Midnight Madness has just announced its explosive lineup of films for the 43rd Toronto International Film Festival. Screening to an audience of die-hard film fans every evening at 11:59pm, this year’s programme features 10 quintessential genre movies that are guaranteed to either terrorize or mesmerize.

“This year’s Midnight Madness slate promises another idiosyncratic confluence of established and emerging genre filmmakers,” said Peter Kuplowsky, Midnight Madness Programmer.

“To complement some of the buzziest provocations on the festival circuit, I have sought to curate an eccentric array of World Premieres that demonstrate the dexterity of genre cinema as a canvas for both sublime satisfaction and stunning subversion. That includes the section’s two much-anticipated sequels, The Predator and Halloween, each of which boldly and brilliantly builds upon its mythic iconography to thrilling and surprising effect.”

Kuplowsky continues to put his fearless stamp on the programme, starting with the opening film: the World Premiere of Shane Black’s The Predator, the director’s reinvention of the iconic film series. The lineup will also feature the highly anticipated World Premiere of Halloween, directed by David Gordon Green and starring Jamie Lee Curtis. The programme closes with the North American Premiere of Diamantino, Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt’s bizarre, genre-bending film that fascinated audiences at Cannes earlier this year.

Midnight Madness will also present the North American Premiere of the electrifying Gaspar Noé’s Climax. The films in this year’s lineup will feature strong performances by actors such as legendary Italian star Monica Bellucci, who plays the queen of a demonic underworld in the World Premiere of Nekrotronic, directed by Kiah Roache-Turner.

Other films include Peter Strickland’s highly anticipated In Fabric, which follows the life of a cursed dress, and the Canadian Premiere of Assassination Nation, directed by Sam Levinson. Additional World Premieres from this year’s selection will include Emma Tammi’s The Wind; The Standoff at Sparrow Creek, directed by Henry Dunham; and Vasan Bala’s The Man Who Feels No Pain, the first Indian film ever selected for the Midnight Madness programme.

The 43rd Toronto International Film Festival runs from September 6 to 16, 2018.

Films screening as part of the Midnight Madness programme include:

Assassination Nation | Sam Levinson | USA
International Premiere

In this Salem-set thriller from Sam Levinson (Another Happy Day), four young women are accused of hacking and publishing their community’s private information, launching a proverbial witch hunt with very real consequences.

Climax | Gaspar Noé | France
North American Premiere

Set in 1996 and inspired by real-life events, the latest from art-house agitator Gaspar Noé (Love, Enter the Void) depicts the malevolent madness that envelops a dance troupe’s post-rehearsal party after a punchbowl of sangria is spiked with LSD.

*Midnight Madness Closing Film*
Diamantino | Gabriel Abrantes, Daniel Schmidt | Portugal/France/Brazil
North American Premiere

When the world’s leading soccer star loses his touch and ends his career in disgrace, he goes on a delirious journey where he confronts neo-fascism, the refugee crisis, and genetic modification, in this bonkers first feature from avant-garde iconoclasts Gabriel Abrantes and Daniel Schmidt.

Halloween | David Gordon Green | USA
World Premiere

Scarred by the events that took place 40 years ago, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her family once again face off with escaped serial killer Michael Myers, in David Gordon Green’s (Stronger) electrifying follow-up to the 1978 classic.

In Fabric | Peter Strickland | UK
World Premiere

This haunting phantasmagoria from Peter Strickland (The Duke of Burgundy) follows the surge of misfortunes afflicting customers who come into contact with a bewitched dress at an eerie department store.

The Man Who Feels No Pain | Vasan Bala | India
World Premiere

In this Bollywood-infused action film from Vasan Bala (Peddlers), a young man quite literally born with the ability to feel no pain strikes out on a quest to vanquish 100 foes.

Nekrotronic | Kiah Roache-Turner | Australia
World Premiere

A group of hunters known as Nekromancers do battle with evil forces that use social media apps to demonically possess the masses, in this riotous supernatural romp from Kiah Roache-Turner (Wyrmwood).

*Midnight Madness Opening Film*
The Predator | Shane Black | USA
World Premiere

n Shane Black’s (Iron Man 3, The Nice Guys) latest installment of the much-loved Predator series, the destructive extraterrestrials wreak havoc on a small town, forcing an ex-soldier (Narcos’ Boyd Holbrook) and a biologist (Olivia Munn) to take action.

The Standoff at Sparrow Creek | Henry Dunham | USA
World Premiere

In this intricate debut thriller from Henry Dunham, a neighbourhood militia is shocked to discover that a recent mass shooting was apparently carried out by one of its own members.

The Wind | Emma Tammi | USA
World Premiere

When a woman moves to the American frontier to settle it with her husband, an evil presence soon makes itself known and infects her with paranoia, in Emma Tammi’s sinister western horror.