Tag: downtown theatre

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Canadian horror cinema turns 50

Eric Veillette

If a modern-day horror film were shot in the Royal Ontario Museum, a director might be inclined to set some action in the museum’s bat cave. But the revered exhibit didn’t exist 50 years ago when Julian Roffman directed The Mask, a psychological 3-D horror film which made use of the museum’s iconic totem pole. Premiering at Toronto’s Downtown Theatre on November 10, 1961, it ushered Canadian cinema into the horror genre established by Hollywood in the 1920s. Screened at TIFF Bell Lightbox this week, the film, a drug-use allegory in which an archaeologist blames an ancient mask for terrible … Continue reading Canadian horror cinema turns 50

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Michael Gough, star of British horror films, dies at 94

Eric Veillette

Like many kids of my generation, my introduction to British actor Michael Gough was through his appearance as the butler Alfred in Tim Burton’s Batman, but the man also had a lengthy career starring in schlocky British horror films from the ’50s through the ’70s, many of which appeared on Toronto screens. My intention was to find an ad for Freddie Francis’ fantastic Trog, where Gough plays a scientist alongside Joan Crawford, but then I saw this great ad for Horror of Dracula opening at various 20th Century Theatres like the Downtown and the Midtown on June 24, 1958. In … Continue reading Michael Gough, star of British horror films, dies at 94

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Tales from the Downtown Theatre

Eric Veillette

With the awful blaze that decimated the former Empress Hotel at 335 Yonge St. over the weekend, I’ve been thinking about the evolution of the Yonge and Dundas area — the former Yonge Street Strip. One of the most noticeable changes over the past decades is the disappearance of store-front movie theatres and their sky-jutting, neon-lit pylons. In the above day-and-night photos taken by John Wallington in March of 1972, behold the long-forgotten Downtown Theatre, located on what is now the south end of Dundas Square (Streetview shot here). The Downtown opened in 1948, but is featured here on the … Continue reading Tales from the Downtown Theatre

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Mothra Attacks Toronto!

Eric Veillette

Well, not really. But since Lightbox screened Gojira alongside Mars Attacks last night, I thought I’d dig into the archive and share this June 1, 1962 Toronto Star advertisement for Mothra, the atomic fire-breather’s fellow kaiju. The “most monstrous beast ever created” — which could be referring to Rod Steiger —  played the Downtown Theatre and other screens. Horror and monster fans had plenty to work with that week: the New Toronto Biltmore was showing The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Horror of Dracula, A Bucket of Blood, and depending on your definition of horror, at the Metro, Jerry Lewis in … Continue reading Mothra Attacks Toronto!

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The Downtown Theatre

Eric Veillette

The Downtown Theatre by Hal Kelly “Going to the movies is my hobby. I go to other theatres, but the Downtown is my favorite. I like westerns, especially ones with Audie Murphy, but ANY good action or adventure picture usually gives me my money’s worth.” – Irvine Exley, 55, war pensioner The Downtown Theatre was located one short block south of Dundas at the north east corner of the largely vacant Yonge and Dundas Square right across from the Hard Rock Café. The closest thing to movie theatre in those parts now is that craptacular celluloid-free, all digital AMC 24 … Continue reading The Downtown Theatre