Greetings, all. Ambush Bug here with another AICN HORROR: ZOMBIES & SHARKS column. Every year, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival offers up the best of the best in horror and genre films. More often than not, the films featured at this festival secure spots on my best of lists once they are released later in the year. This year’s crop of films is no exception. Today kicks off the festival and below is part one of my reviews from TADFF 2015 (you can see the whole roster here and find out scheduling info here)!
On with the horror reviews!
(Click title to go directly to the feature)
THE DIABOLICAL (2015)
A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015)
THE INTERIOR (2015)
NINA FOREVER (2015)
THE DEMOLISHER (2015)
Playing this week at TADFF 2015! New this week in select theaters, On Demand, and iTunes from XLrator Media!THE DIABOLICAL (2015)
Directed by Alistair LegrandWritten by Luke Harvis, Alistair Legrand
Starring Ali Larter, Max Rose, Chloe Perrin, Wilmer Calderon, Kurt Carley, Merrin Dungey, Joe Egender, Patrick Fischler, Arjun Gupta, Trey Holland, Thomas Kuc, Laura Margolis
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
A solid sense of unease and creepiness and some decent twists make THE DIABOLICAL worth seeking out, even though some of those twists are predictable. Still, the attempt to do something different is appreciated.
THE DIABOLICAL starts out like any other INSIDIOUS/CONJURING/SINISTER film where a beleaguered family seems to be tormented by an angry spirit from the other side. The film wastes no time throwing us into the paranormal activity as Madison (HEROES’ Ali Larter) runs into a creepy apparition in the first few minutes. Soon we meet her two children, Jacob (Max Rose) and Madison (Chloe Perrin), and find out she is a widower having a relationship with her son’s physics tutor Miguel (Wilmer Calderon). While Jacob seems intelligent beyond his years (exemplified by some fun physics involving an egg), he is also a hothead and has been monitored by a therapist. Having things float around and monsters appear from the shadows doesn’t help the kids’ and mom’s stability. When an odd realtor (MULLHOLLAND DRIVE’s Patrick Fischler) shows up offering to buy Madison’s home she is left suspicious, but as the weird happenings intensify, everything in Madison’s world seems to not be as it seems.This is a film that is hinged upon the twists that occur in the latter half, so I’m vague on purpose in that previous recap paragraph to keep most of those twists secret. Still, I will say that many of these twists are somewhat predictable to any cinephile, as aspects of physics, mental stability, and the paranormal are highlighted in the establishing moments of the film. Things definitely are not what they seem, and I appreciate the effort to begin the tale with one kind of story only to end it on an entirely different and unexpected note, but those wanting another haunted house flick are going to either be disappointed by the turns of events or surprised by them, depending on how much you buy into the film.
For the most part I did, as Larter and the child actors are quite good here, especially Max Rose as the troubled Jacob. It was because of these nice performances that the turns involved kept me invested. It also helped that the effects here are rather gory and good. The creature, who later appears as a scarred man, is pretty terrifying in his various forms, and the film utilizes some pretty inventive practical effects as the ghost tears through a layer of skin in one scene and later slithers across the floor. Reminiscent of Frank in HELLRAISER, who grows anatomy and layers of muscle and flesh through the film, this creature is definitely something that stands out from the typical ghosts you’re likely to see in films.That said, I did feel that the film kind of takes a weird turn in the final moments. It’s inventive and unexpected, but still, I don’t know if I felt completely satisfied with the explanation of all of these “diabolical” events afoot. While the execution of the weirdness worked, the way it all wraps up just didn’t work for me. Still, some great effects, creepily constructed moments of haunting, and solid performances make THE DIABOLICAL better than most haunted house flicks we’ve been inundated with lately.
