air together. This year’s short films are: Maggie May (directed by Mia’kate Russell), Puzzle (directed by Vincenzo Alello), Eject (directed by David Yorke), La Noria (directed by Carlos Baena), Your Last Day On Earth (directed by Marc Martinez), Bar Fight (directed by Benjamin R. Mood), Place (directed by Jason Gudasz), and The Haunted Swordsman (directed by Kevin McTurk).
In addition to the International Shorts After Dark screenings, there will also be a Canadian Shorts After Dark collection screening on Sunday, October 20th. This collection of seven Canadian horror/sci-fi/action/cult films include: Imagine A World (directed by Joanna Tsanis, Plainsong (directed by Alexis Fortier Gauthier), Zombies And Indians (directed by Keith Lawrence), Moment (directed by Geoffrey Uloth), Alaska (directed by Chris Wilson, Brianna Templeton, and Gwynne Phillips), No One Will Ever Believe You (directed by Frederic Chalte), and Best Friends Forever (directed by Emily Gagne and Joshua Korngut).
Other highlights of this year’s festival include; The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale (playing Saturday, October 19th at 6:15 pm). A South Korean outrageous zom-com(zombie comedy) directed by Lee Min-jae. Described as following in the footsteps of Train to Busan, the Park family adopts an undead stray, completely oblivious to the undead threat, and attempts to put him to practical use. The Odd Family: Zombie On Sale will screen with the short film Ocimokw!!! (Go Away), directed by Mattias Ottawa.
Another highlight is Mutant Blast, a Portuguese zombie apocalypse action-comedy dealing with the fallout after a nuclear disaster wipes out the majority of a city. The remaining survivors end up locked in a bloody battle royale fight for their lives. There’s super serum sidekicks, animal-human mutations, zombies, and a killer ’80s-inspired synth score. This one is not to be missed. It will screen with Grave Sight (directed by Angus Swantee).
This year’s closing night films are Come To Daddy and The Wretched. Come To Daddy is a classic cabin-in-the-woods type horror thriller starring Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings) and directed by Ant Timpson, who previously produced the cult hit film, Deathgasm. The Wretched comes from Brett and Drew Pierce, the filmmakers behind the zom-com Deadheads, and is a frightening reminder of why you shouldn’t bring dead animals back home from the woods. Come To Daddy will be paired with the short film Patterns (directed by B.J. Verot) while The Wretched will screen with The Changeling (directed by David Hamelin and Neil Macdonald).
Toronto After Dark begins its nine nights of haunts this week, and will run from October 17th to the 25th. Tickets for movies are going quick, so if you’re itching to check out some spooky flicks by some up-and-coming directors in the horror genre, you better head over to the site to buy tickets ASAP. In addition, a full schedule can also be found on the website here.
Are you heading out to the festival? Something you’re excited to see? Let us know!
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