One thing you should know about me, blogees, is that I will watch literally any horror film in which an animal or reptile is the antagonist. I don't care if they're snakes (Anaconda, Snakes on a Plane), sharks (Deep Blue Sea, Jaws), or even hyenas (The Lion King). My first foray into the 'dangers of nature' genre was a 1978 film called
Piranha. Featuring a star-studded cast that includes horror film veteran Barbara Steele and Melody Thomas Scott (better known as Nikki Neuman on The Young And The Restless), as well as one of the
greatest posters I've ever seen, this was a magical experience for me. Oh yeah, and the
sequel was directed by
some nobody.
So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that Joe Dante, the director of
Piranha, is coming to TIFF 2009 to present...A children's movie? Wait, did I read that right? Well, I guess it's not so far-fetched, considering that Dante also directed both Gremlins movies. Seriously, this dude's resume might as well be called 'formative experiences in Sachin's childhood'.
Dante's presenting a film called
Hole, which is notable not just because it's a children's movie that I'm actually pretty freakin' excited about (the first since Takeshi Miike's
The Great Yokai War, which screened at Midnight Madness in 2005), but also because it's the first 3D feature in the Festival's 33-year history. It's about two young brothers who discover a - wait for it - hole in their new house that is seemingly bottomless, and is replete with nightmares and shadows alike. For this effort, he's assembled the effects team from
Titanic and
T2: Judgment Day, as well as the 3D team from
My Bloody Valentine 3D. And if that hasn't gotten you excited yet, I'd check for a pulse.
In addition to his prolific directing resume, Dante has recently helped to found a site called
Trailers From Hell, which is basically a love letter to all those fantastic trailers of pulp films that, in most cases, would certainly be Midnight Madness material if released today. Dante and the rest of his crew of
'Grindhouse Gurus' (including such luminaries as
Hostel's Eli Roth and
Re-Animator's Stuart Gordon) unearth these trailers and present them, complete with insightful commentary, to your waiting eyes and ears. I spent about two hours going through the site last night and it brought up some great memories and put a whole wack of films on my 'to-see' list (after TIFF, of course!) If you've got some internet time to spare, tear yourselves away from that youtube video and make your way over to TFH and get educated on Grindhouse 101!
Hole screens at the Ryerson on Sept 12 at 3pm, with repeat screenings on Sept 14 at 6:45pm at Scotiabank and Sept 19 at 3:45pm at AMC. 
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