Here are my thoughts on the films part of the Toronto After Dark Canadian Short Film Showcase.
Bone Mother
In this stop motion fable, the vain Prince Vladimir visits Baba Yaga hoping to get the Water of Life. Bone Mother is an NFB produced stop motion short that combine two legends into one creepy story. Altogether, this is a quite well done film.
[usr=4]EDEN
A space explorer searches an abandoned vessel for a rare artifact. EDEN is a well produced science fiction tale that features a story about a scavenger chosen to search for the creator. This is one of those short films that seem to be setting up a larger project, but EDEN is still a well made science fiction effort.
[usr=4]Milk
A boy goes to the kitchen to get a drink of mouth and sees his mother acting strangely. I believe that somewhere within the horror of Milk is a metaphor about the loss of innocence and growing up too fast. Either way, this does feature some well done creature effects.
[usr=3.5]Gemini
A man and woman begin to have a conversation on a train platform, with the woman soon recognizing the man as the perpetrator of a sexual assault in the VR game they both play. With Gemini starting off with a trigger warning, it was easy to guess where the plot of the film was going to go, as it asks the question about whether virtual sexual assault can still be considered assault. As seen through gamer-gate, the video game community can be filled with sexist pigs and Gemini is a film that really gets you thinking.
[usr=4.5]Glitter’s Wild Women
Two sisters harvest a glowing glitter that gives them special powers. Glitter’s Wild Women is a very absurd and weird comedy that features just a touch of bloody violence. Not really all that much of a story to this one, other than the two girls acting weird.
[usr=3]Split Decision
One night, as a woman frantically bangs on their door, Jeff and Clare argue about the possible consequences of letting the woman in. With a plot quite reminiscent of a certain urban legend, Split Decision is a quite well done combination of horror and dark humor that builds up to its bloody twist.
[usr=4.5]Tick
A young woman is forced to stand up against an oppressive regime. Tick is a film that uses a post-apocalyptic vampire narrative to give an allegory about the mistreatment of the First Nation’s in the country. It’s a decent story, though the heavy use of red lighting and strobe effects is a little much.
[usr=3.5]