Toronto After Dark 2012: Wrap-Up

It was (literally) a dark and stormy night back in August 2009 when I went to the Toronto After Dark film festival for the first time to see a screening of the long-awaited, much delayed, Halloween anthology Trick ‘r Treat.  I liked my experience at Toronto After Dark enough that I returned in 2010 for The Last Exorcism and last year saw me expand to three films with Monster Brawl, VS, and The Innkeepers.  It has all been leading towards this year, in which I saw (and covered) all 21 screenings of the festival. It was definitely a busy week for me, since I would often be in the cycle of screenings in the evening and writing during the day.  Since Toronto After Dark typically only shows two films a day, it wasn’t too much of a challenge to keep up (though the four films on the Sunday made for a very busy Monday).  Every night was punctuated by the Pub After Dark at Pauper’s Pub, across the street from the Bloor Cinema.  I was initially planning on only dropping by on some of the days, but the addition of the Toronto After Darkcade resulted in me dropping by every night, if only to check out that night’s selection of indie video games (UPDATE 11/1 – here is a sidebar post on Tumblr running down the Darkcade games).  The Pub After Dark is very much an essential park of the Toronto After Dark experience and I am glad that I dropped by. Now, without further ado, here are my top five lists for both the features and shorts, followed by my festival photos and video highlights. Top Five Feature Films

1. Cockneys vs. Zombies
2. My Amityville Horror
3. Citadel
4. Crave
5. Sushi Girl

Honourable Mentions: Rec 3: Genesis, Resolution, Game of Werewolves Top Five Canada After Dark Shorts

1. Bio-Cop
2. Eviction
3. Sandwich Crazy
4. A Pretty Funny Story
5. Frost

Honourable Mentions: Garlicbread Man vs Superbo Lasagna Man, Children of the Dark, Game Top Five Shorts After Dark Shorts

1. Henri
2. Bobby Yeah
3. Decapoda Shock
4. Vicki
5. Odokuru

Honourable Mentions: Dialogue, Numbers Toronto After Dark Photo Gallery
Toronto After Dark Video Highlights
Additional unabridged Q&A clips can be found on my Toronto After Dark YouTube Playlist.
And that wraps up my coverage of Toronto After Dark 2012! Until next year!