Showing posts with label Joe Hill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joe Hill. Show all posts

Saturday, September 7, 2013

HORNS Twitter Round-Up and Final Screening Info!


If you were smart enough to attend the Festival's premiere screening of Horns at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema last night, you would know a few things. You would know what a Tragi-Comi-Horridy is, that Daniel Radcliffe is as charming as ever, that Joe Hill is quite brilliant at the whole Q&A thing, and that Juno Temple has great taste in shoes. Oh, yeah: you would also know that Horns is pretty freakin' amazing.

Upon leaving after the Q&A, audience members could barely contain their enjoyment of the film. And if you're sitting there feeling rather sorry for yourself that you missed out on your chance to see Horns, never fear! There is one more screening left tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow! Clear your afternoon schedule and tell your mum that you'll be busy tomorrow at 1:00PM. Better yet, take your mum with you.

As if you're still on the fence about catching the final screening of Horns, but just in case you're having a lapse in judgment here's some more convincing from the Twitterverse:














HORNS FINAL Screening Time:

  • Sunday, Sept 8th, 1:00 PM SCOTIABANK 4


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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Author Profile: Joe Hill, author of HORNS





Not only is Joe Hill super stylin' on a motorcycle, but he's also the one we have to think for the film Horns, world-premiering at this year's Festival in the Vanguard Programme. You know, because he wrote the novel on which the film is based.

Maybe you haven't yet heard of Joe Hill, but we might have to shake you--hard--if you haven't heard of Hill's father, Stephen King. Yes, that Stephen King. Wanting to strike out on his own without the fame of his father's name attached to his career, Joe Hillstrom King started using the pen-name Joe Hill and only confirmed his identity in 2007, after establishing himself.

Hill's first published work, 20th Century Ghosts, is a collection of short stories that won several awards, like the Bram Stoker Award for Best Fiction Collection. The stories ranged in topic from one about a boy who wakes up one morning as a giant bug ("You Will Hear The Locust Sing") to a father teaching his son about the existence of vampires ("Abraham's Boys"). Less than 2,000 copies of 20th Century Ghosts was ever printed, so consider yourself one of the lucky ones if you have a copy.





Heart-Shaped Box was Hill's debut horror novel was met with great reviews and made it to the #8 slot on the New York Times bestseller list. Hill followed up Heart-Shaped Box with Horns in 2010. The New York Times said that Hill "[was] able to combine intrigue, editorializing, impassioned romance and even fiery theological debate in one well-told story", so it's no wonder that it was announced in June of 2012 that a feature film based on the book was in production.

Fans of Hill's work have not only had the film adaption of Horns to look forward to, but also his third novel, N0S4A2, which was released this past April. If you're wondering how to say it, imagine it's a licence plate. Need a hint? Here: "Nosferatu". (Yeah, we were always bad at the licence plate game too, don't worry.) N0S4A2 is not only a heart-racing supernatural suspense novel, but also contains the most Stephen King easter-eggs you'll ever find, ever. Ever. Hill was quoted as saying, "N0S4A2 has a lot of Where's Waldo? tricks with Stephen King. It was very intentional. I thought, Instead of running from the Stephen King stuff, I'm gonna run at it.” The novel has so far been Hill's best selling to date, which is only getting us more excited for his next.

So, kids, it looks like you've got to cram in a bit of reading during TIFF. We expect to see you all at the Horns screenings with at least--AT LEAST--one of these books in tow.

HORNS Screening Times:

  • Friday, Sept 6th, 6:00 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
  • Sunday, Sept 8th, 1:00 PM SCOTIABANK 4






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Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Director Profile: Alexandre Aja (HORNS)



If you're familiar with the term "New French Extremity," then you've probably heard of or seen the work of writer/director/producer Alexandre Aja (pronounced AH-zhah). Haute Tension (a.k.a. High Tension or Switchblade Romance) splattered the screen as part of the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival's Midnight Madness programme, joining the legacy of other ultra-gory French horror films like À l'intérieur, Frontière(s), Irréversible, Martyrs, and more.

Before Haute Tension, there was Furia, Aja's feature film debut, starring Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) and Stanislas Merhar (La Folie Almayer). Furia is based on "Grafitti," a short story by Julio Cortázar and critic Mark Deming provides a brief synopsis on AllRovi.com:

Combining romance, science fiction, and a political parable, Furia takes place in the future, after an oppressive government, which has shut down all political opposition, recognizes art as a means of free expression--and therefore bans painting on public surfaces.



2003's Haute Tension, a riveting, terrifying, incredibly gory film, earned Aja an international reputation, and rightly so. The less you know about it going in, the better, but here's a trailer that will give you a taste.



Aja reimagined Wes Craven's low-budget shocker The Hills Have Eyes for his first English-language film in 2006, and the result is a better-looking, more believable, more frightening, and ultimately better film (I realize horror fans will fight me on this one but I am standing my ground).



Aja then wrote and produced the somewhat-less-popular P2 about a woman trapped by her stalker in an underground parking garage on Christmas Eve and then wrote and directed Mirrors, an English-language remake of the Korean film Into the Mirror, starring Kiefer Sutherland as an ex-cop haunted by hallucinations, murderous mirrors, and abusive nuns at a convent (it's actually more coherent on film than it sounds on the page).

For the remake of Joe Dante's beloved (do not question me on this one) Piranha, Aja was a triple threat, writing, directing, and producing this exceptionally popular and bloody (Aja says they used more fake blood than Kill Bill) tale of spring break insanity and killer fish. Also, boobs. Lots of boobs. And did we mention it is in 3DD?



For the 2012 remake of the infamous 1980 William Lustig slasher Maniac,  Aja wrote and produced, but snagged old friend Franck Khalfoun (who directed P2) to direct. Maniac, which stars Elijah Wood as the titular character, screened at Cannes to impressive critical acclaim.

Which brings us to Horns, premiering at The Toronto International Film Festival's Vanguard Programme this year. Based on Joe Hill's novel, Horns stars Daniel Radcliffe as Ignatius "Ig" Perrish, who, after being blamed for his girlfriend's murder, not only wakes up one day with horns growing from his head, but also becomes the confessor to everyone he encounters. He hopes to use his developing status as a way to find the real killer.

Aja apparently likes giving actors associated with one iconic character a chance to prove they can do something vastly different, and Horns, which skillfully blends horror, fantasy, and mystery, intends to do just that.

 HORNS Screening Times:
Friday, Sept 6th, 6:00 PM THE BLOOR HOT DOCS CINEMA
Sunday, Sept 8th, 1:00 PM SCOTIABANK 4

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