TIFF15: Midnight Madness Highlights

The Midnight Madness programme is always a highlight of the Toronto International Film Festival and this year is no different.  Six out of ten of this year’s selection are world premieres, which includes a number of returning filmmakers.

Here are my highlights from this year’s Midnight Madness programme.

Green Room – Jeremy Saulnier, USA (North American Premiere) – Opening Film
Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin, which I have sadly yet to see, was a hit when it played in the Vanguard programme two years ago, which has now lead to his follow-up up Green Room to be the opening Midnight Madness film this year.  I’m interested in seeing this film just for the inclusion of Patrick Stewart.

The Final Girls – Todd Strauss-Schulson, USA (International Premiere) – Closing Film
A teenage girl and her friends are transported into a slasher film.  That’s all I need to know.

Baskin – Can Evrenol, Turkey (World Premiere)
A group of cops go through a portal to hell in the first ever Midnight Madness film from Tureky.

The Devil’s Candy – Sean Byrne, USA (World Premiere)
From the director of The Loved Ones comes this twist on the supernatural genre.

The Mind’s Eye – Joe Begos, USA (World Premiere)
Joe Begos (Almost Human) returns to Midnight Madness with this film that sounds like an update of David Cronenberg‘s Scanners.

Southbound – Roxanne Benjamin, David Bruckner, Patrick Horvath and Radio Silence, USA (World Premiere)
The thing that intrigues me the most about this highway-set anthology film is the participation of Radio Silence, who directed the best segment of the original V/H/S/.

SPL 2 – A Time For Consequences – Soi Cheang, Hong Kong (International Premiere)
I haven’t yet scene the first SPL, which helped introduce the world to Tony Jaa, but I’m always up for a good martial arts movie.

Yakuza Apocalypse – Takashi Miike, Japan (North American Premiere)
Takashi Miike Gone Wild!