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Breaking Glass Pictures will be releasing the French-Hong Kong film Red Nights on DVD and VOD (Comcast, Vubiquity, iTunes) on October 21, 2014. Red Nights is a thriller and a tale of erotic horror by Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud.

During the reign of the first emperor of China, an ingenious torturer concocted an elixir that paralyzed its victim’s limbs, while increasing the sensitivity of their nerve endings tenfold. Kept in a jade … Continue reading →

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Tiff’s Midnight Madness program turned 25 this year, and for two and half decades, the hardworking programers have gathered some of the strangest, most terrifying, wild, intriguing and downright entertaining films from around the world. From dark comedies to Japanese gore-fests and indie horror gems, the Midnight Madness program hasn’t lost its edge as one the leading showcases of genre cinema. In its 25-year history, Midnight Madness has introduced adventurous late-night moviegoers to such cult faves as Richard Linklater’s Dazed and Confused and Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. But what separates Midnight Madness from, say, Montreal’s three and half week long genre festival Fantasia, is that Tiff selects only ten films to make the cut. In other words, these programmers don’t mess around. Last week I decided that I would post reviews of my personal favourite films that screened in past years. And just like the Tiff programmers,...

#9. Carole Brana - Red Nights Unless you caught this stunning beauty in her first acting gig, toplining Jean-Claude Brisseau's À l'aventure (2008), then Carole Brana is still a relative unknown...in the acting world at least. I suppose she is one of the many models making the transition to acting and her status under the radar status is most likely not going to change anytime soon, but if she manages to tie down several supporting roles that hopefully don't throw her to the lions like her part in Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud's Red Nights. A pretty face she definitely is – and one could say it was hard to stomach the sadism upon her character --pic above isn't even from the film. Euro directors looking for a future muse, a femme fatale or a pretty girl going against the type might want to check her out.

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Sitges 2010:

Exorcisms, Vampires, Zombies, Martial Arts And Liters Of Blood At Sitges 2010

The 43rd Sitges - International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia, that will take place from 7 to 17 October, presents its lineup, with some films still to be confirmed, for the following sections:

Sitges 43 Official FANTÀSTIC Selection - In Competition

The official selection par excellence will be offering a lineup emphasizing a variety of nationalities (Bulgaria, Japan, France, Swede, Uruguay,...), the impact of new South American cinema, the rebirth of oriental cinema and the mixture of supernatural horror movies with exorcisms, vampires and mutants and everyday horror with real extreme violence.

13 Assassins (Takashi Miike, Japan)

14 Days With Victor (Román Parrado, Spain)

A Woman, A Gun And A Noodle Shop (Zhang Yimou, China, Hong Kong)

Bedevilled (Jang Cheol-soo, South Korea)

Black Death (Christopher Smith, Germany)

La Casa Muda (Gustavo Hernández, Uruguay)

Confessions (Tetsuya Nakashima,...

If I had the holiday time left, I’d be booking a trip to España right about now. The 43rd annual Sitges kicks off on October 7th and their line up so far is impressive. Damned impressive.

In competition are Gregg Araki’s Kaboom (teaser, stills), Christopher Smith’s Black Death (review), Jalmari Helander’s Rare Exports (trailer), Quentin Dupieux’s Rubber (clip) and Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins among many others. In competition in the Panorama section are another great set of films including Shion Sono’s Cold Fish (trailer), Takeshi Kitano’s Outrage (trailer), Jim Mickle’s Stake Land (trailer) and Srdjan Spasojevic’s A Serbian Film (review).

If those titles aren’t enough, there’s loads more including Rob Stefaniuk’s vampire musical road trip film Suck (review, trailer), James Wan’s Insidious (clip), Adam Green’s Frozen (trailer), Black Lightning (trailer), Super (clip), The Vanishing on 7th...

As Friday night morphed into Saturday morning at the Toronto International Film Festival, buyers and agents -- along with a raucous throng of regular moviegoers -- crowded into the Ryerson Theater for the 11:59 p.m. screening of James Gunn's "Super."

Although through midday Saturday no deal was in place, "Super," starring Rainn Wilson and Ellen Page, was being buzzed about as one of the fest's hot acquisition titles.

