You can catch the final screening of February tonight--at the very non-scary hour of 6:45, which is good because I understand February is kinda scary. I mean, look at that picture. Sally Draper has had enough of the hazing at her ghostly boarding school. Or so I believe speculating wildly based on the picture.
The dead of winter. Darkness. Disturbing
noises. A girls’ boarding school, unoccupied during spring break. These
are the elements that set the tone for the incredibly frightening February, directed by Oz Perkins.
Tonight's your last chance to see February at the Festival!
FEBRUARY Final Screening:
Fri. Sept 18, 6:45PM BLOOR HOT DOCS
The girl in this photograph from February is just trying to serve birthday cake to her classmates.
At this year's Midnight Madness, Nick Simon's The Girl In The Photographs is screening. And at this year's Vanguard, Oz Perkins's February is also screening. How are these two films connected? Join us for The Case Of The Connected Movies!
February is written and directed by Oz Perkins. It tells the story of a creepy girls' school (not to be confused with Girlschool) and two girls who are "assailed by an evil, invisible power when they are stranded at the school over winter break."
It also stars Kiernan Shipka, Emma Roberts, and Lucy Boynton.
There are no girls in this photograph. Definitely a conspiracy.
The Girl In The Photographs is directed by Nick Simon, but what's this? Oz Perkins also shares a writing credit. And he's written and acted in other Nick Simon movies, notably Removal. Hrm. The plot thickens.
The Girl In The Photographs is also a movie about a girl, in this case, Colleen, "a bored young woman in a sleepy community" who "starts receiving photographs of brutally murdered young women."
But there's more...
Mysteries Of The Unexplained!
Lucy Boynton plays a character named Rose, while in February, there's another character named Rose, played by Miranda Rae Mayo.
Meanwhile, Nima Fakhara, who provided the score for The Girl in the Photographs, also provided the score for another movie written by Nick Simon, The Pyramid. And we all know who is responsible for the Pyramids, right?
Brian Ufberg is the editor on February and he also edited a film called Elvis Has Left The Building. You know who has a brother named Elvis? Director Oz Perkins.
Speaking of February, on the show Mad Men, Kiernan Shipka's character Sally Draper was the daughter of Betty Draper, portrayed by actress JANUARY Jones. Coincidence? Maybe.
At this point, there can be only one conclusion: it's all a conspiracy to try and get us to go see February and The Girl In The Photographs.
FEBRUARY Screening Times:
Mon. Sept 14, 6:45PM SCOTIABANK 9
Fri. Sept 18, 6:45PM BLOOR HOT DOCS
THE GIRL IN THE PHOTOGRAPHS Screening Times:
Mon, Sept 14, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wed, Sept 16, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK 1
Fri, Sept 18, 9:15 PM SCOTIABANK 3
Premiering at TIFF tonight, February tells the story of three young girls who are intertwined by a dark, malevolent spirit that is plaguing them. Kat (Kiernan Shipka) is a quiet young girl who has been left at her prep school because her parents mysteriously never showed up, but she makes due by trying to befriend the elusive (and good-smellin') Rose (Lucy Boynton). Far away is Joan (Emma Roberts) who commences a blood soaked voyage to the school, with her motives unclear to the audience until the very end.
February is the debut feature for writer-director Oz Perkins, who although has never sat in the director's chair before, is no stranger to the film industry, working as a writer, actor and editor on several different pieces. I got the chance to chat with him about horror, movies and writing horror movies. (It's really all that I ever concern myself with.)
Richelle Charkot: What attracts you to horror? Oz Perkins: The dark glamour; the raw emotion. The fact that horror is all about that which is hidden from us which is far more interesting to me than all that we can see and know and understand. RC: What were some of the challenges with shooting February? OP: It was extremely cold, with a two week prep. RC: Who are some of your favourite creepy girls in horror movies? OP: Sissy Spacek in Carrie, Eli from Let the Right One In and Catherine Deneuve in Repulsion.
RC: If you were in charge of a late night double-feature at a theatre, what two movies would you play? OP: Eraserhead and Don't Look Now. RC: Can you name some films that first attracted you to the idea of writing and directing a horror film?
OP: The Shining, Let the Right One In, Don't Look Now, Rosemary's Baby, The Strangers, Psycho, Repulsion.
Finish your homework, dig out your water- and blood-resistant boots, and sharpen up your knives because February premieres tonight! Oh, and make sure to note the updated screening time for tonight's premiere.
Kat (Kiernan Shipka, Mad Men) and Rose
(Lucy Boynton) are in different grades at a
prestigious prep school for girls, where they
are stranded after their parents mysteriously
fail to retrieve them for winter break.
Meanwhile, a haunted young woman, Joan
(Emma Roberts), makes a bloody pilgrimage
across a frozen landscape toward the
school. As Joan gets closer, Kat is plagued
by increasingly terrifying visions, and Rose
can only look on in horror as her younger
schoolmate becomes possessed by an
unseen evil force.
