The worldpremiere of Christopher Smith's UK-German subway thriller Creep is one of the highlights of 10 titlesset to screen in the 17th Midnight Madness programme at the TorontoInternational Film Festival.

Franka Potentestars as a drowsy commuter who takes the last train of the night into aterrifying maze of catacombs where she discovers she is not alone.

Other worldpremieres include the American Civil War-set horror tale Dead Birds, Alex Turner's US debut aboutdeserters-turned bank robbers who flee to an eerie Alabama plantation. HenryThomas and Patrick Fugit star.

Three picturesreceive their North American debuts: Fabrice du Welz's directorial debut, theBelgium-France-Luxembourg co-production The Ordeal (Calvaire) about a sadistic swamp; Thai directorYuthlert Sippapak's Rahtree: Flower Of The Night, about the avenging ghost of a woman whodies during an abortion; and prolific Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Miike's Zebraman, a superhero spoof about adown-on-his-luck salariman who assumes the persona of a childhood TV hero.

Other picturesinclude Canadian premieres of Brad Anderson's psychological thriller TheMachinist starringChristian Bale, and Bruce La Bruce's German production and agit-porn essay TheRaspberry Reich, whichboth played in Sundance; Mamoru Oshii's Japanese animated sequel Ghost InThe Shell 2: Innocence;James Wan's US serial killer extravaganza Saw; and Nimrod Antal's Hungarian subwaythriller Kontroll.