Supergrid opens Friday- Go see it

How good is Supergrid? It is a late addition to my end of the year lists. A small budget apocalyptic tale that starts and goes at lightning speed straight to the end. Its full of great characters and even better action. If it’s not perfect it really doesn’t matter since what is important is finely tuned and nicely polished.

Set in a future where a giant mining company has taken over chunk of the US, poisoned the environment, and wrecked society so badly that evil gangs roam the roads (aka The Grid) killing and robbing anyone who cross their path. Driving into the wasteland are two brothers who need to make one more run for a criminal organization in order to get a certain package so they can be free of their obligation. Of course it all goes wrong…

I want to describe Supergrid in terms of other films, but that really isn’t fair. It’s also really damn lazy, since while the film kind of looks like other films here and there, the film as a whole, is wonderfully its own thing. Director Lowell Dean and his crew has done what the best filmmakers have done and taken the best pieces from the films and stories that influenced them and made something that is uniquely their own.

While the film commits the sin of trying to explain way too much of the world early on, once we get out of the city the film just goes. We’re in motion and things don’t have to be explained just witnessed and we are better for it. Deeds replace the words and we are drawn to the edge of our seats as a result. Deals are attempted, road blocks run, our heroes are hunted and helped and plans go sideways as bullets fly. It’s all beautifully done in such a way as to maximize suspense and popcorn munching.

That’s the film works as well as it does is due in large part to the cast. Everyone from top to bottom is clearly invested in their roles. No one is phoning it in and as a result everything carries weight. That may not sound like much, but way too often in genre films actors seem to take it less seriously with the result we stop caring because they have. How good is everyone? As the film was winding down I was thinking that I would like to see another film with the same cast.

I’m torn about whether to really talk about the film and give details or not. I want to tell you about some of favorite bits but at the same time I’d rather just let you experience it.

Actually just see it with a huge bowl of popcorn and beverage of choice and enjoy.

This is a great little action film. I like it so much that it's on one of my end of year lists.

Go see it.

Opening in Canada - December 14 in theaters including
Toronto - Carlton Cinemat
Calgary – Globe Cinema
Ottawa – Mayfair Theatre

It gets a VOD release in Canada and the US on December 18

Isabelle (2018) Blood in the Snow Film Festival (2018)

Larissa and Matt Kane's lives are spun out of control when an evil spirit tries to take over the life of Larissa by swapping existences with her.

Okay horror film has great visual style and moments of real chills but the film suffers  over all from a sense of having been here before.  This is yet another film about a young mother who seems crazy but is hunted by a dark force film that only really shines in some of the creepy moments such as Larissa seeing her dead baby come to life, the evil spirits in the window and similar bits. Its not that the rest of the film is bad, more that the inventiveness shown in the horror moments wasn't really used in the linking material.

I don't hate the film, but I find the pieces are better than the whole because the linking material allows us to chart where this is going way ahead of the characters on screen.

Worth a look, but nothing really special.

Fugue (2018) Bood in The Snow Film Festival 2018

Despite playing at a horror film festival FUGUE is not a horror film. Its is a thriller... though one that is nigh impossible to describe and discuss without revealing too much.

The basic plot has Malcolm waking up not knowing who he is. His wife tells him he has had an episode that has wiped his memory. As she begins to tell him about who he a friend drops by and he too begins to fill in details of his life... and then things take a turn...

I don't want to reveal too much. You'll be able to figure bits of the most basic plot from there but its what happens in the details that I'm trying to protect since whether you like or loath the film will depend on how you react to those details.

I will say that this is not a horror film. The only monsters are the human kind. If you go in knowing that what you are getting is more natural than supernatural you'll be fine.

As for me, I like the film. Is it great? No, but it is entertaining and suspenseful which counts for a great deal. That the film works as well as it does is due to the well written script and the performance of Jack Foley as Malcolm. He holds the film together when some of the performances drift in and out.

Is it high art? No but you won't mind taking the time to give the film a go.

