Colin Geddes Talks Midnight Madness 2013!

Midnight Madness MC Colin Geddes has been making the press rounds the last few weeks pumping up this year’s stellar line-up.  I've pulled some choice bits from his interviews with Fangoria, MSN Movies, and Society Vernacular. Click on the links below for the full stories.

At Fangoria, Colin talked about some of the titles in this years lineup:

Fangoria: Which film is that big unknown for you this year?

CG: …watch out for ALMOST HUMAN by Joe Begos… It’s a film with that vibe of some of the best 80s intense horror thrillers, which has that action element to it. It’s really fresh and fun. A guy gets abducted by aliens—or we assume aliens since he goes into a blue light. Ten years later his friend who has been accused of the murder finds out that he has come back, however he is not the same and now he likes to use shotguns, chainsaws and axes on people.

Fangoria: What about the film most likely to get under your skin?

CG: OCULUS has got the INSIDIOUS factor... You don’t really know what’s going on and it’s going to definitely permeate nightmares.

Fangoria: What will be the craziest, loudest screening at Midnight Madness this year?

CG: That might be WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL? … It may not sound like a horror film but this has more blood than most of the other films at the festival. …I think we’re going to have a special team of cleaners just to sweep the jaws off the floor. It’s going to start hitting those “WTF” synapses in the brain, which people are going to love.

Over at MSN Movies Colin talked about "...programming, why 'found footage' should get lost, the roar of the crowd, and more ...":

MSN: The question on everyone’s mind: How many films did you start with?

CG: It was ... 180.  One of the things I've done this year was actually keeping a diary of what films I watched every day, so I've got a little note on my phone through which I can scroll through and ... "I watched three films that day, five films that day, when I was in Cannes," and know how many I was watching then.

MSN: What, for you, is the best possible kind of midnight film?

CG: … I like being able to take a director who is unknown, even if maybe he's done a couple films… I love being able to give these films a platform and helping see them get to the next level and engage with an audience.  Maybe engage with an audience outside their own country.

Finally, he talked to Society Vernacular about a wide range of topics covering 25 years of Midnight Madness:

SV: When did you first move to Toronto and how soon after did you discover TIFF and Midnight Madness?

CG: ...1988...the first films I saw at the film festival were Hellraiser II and Brain Damage.

SV: How do you handle the responsibility of delivering programmes every year, knowing you have hundreds of fans eagerly awaiting fresh recommendations?

CG: I feel duty bound to be loyal to the audience. I’ve always picked films that I feel the audience are going to enjoy. Maybe they might not expect or anticipate it but I’m aware that there is a ticket price… that gets worse every year because of inflation. I don’t want to waste the audience’s time. I want to give them something new and fresh. I don’t want to do something that’s kind of a rehash of old ideas. I’m not a fan of the whole ‘it’s so bad it’s good’ train of thought. I like surprising them and entertaining them. I’m always paying attention to the audience and what’s going to be a good night out for them.


ALMOST HUMAN Screening Times:
Tuesday, Sept 10th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Wednesday, Sept 11th, 7:15 PM SCOTIABANK 3
Friday, Sept 13th, 2:30 PM SCOTIABANK 9

OCULUS Screening Times:
Sunday, Sept 8th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Tuesday, Sept 10th, 4:15 PM SCOTIABANK 14
Sunday, Sept 15th, 6:00 PM SCOTIABANK 11

WHY DON’T YOU PLAY IN HELL Screening Times:
Friday, Sept 13th, 11:59 PM RYERSON
Saturday, Sept 14th, 3:45 PM SCOTIABANK 1