Five essential horror picks from TIFF Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes

By The Canadian Press

Few people drag themselves through cinematic hell and back as many times as Toronto film festival Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes.

As the overlord of TIFF’s wild and weird selection of horror, exploitation and martial arts films, he’s got a taste for the best of underground cinema. Over the years he’s watched countless horror films to select the ripest ones for his annual lineup.

His resume made him the perfect contender to help launch AMC’s horror streaming service Shudder, which is now available in Canada.

“Any horror fan knows there’s a lot of crap you have to wade through to get to the good stuff,” says Geddes, ambassador and co-curator of the platform.

Geddes narrowed down his favourite horror flicks to five essential picks ready to watch on Shudder and elsewhere:

“Inside” — A pregnant mother is tormented by a stranger who wants to steal her unborn baby.

Geddes says: “This French film is a razor-sharp jackhammer that’s definitely not for the squeamish. One of the things that’s always interested me is horror films from other countries — seeing how other nationalities scream. Expectant mothers should not watch this film.”

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“Body Melt” — Locals in a small Australian town are being used as guinea pigs for a health supplement drink that’s causing their bodies to rapidly decompose.

Geddes says: “A really goofy, crazy film that not a lot of people know about.”

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“Martyrs” — A woman seeks vengeance against people who held her captive as a child, but winds up going down a completely different path.

Geddes says: “It’s a really interesting film that starts off as one and turns into another. It’s like being on a rollercoaster that’s gone off the tracks and you don’t know where you’re going.”

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“The Descent” — Six women are trapped while on a caving expedition and hunted by a flesh-eating monster.

Geddes says: “This one sits on a lot of phobias, most notably claustrophobia. All the female characters are really well-sketched. We need to see more of that — smart, intelligent characters.”

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“Shock Waves” — A group of Nazi zombies are discovered to be roaming an island.

Geddes says: “It has really lurid cover art — these water-logged SS troops rising out of the ocean. There’s been a magic lost on poster art.”

— Follow @dfriend on Twitter.

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