Toronto After Dark 2023 Canadian shorts

In addition to those that played ahead of the main features, the Toronto After Dark Film Festival screened eight more Canadian shorts in a dedicated showcase. From rotoscope animation to avian abduction, these films cover a variety of genres, subgenres, and tones. Some are pure horror; others offer no scares at all. Here are our

Continue Reading

Toronto After Dark 2023 Canadian shorts

Alongside their dedicated Shorts Showcase (both Canadian and International), the Toronto After Dark Film Festival offers bitesize extras for those attending. Each of the main features is preceded by a short film, resulting in a bevy of horror and comedy in equal measure. Here are our thoughts on those ten extra shorts. Contents: *666 Black

Continue Reading

Originating in 1980s Japan, V-cinema was a term that was trademarked by the film giant Toei Company as a general label for their direct-to-video content. With the rise in VHS players being purchased, as well as difficulty recouping their investments in their big-budget productions (as well as the popularity of OVA’s), the decision to move

Continue Reading

The generally agreed definition of a snuff film is a real (not staged) filmed murder. In some cases, it is viewed for the purpose of arousal. However, this is somewhat incorrect, as by this definition, any video depicting the death of a person, purposeful or accidental, can fall under this moniker depending on the viewer.

Continue Reading

Like a match made in heaven, gore and horror go hand in hand like strawberries and cream or other relevant simile and, undoubtedly, some of the best representations of gore have come from Anime. Always thought to be aimed toward children in the West, companies such as Manga sort to find the most graphic, bloodsoaked

Continue Reading

While Project Zero Maiden of Black Water has recently been ported to modern consoles with new content, I’d like to celebrate it by sharing a personal list of the ghosts in the Fatal Frame/Project Zero series that I found the scariest and most memorable. Being one of the most representative series of the J-horror wave,

Continue Reading

Like the saying that “lightning doesn’t strike twice,” it’s rare that a sequel will attain the same level of admiration from fans as the original. However, there is another saying that goes “when you assume you make an ass out of you and me,” and there have been a number of sequels that have not

Continue Reading

Shocktoberfest 2022

Final Edition The scariest movie I saw this week was the HBO documentary Four Hours at the Capitol. The powerful documentary shows what happened when an angry group of protesters attempted to disrupt the certification of the presidential election by storming the Capitol on January 6, 2022. Horror movies provide a safe space for viewers

Continue Reading

Shocktoberfest 2022

Week Two Nineteenth-century American author Edgar Allan Poe was my introduction to horror. Literary scholars consider him to be a key foundational block of the genre and his works are ubiquitous, certain to be found in any library or bookstore.  Even my elementary school had a copy of Tales of Mystery and Imagination that I

Continue Reading

Shocktoberfest 2022

Week One Welcome to Shocktoberfest 2022, the only horror movie festival curated by me! This is a list of movies I watched to prepare for Halloween, plus a thought or two. Week One is pretty long.  I wish I could watch ten horror movies a week, but work and a non-horror movie-loving wife need attention.

Continue Reading