Playing this week at TADFF 2015 also in select theaters, On Demand, & iTunes from RLJ Entertainment!A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY (2015)
Directed by Grant Harvey, Steven Hoban, Brett SullivanWritten by James Kee, Sarah Larsen, Jason Filiatrault, Doug Taylor, Pascal Trottier
Starring William Shatner, George Buza, Percy Hynes White, Oluniké Adeliyi, Rob Archer, Jeff Clarke, Jessica Clement, Corinne Conley, Robert Coughler, Zoé De Grand Maison, Amy Forsyth, Glen Gaston, Ken Hall, Adrian Holmes, Shannon Kook, Debra McCabe, Paige Moyles, Michelle Nolden, Alex Ozerov, Alan C. Peterson, Joe Silvaggio
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
It seems people start preparing for Christmas earlier and earlier every year, which explains the reason why A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY is released in the first week in October, I guess. But while it may look like it is similar to the upcoming big budget KRAMPUS film, A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY proved to be much, much more. More akin to KRAMPUS director Michael Dougherty’s TRICK R’ TREAT in structure, A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY is an interlocking anthology film taking everything we know and love about the holidays and giving it a macabre slant.A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY is tied together as it takes place on one specific night, which is the anniversary of a pair of murders of some high school kids at a local school. Each of the four storylines cuts back and forth to one another as the story goes on, but all still occupy the same universe. I don’t want to give too much of each story away, but it’s all tied together by a radio DJ played by William Shatner who joyously gets drunker and drunker as the night goes on. Shatner is not too over the top here, and actually does a great job selling his role as the jolly soul who loves Christmas despite all of the evil things going on in the city.
All of the stories intermingling with one another are pretty compelling and do a good job of twisting holiday tropes up into bloody little bows, my favorite being a family going to a secluded forest to cut down their own Christmas tree, only to find that their son has been replaced by something quite sinister. This story does a fantastic job with happenings in the forefront of the frame coupled with horrific things happening in the background. This one is bloody and imaginative, utilizing the tradition of cutting one’s own tree to really pull you in, and then it attacks.One of the stories that seems a bit out of place from the rest is about Santa Claus fighting a horde of zombie elves at the North Pole. This story offers up some of the most dramatic and exciting moments, but it feels out of whack with the rest of the more reality-grounded film. This inconsistency is rectified by the end, and while it is an outlier, seeing Santa go nuts and beat the shit out of rabid elves and the Krampus itself is pretty amazing.
While the storyline with a trio of student filmmakers making a documentary about the murders a year prior is moody and well acted, this one seemed the blandest of the bunch, mainly because we’ve seen this premise with a school project investigating a murder before in other films, but I will admit I jumped the most in these scenes as the kids roam around in the dark and may be tormented by ghosts of the past.The fourth story is most like the other Krampus movie coming out in about a month about an ungrateful family visiting their relatives in order to get a handout. The family is made up of a bunch of real shits, and the actors are quite convincing in their roles. This one does a decent job with the Krampus myth and has some nice gory scenes as well as a pretty impressive full body Krampus suit.
If there is a problem with A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY it’s that it is full of great ideas, but the resolutions to these stories end up being kind of a let down. I don’t want to spoil things too much, but while some of the films have a pretty potent bite in terms of wickedness and gore, the way things are resolved are rather predictable and tame. I guess I’d liken the experience to seeing a bright and shiny present and then tearing it open only to be disappointed with what’s under the paper. The stories aren’t necessarily bad, it’s just that the endings just don’t have as much punch as the initial concept had.That said, I laughed and jumped quite a bit at A CHRISTMAS HORROR STORY. It’s a fantastic celebration of everything gruesome and festive all mixed together into one grab bag of gory goodies. Well acted and directed, this is a strong film and worth seeking out, though it’s tough that it came out so early and will most likely miss its market as it would be a ghoulishly great film to watch during the holiday season.
THE INTERIOR (2015)
Directed by Trevor JurasWritten by Trevor Juras
Starring Patrick McFadden, Ryan Austin, Jake Beczala, Andrew Hayes, Lucas Mailing, Delphine Roussel, Shaina Silver-Baird
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
THE INTERIOR (not to be mistaken with INTERIOR, a ghost story that’s creeping around the festival circuit as well) is the type of film that will fascinate some and infuriate others. Personally, I found it to be entertaining from top to bottom, filled with mood, personality, and a sense of dread that most films never achieve.
The film opens with James (Patrick McFadden) sitting in a doctor’s office and complaining of odd symptoms involving blurred vision, headaches, and numb fingers. Daydreaming through his life, hating his job and feeling a general malaise towards everything, James receives some bad news from his doctor after an MRI is given (though we aren’t told what the diagnosis is). James quits his job, breaks things off with his girlfriend and decides to go on a hiking trip into the interior of the British Columbia forest. But the further James gets into the woods, the more disturbing things get.So this is basically James vs. the Interior rather than JOE VS. THE VOLCANO, as a man who finds out he is dying decides to throw away his boring life and live his last days as an adventure, except this time around it’s much more horrifying. Patrick McFadden is really fantastic here in a performance that is reminiscent of Tom Hanks in the aforementioned film crossed with a little bit of Martin Freeman from THE OFFICE, as he is someone living just a skosh off-kilter from the rest of the world. McFadden is instantly likable, and though he is distant and aloof, we see the banal world around him through his eyes and don’t blame him for wanting to disappear from his life. Once out into the wild it is just him, and the frame never feels empty or boring with him in it. There is very little dialog in the latter half of this film, but because the first half hour establishes his personality, you are with this guy all the way no matter how thick the forest, dark the shadows, or scary the nights become.
