BLACK SWAN USA Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky shows off his giallo side with this story of ballet, lesbian sex, mental breakdown and a whole lot of brilliance. Black Swan starts off quietly, slowly building atmosphere and tension until it gets to the third act, at which point all restraint is thrown to the wayside and Aronofsky lets loose. The end result is one hell of a psychological thriller built on a trio of fantastic performances that left audiences wonder- ing whether it will be Aronofsky or star Natalie Port- man who will get Oscar noms or if both will be taking home the hardware. TB
COLD FISH Japan Sion Sono
Loosely based on the true story of a Japanese serial killer, Cold Fish depicts a troubled family whose fortunes are forever changed when the eccentric owner of a tropical fish store enters their lives and turns out to be a homicidal maniac. This is Sion Sono’s metaphorical portrait of the frustrated and thwarted desires of do- mestic life manifested as bloody, operatic splatter. It’s a testament to what happens when a filmmaker is free to explore his dark imaginings without self-censorship and tiresome clichés. Those remake and nostalgia-dri- ven American filmmakers need to watch this immedi- ately to grasp the full extent of their artistic delinquency. SFA
GOOD NEIGHBOURS Canada Jacob Tierney
Jumping from a high school comedy (The Trotsky) to serial killers, director Jacob Tierney turned in the biggest surprise of TIFF with Good Neighbours. Set against the backdrop of the 1995 Quebec referendum, it’s the story of three Anglophones living in a Montreal neighbourhood that’s being stalked by a serial killer. Star Jay Baruchel bragged earlier at the FanTasia Fes- tival that it contained the most shocking onscreen kill
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of the year and while it doesn’t – that honour goes to A Serbian Film– it’s not far off. More importantly, it offers some genuine surprises and great performances. TB
A HORRIBLE WAY TO DIE USA Adam Wingard
In this dreary American indie, a woman tries to put her life back on track after she discovers her boyfriend is a serial killer, and consequently struggles through a bout of alcoholism. Beautifully presented out of chronological order and boasting an epic, transcendental score, A Horrible Way to Die is much more stylized and elegantly crafted than its sensationalistic title would suggest. Di- rector Adam Wingard (Pop Skull) has created a flowing fever dream of a film awash in rich performances, dark humour, compelling storytelling and other telltale marks of a filmmaker destined for greatness. TT
INSIDIOUS USA James Wan
Director James Wan (Saw, Dead Silence) takes the high road early in what begins as a dead serious, modern haunted house thriller in the vein of Poltergeist. By nip- ping staid genre conventions in the bud and jettisoning the cheap jump scares, Wan turns in some truly unset- tling sequences that will test your skin’s ability to stay on (the late-night audience members at the Midnight Madness program were jumping out of their seats). Cu- rious then that Insidious switches gears at the midway point with the introduction of two wisecracking para- normal investigators and some hammy Beetlejuice-in- spired humour. The tonal shift abandons the title’s implied ferocity and lessens its impact, but the balance of familiarity, fresh ideas and vivid cinematography will definitely stick with you. TT
I SAW THE DEVIL South Korea Ji-woon Kim
Heavily censored in South Korea, I Saw the Devil’s rep- utation preceded it for TIFF audiences eager to see the uncut festival version. Half serial killer movie/half
thoughtful revenge film, the latest by Ji-woon Kim (A Tale of Two Sisters) stars Byung-hun Lee as a secret agent whose fiancée is dismembered by a particularly sadistic serial killer (Oldboy star Min-sik Choi). After using his skills to track down the murderer, our hero decides to hunt him slowly (and painfully!), but when his game gets out of control, the scenario is flipped. El- ements of Se7en and Saw, with extra sadism and gore, made this accomplished chiller-thriller a festival high- light. DA
JULIA’S EYES Spain Guillem Morales
How do you spell giallo in Spanish? “D-e-l-T-o-r-o?” The genre icon has produced this quietly creepy exam- ination of a woman haunted by both the onset of blind- ness (which may have killed her twin sister) and an invisible stranger (who may have killed her sister). Belén Rueda (The Orphanage) stars as the titular mad victim/heroine, rising to the challenge of spending a good chunk of the film blindfolded. A suspenseful noir with some intense ocular trauma, it ultimately goes off the rails at the end, with a final shot that will have you snickering, not shivering. LL
THE LAST CIRCUS Spain, France Álex de la Iglesia
The director of Day of the Beast and Acción Mutante takes a grotesque, baroque tour of the Spanish Civil War and its aftermath, as experienced by a troupe of circus performers. Innocence lost is embodied in Iglesia’s film as a meek, chubby clown who transforms into a seething pot of self-mutilating rage in an attempt to save the woman he loves. The Last Circus is a sprawl- ing, genre-defying beast that is also Iglesia’s best in more than a decade. TB
L.A. ZOMBIE Germany, USA, France Bruce La Bruce
While Gaspar Noé and Harmony Korine make cult films for a marginal audience, Bruce La Bruce (Otto; Or, Up
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