Welcome to the world of Midnight Madness, Tiff's witching-hour sidebar. It may not have quite the glamor of the evening red-carpet galas at Roy Thomson Hall, but with Hollywood hungering for genre movies, Midnight has become a hot ticket, the place to sample everything from from horror pics to Asian actioners to black comedies. And that's keeping buyers up past their bedtimes to make sure they don't miss out on the next genre break-out like "Paranormal Activity" or even "The Last Exorcism.

#23. Red Night Director: Julien Carbon & Laurent CourtiaudCast: Frédérique Bel, Carrie Ng, Carole Brana, Stephen WongDistributor: Rights Available. Buzz: Looking like an Irma Vep meets Femme Fatale, this co-directing film debut might looks like the guilty pleasure of the film festival. Hope to watch it with a sold crowd and hungry buyers looking for something that can only compliment their slate.  The Gist: This shocking debut by director duo Carbon and Courtiaud is a seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong, about a woman's obsessive desire to own a rare object that hides a deadly and perverse secret. Tiff Schedule: Wednesday September 15 11:59:00 Pm Ryerson Friday September 17 2:15:00 Pm Scotiabank Theatre 2 Sunday September 19 5:45:00 Pm Scotiabank Theatre 11  ...

Whoa. We have a very weird trailer to debut for you today for a film that will be playing in the Toronto Film Festival 2010 Midnight Madness category, which is where all the dark, weird stuff goes. It's a French-Hong Kong film from filmmaking duo Julien Carbon & Laurent Courtiaud titled Red Nights (in English) starring Carrie Ng (Sex Medusa) and Frédérique Bel (Adèle Blanc-Sec). It's kind of a modern, bondage version of a Cantonese Opera. Here's how this was pitched to me: "If you are interested in lethal Chinese ladies with jade claws and moody French women with Mausers, you can take a look at our teaser." Need to say more? Watch the first trailer for Julien Carbon & Laurent Courtiaud's Red Nights: [flv:http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/rednights-firstfrenchtrailer-full.flv http://media2.firstshowing.net/firstshowing/rednights-firstfrenchtrailer-full.jpg 598 336] This shocking debut by director duo Carbon & Courtiaud is a seductive cat-and-mouse thriller set in Hong Kong, about one woman's obsessive desire to own ...

Rachel Weisz in The Whistleblower The Toronto International Film Festival has added even more films to their line-up today as the complete line-up was announced, which ended up causing the festival's server to crash, but I was lucky enough to get in and get out before missing out on the information.

First off, the festival's Mavericks line-up is quite interesting, which includes a series of guest presentations and this year will see Edward Norton interview Bruce Springsteen, NBA All-Star and native Canadian Steve Nash will present his hour-long film Into the Wind, Apichatpong Weerasethakul will talk with the audience as his Cannes Palm d'Or-winning film Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives was just added to the Masters programme, Ken Loach and Paul Laverty will be interviewed by Michael Moore on politics and cinema and Philip Seymour Hoffman will have his own panel. Also on hand will be Bill Gates,...

At this point, many Twitch readers are undoubtedly familiar with the fact that Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud's Red Nights is premiering at this year's Midnight Madness program at Tiff. What may not be so well known is that Seppuku Paradigm -- the musicians who did the soundtracks for Martyrs and Eden Log -- scored Red Nights.

Seppuku Paradigm provided Twitch with a streaming version of the film's lush noirish theme. Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes describes Red Night as a "pulpy, fetishistic thriller." This music perfectly matches that description.

[Updated with an updated trailer.]

It seems that every year there is at least one film that hits the Tiff Midnight Madness program seemingly out of nowhere. Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud's Franco Hong Kong co-production Red Nights is one of those films. Here's how programmer Colin Geddes describes it:

A pulpy, fetishistic thriller, Red Nights marks the startling directorial debut of Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud, best known as the screenwriting team behind Hong Kong director Johnnie To's thriller Running Out of Time. Red Nights also boasts the long-overdue return of Hong Kong starlet Carrie Ng, famous for her sexy and deadly presence in such films as Naked Killer and Sex and Zen. Here she revels in her role as the jade-clawed Dragon Lady, equal parts seductress and psycho-sexual killer.

