Toronto's genre film invasion

In "Terra," a precocious alien girl (Evan Rachel Wood) clashes with the last of the Earthlings. Pic is directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas and features an ensemble cast headed by Wood, Luke Wilson and Dennis Quaid.

On the Midnight Madness slate, horrormeister Romero returns to his zombie roots with "George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead," a contempo screamer in which film students set out to make a horror movie, only to become its subject. Pic stars Michelle Morgan, Josh Close and Shawn Roberts.

"It's not a sequel or a remake, it's a whole new beginning for the dead," said Romero, who directed and penned the script. "I'm honored to have it premiere at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival."

Domestic sales are being handled by John Sloss' Cinetic Media, with Nicolas Chartier's Voltage Pictures repping for the international territories.

Also programmed in the Midnight Madness program is "Stuck," from Stuart Gordon ("The Re-Animator"), a black comedy about a woman driver (Mena Suvari) who hits a man (Stephen Rea), who in turn becomes lodged in the windshield. It's based on an actual event.

Also on the slate: Hitoshi Matsumoto's "Dainipponjin"; "The Devil's Chair" from Adam Mason; "Flash Point" directed by Wilson Yip; Xavier Gens' "Frontieres"; "A l'interieur" from Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo; and, from Fumihiko Sori, "Vexille."

The eighth Wavelengths program, a curated presentation of artist-made film and video, includes six programs featuring 25 avant-garde offerings from the U.K., Malaysia, Germany, Austria, Canada, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Italy, Thailand and the U.S.

The Toronto fest runs Sept. 6-15.