Are they at a mysterious boarding school for ballet dancers and witches?
Dancers AND Witches.
Is the mysterious force be the secret store early-Aughts "irradiated meat" emanating from the lunch room? Is this some kind of supernatural frenemies situation?
We'll find out tonight!
Please note the updated time of tonight's premiere!
Osgood Perkins' directorial debut follows two young prep school girls as they are haunted by an evil entity after being left stranded at their school over the winter break. An all-girl boarding school is the perfect set-up for a series of creepy and mysterious events, and below are a few standouts.
Dario Argento's film Suspiria (1977) is perhaps his most well-known film. When Suzy (Jessica Harper) transfers to a prestigious dance academy in Germany, several of her classmates at the academy are murdered in gruesome ways. The film is a must see for horror fans and a staple of the giallo genre. "The only thing more terrifying than the last 12 minutes of Suspiria are the first 92".
Picnic at Hanging Rock is a 1975 Australian mystery drama based on the novel by Joan Lindsay. After the mysterious disappearance of several school girls and their teacher during a class picnic to Hanging Rock in Victoria, several of the Hanging Rock locals grapple with the effects their disappearance has on the community. What is perhaps the most chilling part about Picnic at Hanging Rock is the ending that left several people disturbed when it first screened.
The Woods (2006), directed by Midnight Madness alum Lucky McKee (All Cheerleaders Die, 2013), centres on a rebellious teen who is sent to an all-girls boarding school in the New England woods which holds an ominous secret.
The first two screenings of February may currently be off sale, but if you're luckily enough to have scored a ticket to the premiere (or are able to score a ticket on Saturday, September 12th at 7am) you may find yourself seated amongst some of the cast of the film.
No stranger to either horror or TIFF, Emma Roberts is perhaps best well known for her roles in American Horror Story: Coven and American Horror Story: Freak Show on FX. This fall she will reunite with American Horror Story creators Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk for FOX's horror-comedy series Scream Queens. Horror fans may also recognize her as Sidney Prescott's (Neve Campbell) cousin Jill Roberts in Scream 4 (2011). Emma Roberts was also in former TIFF films It's Kind of a Funny Story (2010) and Adult World (2013), as well as the TIFF Next Wave film Palo Alto (2014).
Emma Roberts in Scream Queens
Kiernan Shipka is best well known as the daughter of Don Draper (Jon Hamm), Sally Draper, on AMC's Mad Men. At only 15 years old, Shipka has also starred in the IFC Midnight film One & Two (2015), the Lifetime movie Flowers in the Attic (2014), and most recently as Kymmi, Kimmy Schmidt's half-sister on Netflix's Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
Kiernan Shipka in Mad Men
Lucy Boynton made her film debut playing the young Beatrix Potter in The Weinstein Company's Miss Potter (2006). She has also starred in the currently unreleased Canadian-Chinese action-fantasty thriller 400 Boys, and the Canadian-American film Copperhead (2013).
Lucy Boynton
James Remar has a long history in the film industry, usually playing a villain. He is known for his roles in 1979's The Warriors, 1982's 48 Hrs, 1984's The Cotton Club and 1996's The Phantom. He portrayed two unrelated characters in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), the first being Ace Speck who is killed by King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) and the second being Butch Pooch, who kills King Schultz. His major television roles include Richard Wright, one of Samantha Jones' (Kim Cattrall) boyfriends on HBO's Sex and the City, and Harry Morgan, Dexter Morgan's adoptive father on Showtime's Dexter.
James Remar
Like James Remar, Lauren Holly also has an extensive acting career. She is perhaps best known as Mary Swanson in 1994's Dumb & Dumber or as Gigi in 2000's What Women Want. Her big break however was as Deputy Sheriff Maxine Stewart on CBS' Picket Fences from 1992-1996. More recently she has appeared as part of the main cast on CBS' NCIS as NCIS Director Jenny Shepard and CTV's Motive as Dr. Betty Rogers.
Last week we gave you a sneak peak at some of the promo artwork for Oz Perkins' February, but today we come baring the gift of a hot off the press short clip from the film. The atmospheric clip doesn't provide much context as to what is occurring, but it does feature Kiernan Shipka as Kat doing something she probably shouldn't be doing. Ouch!
Earlier this year a small town 50km south of Ottawa was abuzz over a film production that had moved in. Residents of Kemptville, Ontario played spot the actress as Emma Roberts (American Horror Story), Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men) and Lauren Holly (NCIS, Dumb & Dumber) filmed writer and director Osgood Perkins' feature film debut February. Two girls Kat (Shipka) and Rose (Lucy Boynton) become stranded at their boarding school over the winter break after their parents mysteriously do not pick them up. At the same time a young woman (Roberts) leaves a bloody path behind her as she makes her way towards the boarding school. The closer the woman gets toward the school, the more possessed by an unseen evil force Kat becomes.
Below is a piece of promotional artwork that doubles as a poster for February, which plays this year's Toronto International Film Festival within the Vanguard programme.