A box containing a white jade seal rumoured to have belonged to China's first Emperor falls into the hands of Catherine (Frédérique Bel...

Ok. I may have spoken too soon. There was another film in Tiff’s Midnight Madness line-up that caught my attention: Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud directorial debut Red Nights and though it sounded interesting, I didn't expect it to look quite this good. Described by festival programmer Colin Geddes as a “fetishistic thriller” the film stars Carrie Ng as Carrie, a patron of the arts in search of an elixir which enhances sensations.

The official verbage reads like a twisted fairy tale:

During the reign of the first emperor of China, an ingenious torturer concocted an elixir that paralysed its victim's limbs, while increasing the sensitivity of their nerve endings tenfold. Kept in a jade skull, the elixir could provoke sensations in infinite variations - everything from erotic caresses to appalling lacerations. Haunted by the desire to experience the extreme sensations caused by the elixir, the executioner kills himself with his own poison,...

Joining these selections which I posted about 12 hours ago, this year's Midnight Madness is definitely heavy in U.S genre films which include Brad Anderson's not so well kept secret The Vanishing on 7th Street, James Wan's Insidious and the lesser known Stake Land from Jim Mickle. Here's the selections: Bunraku Guy Moshe, USA World Premiere In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with new. The film also stars Demi Moore. The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman Wuershan, Hong Kong, China/USA World Premiere A group of misfits become mixed up in...

The organizers at the Toronto International Film Festival have put together one hell of an impressive line-up that has grown significantly since my first list announcing the Galas and Special Presentations, a pair of lists that have also grown since then.

The lists have grown to include Massy Tadjedin's Last Night starring Keira Knightley, Sam Worthington, Eva Mendes and Guillaume Canet, which will serve as the closing night film.

It's also grown to include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours starring James Franco. Boyle recently spoke about the film at Movie Con and told the audience there it may be a challenge to watch saying, "It's a lovely way of doing a new kind of filmmaking, really. We want it to be a challenge to you [the audience] to see if you can sit and watch it."

In the film Franco plays real-life mountain climber Aron Ralston who ended up trapped under a...

One of the most badass parts about the Toronto International Film Festival is its Midnight Madness programming line-up of ten genre-themed films spread out over ten maniacal nights. The full line-up has been announced, and horror is looking to heat up the Great White North!

The Midnight Madness Package is $157 and available to students and seniors for $100 (prices exclude taxes and fees). Other ticket packages for the Festival are also available for purchase by cash, debit or Visa. Purchase online here, by phone at 416-968-film or 1-877-968-film (Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,) or in person at the Tiff Box Office at 2 Carlton Street, West Mezzanine (Monday to Friday: 10 a.m.-7 p.m. The 35th Toronto International Film Festival runs September 9 to 19, 2010.

For more information follow Midnight Madness on Twitter.

Insidious; James Wan, USA; World Premiere

"When proud parents take possession of an old house,...

What made the cut for the 2010 edition of Midnight Madness at the Toronto International Film Festival? Gotta say I'm particularly pleased to see Jim Mickle's Stake Land in there while I'm sure fans will be all over the return of John Carpenter with The Ward. Here's the complete list:

Bunraku Guy Moshe, USA World Premiere

In a world with no guns, a mysterious drifter (Josh Hartnett), a young samurai and a bartender (Woody Harrelson) plot revenge against a ruthless leader (Ron Perlman) and his army of thugs, headed by nine diverse and deadly assassins. This visually stunning film is filled with uniquely choreographed action sequences of a new style that melds east with west and old school with new. The film also stars Demi Moore.

The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman Wuershan, Hong Kong, China/USA World Premiere

A group of misfits become mixed up in the struggle...

Very good! How good? Well, in addition to the previously announced Fubar 2 as the opening night film and yesterday’s late day announcement which included Bunraku (yey!) and Super, the remainder of this lineup rounds up beautifully with Brad Anderson much anticipated Vanishing on 7th Street (stills), Jim Mickle’s Stake Land (teaser) and the return of John Carpenter with The Ward!