The Hoard (2018) Blood in the Snow Film Festival 2018

Major misfire mockumentary is neither funny nor scary and entirely too long by at least 75 minutes.

Supposedly cut from the tapes the unaired pilot for the show Haunted Hoarders the film relates the trouble that occurs when a bunch or hoarding experts tries to help a man with multiple dwellings pair down his pile of crap. As they proceed they realize that there is an evil presence haunting one of the locations.

Ill conceived on pretty much every level THE HOARD is a mess. Played for laughs it gives us clowns not characters. Since everything is played for laughs there are no chills. Sticking to the TV show model the film never breaks character where it should to become something else. Personally I found so much wrong with the film I had to stop taking notes because I ran out of paper.

To be honest the real problem with the film is that this should have been a 15 minute movie not a 90 minute one. At 15 minutes it could sustained the laugh/chill ratio. It also would not have pushed the internal logic and reality show jokes past the pint of breaking. As a feature its much too long- since the shows its riffing have episodes that are less than half the running time of this film and in my opinion even that is too long.

I really dislike this film, not just because it's a badly done film, but because I am saddened that the creators of PONTYPOOL, possibly one of the best horror films of the last 20 years, and the director of DEADSIGHT which is one of the best films at Blood in the Snow, were involved in this. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Not recommended, this is ending up on my worst of the year list.

Deadsight (2018) Blood in the Snow Film Festival 2018

Low key zombie film is going to delight many and annoy others with it's realistic take on a zombie like outbreak.

The film plays out in a very realistic way. It begins with a man waking up in the back of deserted ambulance. His eyes are wrapped and he can't really see. Complicating matters is the fact he is handcuffed to a stretcher. He eventually gets free and eventually finds his way to a farm house. At the same time a pregnant police police officer heads off to work. She is unable to reach anyone on her radio. After her own set of adventures she too ends up at the house...they meet and have to stick together to survive.

That may not sound like a great deal but it is. The largely realistic turn of events is an unexpected take on the zombie/plague stories that are now almost a dime a dozen. Where normally things would be geared to the next big scare, DEADSIGHT works to how us what a story like this might entail. Journeys are long, compressed by editing. Pacing is deliberately slow  to give us time to feel and ponder what it would be like in real life.

There is also almost no exposition, things just are. Yes we get some clues late in the game via a found medical chart, and a stray conversation, mostly though the talk is practical. Everything just is and we can read what we want into it. I know not knowing will kill some people,but at the same time it keeps it real since the characters  don't really have to explain to each other, they are in the thick of things.

Yes there are your typical oozing creatures, but mostly there are the two people at the center. Liv Collins as the cop and Adam Seybold as the blind man give solid performances. They are not super human, they make mistakes, like firing too many bullets. We like them,even if we don't know a great deal about them. You may not think there is a great deal to their performances, but you have to consider that for the most part what they are doing is silent. Seybold and Collins don't meet for probably 30 minutes and something has to compel us to watch how things play out and the performances are a big part of it.

The film seems to be full of riffs on other zombie films, like the work of George Romero and TV series like the Walking Dead. Not steals or flashy look at me references, but small passing ones that act as echoes and a short hand of sorts that allow us to more fully understand what is going on and not simply be a list of thigs the filmmakers have seen.

I really like DEADSIGHT a great deal. It is a suspenseful, meaty thriller that doesn't throw logic and reason out the window, but keeps it close and uses it to create suspense in ways that most other films in the genre fail to do.

Highly recommended for any one who is tired of your typical zombie film and are happy with a tweaking of conventions at a leisurely pace.

DEADSIGHT plays Tuesday at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival.

Hammer of the Gods (2018) Blood in the Snow Film Festival 2018

A rock group follows it's lead singer into the wilderness in order to drop acid and work on their next album. Meeting up with a group of girls they meet on the shore they head off down river on a spiritual journey that quickly turns black as things go wrong and something appears to be stalking them.

