If you attended the screening of Gozu ("Cow's Head"), part of last year's Midnight Madness programme at the Toronto International Film Festival, you would have seen a very (ahem) remarkable resurrection scene at the end.

And as you left the theatre, you might have overheard one stunned woman tell her date: "Now I know what's wrong with me. I'm just not weird enough to think this (stuff) up."

Colin Geddes, programmer for Midnight Madness, nods and chuckles when he hears the anecdote.

Asked by CTV.ca if that's the reaction he wants to provoke, "Yeah. I really want to make them think," he says while sitting on a small couch in his downtown Toronto studio.

But then he went on to stick up for the horror, rockumentaries and raucous cult movies the programme showcases. "There's really a misconception of the Midnight Madness series that it's kind of a ghetto of bad film, which is not the case. There are a lot of incredible ideas and themes going on in genre films."

And given that people who see the films, which start at 11:59 p.m., might have seen four or five films that day, "it's kind of my duty ... to wake them up. You kind of have to deliver a jolt."

Gozu, by prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike, had people screaming with laughter.

Ironically, Geddes was initially iffy about Gozu -- roughly the story of a 20-something virgin Japanese gangster given orders to off his increasingly psychotic boss, and how things go comically wrong.

In his quest for nine to 10 of the world's most gonzo films, Geddes spends a lot of time watching them on video or in tiny screening rooms. "Sometimes I'm all by myself in a movie theatre, and I have to think, 'how is this going to translate for an audience?'," he says.

He first saw Gozu on video and thought it was fun and weird, but kind of slow. However, he was lucky enough to see it in front of an audience at a Korean film festival. "That made me understand this will work."

Miike -- noted for his outrageous black humour and propensity to go far beyond mere bad taste -- could be considered a prototypical Midnight Madness director. Some of his films shown at the festival include Fudoh: The Next Generation (Time Magazine's Richard Corliss said it was one of 1997's best films), City of Lost Souls and Ichi the Killer (described by the New York Times as "the most repulsive movie ever made").

This year, the programme will feature Miike's Zebraman, about a guy who has led something of a failed life and escapes from it by wearing the homemade costume of an obscure Japanese TV superhero. It will be shown on Sept. 16 and 18.

When Miike appeared for the screening of Fudoh in 1997, Geddes says it was the first time he realized there was an audience for his work outside Japan.

"It completely changed his perspective on the audience he was making films for. In interviews, when people ask about the high points of his career, he always cites the September 1997 Toronto International Film Festival."

Unfortunately, the festival also provides almost literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see such films on the big screen. Geddes says such foreign and independent films are tough to market in North America, although some art cinemas will show such fare.

However, four of this year's films -- Saw, Kontroll, Ghost in the Shell 2 and The Machinist -- should see theatrical release, he says.

And even if you never some of these movies, you can see traces of them in films like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series.

"When Tarantino was here for Reservoir Dogs, he and his actors would be at all the Midnight Madness screenings. You could hear their laughter over top of everyone else's," Geddes says. "And most definitely the films we've screened at Midnight are where his source material has come from -- from martial arts films to Asian action films."

Here are the rest of this year's films:

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
This Sept. 9 and 10 offering by Japanese director Mamoru Oshii offering kicks off the programme. It's an animated feature about cyborg police detectives investigating murders caused by female pleasure androids gone berserk. "The visuals are just gorgeous and dazzling when projected, and it's really going to change what people think of and expect from an animated feature," Geddes says.

Creep
The UK's Christopher Smith directs this spookfest about a woman (played by Run Lola Run star Franka Potente) who gets stuck late at night in the bowels of London's subway system. "Beautiful use of abandoned subway tunnels which really bring intense atmosphere to light," Geddes says. It screens Sept. 10 and 11.

The Machinist
U.S. director Brad Anderson (Session 9) made this film in Spain. It screens Sept. 11 and 13. It stars Christian Bale (American Psycho, soon to be the new Batman) as a drill press operator who hasn't slept in a year. "He's starting to see things, and he's not to sure if they're real or if they're not. It's a really striking, beautiful thriller," Geddes says.

Rasberry Reich
Homegrown political satire from Toronto bad boy Bruce LaBruce. It screens Sept. 12 and 17. "It's really wild and crazy sex romp about politics, terrorism and hardcore sex. It's definitely going to push some buttons, both good and bad," Geddes says.

Dead Birds
Geddes is really excited about this world premiere from first-time American director Alex Turner. "It's as if the Wild Bunch were directed by Roman Polanski," he says of this horror movie set during the U.S. Civil War. It screens Sept. 12 and 17.

Calvaire
Belgian director Fabrice du Welz tells the story of a young pop singer who gets marooned in a creepy country inn with a creepy innkeeper and even creepier villagers. "It's going to make audiences uncomfortable," Geddes predicts. It shows Sept. 14 and 16.

Kontroll
Another world premiere. From Hungary's Nimrod Antal, it's about some Hungarian subway ticket inspectors on the trail of a masked killer who pushes his victims in front of oncoming trains. "It's a wild race through these underground tunnels," Geddes says. It screens Sept. 15 and 17.

Rahtree: Flower of the night
This offering from Thailand's Yuthlert Sippapak. It's about a girl who dies in her tenement apartment. Her ghost refuses to leave. "The scheming landlady must bring in various priests and shamans to perform exorcisms to get this ghost out before all her tenants leave in terror," Geddes says. It screens Sept. 17 and 19.

Saw
First-time director James Wan of Australia made this film in the U.S. "Two men wake up in a filthy dirty washroom chained to opposite walls. Between them is a dead body with a revolver in one hand an a tape recorder in the other," Geddes says. They are captives of the Jigsaw Killer, who targets those who don't take the gift of life seriously enough. It screens Sept. 18.