All of the goods after the break.

Fire of Conscience Dante Lam, Hong Kong, China North American Premiere

Dante Lam proves himself to be a talent to look out for in this slam bang action film where robbers and gunrunners battle with cops on the busy urban streets of Hong Kong. Starring Leon Lai, Fire of Conscience is easily one of loudest action films from Hong Kong in recent memory, with an orchestra of exploding grenades and machine gun rounds.

Insidious James Wan, USA World Premiere

When proud...

Toronto -- The Toronto International Film Festival turned up the star wattage Tuesday with bookings for the latest work by Clint Eastwood, Danny Boyle and John Carpenter.

A long-awaited theatrical release date for Miramax's "Last Night" may also be at hand with Toronto giving a plum Roy Thomson Hall slot to the Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes-starring romancer from director Massy Tadjedjin.

Knightley and Sam Worthington play a married couple spending a night apart as the husband takes a business trip with a colleague, played by Mendes, to whom he's attracted. Meanwhile, while he resists temptation, his wife encounters a past lover, played by Guillaume Canet.

Fox Searchlight Pictures' "127 Hours," from director Danny Boyle and starring James Franco, is also Toronto-bound in the Special Presentations sidebar.

Boyle's Oscar-winning "Slumdog Millionaire" began its awards-season success after it picked up the 2008 People's Choice Award in Toronto, voted on by festival audiences,...

The quality isn’t the greatest, but here’s a Chinese trailer for Wu Ershan’s The Butcher, The Chef & The Swordsman, aka Legend of the Kitchen Knife. The martial-arts comedy stars Ando Masanobu, Ben Chang You and Kitty Zhang, and was one of three Midnight Madness films announced on Twitter tonight by programmer Colin Geddes. The other 2 films are Guy Moshe’s Bunkaru (Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson) and James Gunn’s Super (Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler). The remaining Mm lineup (which will likely include James Wan’s Insidious, Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud’s >Red Nights and John Carpenter’s The Ward) will be announced at 11am Tuesday.

Tiff Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes naturally used the twitter and 12 midnight combo to announce a handful of titles that are the make up of this year's section. Among the titles we have Wu Ershan's The Butcher, The Chef and the Swordsman stars Ando Masanobu, BenChang You and Kitty Zhang. After taking a long break from directing, John Carpenter will preem The Ward - the horror pic stars a panicked Amber Heard (check out the production diary below). Next we have Guy Moshe's Bunraku - with Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, Demi Moore and Ron Perlman in an original universe a la "Sin City" and draws from a mixed bag of genres, including puppets, origami, comic books, video games and German expressionism. Finally we have a Ted Hope produced high profile indie action comedy Super - the James Gunn film stars Rainn Wilson, Liv Tyler, Ellen Page, Kevin Bacon, Nathan Fillion and Linda Cardellini.

Titles in the Midnight Madness and City to City programmes are to be announced Tuesday morning and many cult/horror fanatics are looking forward to this year’s Mm lineup. One of the films we expect to hear tomorrow is Red Nights (Les Nuits Rouges du Bourreau de Jade), a Hong Kong-French production that is being described as a “fetish-mystery thriller”. Directed by Julien Carbon and Laurent Courtiaud (scriptwriters of Johnnie To’s Running Out Of Time), it stars Chinese actress Carrie Ng and Chinese-French speaking actor Stephen Wong Cheung-Hing, playing a female Cantonese Opera singer. Some photos taken on set can be seen below. Here’s the synopsis from their website:

During the reign of the first emperor of China, an ingenious torturer concocted an elixir that paralysed its victim’s limbs, while increasing the sensitivity of their nerve endings tenfold. Kept in a jade skull, the elixir could...

Cheung played by Andy Lau (House of Flying Daggers, Infernal Affairs, Fulltime Killer), is a man whose cancer is in the advanced stages, with a maximum of 4 weeks to live. Cheung however has a few scores left to settle and does not intend to sit around and pass into death quietly. He sets about executing an elaborate plan to see his scores settled. This starts a 78 hour game of cat and mouse between him and hard boiled cop Inspector Ho played by Ching Wan Lau (Colour of the Truth, Full Alert, Return to a Better Tomorrow).