Okay horror film never manages to generate the tension needed to be truly scary. Blame the slack pacing which fails to grab us the way it should. We've been here before and without a tighter grasp on things we never quite feel the urgency. (It also doesn't help that the rockers appear to be as young as the girls they meet, which is not what you really want from a band that supposedly changed music a bunch of years earlier)

While never bad, it never thrilled and when it was done I was ready to move on to the next film immediately.

Blood in the Snow 2018: Shorts with Features

With each of the feature films at Blood In The Snow Film Festival is also screening a short film. In order to for the films not to get completely lost I’m going to review the films in this post.

DEVIL’S DUE (playing With SUPER GRID)
Very short film has the devil talking about the hubris and hypocrisy of mankind. It’s a good short but way too brief to say more than that.

NEPENTHES (Plays with DEADSIGHT)
A young woman agrees to meet an online date at home. This is an okay film that works best as a show of effects rather than as a generator of chills.

FISTFUL OF MOLARS (Plays With THE HOARD)
A young girl becomes fascinated with the tooth fairy and pulling teeth. Amusing little film has a sting in its tail which I’m not too sure about.

FIRE WEED (Plays with LEVEL 16)
A woman fights to survive in a post-apocalyptic frozen world. Just okay film is a little too good looking -and why exactly are there fresh tire tracks in a deserted frozen world?



GOD’S MAD MEN (Plays with ALTERED SKIN)
A detective going door to door in a neighborhood where there is a rash of kidnapping makes an unexpected discovery. Great looking film is worth a look.

TO CATCH A MOUSE (Plays with ALIVE)
Twisted couple play twisted games. To be honest I remember the Japanese inspired images  more than I remember the plot

DEVIL YOU KNOW (plays with HAMMER OF THE GODS)
How do you deal with a loved one’s addiction when that loved one is addicted to murder? A solid little thriller

HOLY TANK (Plays with MONTREAL DEAD END)
Two friends looking for a missing friend wander in to a bar and get sucked into a game where the loser literally loses his head. Okay time killer isn’t anything special.

IDEE FIX (Plays withFUGUE)
Sam goes looking for Lana after being left on the side of the road. This more interesting for its technique rather than what it achieves.

PENNY WHISTLE (plays with ISABELLE)
After following a penny whistle a little girl is followed by a strange creature. One of the best horror shorts I’ve seen in 2018. It is a beautiful balance of horror, technique and commentary. It’s a neat little thriller and worth hunting down.

Alive (2018) Blood in the Snow 2018

A badly injured man and woman wake up with no memory of who they are. they are watched over by a strange caretaker/doctor who seems to both be trying to genuinely heal them and torment them. Will they be able to figure out who they are and escape?

Good but not great horror film is, for a chunk of it's running time a grand puzzle of a film. What exactly is going on? Neither of the protagonists know, even if they get some sort of flash of a past. We are along for the ride and we will have to wait to find out what is going on until they do.

The film is a bloody mess with the pair wrapped in bandages and frequently oozing from their wounds. There are body parts and rooms filled with blood. its the sort of thing that will make those without a strong stomach ill. What makes it all work is that other than some late in the game grotesqueries the film keeps the gore very real making it hard to pretend it's fake.

There is a great deal to love about the film including a very strong sense of suspense and unease.

There is however a serious problem with the film and that is the fact that the film is really wildly over long for what it is. Yes I know it's all well done, but after say about 20 minutes the film kind of stalls and gets into a repetition of events as the mad care taker tries to "help" the pair and they try to break free. There is a sameness to it all until we get to the denouncement... and I was left to ponder if the payoff was worth the 80 minutes that proceeded it. Yea the ride was good but it doesn't need to take as long as it does to get there. (This would have been great short)

Don't get me wrong ALIVE is not a bad film, more it's this could have been done in roughly half the time.

Good not great it's still worth a look.

