Genre: Horror
- Own Voice
Short Film Programme
If you’d like to show several short films together as a programme, please feel free to get in touch for advice and tips on selecting the perfect combination for your needs.
Director
Various
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, Biography, BIPOC Stories, Bullying, Classics, Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Discrimination, Environment, ESL, Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Global Experiences, History, Indigenous Filmmaker, LGBTQ2S+, Literary Adaptation, Newcomer Stories, Social Justice & Politics, Sports, Strong Female Leads
Original Languages
English, French
- Own Voice
Indigenous-made Short Films
Director
Various
Genres
Action/Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Horror, Romance, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Interests
Arts and Culture, BIPOC Stories, Female Filmmaker, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, French, Other Language
- Own Voice
The Guest
Director
Nick Rodgers (Anishinaabe)
Writer
Nick Rodgers (Anishinaabe)
Cast
Philippe Mathon
Genres
Animation, Comedy, Horror
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Language
English
Psycho Goreman
Two children accidentally resurrect an evil alien overlord, who they name Psycho Goreman (or PG for short). While a magical amulet allows the kids to control him into doing their bidding, PG still wants to destroy the universe - and soon their activities draw the attention of a Planetary Alliance that sends an elite assassin named Pandora to stop PG from carrying out his evil will. In this battle of good vs. evil, it’s anyone’s guess who will come out on top.
From Steven Kostanski, the creator of the cult-hit Manborg, Psycho Goreman is a fantastical ride that is as bizarre as it is hilarious.
Director
Steven Kostanski
Writer
Steven Kostanski
Cast
Nita-Josée Hanna, Owen Myre, Matthew Ninaber
Producers
Stuart F. Andrews, Shannon Hanmer, Steven Kostanski
Genres
Comedy, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interest
Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Dystopia Films
Haunter
On the night before her sweet 16th, Lisa (Abigail Breslin) becomes stuck in time, reliving the day over and over.
Director
Vincenzo Natali
Writer
Brian King
Cast
Abigail Breslin, Peter Outerbridge, Michelle Nolden
Producer
Steven Hoban
Genre
Horror
Interests
Family Relationships, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Splice
Elsa (Sarah Polley) and Clive (Adrien Brody) are married scientists who defy legal and ethical boundaries by splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism.
Director
Vincenzo Natali
Writers
Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, Doug Taylor
Cast
Adrien Brody, Sarah Polley, Delphine Chanéac
Producer
Steven Hoban
Genres
Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Original Languages
English, French
Canadian Distributor
Les Films Seville
Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés (Saint Martyrs of the Damned)
The town’s inhabitants are a strange group — a mayor who rules with an iron fist, the creepy twins running the motel, the woman who serenades cows, a masked mechanic, and many others. But Flavien can’t get anyone to help him, as they’re all suspicious and even downright aggressive toward him. With an arresting visual style and quirky sense of humour, the film pushes the boundaries of the conventional thriller, tackling questions about identity, responsibility and mortality in a refreshing way.
Director
Robin Aubert
Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés premiered at TIFF 2005. Aubert also directed the feature films À quelle heure le train pour nulle part, À l’origine d’un cri, and Tuktuq, and starred in De père en flic, the critical hit Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre, Jeune Juliette, and Mon cirque à moi. His latest film, Les Affamés won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF 2017 and ten Prix Iris. He is currently completing his next film, Tu ne sauras jamais.
Writer
Robin Aubert
Cast
François Chénier, Isabelle Blais, Sylvie Boucher
Producers
Luc Vandal, Roger Frappier
Genres
Drama, Horror
Interest
Family Relationships
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Christal Films
The Witch
As a New England family attempts to resettle their farm in the 1700s, an evil presence haunts the forest. This terrifying film won the Directing Award at the Sundance Film Festival.
