TORONTO -- Each night during the Toronto International Film Festival,Too Naughty to Say No (1985) - Remastered when the Princess of Wales theater is empty and everyone with a lanyard around their neck is either sleeping or partying, those with the guts to keep watching movies into the wee hours head to Midnight Madness at the Ryerson Theatre.
There's no better environment in which to see a midnight movie than TIFF's Midnight Madness program. Programmed by Colin Geddes, who introduces each movie and leads a Q&A with its filmmakers, Midnight Madness is one of the festival's signature sections -- and this year's lineup didn't disappoint, even if some of the individual movies did.
I head to Midnight Madness each year to make discoveries (and because sleep is overrated), and this year French director Julia Ducournau stole the show with her highly original cannibal movie Raw, which truly impressed me with its artful approach to body horror.
I didn't get a chance to see everymidnight movie, but what I did see is -- yes -- ranked below.
But you should only keep reading if you have a strong stomach for sick, twisted fun, because it gets messy. To quote Geddes before the start of The Belko Experiment, "midnight movies have been reallyviolent the last two nights. It's happening again tonight. Tell my mom I'm a nice person."
1. Raw
This shocking French cannibal movie represents the birth of a new horror talent in writer-director Julia Ducournau, who will surely be signed by a major talent agency in the coming weeks, if not days. The film premiered at Cannes but made its mark at TIFF, where paramedics were called after the carnage prompted those with weak stomachs to faint. This elegantly bloody coming-of-age story concerns a girl who follows her sister to veterinary school, where she develops a taste for human flesh. It came as no surprise to learn that star Garance Marillier had worked with Ducournau before, as she clearly trusts her director, as she delivers an fiercely committed lead performance that leaves little to the imagination. I'll be showing this one to my friends who can handle it.
2. The Belko Experiment
Director Greg McLean and writer-producer James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) deliver the gory goods with The Belko Experiment, which was an absolute blast. I want to be careful not to spoil anything, so let's just say it's about an office that finds itself playing the ultimate game of Survivor. After playing the villain in Hushearlier this year, John Gallagher Jr. gets to play one of the heroes, and it suits him well. This movie was a ton of fun and ends on quite the image. It's no surprise the film was acquired by Jason Blum's BH Tilt following an enthusiastic response at TIFF.
3. Headshot
Imagine a good Jason Bourne movie with The Raidstar Iko Uwais in place of Matt Damon, and that’s basically Headshot. Directed by Timo Tjahjanto and Kimo Stamboel -- aka the Mo brothers -- this high-octane, badass action extravaganza is a mostly-worthy cousin to Uwais' well-known franchise. He plays an amnesiac with serious fighting skills who must rescue the doctor who saved him when she’s kidnapped by his mentor. This ultra-violent movie kicks all kinds of ass and serves as further proof that the best action movies are being made outside of Hollywood.
4. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch play father-and-son coroners who meet their match in a beautiful corpse that may not be as dead as it seems. It’s a solid horror premise anchored by two strong actors and some decent scares, but eventually it loses steam and runs off the rails.
5. Blair Witch
This "sequel" took everything that the original did well and just repeated it. There were too many jump scares for my taste. For Mashable’s mixed-negative review, click here.
6. Free Fire
Ben Wheatley’s latest misfire wastes a bunch of good actors (Brie Larson, Sharlto Copley, Cillian Murphy and Armie Hammer) and is hamstrung by a goofy tone. Kicking off Midnight Madness on a sour note, this tedious action-comedy about an arms deal gone wrong plays like a bad parody of Reservoir Dogscrossed with a feature-length Saturday Night Livesketch. Despite an impressive ensemble that does its best with a thin script, you can safely skip it next year.
Not ranked (because Mashablehasn't seen them)
Paul Schrader's Dog Eat Dog starring Nicolas Cage and Willem Dafoe; the J-horror mash-up Sadako vs. Kayako; Morgan Spurlock's documentary Rats; and the zombie movieThe Girl With All the Gifts, which has been getting great buzz from genre press.
What to do when you're so overwhelmed by the Trump presidency you can barely move5 times when intolerant India had a problem with BollywoodThis company will turn your white AirPods black for $99Kit Kat sushi is all of our cravings wrapped into one, for better or worseIt seems the UK really, really doesn't want Trump to meet the QueenBar serving butterbeer is making all our 'Harry Potter' fantasies come trueKit Kat sushi is all of our cravings wrapped into one, for better or worseThe Robin smartphone is no more after Razer acquires NextbitTwitter reacts with anger as tech CEOs offer to reach out to Trump over immigration banSome very rich person bought a plane seat for each of their falconsWhen these two NBA coaches speak out against Trump, you should listenJessica Williams and Salma Hayek had a tense conversation about race at SundanceAzealia Banks Instagrammed Rihanna's phone number because she's the worstMultiple CNN accounts on Facebook hacked by OurMineWhen these two NBA coaches speak out against Trump, you should listenBarbie saves a planet in new comic series, may save oursIran born BBC journalist tweets odyssey of going through U.S. airportsHackers cause hotel to ditch keycards for old'Homeland' Season 6 needs to get to the point, statGoogle creates $4 million crisis fund to fight Trump's immigration ban Dad's tweet about daughter's reaction to a female referee is what we need right now Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury: See new photo The Pixel 2 phones are now the least interesting Google hardware Tesla fires hundreds of workers companywide amid production struggles Pranksters turn city street into frozen nightmare Ed Sheeran shares Instagram post of his bicycle accident injury Huawei Mate 10 Pro is a unique phone with an AI heart Panos Panay on Surface Book 2, USB The most popular PC game bans thousands of players every day Carrie Fisher sent cow tongue to movie producer Tesla rumored to have shipped Powerpacks to Puerto Rico for aid How one podcast is looking to history to try stop America from spinning out of control You know you want to watch a 1,300 Astronauts brought a fidget spinner into space Here's a brand new, gory clip from 'Stranger Things' Season 2 When will Hillary Clinton break her silence on 'Rick and Morty's Szechuan sauce? The best way to get cheap data while traveling internationally Hidden data suggests new Pokémon and a Halloween event are coming to 'Pokémon Go' Facebook is testing a resume / CV feature that mimics LinkedIn Prisoners in Texas donate more than $50,000 for Harvey relief
1.9057s , 10158.21875 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【Too Naughty to Say No (1985) - Remastered】,Charm Information Network