ALIVE plays Friday at The Blood in the Snow Film Festival in Toronto. It will also play the following week at the New York City Horror Film Festival

Montreal Dead End (2018) Blood in the Snow 2018

As a rule anthology films don't work. More often than not its an up and down affair with some good and some bad segments that result in the feeling you are less than satisfied. Thankfully MONTREAL DEAD END is one of the best anthology films you will see and while the film has good and bad moments it all ties together to make a complete film.

The premise of the film is an old curse comes to pass and the gate to hell is opened if it isn't closed in 24 hours the world will end. As people race to close the gate mischief happens as people are turned into zombie of ax wielding maniacs, bodies are switched and nature runs amok.

That the film works as well as it does is due to two thing, first it has a wicked sense of humor. Playing things for laughs as much as scares the film doesn't take itself seriously with the result that it allows itself to wander all over the city with all sorts of crazy ideas which actually work.

The other thing that makes the film work is that the film ties it all together. Despite being little scary stories about the weird things happening around the city everything is tied together. Bits build on each other, if not in the foreground but the background so it isn't one and done, on to the next it's a building stream that takes us to a conclusion. It something most other anthologies don't do and we are worse for it.

I loved MONTREAL DEAD END. I was sitting in a restaurant with a friend talking about covering the Blood in the Snow Film Fest and I said I had pretty much watched everything they had screeners for except MONTREAL and I was burnt out. I wanted to skip the film. He was shocked and said- "No you have to see it. Its one of the best anthologies you'll see. Actually its one of the most fun horor films you'll see all year."

He was right. MONTREAL DEAD END is a blast. Its a joy to watch and one of the top films at Blood in the Snow Film Fest.

Go see it.

Supergrid opens this year's Blood in the Snow Film Festival

I'm going to run a full review when SUPERGRID hits theaters in December but since the film is opening the Blood in the Snow Film Festival and since it appears tickets are still available, I just wanted to say BUY TICKETS AND GO.

SUPERGRID is a post-apocalyptic action film about two brothers who have to make a run along the highway known as the Supergrid. A lawless stretch of road bandits kill and rob anyone they meet while the pollution created by a giant mining operation is slowly killing everyone.

Its a grand low budget action film with great characters and action. Its the sort of film you curl up with some friends, popcorn and a beverage of choice.

Trust me you want to see this, and with tickets still available for the BITS screening you can get on the bandwagon sooner.

For tickets go here.

Bloody Bits Shorts Showcase Part 2 BLOOD IN THE SNOW FILM FESTIVAL 2018

More really good short films playing at the Blood in the Snow Film Festival.  As I said about the first collection the reviews are short because I don't want to reveal too much

HOT ANGER
Experimental trippy film that is neigh impossible to describe so just see it.


GIRL IN THE BLACK DRESS
Short sweet gem about a woman getting ready to go out and the man watching her.

BINGE
A woman receives an envelope the contents of which lead her on a chase to discover what it mean. Its a hell of a journey that ended with more questions than I would have liked. Its not an ending so much as a stopping place. Don't get me wrong its a great trip that may or may not lead somewhere. That's up to you to decide.

IN DEATH, UNPARTED
A teenage vampire is bothered by the girl who loves and stalks him. Its a cute idea that doesn't quite work because the cast doesn't manage to nail it.

STANDBY
Real world horror has a man trying to smuggle his wife on a plane in a suitcase only to have the luggage disappear. The loss sends the man spiraling to find what happened to his wife. If you accept the premise as possible this is tense little film that doesn't go as expected.

HOUSE AMONG TREES
Checking on a deserted cottage a man finds someone there... Its well done but you'll know kind of where this is going

CHICKEN MAN
Odd ball, in a great way, story of a man saved by a chicken. Trust me this is good stuff.

LAY THEM STRAIGHT
A girl with OCD may actually have supernatural powers. This is a good film that disappoints only in that it isn't long enough really do justice to its story. Feature anyone? Please.

THE WHISTLER
Fairy tale like story of a girl having to find out what happened to the sister she was babysitting.  Solid little fairy tale worth seeing. Another feature worthy tale with incredible visuals.