Director
Robert Eggers
Writer
Robert Eggers
Cast
Anya Taylor-Joy
Producers
Jay Van Hoy, Daniel Bekerman, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Rodrigo Teixeira
Genre
Horror
Interest
Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
Pin
When young Leon (Hewlett) forms a bond with an anatomy doll he calls Pin, his father (O’Quinn) doesn’t give it much thought, seeing it as a typical childhood imaginary friend. But after both of Leon’s parents are killed in a car accident, his attachment grows into a dangerous level of fixation, and he begins to employ the doll in increasingly horrific ways. This incredible piece of psychological horror will keep you on the edge of your seat.
A cult favourite among horror fans but currently out of print, we’re pleased to offer a rare chance to see Pin in honour of its 35th anniversary.
“A cool, bloodless, well-made thriller with a taste for the quietly bizarre.” – Janet Maslin, The New York Times
Director
Sandor Stern
Writer
Sandor Stern
Cast
David Hewlett, Cynthia Preston, Terry O'Quinn, Bronwen Mantel
Producer
Rene Malo
Genre
Horror
Interests
Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Family Relationships, Literary Adaptation
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
- Own Voice
Blood Quantum
The term “blood quantum” refers to a colonial system enforced on Indigenous peoples in North America which determines their individual status and rights based on their “percentage” of Indigenous ancestry. It is a tool of control, assimilation and erasure of Indigenous peoples.
In this brilliantly provocative horror film set in an isolated Mi’kmaq community, the Indigenous population remains immune to a raging zombie virus infecting the surrounding white population.
Blood soaked, fast paced and darkly comic, Blood Quantum is a wild ride using the zombie genre as a vehicle to explore white supremacy, colonialism, genocide and Indigenous self-determination.
Director
Jeff Barnaby (Mi’qmaw)
Writer
Jeff Barnaby (Mi’qmaw)
Cast
Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (Blackfoot/Sámi), Michael Greyeyes (Plains Cree), Forrest Goodluck (Diné/Mandan/Hidatsa/Tsimshian)
Producers
John Christou, Robert Vroom
Genres
Action/Adventure, Drama, Horror
Interests
BIPOC Stories, Indigenous Filmmaker
Original Languages
English, Other Language
Language Versions
EN CC, EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
Violation
A woman on the brink of divorce is suddenly betrayed by her sister and brother-in-law, setting her on the warpath towards a violent revenge.
Directors
Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Writers
Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Cast
Madeleine Sims-Fewer, Anna Maguire, Jesse LaVercombe
Producers
Dusty Mancinelli, Madeleine Sims-Fewer
Genre
Horror
Interests
Family Relationships, Female Filmmaker, Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
DM Films
Happy Birthday to Me
Director
J. Lee Thompson
Writers
John C.W. Saxton, Peter Jobin, Timothy Bond
Cast
Melissa Sue Anderson, Glenn Ford, Lawrence Dane
Genres
Horror, Thriller
Interest
Strong Female Leads
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Columbia Pictures of Canada
Hobo with a Shotgun
This cult favourite started as a fake movie trailer in Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse. It includes several Canadiana Easter eggs and a memorable performance from Rutger Hauer, who at one point delivers a dramatic monologue to an audience of newborn babies.
A gleeful, gory sendup of 70s exploitation films, Hobo with a Shotgun delivers plenty of shocks, mayhem and vigilante justice, “one shell at a time.”
Director
Jason Eisener
Writer
John Davies
Cast
Molly Dunsworth, Gregory Smith, Rutger Hauer
Producers
Niv Fichman, Rob Cotterill, Paul Gross
Genres
Action/Adventure, Comedy, Horror, Thriller
Interest
Social Justice & Politics
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
eOne
Les affamés (Ravenous)
In the bleak aftermath of an outbreak of zombies in rural Quebec, Bonin (Marc-André Grondin) struggles to survive along with the rapidly dwindling remaining population. When he encounters a group hiding in a house that is in the path of an invading horde of the undead, he must decide whether or not to save them, as doing so would put him and his companions in danger.
Les affamés is a brilliant and fresh take on the zombie genre, maintaining a tense atmosphere with exceptional moments of horror. It won the Best Canadian Feature prize at TIFF in 2017 and swept the Jutra Awards (now the Prix Iris) with ten wins, including Best Film and Best Direction.
