Okay, we already told you which films were coming to this year’s Midnight Madness but as of this afternoon we can also tell you which actors and directors will be there to present their films.
First up: sad news for Japan-o-philes. No Takashi Miike or Mamoru Oshii. Miike, surprisingly enough, is busy making a film and can’t get free to attend while I’m putting Oshii’s absence down to his extreme media shyness. The man can barely even look into a camera when being interviewed so I can’t imagine he’d do well doing a Q&A in front of a thousand rabid fans.
So who is coming? Lots of people.
From Creep, director Christopher Smith and star Franka Potente.
From The Machinist, director Brad Anderson and star Jennifer Jason Leigh. Christian Bale is a maybe, depending on the shooting schedule for Batman Begins. If he’s free he’ll be there.
From The Raspberry Reich, director Bruce LaBruce, which is not much of a stretch considering he’s a Toronto boy.
From Dead Birds, bloody well everybody. The director and entire primary cast have all confirmed.
From Calvaire … honestly, I can’t remember. I knew I should have written this down. I’m pretty sure the director will be there, but don’t go holding me to that …
From Kontroll, director Nimrod Antal. The kind Mr. Geddes was also good enough to steer me to a Kontroll website – complete with trailer and music video – here. That Colin, he’s swell. According to the website the movie’s out on DVD September 1st … I managed to turn up a couple Hungarian DVD sites and the DVD does include english subtitles but I can’t figure out nearly enough Hungarian to actually order myself a copy.
From Rahtree, director Yuthlert Sippapak.
And Saw is in the same boat as Dead Birds. Everybody, cast and director included, should be there.
And now, just because I’m a swell guy, I present to you the entire text of the synopses provided by the Madness folk, painstakingly copied out for your enjoyment. What can I say? I’m a giver. Click that ‘continue’ link below to read on.
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
Acclaimed director Mamoru Oshii follows his animated masterpiece with a unique vision of the future. Two cybord police detectives investigate a series of murders caused by malfunctioning female pleasure androids that have gone berserk. Mesmerizing action scenes are coupled with a deep reflection on how technology affects mankind.
Creep
After falling asleep waiting for the last train home, Kate (RUN LOLA RUN’s Franka Potente) becomes trapped in a London Tube station. Pursued by a potential attacker, she is driven into the labyrinth of tunnels beneath city streets, desperate to get to the surface and survive the night.
The Machinist
Plagued by insomnia, Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) finds his job on the drill press at a machine shop increasingly dangerous. A hooker (Jennifer Jason Leigh) provides him with solace until he starts receiving mysterious, cryptic notes pushing his paranoia beyond his already tenuous hold on rationality.
The Raspberry Reich
Pop-porn maverick Bruce LaBruce brings us his irreverent satire of anti-corporate sentiment and terrorist fashion chic. An extreme left-wing gang kidnap the son of a wealthy banker under the instructions of their female leader, the charismatic Gudrun. Naturally, political satire and graphic sex scenes ensue.
Dead Birds
As the Civil War rages in Alabama in 1863, a gang of army deserters led by Henry Thomas and Isaiah Washington rob a bank full of Confederate gold. Hiding out at an abandoned plantation, both the elements and supernatural forces close in to infiltrate the souls of these desperate criminals.
Calvaire
Forced to take refuge at a rundown inn, Marc, a young pop singer, enters hell when the innkeeper develops an unnatural fondness for him, transforming Marc into a replacement “wife”. With its grim comedic undercurrent, this “survival” horror alternates between art house experimentalism and blood-drenched shocker.
Kontroll
Working in the grimy Budapest subway system, a group of scrappy ticket inspectors spar with wacky passengers and stern managers while pursuing a masked killer who is terrorizing the underground by pushing unsuspecting passengers in the path of oncoming trains.
Zebraman
Thanks to Takashi Miike, the world now has a hero for the twenty-first century – Zebraman! Shinichi (GOZU’s Sho Aikawa) is a pitiful loser who escapes his dysfunctional family life by taking on the persona of a short-lived TV superhero to battle a range of increasingly bizarre villains.
Rahtree: Flower of the Night
Apartment 69 is haunted and this ghost aint budging. Various exorcists are called, from a kung-fu fighting shaman to a group of bumbling Catholic priests who end up strewn with blood and vomit. Humour mixes with jolts and shocks in this Thai horror with a twist.
Saw
Two men awaken to find themselves chained to rusty pipes inside a dark chamber with a corpse lying between them. At the mercy of a psychopath’s mad game, they must piece together the clues and make impossible choices to save their lives in a horrifying test of survival.