TIME HEALS NO WOUNDS
The Time Machine Meets the Fly in story about an experiment to send things across time and space going wrong. An entertaining little trifle...that could become a feature....

Bloody Bits Shorts Showcase Part 1 BLOOD IN THE SNOW FILM FESTIVAL 2018

The two collections of shorts at Blood in the Snow are really good. Its rare that you get one shorts collections that are this good never mind two. While I liked some films more than others over all the films are really good, especially when grouped together.

What follows are some short takes on all of the films in the first collection. Because of the nature of the films, they all have turns in  them, the discussions are brief.

#Selfie
Awesome film about a woman alone taking a selfie-I can say no more- really. Just see it

HE LIKES IT ROUGH
Nice little film about how a woman gets revenge on the man who took advantage of her.

FROSTBITE
A cute film about kids learning to prevent frostbite. This is really amusing, but other than the tone this really doesn't belong in a horror film festival.(its much too cute)

SANTA"S HELPER
An elf has to deliver a piece of coal to a kid on the naughty list or face Santa's wreath- the thing is the kid is really bad. Good little film

THAT'S NOT ME
A woman's best friend comes over to visit-only it may not really be her best friend. Creepy chiller succeeds even if you suspect where it maybe going because it simply creates so much mood you can't help be be on edge.

QUIET ROOM BEARS
As a man begins to work on his vacation home before his family arrives, strange stuffed bears begin to show up.... creepy as all hell horror film would make a killer feature film, and possible start of a series because the film ill leave you wanting to know more.

GREATER GOOD
A pregnant woman id visited by two visitors and given a choice... An interesting little film that is more interesting in what is trying to do than what it actually does. There is something about the way it plays out that doesn't quite put it over.

SUBURANIGHT
A mother keeps being interrupted by an annoying neighbor when she is trying to spend quality time with her kid. I've shortened the official synopsis because if you read it you'll know where this is going and that's a shame since not knowing makes this a nifty little poisoned confection.

HUNTING SEASON
While working a night shift at a remote gas station a woman hears of the escape of a dangerous animal...and I really hate this film in that I can't discuss this film other than to say its a neat little tale, but you can't know anything about it or else the magic will be gone. Seriously the trick in watching this the first time through is not to know anything. SO I will not say anything, other than just see it.

SUPINE
This film about a female taxidermist who picks up a hiker  vexes me. I love how it looks, I love how it plays out...I'm not sure that the pay off fits with the journey. Done get me wrong its really good, but I keep feeling it should have been more... still its worth a look.

For tickets go here

Altered Skin (2018) Blood in the Snow 2018

ALTERED SKIN is the outbreak/zombie movie that I’ve been waiting to see for a while but didn't know it. In a genre where we have sensationalistic monstrous killers that move like lightning and take over the world, here we have an illness that is quietly destroying lives and slowly breeding fear.

The film is about Craig Evans an American ex-pat living in Pakistan. His wife is a doctor who contracts the MN-2 virus from a patient who has a sudden violent outburst. The virus slowly takes over the patient causing madness and violent outbursts. There is a medicine that will stave off the effects but it isn’t a cure. The virus can be slowed if the victim is put into a coma which is what happens to Craig's wife. Craig is contacted by the wife of an investigative journalist who was found dead. She asks him to continue her husband’s investigation because as an American he has greater freedom than any Pakistani. He begins following the clues and discovers links to a pharmaceutical company.

Wonderfully low key and slow burn this is almost the exact opposite of your current typical outbreak/zombie film. This is a film about people trying to find out the course of a disease. We have real characters here not types. People talk to each other like real people and not in movie speak. It all feels wonderfully real. The situations are not contrived movie plotting but reasonably realistic ones.

Basically this is a thriller for adults and I loved it.