“Robin Aubert's idiosyncratic and nuanced drama breathes fresh life into the zombie apocalypse subgenre.” - John Leydon, VarietyDirector
Robin Aubert
Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés premiered at TIFF 2005. Aubert also directed the feature films À quelle heure le train pour nulle part, À l’origine d’un cri, and Tuktuq, and starred in De père en flic, the critical hit Guibord s’en va-t-en guerre, Jeune Juliette, and Mon cirque à moi. His latest film, Les Affamés won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF 2017 and ten Prix Iris. He is currently completing his next film, Tu ne sauras jamais.
Writer
Robin Aubert
Cast
Charlotte St-Martin, Marc-André Grondin, Monia Chokri, Micheline Lanctôt
Producers
C.S. Roy, Stéphanie Morissette
Genres
Action/Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Thriller
Original Language
French
Language Version
EN Subtitles
Canadian Distributors
Les Films Seville, Maison 4:3
Crimes of the Future
A loose remake of one of his earliest films, Crimes of the Future is classic Cronenberg, with all of the body horror you’d expect from the master director.
Director
David Cronenberg
Writer
David Cronenberg
Cast
Viggo Mortensen, Lihi Kornowski, Lea Seydoux, Scott Speedman, Kristen Stewart
Producers
Robert Lantos, Steve Solomos, Panos Papahadzis
Genres
Horror, Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Interests
Cult & Offbeat Cinema, Environment
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
MK2 Mile End
Top of the Food Chain
The residents of a secluded Canadian town are being mysteriously and gruesomely devoured. Starring Campbell Scott.
Director
John Paizs
Since filming the widely-praised Crime Wave in his native Winnipeg, Paizs has directed Top of the Food Chain and Marker, and has worked on such TV series as Kids in the Hall, The Adventures of Shirley Holmes and John Woo’s Once a Thief. He is currently writing and illustrating a graphic novel and working as the director in residence at the Canadian Film Centre.
Writers
Philip Bedard, Larry Lalonde
Cast
Lorry Ayers, Robert Bockstael, Campbell Scott
Producers
Suzanne Berger, Jana Edelbaum
Genre
Horror
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Equinox Entertainment
Random Acts of Violence
A comic book writer and his publisher visit a small town where a series of violent murders seems to be tied to their popular comic series. Starring Jesse Williams, Jay Baruchel and Jordana Brewster.
Director
Jay Baruchel
Writers
Jay Baruchel, Jesse Chabot
Cast
Jesse Williams, Jay Baruchel, Jordana Brewster
Producers
Jay Baruchel, Randy Manis, Noah Segal
Genre
Horror
Interest
Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Elevation Pictures
The Wild Hunt
A medieval re-enactment game turns into a Shakespearean tragedy when a non-player crashes the event in order to win back his girlfriend.
Director
Alexandre Franchi
Writers
Mark Antony Krupa, Alexandre Franchi
Cast
Kaniehtiio Horn
Producers
Karen Murphy, Alexandre Franchi
Genre
Horror
Interest
Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
TVA Films
The Editor
A modern classic from the Winnipeg filmmaking collective Astron-6, The Editor is a terrific send-up of genre clichés that is sure to please any horror fan.
“a knowing pastiche of the giallo genre, so incoherent and ridiculous it could almost pass for the genuine article” – Anton Bidel, Sight & Sound
Directors
Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy
Writers
Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney
Cast
Paz de la Huerta, Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy, Conor Sweeney
Producers
Adam Brooks, Matthew Kennedy
Genre
Horror
Interest
Arts and Culture
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Kennedy / Brooks
My Bloody Valentine
After a deadly Valentine’s Day accident, a mining town vows never to celebrate the holiday again. Twenty years later, some teens throw a Valentine’s party — with killer results.
Director
George Mihalka
Writers
Stephen A. Miller, John Beaird
Cast
Paul Kelman, Neil Affleck, Lori Hallier
Producers
John Dunning, André Link
Genre
Horror
Interest
Cult & Offbeat Cinema
Original Language
English
Canadian Distributor
Paramount Pictures