Join The Cult

Date: July 29 2010 Filed in: , , , ,

Toronto is home to many film festivals. While some feature artful, poignant films and narratives, others curate a selection of absurd b films. The Toronto After Dark Film Festival falls into the latter category, showcasing horror, sci-fi, and cult cinema. The annual festival has a one week run, and while many of the films featured in their lineup scream ‘terrible movie soon to have not-so-ironic cult following’, the festival has screened some pretty stellar films in the past. For example, a couple of years ago they screened Let the Right One In, the mind blowing, incredibly subtle Sweedish vampire movie (that is now being made for American audiences) which put Twilight to shame (as any good vampire narrative should).While I’m sure this year’s lineup at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival will follow this tradition of featuring great independent films, the real fun of the TADFF lies in their selection of films that leave you completely dumbstruck by their absurdity.

Admittedly, I have a soft spot for terrible, b grade horror and cult films. Cult films – or to be more specific, terrible movies with cult followings – provide quite possibly the most enjoyable interactive experiences one can have as an audience member. While it’s relatively fun to watch Troll 2 on your home television with a couple of friends, it hardly compares to the experience of sitting in a sold out theatre with a rowdy crowd of nerds dressed as goblins, yelling classic lines, or calling out continuity errors. Quite possibly my favourite cult film experience was seeing The Room with Christine last year at The Royal Cinema. It was our first time seeing the movie, and while some of the rituals that the audience practiced completely dumbfounded us at first (i.e. throwing spoons at the screen), it wasn’t long until we started joining them; when the film is just that bad, you can’t help but laugh, have fun, and get completely sucked in. I suppose that there is something about bad cinema that gets some audiences excited; somehow, these low budget, poorly acted, terribly written films brings us joy; it’s like a train wreck…a hilariously fun train wreck.

This year the Toronto After Dark Film Festival is screening two films that I believe are destined to garner an enthusiastic cult audience. The first is RoboGeisha (see trailer above), a J-horror film about rivaling siblings who have been transformed into cyborg assassins. The second film is The Human Centipede, about a psychotic doctor in Germany determined to perform an experiment that would turn his victims into one massive human centipede. Both films seem completely ridiculous, and I can’t help but stare wide eyed each time I watch the trailers (yes, I’ve seen them multiple times). The films screen on August 15th and 20th respectively, and once again I look forward to being a part of a great, cinematic experience. I’m joining the cult…will you?

The Toronto After Dark Film Festival runs from August 13 – 20th, you can view the entire festival line up here.

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