2014 TIFF: Midnight Madness Sticks Mostly To Fest Faves in David Robert Mitchell & Adam Wingard

It looks like Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes might have been more inspired by what he might have seen elsewhere, than what was currently available for a potential fall fest break-out. A section commonly known for almost wall to wall world preems in the mix-up of genres and languages, is giving some inventory space to Sundance preemed Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement’s What We Do in the Shadows and Adam Wingard’s The Guest (Nicholas called it, “sleek, fun entertainment, a reminder of a bygone era when an influx of entertaining genre films existed in greater quantity“) which joins the Cannes Critics’ Week entry David Robert Mitchell’s It Follows. Sion Sono will open the section with Tokyo Tribe, but acquisition interest will go towards world preem titles of Jaume Balagueró’s [REC] 4: Apocalypse, Jalmari Heleander’s Big Game and Jonas Govaerts’ Cub, while the A24 folks get to spotlight Kevin Smith’s Tusk before its theatrical release. Here are the descriptions below:

[REC] 4: Apocalypse – Jaume Balagueró, Spain World Premiere
Angela Vidal wakes up in a high-security quarantine facility, sole survivor and witness to the horrific events inside the building. But does she remember what happened to her? Is she carrying a virus? Distrust spreads through the isolated facility while new, even more deadly forms of evil spread even faster.

Big Game – Jalmari Heleander, Finland/United Kingdom/Germany World Premiere
The fate of the most powerful man in the world lies in the hands of a 13-year-old boy. Plunged into a deadly game ofcat and mouse, Oskari and the president must team up to survive the most extraordinary night of their lives.

Cub – Jonas Govaerts, Belgium – World Premiere
Young, imaginative 12-year-old Sam heads off to camp with his Cub Scouts pack. In the woods, he stumbles upon a strange tree house and a masked, feral child. When his leaders ignore his warnings about the mysterious boy, Sam starts to feel increasingly isolated from the pack, and convinced a terrible fate awaits them all.

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films Mark Hartley, Australia International Premiere
Director Mark Hartley (Not Quite Hollywood, Machete Maidens Unleashed!) continues his delightful documentary disinterment of down-market movie detritus with this chronicle of the rise and fall of 1980s action-exploitation juggernaut Cannon Films, whose contributions to the cinematic canon include American Ninja, The Delta Force, Death Wish II and Masters of the Universe.

The Guest – Adam Wingard, USA – Canadian Premiere
The follow-up to Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s wildly popular You’re Next, The Guest
tells the story of a mysterious and devastatingly charming visitor, David (Dan Stevens of
Downton Abbey) who arrives on the doorstep of a bereaved family claiming to be the best friend of their dead son, a young soldier who died in action. The Petersons welcome David into their home and into their lives, but when people start mysteriously dying in town, their teenage daughter Anna (Maika Monroe of It Follows) starts wondering if David is responsible.

It Follows – David Robert Mitchell, USA North American Premiere
For 19-year-old Jay (Maika Monroe), the fall should be about school, boys and weekends at the lake. Yet after a seemingly innocent sexual encounter she suddenly finds herself plagued by nightmarish visions; she can’t shake the sensation that someone, or something, is following her. As the threat closes in, Jay and her friends must somehow escape the horrors that are only a few steps behind. With a riveting central performance from Monroe and a strikingly ominous electronic score by Disasterpeace, It Follows is an
artful psychosexual thriller from David Robert Mitchell (whose The Myth of the American Sleepover premiered at Critics’ Week in 2010). The film also stars Keir Gilchrist, Daniel Zovatto, Jake Weary, Olivia Luccardi, and Lili Sepe.

Tokyo Tribe Sion Sono, Japan International Premiere (Midnight Madness Opening Night Film)
Set in an alternate Tokyo of the near future, director Sion Sono continues his run of sensational films with the explosive street gang tale
Tokyo Tribe. Tokyo Tribe is the first live-action adaptation of the best-selling manga series Tokyo Tribe 2, by Santa Inoue, which has
sold two million copies and has been published in Asia and the west to great popularity.

Tusk Kevin Smith, USA World Premiere
Wallace (Justin Long) is a podcaster on a mission who thinks he has found the story of a lifetime in Howard Howe (Michael Parks), an
adventurer with amazing stories and a curious penchant for walruses. When Mr. Howe’s true desires unfold, things take a dark turn
and Wallace faces a terrifying transformation at the hands of his captor. As his friends Alison and Teddy (Genesis Rodriguez and Haley
Joel Osment) search the backwoods of Canada to rescue him, they discover a nightmare from which there is no escape. Conceived
from one of indie legend Kevin Smith’s own Smodcast’s, Tusk is an unprecedented tale that is equal parts hilarious and horrifying.

What We Do in the Shadows Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement, New Zealand/USA Canadian Premiere
Vladislav (Jemaine Clement), Viago (Taika Waititi), and Deacon (Jonathan Brugh) are three flatmates who are just trying to get by and overcome life’s obstacles—like being immortal vampires who must feast on human blood. Hundreds of years old, the vampires are finding that beyond sunlight catastrophes, hitting the main artery, and not being able to get a sense of their wardrobe without a reflection, modern society has them struggling with the mundane like paying rent, keeping up with the chore wheel, trying to get into
nightclubs, and overcoming flatmate conflicts.