Film enthusiasts can prepare to be frightened out of their chairs this Halloween season, as the Toronto After Dark Film Festival has just announced its official schedule for its upcoming 10th annual edition. The horror, sci-fi, action and cult film festival will screen 20 movies between October 15 and 23 at the Scotiabank Theatre, which is located at 259 Richmond Street West in Toronto.
Individual screening tickets are now on sale, and are priced at $13 general, or $11 in a multipack, if two or more films are purchased in the same shopping cart online. Tickets can either be bought on the festival’s website, in person at the venue from regular ticket counters at approximately 12.30pm daily and any time using the Cineplex App. If a film is listed as sold out in advance, tickets can still be purchased in person by joining the Rush Line at the venue, which will form from one hour before the screening starts. All screenings are Restricted to Adults Age 18+, with the exception of ‘Lazer Team,’ which has been rated 14A.
The running time for each Toronto After Dark screening is approximately two hours in total from start to finish. They usually includes a couple of trailers, a short film and a Q&A with the filmmakers, if they’re in attendance. All tickets and passes also include free entry to Pub After Dark, the official festival nightly social event where audience members can hang out with the filmmakers and other festivalgoers. The event, which is restricted to adults 19+, will take place on the top floor of the nearby Office Pub at 117 John Street, and begins at 11.30pm.
The following official schedule for Toronto After Dark has been released:
Thursday, October 15 – Opening Night
7:00 PM ‘Tales Of Halloween’ (USA) Opening Gala Film
Acclaimed filmmakers Neil Marshall (‘The Descent’), Lucky McKee (‘May’), Darren Lynn Bousman (‘Repo! The Genetic Opera’), Paul Solet (‘Grace’) and many more team up to deliver 10 wickedly entertaining tales of terror all set on the same hellish Halloween night!
Screens with short film ‘Portal to Hell’
9:45 PM ‘The Hallow’ (Ireland) – First Screening
Probably the scariest film in this year’s Toronto After Dark lineup, ‘The Hallow’ terrified audiences at Sundance on its debut. After a young family move from the big city to a peaceful Irish woodland cottage they find themselves in a desperate fight for survival in a prolonged confrontation with some vicious creatures lurking in the forest.
Screens with short film ‘O Negative’
Friday, October 16 – Sci-Fi Night
7:00 PM ‘Synchronicity’ (USA)
A dark sci-fi thriller heavily influenced by ‘Blade Runner,’ about a brilliant young scientist trying to crack the secret of time travel while thwarting a sinister corporation, led by fan favorite villain Michael Ironside.
Screens with short film ‘Nihil’
‘Lazer Team’ (USA)
Web series gods Rooster Teeth hit it out of the park with their feature film debut, a crowd-pleasing sci-fi action comedy. When Earth is threatened by an advanced alien race, the planet’s only hope lies in four morons, the self-proclaimed “Lazer Team” and some high tech weaponry that’s never been tested before!
9:30 PM: ‘Lazer Team’ – First Screening
Screens with short film ‘Chasing Death’
11:45 PM: ‘Lazer Team’ – Second Screening – **Extra Tickets Released!**
Saturday, October 17
4:15 PM ‘Shorts After Dark’
A collection of nine of the best new horror, sci-fi, action and cult short films from around the world including: ‘Awesome Runaway,’ ‘Black Forest,’ ‘Boniato,’ ‘Exordium,’ ‘Manoman,’ ‘Movies In Space,’ ‘Myrna The Monster,’ ‘The Guests’ and ‘Vicious!’
Zombie Night
7:00 PM ‘Night of the Living Deb’ (USA)
A crowd-pleasing zombie comedy about Deb, an awkward girl, Ryan a guy she’s just had an embarrassing one night stand with and his eccentric dad (fan favorite Ray Wise) as they band together to figure out how to defeat the blood-thirsty horde that’s taken over their small town.
Screens with short film ‘El Gigante’
9:30 PM ‘A Christmas Horror Story’ (Canada)
From the makers of the ‘Ginger Snaps’ movies comes this delightfully wicked Yule-themed horror tale about all hell breaking loose in the small town of Bailey Downs on Christmas Eve, including Santa having to fight off an outbreak of zombie elves! With William Shatner scene stealing as the chatterbox local DJ working the graveyard shift!
Screens with short film ‘IBOP’
11:59 PM ‘The Hallow’ (Ireland) – Second Screening
Sunday, October 18
4:15 PM ‘Shut In’ (USA)
‘Panic Room’ meets ‘You’re Next’ in this gripping home invasion horror-thriller, full of shocks and surprises. After three criminals, including fan favorite Martin Starr break into a supposedly empty house, they find themselves in a deadly game of cat and mouse with the occupant, a shy young woman with a few nasty tricks of her own to play on the invaders.
Screens with short film ‘From Out’
7:00 PM ‘The Hollow One’ (USA)
In this sinister supernatural horror-thriller, with nods to ‘Hellraiser,’ an artifact unleashes a demonic force upon the people of a small farm town. With most of the townspeople possessed, two young sisters find themselves in a race against time to try and stop the sinister force before its evil purpose is achieved.
