Tag: Mockumentary

Hop Along Lovecraft! Why Frogman Returns Is an Epic Cryptid Romp…

Anthony Cousins and John Karsko’s cryptid sequel, Frogman Returns, trades DIY roughness for polish, with a Lovecraft twist and a rival cryptid hunter in Ghostbusters gear. It’s camp, it’s creepy, and it might be the perfect Halloween watch.

Frogman Returns Movie Poster
Screened at Toronto After Dark, Sun, Oct 18th Cineplex Scotiabank Theatre

* Spoiler Alert

Anthony Cousins and John Karsko’s sequel, Frogman Returns, raises the bar for campy parody while delivering a love letter to all things cryptid. What makes this film such a solid sell is how the story captures why we love cryptids more than ghosts. With Halloween approaching, there’s all the more reason to seek this film out!

Although familiarity with the original helps, this sequel works reasonably well as a standalone film. Still, I didn’t think it was fair to review it until I’d tracked down a copy of the original to watch, too, allowing me to make comparisons. Hence the delay to this review. The first film tries to be serious, with very strong The Blair Witch Project influences.

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I Love Paris… Just Not All 118 Minutes of Her

A vampire’s body count doubles as an influencer’s engagement metric in I Love Paris, a mockumentary with a clever hook that wears thin long before the credits.

I Love Paris movie poster
Playing at Toronto After Dark Film Festival
Fri, Oct 16th, 6:30 PM @ Cineplex Scotiabank Theatre (Cinema 1)

Having grown up on the classic vampire movies, and skipping the back half of Twilight for good reason, there’s something to be said for how this member of the undead keeps pace with changing times. But when a film tries to be Gen Z, or wants to reinvent the wheel and call itself I Love Paris, it had better not just be headquarters for Vampire: The Masquerade. Yes, I’ve played that role-playing game, and I even have a character I fondly named Amadeus.

After Dark Shadows, Interview with the Vampire, Dracula, Forever Knight, and the various Nosferatu remakes, I feel well-trained on the classics. But after this movie, I may well have to change expectations. So when this movie, written and directed by Nicky Murphy, showed up wearing its mockumentary conceit proudly, I figured I was in for something special.

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Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie: No, This Film Is Not About Teen Spirit

Time-hopping musicians, a DeLorean-style RV, and a desperate quest for a discontinued drink fuel this proudly Canadian mockumentary. Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie thrives on balancing between nostalgia and improvisation to make it a must-see.

Nirvanna the Band the Show the MovieElevation Pictures

Once a certain word drops in any summary about where the time travel device is housed in
Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie, this film instantly reveals itself as the perfect tribute to an old pop sound. Part The Beatles, part loving nod to a certain Robert Zemeckis classic from decades past, there’s a lot to like.

If you don’t want to know too much, here’s the abridged take: This Canadian mockumentary, directed by Matt Johnson,
delivers plenty of fun-filled moments and wears its cinematic tribute proudly. The script was co-written by Jay McCarrol, and together they play fictionalized versions of themselves as two musicians trying to land a bar gig despite never having recorded anything together. It’s a concept fuelled by nostalgia and awkward, self-aware laughs.

Rather than riffing on The Blues Brothers, what’s presented here is Canadiana through and through. Shot around Toronto, Ontario, the locations are real, the energy is grounded, and the familiarity adds to the charm. It is best not to know more before the spoiler wall, so consider this your courteous pause point.

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Lost in Time: Why Time Travel Is Dangerous When The Companions Prove More Interesting.

When Time Travel Is Dangerous starts slow and leans on nostalgia, the question of when it takes off depends. It omes alive when the hapless inventor and quirky side characters steal the spotlight.

Time Travel is DangerousAvailable to stream in select Geo-Locations

Time Travel Is Dangerous takes far too long to find its rhythm. While the second half finally clicks into gear, the weak opening leaves the film struggling to recover. Even after an attempted second watch, I found writer-director Chris Reading’s film isn’t sure what it wants to be: a comedy of errors about two shop owners, or something else entirely.

The setup borrows from better-known sci-fi sitcoms—whether a V: The Series style premise or a nod to Tom Baker-era Doctor Who—but the early pacing is uneven. The fun begins when the story hints at H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine, creating a curious blend of sci-fi farce and nostalgic homage, though the film never fully settles.

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Deaner ’89. Even Back Then, All That Canadiana Is Explosive and Wants to Rock n’ Roll All Nite!

Vanity project or not, Paul Spence loves being Murdoch, and Deaner ’89 is a look back at his heavy metal roots while being in-character!

Deaner '89 Movie PosterEagle Vision, PSA Productions
and Mongrel Media
VOD Release Date: Dec 6

Deaner ’89 is not part of the Fubar continuity and fans of the latter shouldn’t be disappointed. Maybe that’s how Dean Murdoch (played by Paul Spence, who wrote this film) simply remembers it! After guzzling so many beers and head banging for so long, my theory for keeping this work apart from the rest is because it’s all imagined in this guy’s head while in a coma.

And technically, without that cameo by Terry Cahill (Dave Lawrence) to connect with that world, this film truly exists in its own universe. It also interestingly tackles a much more difficult subject–cultural misappropriation. Despite the theme being only lightly explored, the father’s revelation, humorously played by Will Sasso, makes a significant point. Also, without Stephen McHattie, a beloved icon of Canadian cinema, no such film can be complete!

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When Adam and Stuart are Told Don’t F**k With Ghosts, What Are The Lessons Learned?

It’s best not to believe anything presented in Don’t F**k With Ghosts as serious. It’s as fun as a Laverne and Shirley sitcom, and that’s a complement!

Don't F**k With Ghosts Movie PosterPlaying at select theatres nationwide

Quite often, fans of the paranormal reality television genre rarely get to look at what goes on behind the making of. Although Don’t F**k With Ghosts does not want to bore viewers with all the meetings and paperwork required to get permission to investigate locations, what it does is to show how some places get chosen, and why some media personalities behave a certain way. Here, the focus is on Adam Rodness and Stuart Stone (Donnie Darko), wanting to make a documentary about ghosts.

In the investigations, this pair of wannabe paranormal investigators rely on the occultists, mediums, and celebrity guests (including a cameo by Colt Cabana) to prove whether ghosts are a product of the mind or just made-up to sell tickets. This cameo blurs the fine line between reality and fiction, and when Ghost Magnet with Bridget Marquardt is also included, I couldn’t help but wonder!

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