When the second oil crisis hit North America after the Iranian Revolution and supply was taken down a notch, causing prices at the pump stations to balloon, a few filmmakers exploited the paranoia. Americathon (1979) poked fun at a broken U.S. economy, while the CanCon cult film The Last Chase (1981)…
There may have been an earnest effort to successfully translate Thomas Gifford’s novel “The Glendower Legacy” to the big screen, but perhaps by being a classic CanCon tax shelter production, that earnestness was severely diluted, with the final product being a dismal attempt at wacky comedy and political commentary…
The 3rd annual National Canadian Film Day, and more thoughts on where I’d hoped things would be in terms of accessible CanCon.
As co-writer/ director Alexis Kanner recounted in a live 1984 interview at Britain’s Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) Theatre, Edmund Ward’s original story and script needed a bit of goosing, transforming it from a TV-level hostage drama to something with greater feature film scope, but an assortment of challenges ultimately hindered…
Book signing alert: yours truly (plus other excellent writers) will be signing copies of the new U of T book “The Canadian Horror Film: Terror of the Soul” this Sat. Oct. 24 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox + imminent podcast details.
Now Where Were We? Right. Let’s go back to LAST NIGHT (1998)
Don McKellar’s LAST NIGHT (1998) is the first review after a long pause in activities at KQEK.com
Gothic Steele: An Angel for Satan (1966)
Review of AN ANGEL FOR SATAN / UN ANGELO PER SATANA (1966), Barbara Steele’s last Italian Gothic, on Blu-ray from Severin Films
Spanish Giallo I: When a Cannibal is not a Cannibal, but When a Scream is Indeed a Scream
Severin Films showcases the work of Eloy de la Iglesia via two fine Spanish gialli entries: NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM (1973) + CANNIBAL MAN (1972)
ArtScopeTO 10: Interview with Abstract Painter Donna Wise
For my occasional podcast series ArtScope TO, Abstract Painter Donna Wise discusses her unique techniques, and working during the 2020-2021 pandemic.
Podcast: Jason Pichonsky on Restoring Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + PHOBIA (1980)
Alongside a podcast with CanCon film historian Jason Pichonsky are revised reviews of Julian Roffman’s THE BLOODY BROOD (1959) + John Huston’s PHOBIA (1980), both from KINO Lorber / Unobstructed View.
Podcast: ANNE WITH AN E composers Amin Bhatia & Ari Posner
Podcast interview with ANNE WITH AN E’s composing team Amin Bhatia and Ari Posner.
Assorted characters collide and interact in the lead-up to Earth’s demise at precisely midnight.
BR: Angel for Satan, An / Un angelo per Satana (1966)
Had Barbara Steele remained in Europe – especially Italy – during the early 1970s, she may well have appeared in giallo thrillers…
BR: Cannibal Man / La semana del asesino / Apartment on the 13th Floor, The (1972)
Cannibal Man has a palpable crime-drama feel – the events unfold after daily title cards – and one can sense Hitchcockian sensibilities…
BR: No One Heard the Scream / Nadie oyó gritar (1973)
After the grisly thriller Cannibal Man (1972), Spanish auteur Eloy de la Iglesia opted for a far less graphic thriller which is part giallo…
DVD: Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films, The (2014)
Produced and released around the same time as Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014), the approach by director Hilla Medalia is a more authorized chronicle…
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