And things get very scary in the latter half of THE INTERIOR. There are many who I feel will be bored with THE INTERIOR because it is not the scare-a-minute modern film theaters try to teach us horror is. THE INTERIOR is about creeping terror. It is the type of terror that festers in the back of one’s mind and swirls around the brain, multiplying in size slowly but steadily. Starting with sounds in the forest around him, then glimpses of a person seemingly following him in the woods, the final moments of this film are absolutely horrifying not because the effects are excessive or bloody or because the horrors are outlandish, but because if you were in this scenario you would be terrified as well, I guarantee it. Because I related so much to the lead, I felt the horror he experienced, even though it’s not the most shocking of images I have seen on screen. If you don’t relate to James or his plight, it’s doubtful you’ll feel the same.There is no big monster or gory reveal in THE INTERIOR. This is a story of a man losing it all inch by inch--first losing what makes him a civilized person functioning in society and then descending into the wild to lose even more. It’s a horrifically sad film played by an extremely charismatic lead in McFadden (who is destined for big things, I guarantee). This is no jump scare montage, but a strong character piece where the horrors resonate. THE INTERIOR is a harrowing and dark film to experience and one I highly recommend.
NINA FOREVER (2015)
Directed by Ben Blaine, Chris BlaineWritten by Ben Blaine, Chris Blaine
Starring Abigail Hardingham, Cian Barry, Fiona O'Shaughnessy, David Troughton, Elizabeth Elvin, Sean Verey, Javan Hirst, Richard Sandling, Phelim Kelly, Lee Nicholas Harris, Bill Holland, Katharine Bennett-Fox, Tamar Karabetyan
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Chock full with the type of quirk and sickness that I haven’t seen in a horror film since Lucky McKee’s MAY, NINA FOREVER turned out to be the right type of wrong for me.
Described as “a fucked up fairy tale,” NINA FOREVER follows an outcast named Holly (the beautiful Abigail Hardingham) who studies to be a paramedic and works her days away at a local grocery store. When her boyfriend proves to know nothing about her, they break things off and Holly immediately takes interest in a dark, brooding coworker at the grocery named Rob (Cian Barry), who recently lost his girlfriend Nina (Fiona O'Shaughnessy) in a traffic accident and is grief-stricken. As the two grow close, Holly begins to find out more about Rob’s ex and respects that he is still getting over her (and most likely is more attracted to Rob because of his overwhelming grief). When Holly and Rob finally make love, though, this guilt and sadness seems to bring Nina’s ghost back from the dead as she sprouts from the mattress stained in blood, sort of like HELLRAISER, but more romantical. Of course, both Rob and Holly are freaked out by the naked and bloody corpse writhing and talking to them from the blood stained mattress, but when Nina keeps on appearing to keep Holly and Rob from having sex, fear gives way to frustration and though Rob and Holly’s love is strong, Nina’s bloody ghost is a big, gory wedge getting in between their happiness.As gory as this film is, it is quite heartfelt and sensitive to feelings of loss and guilt, as well as potent in capturing that magic that happens when two people meet and hit it off for the first time. This is a film that has powerful feelings as its backbone driving the story forward and all three actors (Hardingham, Barry, and O’Shaughnessy) convey this grab bag of emotions extremely well. The fact that Holly decides to roll with the fact that the ghost of Rob’s ex hanging around is a testament to the power of their love, but the film doesn’t really stop there in that these ghostly interruptions push Holly to the breaking point. Sure there’s a bit of comedy at the fact that everywhere Nina shows up is smeared with blood and gore, so the couple have to keep throwing out their sheets and cleaning the walls every time they have sex because Nina’s gory intrusions, but the film plays with the metaphor of how death affects a relationship and how one looks at relationships after one has experienced loss in a way that elevates it past mere comedy to a deeper and more soulful level.
