October | Haunted Canada
Spooky Season is officially here for this October’s Where to Watch! Featuring projects about hauntings and horrific creatures from folklore and filmmakers’ imaginations, this collection will surely evoke some thrills and chills!
Content Warning:
Some of the projects included in this collection deal with topics that may be distressing. Viewer discretion is advised – please check ratings and warnings on individual selections before engaging.
Ezra
Directors: Luke Hutchie & Chelsea Clark
After centuries of envying human life whilst living in the shadows, Ezra, a gay vampire, finally grows tired of the loneliness his vampiric roots bring him and flees to the human world, where his romance with a human, Ian, blossoms.
*Also available on Apple TV and Prime Video
Ginger Snaps
Director: John Fawcett
The story of two outcast sisters, Ginger and Brigitte, in the mindless suburban town of Bailey Downs. On the night of Ginger’s first period, she is savagely attacked by a wild creature. Ginger’s wounds miraculously heal but something is not quite right. Now Brigitte must save her sister and save herself.
Humanist Vampire
Seeking Consenting
Suicidal Person
Director: Ariane Louis-Seize
Sasha is a young vampire with a serious problem: she’s too sensitive to kill! When her exasperated parents cut off her blood supply, Sasha’s life is in jeopardy. Luckily, she meets Paul, a lonely teenager with suicidal tendencies who is willing to give his life to save hers. But their friendly agreement soon becomes a nocturnal quest to fulfill Paul’s last wishes before day breaks.
*In-person screenings start on Friday, October 13. This film is playing at select theatres and film festivals across Canada. Please check your local listings for more information.
Pyotr495
Director: Blake Mawson
Set one evening in present-day Moscow, 16-year-old Pyotr is baited by an ultra-nationalist group known for their violent abductions and attacks bolstered by Russia’s LGBT Propaganda Law, but Pyotr has a dangerous secret.
*Also available on Prime Video
The Remnant
Director: Navin Ramaswaran
A team of con artists posing as paranormal investigators steal from the home of an affluent elderly woman, only to find themselves unleashing a dormant malevolent spirit.
Seances
Creators: Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, & Galen Johnson
Co-creator: The National Film Board of Canada
Seances, co-created with the NFB, is an interactive project that pays homage to lost silent films from the early days of cinema. Through an algorithm, viewers will experience a unique generated film that will only exist once before it disappears, never to be reconfigured again.
Skinamarink
Director: Kyle Edward Ball
Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished.
*Also available on Apple TV and Prime Video
The Tall Man
Director: Pascal Laugier
In a slowly dying mining town, children are vanishing without a trace, and the locals say it’s by a mysterious entity known as ‘The Tall Man,” town nurse Julia is skeptical until her son disappears in the night.
*Also available on Apple TV and Google Play
The Void
Directors: Steven Kostanski & Jeremy Gillespie
When Sheriff Deputy Carter discovers a blood-soaked man limping down a deserted road, he rushes him to a local hospital. As cloaked cult-like figures surround the building, the patients and staff inside start to turn ravenously insane. Trying to protect the survivors, Carter leads them into the depths of the hospital where they discover a gateway to immense evil.
*Also available on Apple TV and Prime Video
Wick
Creator: Hellbent Games
Wick is a survival horror game where ghost stories are brought to life. Explore a local legend about the long-lost children in the woods who can still be seen… but only by those who dare to enter alone by candlelight.