Toronto Film Festival 2009 Midnight Madness Line-Up Brings George Romero, Tony Jaa and Diablo Cody Back to TIFF

Posted by on July 21st, 2009   Filed under: Festival Coverage, Horror
Source: Row Three

tiffmidnightmadness09

While the official announcement still hasn’t gone online yet, our good friends over at Row Three have given us the heads up on the Midnight Madness line-up for this year’s Toronto International Film Festival. This is the section of the fest dedicated to blood, gore and mayhem, and it looks like this year’s program will bring plenty of all three.

The gala to kick off the proceedings will be Jennifer’s Body, the highly-anticipated second film written by Diablo Cody (Juno) and starring Megan Fox of Transformers fame. Also on this year’s agenda is the Thai action sequel Ong Bak 2, the Spanish handheld horror sequel [REC] 2 and the latest zombie flick from George A. Romero, which now has a title: Survival of the Dead. Check out the full list of titles below, and see a few trailers after the jump. (By the way, the creepy pic above is from [REC] 2.)

  • Jennifer’s Body (Dir. Karyn Kusama)
  • Bitch Slap (Dir. Rick Jacobson)
  • A Town Called Panic (Dir. Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar)
  • Ong Bak 2: The Beginning (Dir. Tony Jaa)
  • Symbol (Dir. Hitoshi Matsumoto)
  • The Loved Ones (Dir. Sean Byrne)
  • Solomon Kane (Dir. Michael J. Bassett)
  • [REC] 2 (Dir. Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza)
  • Survival of the Dead (Dir. George A. Romero)
  • Daybreakers (Dir. Michael and Peter Spierig)




  • rick

    lets face it. there is only two reasons why people are going to see jennifers body.

    1. to see if megan fox can act now she’s been giving a movie that calls for it. From the sound of the movie she’s got to be a trick and use plenty of sexuality….so again she probably wont have to act to much…but we’ll just have to see

    2. her boobs. every guy in that place will be just waiting for it. thats what they came to see. period

  • Dennis

    Sorry Rick, you’re wrong. I want to see this movie because I love horror but feel that it has mostly gone pretty stale lately, especially here in the States. I thought that Juno was a bit overrated at first, but far better than I expected – and way better than the usual backlash douche bags are willing to admit. A new voice and attitude in horror are welcome things in my opinion.

    Also, anyone who just wants to see Megan Fox’s boobs has already sought out the widely distributed production stills on the web. And I think anyone who is that interested in her doesn’t care if she can act.

    By the way, Amanda Seyfried – you know, the actual lead in the movie – is a terrific actress. Another good reason to see the film.

    That said, I have a 19-month-old son and probably won’t be seeing this until it’s Netflixable anyway.

  • rick

    love horror or not. love of horror is immiterial here because besides the actress that you named, what else is to draw you to this movie? It cant be because of it’s gripping compelling story. The same story in this movie has been told time and time again.

    “Also, anyone who just wants to see Megan Fox’s boobs has already sought out the widely distributed production stills on the web. And I think anyone who is that interested in her doesn’t care if she can act.”

    First off theres a big difference between seeeing a picture of her private areas, then actually seeing them in full motion on a big screen. People are only interested in her because shes HOT!!! Her personality from what ive seen in interviews is bitchy, pretentious, stuck up. And she hasn’t really needed to act in any roll yet. So the only thing that draws people to her is her amazing good looks.

    Maybe there a couple more reasons like that of horror fanatics in for a good (in this case weak) scare. And that of Amanda Seyfried. But i mean come on. Do you really think that megan fox is not the biggest attraction to this movie?

  • I agree that Megan Fox is the biggest mainstream attraction to this film, but horror fans are a pretty forgiving bunch and they will see just about anything in the genre – even if it’s a story that has been told over and over again. I’m sure the movie would still generate interest without her. I think a lot of people are also curious to see how Diablo Cody’s second script turns out.

  • Dennis

    You make great points, Rick, but I never said Fox wasn’t the biggest attraction – I just disagreed that she’s the only attraction, which was the point of your original post.

    Megan Fox is undeniably hot (and pretty undeniably awful, as an actress and as a person and as a tatto0o picker). And her hotness is also undeniably the reason why People Magazine and Entertainment Tonight and RandomBlog.com are interested in this movie. And yes, she’s probably the biggest attraction for most people, many of whom probably won’t take the time to see the film.

    All I’m saying is there are other draws. While the story may not be entirely new, when has it ever been told from a woman’s point of view (as opposed to a man’s idea of what a woman’s point of view might be)?

    I liked Juno and Girlfight quite a bit and am excited to see what Cody and Kusama can do with horror – a light touch with horror will be refreshing after all the hip nihilism we’ve been handed in the years since High Tension (which I loved) and the first Saw (which I couldn’t sit through – so, so stupid).

    And with or without Megan Fox (and her boobs) I think the trailer looks pretty cool.

  • rick

    i’ll probably go see the movie but i’m not expecting much. and i completely agree with what you said about saw. and i agree with the horror fans obscession too but i wonder if, if it wernt megan fox will it make the money that it will with out her being in it?

  • ian simmons

    im gonna cry to see my angel die
    im gonna ball right during the movie. if any laughs ill eat them and do a jennnifers body to u
    megans gonna read this, so ill say to her i love u and dont get mad and b a bitch when i see u again. thank u
    cya baby

  • Ann

    I’m not looking forward to seeing “Jennifer’s Body” at all…. However, this year’s lineup looks great. I personally would love to see Norton in “Leaves of Grass.”

    I also heard that this year’s TIFF will be the first year they’re having free events for festival goers.

  • Kaila

    I cant wait to see Jenifers body!! MEGAN FOX!!And shes actually coming to Toronto!! She said in an interview on Et Canada tonight.. :)

  • Gab

    Saw Jennifer’s Body at TIFF… See my review at: http://www.youtube.com/gabndad