Goodness! This is a week stuffed with festivals (and, surprisingly, interesting general releases), and frankly, it’s time to pick sides.

And when the option is facing off against zombies, psychopaths and ninjas or siding with them, why on earth would you choose anything else?

Yes, tonight is the opening night gala of the inaugural Toronto After Dark Film Festival, the first real genre film fest that Toronto has had in a while (well, outside of the ever reliable Midnight Madness programme at TIFF, but that doesn’t really count.) The festival continues until next Tuesday (the 24th) and opens tonight, 7pm at the Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor W.) with Special, starring Michael Rapaport as a parking attendant and possible superhero, followed by the opening night party at 9pm at the Mod Club (722 College).

Across the weekend and following days however is a smorgasbord of films you almost certainly wouldn’t be able to see in theatres otherwise, including Saturday’s ninja spectacle Shinobi and midnight screening Beach Party at the Threshold of Hell (featuring Arrested Development’s Buster!). Sunday is a packed day, featuring Troma’s Lloyd Kaufman giving a Movie Masterclass, and a Zombie Walk starting at Nathan Phillips Square at 3pm followed by a screening of the German zom-com Night of the Living Dorks.

Monday features a couple of strong Japanese films, both featuring the wonderful Tadanobu Asano; Tokyo Zombie and Funky Forest, and the festival closes on Tuesday with Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon and a closing night party at The Bovine Sex Club (542 Queen W.) where they held their raucous launch party.

Those are the screenings we'll (at least) be hitting, but there are more films to be found on the full schedule.