(Blog Home)
by Michael Neel & Greg Ansin

Sept.22 2009

Last week, we attended the Toronto International Film Festival. Wow, what an event. We saw over a dozen movies in the three days we were there.

Toronto International Film Festival

One of the programming highlights was the Midnight Madness film series, which show films from the terrifying to just downright strange.

In case you didn't know where we were.

We met a lot of great people - film fans, and a few filmmakers as well. Going to film festivals can be a good way to network. You never know who you will meet, and how they might be able to help you down the road. Sometimes the best connections come from the most unlikely people.

Here are some of the films that made the biggest impressions on us:

The Loved Ones: Winner of the Midnight Madness award. A fantastically disgusting, disturbing, and hilarious film from down under. Think Misery crossed with Pretty in Pink. Truly painful to watch. Dread Central on The Loved Ones (link)

The Disappearance of Alice Creed: A brilliant spine-tingling film from J. Blakeson (who is also a very nice guy). An airtight and economical script, and amazing performances. A must see for thriller nuts. And pretty bloody too. The Disappearance of Alice Creed on imdb (link)

The Hole: From film legend Joe Dante, the man who brought us Gremlins and The Howling, The Hole is a wild 3D ride with a pretty good amount of neat scares and creepy things. The master has still got it. The Hole on imdb (link)

Bunny and The Bull: A whimsical, funny, heartbreaking, and clever film about a road trip...that takes place inside a man's mind. You've never seen a road trip film like this before. Featuring eye-popping visuals in the style of The Science of Sleep, this film is a real treat. Bunny and the Bull on imdb (link)

[REC] 2: Definitely lived up to [REC], while taking the story in some new directions (which is no small feat). Filmmakers Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza gave a great Q and A after the screening. We can only hope that they make [REC] 3 in the near future.

Deep Sleep: This film wasn't in the festival, but was still one of the best we saw. We saw a screening by chance at a cafe, and we were very impressed. An excellent short film with good acting, script, and filmmaking technique.

Trash Humpers: From the "What the hell in the world is this film?" department. Directed by Harmony Korine, director of Gummo and screenwriter of Kids. This film is not for everyone but trust us: you will never forget it. That might be bad thing - only time will tell.

This was the first Toronto International Film Festival for us, and it was a great experience. The city was beautiful. The people were nice. And the films were great.

Hopefully we will be there next year....

What they are saying about the Drive-In Horrorshow....

"10 out of 10"
- From Infernal Dreams

"Drive-In Horrorshow delivers a visual feast of blood splatter and clever storytelling."
- From Fangoria

"Drive-In Horrorshow takes the anthology and juices it fully with five unique stories that range from clever comedy to dark body horror."
- From Deadly Doll's House of Horror Nonsense

"A well made anthology of short films."
- Zombie Movie Database

"Highly recommended for those who want to confront the monsters under the bed of their childhood. And as always find them scary."
- From I 400 Calci (translated from Italian)

"The general tone of this film struck me, because I've seen real passion for the genre."
- From Ulteriorit Precedente (translated from Italian)

"This is a high recommend from me, very entertaining and obviously done by filmmakers who love the genre. Long live the horror anthology!"
- From McBastard's Mausoleum

"Drive in Horror Show is–WITHOUT A DOUBT–the greatest horror anthology since George Romero's Creepshow"
- From Planet Fury

"I can't stop singing its praises."
- From Rogue Cinema

"If you like horror anthologies pick this one up, there's something for everyone here."
- From Deadly Indie Drive-In

"Every now and then a movie will come out that knocks you socks off and with its originality, creativity and magnetic appeal- well Drive in HorrorShow is that flick."
- From Angry Princess

"With a solid lineup of 5 stories that range from the serious to seriously goofy, Drive-In Horrorshow is the perfect film for a Friday night. Or any night for that matter."
- From Planet of Terror

"A tasty little anthology in the vein of Creepshow or Trick 'r Treat, Drive-In Horrorshow is a nifty treat of a film, well worth checking out." 
- From Radiation-Scarred Reviews

"A cut above the rest and slice of incredible independent filmmaking." 
- From Horrornews.net

"One of the most entertaining horror anthologies I have seen in a while."
- From KillingBoxx

"The horror world is a fickle beast but Drive-In Horror Show manages to walk the lines of the subgenres without missing a beat. It's appeal reaches to horror fans of all types."
-Bill Fulkerson from Outside The Cinema

"Celebrates the long-lost beauty of the drive-in theater and all its bloody glory."
- From Basement Screams

"A slick five tale anthology film that was independently made and a reminder of cool shit we used to see on late night TV when we were kids."
- From Gross Movie Reviews

"A good throw back to the late night creature feature."
- From Cinema Fromage

"Top notch effects that invoke fear and comedy at the same time.  I really really like this movie."
- Podcast at Movie Fan House

"Fantastic." 
-Podcast at Horrorstuff

Other Press:

"The horror! But that's what he seeks."
- The Boston Globe talks with the filmmakers

"What motivated you and Michael Neel to make the transition from candid interviews and political documentaries to ghoulish gore horror?"
- Pamela Torres at Punk Globe interviews DIHS producer Greg Ansin

"Wowzers! That really sounds like some good shit!"
- Arrow In The Head is psyched for the release of DIHS