10 Movies to See Before You Die

I first heard about Toronto After Dark at SFX (or Festival of Fear) on the day when I had just splashed out a fairly ridiculous amount of money to go to a mere four (4!) films at TIFF. The very nice man at the booth spent some time and told myself and my husband about the movies. He said it would be 14 movies over 7 days. He said that it would be a few dollars per ticket. He then said that, if someone was interested, they could purchase a VIP pass that would give them full access to the festival for $99. I stopped him right there and told him it was done. He thought for the briefest moment that I felt this was too high a price to pay for a full access festival pass. I immediately corrected him, stating that we would, in fact, take TWO and that we would see.him.there. That was when he chose to tell us that if we bought them early they would actually only be $89.

Eighty-nine dollars.

There is literally nowhere else you can go to a festival, meet directors and actors of the movies you’ve just watched, for good or for bad, to see some of the more inventive and cutting edge ideas to come to a screen for so little money. I’m not actually sure how they do it, but I do know that I don’t want them to change.

For that cash you get the movies themselves, with a Canadian horror/fantasy short before each; two showings of short film compilations; the moody atmosphere of the Bloor; dirt cheap popcorn with real butter; opening and closing night parties; and a private room at a pub nearby to go and share the experience with your peers. In addition to that you get writers, directors, producers and quality Q&As.

I had the unfortunate experience of overhearing a group of gentlemen discussing what they would ‘do’ next year. Should they come and ‘do’ this festival, or should they ‘do’ TIFF. The final verdict was ‘do’ TIFF, which is sorely disappointing. More than anything this festival is what TIFF can’t be right now: a completely accessible showcase of movies you can’t see anywhere else. It provides a satisfaction to the moviegoer that TIFF can’t, with all its shine and stars and mayhem. Don’t get me wrong. I actually spend parts of my vacation at TIFF, but next year, I’m also slotting some vacation time to take full advantage of everything that the very dedicated people at Toronto After Dark have to offer. And you should too.

Go. Eat brains. Drink blood. Be merry.