The odd thing about NINA FOREVER is that it is told from Holly’s perspective. This all makes sense by the end of the film, but for most of the runtime, one would think this would be the type of tale told from Rob’s perspective as he is the one who experienced the loss of his girlfriend and is dealing with her return every time he is intimate with his new girlfriend. Sure we are given snippets into Rob’s morose world where he visits Nina’s grave and has dinner at her parent’s place every Sunday, but most of the real emotion comes through the experiences we endure from Holly’s perspective. Because of this odd point of view, everything feels a bit off kilter. This isn’t horrible, it’s just another aspect of this wonky and unconventional film that makes things feel even more out of whack, but Holly is such a likable character that I didn’t mind following her around most of the time.Often wickedly funny, often sweetly sexual, but just when you find yourself laughing or falling for these characters, things flip to being potently poignant and then downright morose, NINA FOREVER is a film for folks who like unconventional love stories with endings that aren’t so happy. The lead three stars are going to be big someday if their performances here are any indication, especially the uniquely gorgeous Hardingham who is equal parts sexy and twisted all at once as Holly. If you’re the type who love stories that stray from the norm, NINA FOREVER may be the right kind of fucked up for you too.
THE DEMOLISHER (2015)
Directed by Gabriel CarrerWritten by Gabriel Carrer
Starring Ry Barrett, Tianna Nori, Jessica Vano, Duncan McLellan, Gerrit Sepers, Bruce Turner, Duane Frey, Andrew Bussey, Owen Fawcett, Rich Piatkowski, Reese Eveneshen, Ashley Awde, John Cross, Brendan McKenna, Christian Burgess
Find out more about this film here and on Facebook here
Reviewed by Ambush Bug
Bursting at the seams with rage and frustration is this walking frayed nerve of a film called THE DEMOLISHER.
The revenge film is a subgenre in and of itself that often straddles the line between action and horror. When the film simply focuses on the act of revenge, it tends to be seen in the action section with someone like Steven Segal or Jean Claude Van Damme in the lead role. But when the revenge runs deep and the film isn’t afraid to follow it, it can be the stuff of the most potent of psychological horrors as it shows what the human mind is capable of if the right things are taken away. That’s the type of film THE DEMOLISHER is. It highlights the horror of losing something and how that can be a devastating blow to one’s psyche.Bruce (THE DROWNSMAN’s Ry Barrett) is a cable TV repairman whose police officer wife Samantha (Tianna Nori) was crippled and assaulted by a local gang. Overflowing with rage, Bruce dons riot gear and goes out at night beating the living shit out of gangs in the hope of tracking down the ones who hurt his wife. Meanwhile, Marie (Jessica Vano) is coping with violence herself in her own way in a support group. This tale of the impact of violence and the horror it often unleashes is intense from beginning to end, as it opens with Bruce punching a thug over and over again in the middle of the street. As Bruce and Marie’s paths cross, it becomes clear that once the subject of violence you remain forever changed. Bruce is coming undone at the seams with his rage overflowing into his day job, while Marie finds herself haunted by the violence that she endures during every waking minute. It’s a two-pronged assault of the impact of violence, and this film is not afraid to show how hard that impact can be.
While much of the film is without dialog and we simply see Bruce wandering the streets in full riot gear looking for a fight, the film speaks volumes in the distressed face of Bruce, the disappointed and understanding face of his wife Samantha who is aware of his vigilante exploits, and the pained look of despair in Marie’s face as she recounts the night she crosses paths with Bruce. The violence is ever-present as Bruce stares in absolute rancor at the viewer and we become privy to the primal dreams he has of simply destroying everything in his path. These dream sequences are fantastic and surreal, yet terrifying. Equal in effectiveness are the scenes of Bruce wandering the streets in riot gear surrounded by the empty Toronto streets. Misguided and looking for anyone to hurt, Bruce is not discerning in who he massacres with his billy clubs and fists. If you’re on the street at night, you’re a threat in his eyes, and the scenes of him on patrol are terrifying because we as the viewer are privy to his skewed perspective.Unrelenting and powerful, THE DEMOLISHER is a bold statement on untapped rage. From start to finish, this film had me shaking with anticipation as to how far down the thorny rabbit hole the characters are going to plummet. If you like your horrors resonant and angry, THE DEMOLISHER will decimate expectations and show you what real anger is.
Ambush Bug is Mark L. Miller, original @$$Hole/wordslinger/writer of wrongs/reviewer/interviewer/editor of AICN COMICS for over 13 years & AICN HORROR for 4. Follow Ambush Bug on the Twitters @Mark_L_Miller.
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