The Toronto After Dark Film Festival has officially announced its first wave of 10 movies that will screen during its 11th edition. The 2016 lineup will include some of the most critically acclaimed and anticipated new horror, sci-fi, action and cult films from this year’s international film festival circuit. The movies will all screen during the film festival between October 13 and 21 at the Scotiabank Theatre, which is located in downtown Toronto.
The first 10 announced movies that will screen during Toronto After Dark 2016 include:
‘Under the Shadow‘ (Iran/UK/Jordan) Opening Gala Film & Special Presentation
The Sundance sensation has drawn comparisons with Toronto After Dark’s previous festival gem, ‘The Babadook.’ After her husband leaves to fight in the war with Iraq, an Iranian mother and her young daughter are left to cope by themselves in an increasingly empty apartment building. It’s soon clear that someone or something else has moved into the building with them-an evil spirit who with a sinister agenda of its own.
Watch the ‘Under the Shadow’ trailer below.
‘In a Valley of Violence’ (USA) Toronto Premiere
Award-winning horror filmmaker Ti West (‘The Innkeepers’) delivers a bloody Western laced with plenty of dark humor in the Tarantinoesque tale of a lone drifter (Ethan Hawke) who ends up in a duel with a corrupt local sheriff (John Travolta) and his gunslinging posse. A big hit at SXSW, the supporting cast includes Taissa Farmiga, Larry Fessenden and Karen Gillan.
Watch the ‘In a Valley of Violence’ trailer below.
‘As the Gods Will’ (Japan) Toronto Premiere
‘The Hunger Games’ meets ‘Battle Royale’ in the latest outrageous masterpiece from legendary Japanese horror icon, Takashi Miike (‘Ichi the Killer’). A mysterious, powerful entity takes over a high school and forces the teens to play a series of deadly elimination games, from which only a few will survive. All the death matches involve innocent toys from childhood that come to life and terrorize the players.
Watch the ‘As the Gods Will’ trailer below.
As The Gods Will – Trailer – Japanese Battle Royale Style Horror Action by Takashi Miike (TADFF 2016) from Toronto After Dark on Vimeo.
‘The Void’ (Canada) Closing Gala Film & Canadian Premiere
The much-anticipated ‘The Void’ is Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski’s follow-up to their previous festival hits, ‘Manborg’ and ‘Father’s Day.’ With a throwback to classic horror master John Carpenter, ‘The Void’ combines a tense siege movie with a terrifying creature feature. Sheriff Carter picked the wrong night to pay a visit to the remotely located local hospital. Outside, a gang of white sheeted creeps surrounds the place, and threatens the lives of anyone that wants to leave. Inside, a deadly, sinister and multi-tentacled life form is on the loose. ‘The Void’ features an intense atmosphere of terror and practical creature effects.
Watch the ‘The Void’ official proof of concept trailer below.
‘The Rezort’ (UK/Spain) North American Premiere
‘The Walking Dead’ meets ‘Jurassic Park’ in ‘The Rezort,’ the latest British crowdpleaser for zombie action fans. In the near future, after a zombie apocalypse wipes out one fifth of the planet’s population. The only undead left are kept contained on a remote island. There, the wealthy can pay to come and go on Zombie Safaris to hunt the undead for sport. But after the zombie containment systems fail on the island, it’s time for the vacationers to see how long they can survive when the table turn and the living become the hunted.
Watch ‘The Rezort’ trailer below.
‘Creepy’ (Japan) Toronto Premiere
‘Creepy’ is the new serial killer chiller from acclaimed Japanese horror maestro, Kiyoshi Kurosawa (‘Cure,’ ‘Pulse’) that’s been picking up awards on the festival circuit. In the tense tale, a series of unsolved police cases makes an ex-cop and his anxious wife direct their suspicions towards a creepy, mysterious neighbor.
Watch the ‘Creepy’ teaser trailer below.
‘Antibirth’ (USA/Canada) Toronto Premiere
Natasha Lyonne stars in the Sundance hit horror comedy about a hard partying girl dealing with increasingly bizarre symptoms that come from an unexplainable pregnancy. The supporting cast along includes Chloe Sevigny, Meg Tilly and Mark Webber.
Watch the ‘Antibirth’ trailer below.
‘Kill Command’ (UK) Toronto Premiere
Emmy-Award winning VFX artist Steve Gomez draws inspiration from sci-fi action classics ‘The Terminator,’ ‘Aliens,’ ‘Predator’ and ‘Westworld’ with his feature film debut. An elite army unit is dropped off on a remote island to train against some mysterious new weaponized machines. Soon the soldiers discover to their horror that their metal foes have evolved artificial intelligence to the point that they can now out smart – and out kill – the humans.
Watch the ‘Kill Command’ trailer below.
‘The Lure’ (Poland) Toronto Premiere
Picking up multiple awards on the festival circuit since its Sundance hit debut, ‘The Lure’ is a horror musical from Poland that features man-eating mermaids. When a sleazy promoter hires two strange young girls to sing at his nightclub, he doesn’t count on their ability to also turn into carnivorous blood-thirsty fish. ‘The Lure’ is a crowd-pleasing unique cinematic experience that features some great bloody kills interspersed between stunning musical numbers.
Watch ‘The Lure’ teaser trailer below.
‘Trash Fire’ (USA) Toronto Premiere
Richard Bates Jr.‘s (‘Excision,’ ‘Suburban Gothic’) latest Sundance hit is a suburban horror piece about a young man, Owen (‘Entourage’s Adrian Grenier), who finally agrees to take his longtime girlfriend for a weekend trip to meet his estranged family. With his parents having died in a fire, the visitors find themselves sharing a roof with Owen’s terrifying grandmother and his creepy sister, who lives like a recluse in the attic. It’s not long before they also uncover a chilling family secret that involves a web of lies, deception and murder.
Watch a clip from ‘Trash Fire’ below.
Fans interested in seeing multiple films at Toronto After Dark 2016 are encouraged to buy one of the festival’s popular All-Access Passes before they’re sold out. The passes offer priority entry via the Passholders line to all 20 screenings over the festival’s nine nights, as well as savings of over $110 from the regular ticket prices. The passes, which are retailing for $149, is equivalent to paying just $7.50 per screening. This year’s passes are already over 70% sold out. The passes can be purchased on Toronto After Dark’s official website.
By early October, single tickets ranging from just $11 (when two or more tickets are purchases) to $13 (for single tickets) will be available to all screenings on the festival website, as well as on the Cineplex website, Cineplex App and in person at the Scotiabank Theatre. Fans who are attending Toronto After Dark can join the official Facebook event page for 2016, and can also follow the festival on Twitter and Facebook.
Written by: Karen Benardello