I suspect that those wanting a balls to the wall flesh ripping story are going to be disappointed. This is not that film. This is a film that is about people not effects or gore. Yes, the effects are chilling, The milky white eyes bloody ooze and distorted features we see on some of the victims is truly terrifying because it’s not over done and not constant. We see it here and there with result it breeds fear because we are not used to it. We notice any decay, or any sign of how long they have been changed and it scares us.

Mostly though this is a tale of people. Specifically it is about Craig and the people he meets. The collection of doctors, police, patients and others feel real. These are people we could meet in real life. Their lives carry weight and we can imagine them going through their paces off screen. That any film manages to give everyone seeming full live is rare, however in a horror film it’s rarer.

ALTERED SKIN is a masterpiece. It is unlike almost any other horror film you will run across. The closest film I could compare it to is the zombie film MAGGIE which is about a family dealing with one of their own turning. (I want to say Steven Soderbergh's CONTAGION but that film has isn’t as low key). It is both chilling and thoughtful.

How good is the film? I got yelled at for not turning off the film at work after lunch when I kept watching because I HAD to see how it came out. Yea. It’s that good. Its one of the best horror films I’ve seen in 2018 and certain to end up on one of my year end lists.

This is a must see when it plays Friday at The Blood in The Snow Film Festival.

Notes about this week, Blood in the Snow and December at Unseen Films

As DOC NYC winds down and Thanksgiving approaches its time to remind you that as we've done every year since we started all this week we’ll be looking at a week of cinematic turkeys. These are films that really aren’t good and just should be avoided. I know that some of you will disapprove of a couple of choices, but differing opinions is what makes a horse race.

There will be a lot of films thrown up so I’m sure you’ll find something to hate.

The cinematic turkeys will be in addition to some new releases and coverage of the Blood in the Snow Film Festival which starts Thursday.
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Also with the end of DOC NYC I want to say that the flow of brand new films is going to slow. As of right now we only have a few new titles to post and one festival left to cover (Blood in The Snow) and then we are pretty much done to the new year...more or less.

Yes I will be dropping a few new release titles here and there, but in the interest of my sanity I’m taking what remains of the year and just watching the films I want to see- which means catch up. I have spent most of the last 11 months watching things sent to me or for festivals and have missed way too many things that I really wanted to see. Or as Nate Hood said to me this past Wednesday "You know Hollywood still makes films."

I know and there are a lot of those films I really want to see. This means lots of catch up reviews (especially in the second half of December) as we tally the films of 2018 for our year end lists and another go round with the Unseen Film Awards.
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And regarding Blood in the Snow I've seen all of the shorts and there is some great stuff there. Go see the collections- reviews will run this Week. But don't wait go buy tickets.

I've only seen one feature as the posts- ALTERED SKIN, but I loved it's low key take on the zombie/plague genre. Its a must see.

A word of warning:while I was hoping to get to everything that has screeners available I may not get to the collection of streaming shows for review. Its not for lack of desire but time. There are a lot of shows which mean a lot of writing (which I found doing all the short films)...and its Thanksgiving week here in the US so family time is priority. It still may happen-they don't screen for a week- but I'm not sure.

Until then just buy tickets and go because it's all good.

Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival has announced the full slate

(TORONTO - November 3, 2018) The Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival (“BITS”), Canada’s largest celebration of Canuck genre film has announced the full slate of Northern horror for BITS 2018, which takes place from November 22 - 27 at the Royal Cinema in Toronto.

Friday, November 23 sees the World Premiere of Altered Skin, the feature film debut from Toronto-based director Adnan Ahmed, best known for his VFX work (The Strain, Vikings).  A deadly pathogen outbreak devastates the city of Karachi, Pakistan. When an investigative reporter turns up dead, expat Craig Evans (Robin Dunne) must discover the mystery behind the virus, for the last chance to save his wife.

Calgary’s Nick Szostakiwskj (Black Mountain Side) returns with his follow-up feature Hammer of the Gods. A falling-from-grace rock band goes deep into the Canadian wilderness on a drug-fuelled spirit journey, where they encounter mysterious forces that could tear the group apart.

