A Cool Sound from Hell

An Upper Canadian cousin of Larry Kent's Vancouver-set The Bitter Ash, A Cool Sound from Hell stars Anthony Ray (the son of director Nicholas Ray and star of John Cassavetes' legendary Shadows) as Charlie, a bored young man who's thoroughly uninterested in the middle-class destiny that awaits him. A chance meeting with jazz-obsessed femme fatale Steve (Carolyn Dannibale) plunges Charlie into the exciting underworld of music clubs and hip urban nightlife. But Steve and her cronies are addicted to a lot more than jazz, and, soon enough, Charlie is scoring drugs at Union Station and being chased by the cops through the city streets. (Toronto International Film Festival)