My Favorite Canadian Horror Films
/There are very few things I enjoy more than a good horror movie. I'm often on the hunt for interesting flicks I haven't seen and I assume many of you are doing the same. With Halloween upon us, I thought the timing was right to share my favorite Canadian horror films.
A word of caution, I'm a child of the 80s and I firmly believe that was the golden age of horror. My list reflects that.
I present to you, in no particular order, my favorite Canadian Horror Films
The Brood (1979)
Written and directed by Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg.
Plot Summary
A man's wife is under the care of an eccentric and unconventional psychologist who uses innovative and theatrical techniques to breach the psychological blocks in his patients. When their daughter comes back from a visit with her mother and is covered with bruises and welts, the father attempts to bar his wife from seeing the daughter but faces resistance from the secretive psychologist. Meanwhile, the wife's mother and father are attacked by strangely deformed children, and the man begins to suspect a connection with the psychologist's methods. - IMDB
The Changeling (1980)
Winner of the 1980 Genie award for 'Best Canadian Film'
Plot Summary
It was the perfect family vacation for composer John Russell and his family when a freak automobile accident claims the lives of his wife and daughter. Consumed by grief, John, at the request of friends, rents an old turn of the century house. Mammoth in size, the house seems all the room that John needs to write music and reflect. He does not realize that he is not alone in the house. He shares it with the spirit of a murdered child who has homed in on John's despair and uses him to uncover decades of silence and deceit. With the help of Claire Norman, the one who aided John in procuring the house, they race to find the answers and soon learn that a devious and very powerful man guards them. - IMDB
Dead Ringers (1988)
Written and directed by Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg. Winner of the 1988 Genie award for 'Best Canadian Film'
Plot Summary
The Mantle brothers are identical twins and both gynecologists. Mentally however, one of them is more confident than the other, and always manages to seduce the women he meets. When he's tired of his current partner, she is passed on to the other brother - without her knowing. Everything runs smoothly, until an actress visits their clinic, and the shy brother is the first to fall in love. - IMDB
The Gate (1987)
Plot Summary
Two young boys accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the two kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that literally begins to take over the Earth. - IMDB
Pin (1988)
Starring Terry O'Quinn (John Locke from Lost)
Plot Summary
Isolated by his strange parents, Leon finds solace in an imaginary friend, which happens to be an anatomy doll from his father's doctor office. Unfortunately, the doll begins to take over Leon's life, and his sister's life as well. - IMDB
Shivers (1975)
Written and directed by Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg.
Plot Summary
The residents of a suburban high-rise apartment building are being infected by a strain of parasites that turn them into mindless, sex-crazed fiends out to infect others by the slightest sexual contact. - IMDB
Scanners (1981)
Written and directed by Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg. Scanners lead to several spin off films and a television show.
Plot Summary
A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him. - IMDB
My Bloody Valentine (1981)
Filmed in Sydney Mines, Nova Scotia
Plot Summary
My Bloody Valentine tells the story of the sleepy mining town of Valentine Bluffs. After a series of murders occurred during a Valentine dance 20 years prior to the events of the film the town discontinued their tradition of annual valentine events.
The movie starts with preparation underway for the first Valentine dance in 20 years.
The party begins, and so does the killing...
Videodrome (1983)
Written and directed by Canadian horror legend David Cronenberg.
Plot Summary
Max Renn runs a TV channel, and when looking for new material to show--he discovers "Videodrome." His girlfriend, Nicki Brand, goes to audition for the show, and Max gets drawn into the underlying plot that uses the show as its front for a global conspiracy. - IMDB
Black Christmas (1974)
Black Christmas is generally considered to be one of the earliest slasher films, and heavily influenced Friday the 13th and Halloween.
Plot Summary
Featuring an ill-fated houseful of sorority sisters celebrating the holiday season. Festivities turn fatal when obscene phone calls break the serenity and it becomes clear that a psychopath is stalking the house. - IMDB
Visiting Hours (1982)
Visiting Hours (1982)
Plot Summary
A deranged, misogynistic killer attacks a journalist. When he discovers that she survived the attack, he follows her to the hospital to finish her off. - IMDB
Honorable Mention... The Brym by Seth Smith
Seth Smith is a well known contributor to Canada's art scene. An established musician, his bands 'The Burdocks' and 'Dog Day' are among my favorite to be born in Canada. Seth's recent project 'The Brym' is a very creepy short film that made my skin crawl.
Someone give him money to make a feature length.