The Canadian Film Fest (Can Film Fest) continues tonight with some genre films.
Late Night Double Feature
Directors: Navin Ramaswaran, Zach Ramelan, Torin Langen
Cast: Jamie Elizabeth Sampson, Nick Smyth, Jeff Sinasac, Colin Price, Caleigh Le Grand, Sandra Da Costa, Brian Carleton
The set up for Late Night Double Feature is that of a film within a film of sorts. Essentially, the film begins during a late night taping of Dr. Nasty’s Cavalcade of Horror, where bloody chaos takes place in the midst of the screening of two features (Dinner for Monsters and Slit).
Samantha/Nurse Nasty (Jamie Elizabeth Sampson) is frustrated by how the show is being run by its womanizing director (Mike Donis) and its drunk and crazy host Dr. Nasty (Brian Carleton). As the screening goes on, the mood in the studio become more and more chaotic. And Samantha simply starts to lose what bit of patience she has left.
Late Night Double Feature presents us with three short films. Plus Dinner for Monsters and Slit which make up the main portion of the film. In the manner of a 70’s late night horror double bills on television, the screening begins with Dinner for Monsters. Here we meet a couple (Jeff Sinasac and Sandra DaCosta), who are Morticia nor Gome, who hire a chef (Nick Smyth) to cook a special dinner that is to include a “man-roast” as the main dish. The chef , who is in dire need to revamp his restaurant agrees. Through the course of the night, things progress from dark to gruesome. I’ll leave you to figure out what that means. Dinner for Monsters has potential to be a dark yet funny short, but it is not perfect. It becomes somewhat messy in direction, as it progresses to its bloody denoument.
The second film, Slit begins rather strong. The story revolves around Brad (Colin Price), a man who is paid to cut people; people who enjoy the pain of cutting. People who ‘need’ to cut. The story here flows much better. And as viewers, we are unsure if this professional cutter gets off from doing what he does. When he meets a new female client (Caleigh Le Grand), however, he finds himself in a very dangerous situation, in which the tables are turned.
One question I dare ask is, Why are women in horror films often made to be scaredy cats or completely psychotic? The female character in Slit is damaged; that’s understandable. Yet her fall into anger and despair take away from the film, for me. As a whole though, Slit is the better of the two films.
Late Night Double Feature ends back at the studio, where Dr. Nasty loses his sh*t on-air and hurts Samantha. When the show’s director fails to help Samantha, an unlikely hero saves the night. Or does he? You’ll have to watch the film to see how it all unfolds.
Although parts of Late Night Double Feature may be lacking, it makes for a fun late night outing. For those of you who like campy, darkly funny and morose genre films, be sure to check this one out.
If you are a fan of old-school genre films, you will want to drop by the Royal Cinema tonight, 9:30pm, for this screening. And remember support local, indie Canadian films. We have lots of great talent on this side of the border! For a full list of films playing at Can Film Fest, visit canfilmfest.ca.
