Many of our most iconic slasher/exploitation films of old are in fact Canadian and were born out of the Canadian Government tax incentives that were available from 1975 to 1982. I'm talking gems like BLACK CHRISTMAS, TERROR TRAIN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, VISITING HOURS, PROM NIGHT, THE BROOD, SCANNERS, SHIVERS, ILSA SHE WOLF OF THE SS and the list goes on! And today, Arrow in the Head is very proud to premiere the engaging and insightful documentary TAX SHELTER TERRORS which explores the topic head on!
The acclaimed film (which premiered at the Toronto's Horror-Rama and screened at the prestigious Sitges Film Festival) was directed by Xavier Mendik and co-directed by Deke Richards (the brain child behind the project) and Francesco Giannini. Click the embed above and get educated as to how some of our beloved exploitation films came to be via candid interviews with William Lustig, George Mihalka, Pierre David, Gregory Dunning, André Link, Dyanne Thorne and many more!
Here's what the three directors behind the picture had to say about their creation.
Xavier Mendik: One of the things that has always fascinated me as a filmmaker, are the ways in which cult film traditions can act as a mirror to wider social and historical tensions. Despite their often marginal and maverick status, the cult film narrative is now widely acknowledged as being an important historical document that can explore social discontents in a far more radical and challenging way than mainstream films could ever dare. From 1950s American science-fiction movies that charted cold war fears, to apocalyptical 1970s horror films that reflected the counter-cultural clash between differing generations, the concept of ‘taking trash seriously’ has motivated all of the documentary films I have created. Ultimately, it was the need to tell the story of Canada’s unexplored history of cult cinema, as well as the social forces that spawned a decade of such iconic movies that drew me to the project Tax Shelter Terrors.
Deke Richards: I wanted to create a documentary that celebrated the accomplishment that was the Canadian cult cinema wave made during the golden years of the tax shelter era! Being that the subject matter had never really been closely examined, I wanted to expose the viewers on how these exploitation films made up North came to be, how they distinguished themsleves from the rest and how they have yet to be matched today! In my opinion of course.
Francesco Giannani: What a pleasure it was too go back to the history of the tax shelter Era and meet such iconic Directors, producers, actors from that period. Its truly a golden age of Canadian cinema and we Canadians should be proud. We had such a huge influence on the rest of the cinema world as well as iconic filmmakers of our time. Its important the viewers and audiences know that Canadians were behind these iconic classic films and not the Americans. The Tax Shelter Era was proof of the quality and talented filmmakers we cultivated and inspired so many.
TAX SHELTER TERRORS was Produced by Cine-Excess (visit their site here), Franky Films (visit their site here and Instagram here) and Deke Richards. You can scroll down to take a gander at the one-sheet (courtesy of SiIver Ferox Design), some behind the scenes stills and the trailer! ENJOY!