Screens with short film ‘Heir’
9:30 PM ‘The Demolisher’ (Canada)
A dark award-winning vigilante thriller about a mentally unstable man, ‘The Demolisher,’ who deals with his personal frustrations by donning a suit of body armor and prowling the streets at night, delivering brutal justice to those he feels deserve it.
Screens with short film ‘The Orchard’
Monday, October 19
7:00 PM ‘The Diabolical’ (USA)
Single mom Madison (‘Heroes’ Ali Larter) and her two children are awoken nightly by strange and terrifying apparitions in this supernatural thriller from the producers of ‘The Pact’ that unnerved audiences at SXSW. Seeking help from her scientist boyfriend, they embark on a hunt to destroy the violent spirit that paranormal experts are too scared to take on.
Screens with short film ‘Sleep Monster’
9:30 PM ‘The Interior’ (Canada)
In this unique blend of dark comedy and creepy horror, a frustrated young office worker quits his day job and flees the city to go on a camping trip by himself, deep into the forest. His sense of tranquility is replaced by fear when it becomes clear that someone sinister is also out there with him.
Screens with short film ‘Let Me Down Easy’
Tuesday, October 20
7:00 PM ‘Backtrack’ (Australia)
Oscar Winner Adrien Brody and the iconic Sam Neill (‘Jurassic Park’) deliver polished performances in this creepy supernatural horror thriller that haunted audiences at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. After a series of unnerving ghostly encounters in the city, a troubled psychotherapist returns to his rural home town to try and solve the dark mysteries that date back to his childhood.
Screens with short film ‘Home Sweet Home’
9:30 PM ‘Gridlocked’ (Canada)
‘Die Hard’ meets ‘Assault On Precinct 13’ in Gridlocked, a crowd-pleasing throwback to 80s and 90s action movies. A group of deadly mercenaries led by Stephen Lang (‘Avatar’) attack a police facility with a sinister ulterior motive. It’s up to a hardened officer (‘Prison Break’s Dominic Purcell) and his sidekicks that include Danny Glover (‘Lethal Weapon’) and WWE star Trish Stratus (who will be in attendance for the screening’s Q&A) to repulse the invaders using every weapon at their disposal.
Screens with short film ‘I Am Coming to Paris to Kill You’
Wednesday, October 21
7:00 PM ‘Nina Forever’ (UK)
Winning rave reviews on the fest circuit, this twisted, messed-up, dark horror comedy from Britain is about a young man trying to start a new relationship with a supermarket co-worker while all the time being stalked by his very jealous, very dead, ex-girlfriend.
Screens with short film Out of the Mold’
9:30 PM ‘The Hexecutioners’ (Canada) World Premiere Screening
Directed by Jesse Thomas Cook (‘Monster Brawl’) from a screenplay by acclaimed writer Tony Burgess (‘Pontypool’), ‘The Hexecutioners’ is a chilling new rural horror thriller with shades of cult classic shocker ‘The Wicker Man.’ Two young nurses who specialize in treating the terminally ill are summoned to stay at a creepy mansion deep in the countryside. There they make some very disturbing discoveries about their new client.
Screens with short film ‘This Home Is Not Empty’
Thursday, October 22 – Sion Sono Night
7:00 PM ‘Tag’ (Japan)
From the warped mind of acclaimed Japanese director Sion Sono (‘Suicide Club,’ ‘Love Exposure,’ ‘Why Don’t You Play In Hell’) comes a shocking, satirical, horror-action-thriller about three Japanese schoolgirls in the race of their lives as they try to outrun a mysterious malevolent force that’s brutally killing every girl around them.
Screens with short film ‘F**k Buddies’
9:30 PM ‘Love & Peace’ (Japan)
This Audience Award Winner, also from the eccentric mind of director Sion Sono, is a wildly imaginative Japanese fantasy/monster movie mashup about a down-trodden office worker who aspires to be a rock star and his pet turtle who wants to grow up to be a city-destroying giant like Godzilla!
Screens with short film ‘The Champ’
Friday, October 23 – Closing Night
7:00 PM ‘Patchwork’ (USA)
A delightfully dark Frankenstein-themed horror comedy about a re-animated corpse, made from the stitched together body parts of three murdered young women. On awaking, The Creature decides to go on a quest to find the girls’ killer and avenge their deaths with both bloody and darkly humorous results.
Screens with short film ‘Point of View’
‘Deathgasm’ (New Zealand) Closing Gala Film
In the latest crowd-pleasing horror-comedy from New Zealand that’s taken the festival circuit by storm since its debut at SXSW, a group of metalhead outcasts unwittingly unleash a horde of vicious demons upon their sleepy suburban neighborhood. Now they’ll have to engage in an epic duel of blood and metal with Satan’s hordes if they’re to win back their town.
9:30 PM: ‘Deathgasm’ – First Screening
Screens with short film ‘Dead Air’
11:45 PM: ‘Deathgasm’ – Second Screening
Written by: Karen Benardello