Running Out Of Time was written by French writing team Julien Carbon and Lauraunt Courtiaud and then further adapted into the Chinese screenplay by Nai-Hoi Yau whose writing credits include Ptu and The Bare-Footed Kid. Although French the writers are long time fans of Hong Kong cinema and have created a great plot with...

After a few selective but shrewd co-starring roles, Asia's No. 1 heroine, Michelle Yeoh, has finally found a vehicle in English. "The Touch" is a $20 million action-adventure played out like Ms. Indiana Jones in the Buddhist Temple of Doom. Besides starring, Yeoh co-produced and hired the filmmaking team. Sadly, creative control did not translate into a creative movie. While the picture doesn't completely fail, it does fall short. But in a summer lacking quality popcorn movies, "Touch" stands a good chance to tomb-raid the Asian boxoffice. (Miramax holds North American and European distribution rights.)

Set in China, the ever graceful and appealing Yeoh is Yin, a Cirque de Soleil-style acrobat working with her younger brother, Tong (newcomer Brandon Chang). Englishman Ben Chaplin ("The Truth About Cats & Dogs") plays Eric, an orphan whom Yin's father/trainer has quasi-adopted. How a white kid wound up homeless on the streets of Asia is unclear. Nevertheless, Eric and Yin grew up together, giving each other long glances during puberty. Now, he's a master thief working for a ruthless art collector. Richard Roxburgh ("Moulin Rouge") portrays the murderous villain who will do anything to get his hands on a precious Buddhist relic. In a nutshell, he kidnaps Yeoh's brother as they all race to uncover the sacred prize, which may or may not possess great mystical powers.

Helmed by Oscar-winning cinematographer Peter Pau ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"), the truly exotic locations in Tibet, Qingtao and the Dunhuang desert in China are absolutely breathtaking.

As for Yeoh, one of life's pure pleasures is watching her kick butt. But there probably isn't enough foot-to-ass action to satisfy Yeoh's die-hard fans. In fact, one of the disappointments of "Touch" is the overuse of computer effects -- and rather obvious ones at that. Word is, the American release will be more polished. Right now, the climax in a remote underground cave of fake fires and crumbling CGI pillars holds little suspense or thrills for viewers used to seeing Yeoh dangle off real trains and buildings in her Hong Kong flicks.

Stuck with a formulaic plot with predictably stiff dialogue, it's a shame the cast members don't get to stretch their characters in more interesting directions. Chaplin's Eric, for one, could be full of fascinating shades of gray as a product of East and West, and good and bad.

There also is little chemistry in the Yeoh-Chaplin romance. She is all strength and dependability -- like an Asian Sigourney Weaver, more maternal protector than romantic bombshell. As a result, it's hard to accept the meeker Chaplin catching her eye. In contrast, you can believe Yeoh going to the end of the world to save her younger sibling.

Flawed as it is, "Touch" offers some dazzling Chinese scenery -- as spectacular as those in "Crouching Tiger" -- and snazzy kung-fu action.

THE TOUCH

Miramax

Han Entertainment and Tianjin Film Studio

Credits:

Director/director of photography: Peter Pau

Screenwriters: Laurent Courtiaud, Julien Carbon, J.D. Zeik

From a story by: Thomas Chung, Michelle Yeoh, Peter Pau

Producers: Michelle Yeoh, Thomas Chung, Gao Feng Jun

Executive producers: Michelle Yeoh, Helen Pao Yun Huang, Kazuo Okada

Action choreography: Philip Kwok Chun-fung

Production designer: Thomas Chong

Music: Basil Poledouris

Costume designer: Shirley Chan

Editor: Marshall Harvey

Cast:

Yin Fei: Michelle Yeoh

Eric: Ben Chaplin

Karl: Richard Roxburgh

Tong: Brandon Chang

Bob: Dane Cook

Lily: Margaret Wang

Ping: Ken Tsang

Monk: Long Sihung

Running time -- 103 minutes

No MPAA rating...