Montreal represents with the 18 director anthology film Montreal Dead End. A supernatural mist seeps across the city, unleashing a series of urban paranormal events.

Deadsight starring and co-written by Toronto’s Liv Collins (The Hexecutioners) has its world premiere on Sunday, Nov 25. A man with partial blindness and a young pregnant policewoman must work together to escape from a deadly virus that has spread across Grey County.  Deadsightplays along with the previous announced The Hoard both World Premieres are the long awaited follow-up films from by the Foresight Films team (Septic Man, Monster Brawl, Ejecta) headed by Jesse Thomas Cook.

Torontonian Tomas Street makes his feature directorial debut with Fugue starring Jack Foley (Lifechanger) and Laura Tremblay (The Expanse). An amnesic struggles to put the pieces of his life back together and begins questioning those closest to him in this puzzle of memory and identity.

Award-winning filmmaker Rob Heydon bring the Toronto premiere of Isabelle, starring Amanda Crew (The Haunting in Connecticut, Silicon Valley) and Adam Brody (The OC, Jennifer's Body). A young couple’s dream of starting a family shatters as they descend into the depths of paranoia and must struggle to survive an evil presents that wants nothing more than their very own lives.

Previously announced features include opening film SuperGrid from Saskatchewan director Lowell Dean (WolfCop), the Calgary-shot film Alive from director Rob Grant (Fake Blood), The Hoard from Collingwood’s Foresight Features, and closing night film Level 16 from Winnipeg’s Danishka Esterhazy.

BITS 2018 also features two shorts programs showcasing the very best short filmmakers in Canada, and a newly introduced web series program sponsored by the Independent Production Fund.

Passes and tickets are on sale now at www.bloodinthesnow.ca

BITS 2018 is presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, the Independent Production Fund, and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

About BITS Film Fest

Now in its 7th year, the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival(“BITS”) is a unique and imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror, genre, and underground cinema, that exists to challenge social boundaries, explore artistic taboos, and support and exhibit independent Canadian genre media artists. BITS has been named by Movie Maker Magazine and Horror Hound as one of the 30 Bloody Best Genre Fests in the World.

Blood in the Snows First Wave Features Announced

(TORONTO - October 22, 2018) The Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival (“BITS”) announces the first wave of features screening at the festival, which runs from November 22 - 27, 2018 at the Royal Cinema in Toronto.

BITS 2018 opens with SUPERGRID, from Saskatchewan director Lowell Dean (Wolfcop, Another Wolfcop), a high-octane road movie set in a post-apocalyptic Canadian wasteland.

Rob Grant (Fake Blood) returns for the Ontario Premiere of ALIVE, an unsettling chiller featuring an amnesic pair who wake up in an abandoned sanitarium, and must discover their true identities while outwitting their sadistic caretaker. Shot in Calgary by the team behind Knuckleball.

Collingwood’s Foresight Features returns with the World Premiere of THE HOARD, a horror/comedy mockumentary that chronicles an unlucky film crew attempting to produce the ultimate haunted reality tv show. Co-directed by Jesse Thomas Cook (Hexecutioners, Monster Brawl) and Matt Wiele (Ejecta) and written by Tony Burgess (Pontypool).

Acclaimed Winnipeg director Danishka Esterhazy (H&G, Blackfield) closes the festival with the Toronto premiere of LEVEL 16, an intelligent dystopian thriller where young girls’ friendship may be the only way to survive their fate at a horrifying finishing school.

Passes are on sale now at www.bloodinthesnow.ca
Tickets go on sale November 3, 2018

BITS 2018 is presented in partnership with Telefilm Canada, Ontario Creates, the Independent Production Fund, and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.

About BITS Film Fest

Now in its 7th year, the Blood in the Snow Canadian Film Festival is a unique and imaginative showcase of contemporary Canadian horror, genre, and underground cinema, that exists to challenge social boundaries, explore artistic taboos, and support and exhibit independent Canadian genre media artists.