Movie Box Review

The day and time has finally come, the 2008 line up for the Midnight Madness programme at the Toronto International Film Festival has arrived! It is an action-packed, scarefest full of gloom, doom and horror beyond our wildest imaginations! The programme opens with a bang with JCVD a action/comedy where Jean-Claude Van Damme plays the central role mixing reality with fiction. The documentary this year is Not Quite Hollywood which explores 70's and 80's Australian genre films. Looking for Sci-Fi? Eden Log should be up your alley with has a beautiful monochromatic visual style. The closing night film will be martial arts mayhem with Chocolate, directed by Prachya Pinkaew (Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior, The Protector / Tom yum goong) and starring Jija Yanin as Zen, a woman who is ready to kick butt and take names. It looks like it is going to be one hell of a great year! Here is a line up of the 10 films this year:

JCVD
Dir: Mabrouk El Mechri
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, François Damiens, Zinedine Soualem, Karim Belkhadra
France/Luxembourg/Belgium
Opening Night Midnight Madness Screening: Thursday September 4, 2008 at 11:59PM

Detroit Metal City
Toshio Lee
Cast: Kenichi Matsuyama, Rosa Kato, Yasuko Matsuyuki, Gene Simmons
Japan
Midnight Madness Screening: Friday September 5, 2008 at 11:59PM

Deadgirl
Dir: Marcel Sarmiento and Gadi Harel
Cast: Shiloh Fernandez, Noah Segan, Michael Bowen, Candice Accola
USA
Midnight Madness Screening: Saturday September 6, 2008 at 11:59PM

Not Quite Hollywood
Dir: Mark Hartley
Documentary with Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper, Stacy Keach, Quentin Tarantino, Brian Trenchard-Smith
USA/Australia
Midnight Madness Screening: Sunday September 7, 2008 at 11:59PM

Acolytes
Dir: Jon Hewitt
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Michael Dorman, Sebastian Gregory, Hanna Mangan-Lawrence, Joshua Payne
Australia
Midnight Madness Screening: Monday September 8, 2008 at 11:59PM

The Burrowers
Dir: J.T. Petty
Cast: William Mapother, Karl Geary, Doug Hutchison, Sean Patrick Thomas, Laura Leighton
USA
Midnight Madness Screening: Tuesday September 9, 2008 at 11:59PM

Martyrs
Dir: Pascal Laugier
Cast: Morjana Alaoui, Mylène Jampanoï, Catherine Begin, Robert Toupin
France/Canada
Midnight Madness Screening: Wednesday September 10, 2008 at 11:59PM

Eden Log
Dir: Franck Vestiel
Cast: Clovis Cornillac, Vimala Pons
France
Midnight Madness Screening: Thursday September 11, 2008 at 11:59PM

Sexykiller
Dir: Miguel Martí
Cast: Macarena Gomez, César Camino, Alejo Sauras, Angel de Andrés, Fernando Ramallo
Spain
Midnight Madness Screening: Friday September 12, 2008 at 11:59PM

Chocolate
Dir: Prachya Pinkaew
Cast: Jija Yanin, Hiroshi Abe, Pongpat Wachirabanjong, Ammara Siripong
Thailand
Closing Night Midnight Madness Screening: Saturday September 13, 2008 at 11:59PM

Additional screenings of the Midnight Madness Films will be released August 26, 2008.

The Toronto International Film Festival 2008 runs from September 4-13/08 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Inside Film has announced that the Australian thriller Acolytes will be included in the 2008 Midnight Madness Program at The Toronto International Film Festival. This is the first film I've heard included in this years program and Acolytes tagline as "Nothing stays buried forever" it promises to be engrossing to say the least! Acolytes will also be screened at the 57th Melbourne International Film Festival on August 1, 2008 and Brisbane International Film Festival on August 8, 2008.

Midnight Madness

Acolytes
Dir: by Jon Hewitt
Cast: Joel Edgerton, Michael Dorman

More on Acolytes: IMDb Page, MySpace Page