Living in Toronto at this time of year it's sometimes easy to forget that we're not the only city in the country and ours is not the only major film festival in Canada, either. No, the Montreal World Film Festival unspools just prior to Toronto and due to take its world premiere there is Cédric Louis and Claude Barras' animated short Land of the Heads.

Fangs will gleam, and the unlucky will scream when Cédric Louis and Claude Barras’ Land of the Heads world premieres in competition at the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival (August 27 – September 7, 2009). With its rich and dense imagery, recalling the expressionism of Tim Burton’s films, Land of the Heads is a witty parody of horror classics.

This macabre yet funny children’s story is about a vampire forced to go out every night to separate children from their heads. (The poor creature follows the orders of his vain and domineering wife, who wants to replace her wrinkled head with one that is young and pretty.) It’s a horrible job since the lady of the house is never satisfied. Land of the Heads was coproduced by the NFB’s Michael Fukushima and Claude Barras of Hélium Films.

We've got the first stills from this one linked below and the just-released trailer is now lurking below the break!