Eddie: The Sleepwalking Cannibal is a Danish-Canadian co-production shot in the Ottawa area in the winter of 2011. This comedy-horror movie features appealing Danish actor Thure Lindhardt as Lars Olafssen, a world-famous artist with ‘painter’s block’ who takes a teaching job at an obscure art school in a small Canadian town. Struggling to fit into his new surroundings, he soon finds inspiration in Eddie, a mute gentle-giant of a man with an odd somnambulistic habit: stalking the woods at night and devouring small forest animals.
Canadian actor Dylan Smith (Immortals) plays Eddie with subtle menace, effectively portraying the character’s Jekyll and Hyde nature. Georgina Reilly (‘Murdoch Mysteries’) lends appropriate cuteness and intelligence as Lars’s nascent love-interest. Supporting standouts include Paul Braunstein (‘Train 48’) as a smart small-town cop, and Stephen McHattie (Pontypool) as Lars’ art dealer suddenly eager for more commissions.
First-time feature director and co-writer Boris Rodriguez pulls together an entertaining story skewering artistic pretension with low-brow horror. The film makes good use of its small-town setting to build suspense and takes particular advantage of the harsh beauty of the Canadian winter to enhance the film’s themes and visuals.
Eric Hynes of The Village Voice calls the film ‘inspired’ and says that it ‘strikes just the right balance between camp horror and clever satire.’
– Lost Dominion Screening Collective
Oct. 23rd 9:10pm @ The Bytowne Cinema
Part of the Canadian Cult Revue film series at the ByTowne,
Producer Michael Dobbin will attend a Q&A after the screening, along with some members of the cast and crew.
The Man Who Skied Down Everest 7pm, New 35mm print, 1975, 88mins, 2.35 Cinema Scope
The Man Who Skied Down Everest, produced by Ottawa's own Crawley Films, is a monumental movie in more ways than one. Founded by Budge Crawley in the late 1940's, Crawley Films grew into Canada's largest independent film studio, and even rivaled the NFB for cinematic output. It produced everything from Canada's second animated feature film (Return to Oz) in 1962, to industrial films, tv commercials, feature films and documentaries. Based in Ottawa/Gatineau, with a studio in Old Chelsea and a branch office in Toronto, it produced over 5000 films and won numerous awards over its 43 year history, including the Academy Award for Best Feature Length Documentary in 1976 for The Man Who Skied Down Everest (the first Academy Award ever won by a Candian feature film). This film follows Japanese adventurer Yuichiro Miura as he attempts to sky down the tallest mountain in the world. Very popular with both audiences and critics of the time, this is a film that deserves being seen on the big screen.
Life Without Death, 8:45pm, New 35mm print, 2000, 83mins, 1.37
Ottawa director Frank Cole created an epic existential documentary withLife Without Death, a personal tale of survival set in one of the harshest environments imaginable – the elemental and unforgiving landscape of the Sahara Desert. By attempting to become the first person to cross the Sahara on foot, Cole presaged the popular reality-based tv shows likeMan Vs. WildandSurvivor Man, but it's closer toLawrence of Arabia than anything comparable on reality TV. This film has gained a devoted cult following with good reason. Cole's chronicle of his struggle against the desert at the limits of human endurance is mesmerizing in its intensity and stunning in its stark and poetic visual-composition. In it, Frank Cole manages to confront the most basic realities of human existence in a herculean test of fortitude and will. This is a documentary that stays with you long after you have seen it.
For more on the films read John Yemen's preview here.
