FEBRUARY and Other Creepy Girls School Mysteries

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.

Further information about February can be found on the Festival website.

FEBRUARY screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK 1

Monday, Sept. 14th, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Friday, Sept. 18th, 6:45 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

The Cast of FEBRUARY

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.

Lauren Holly in Motive

Further information about February can be found on the Festival website.

FEBRUARY screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK 1

Monday, Sept. 14th, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Friday, Sept. 18th, 6:45 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA

FEBRUARY Second Look: Clip

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!

Further information about February can be found on the Festival website.

FEBRUARY screening times:

Saturday, Sept. 12th, 5:00 PM SCOTIABANK 1

Monday, Sept. 14th, 6:45 PM SCOTIABANK 9

Friday, Sept. 18th, 6:45 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA