Welcome to Episode 172: The David Cronenberg Invitational: AKA the best in Canadian Horror. In truth, this list could have been completely populated with his notable filmography:
- Shivers (1975)
- Rabid (1977)
- The Brood (1979)
- Scanners (1981)
- Videodrome (1983)
- The Dead Zone (1983)
- The Fly (1986)
- Dead Ringers (1988)
- Naked Lunch (1991)
- eXistenZ (1999)
(A 23 Year Horror Break) - Crimes of the Future (2022)
That’s it! Thank you very much for coming.
Actually, no. That wouldn’t be fair to the proud legacy of Canadian-produced horror movies, some of which you may not have known to be from the Great White North. Some of the biggest titles in the genre are Canadian. Black Christmas, Martyrs, Ginger Snaps, and The Changeling all are horror royalty from North of the border. It helps that Vancouver is a huge film-generating engine, where access to mist-shrouded forests is a short drive away. Toronto also makes a convincing substitute for a U.S. metropolis but with a clean streak.
Winnipeg, of all places, also has become a hub of independent horror film productions. Cult of Chucky (2017), Wishmaster 3 and 4 (2001, 2002), The Haunting in Connecticut (2009), Violent Night (2022), Orphan First Kill (2022), and Wintertide (2023) all have come out of this Northern-most outpost of film production. The long nights. The big sky. The loneliness. Canadian horror often takes advantage of the vastness and relative isolation to their advantage. The other somewhat ironic convention of Canadian horror is that the famed pleasantness and politeness of Canadian culture are pushed to the edge within the genre.
To try and capture all that is the best in Canadian Horror was quite the challenge. Many of the films we picked were not received well by critics initially, but have become classics or would-be-classics in the intervening years. Mike also managed to include what many consider to be THE original Canadian Horror movie, and it arrived many years later than I would have imagined.
So, grab a cold Labatt’s, put the poutine in the microwave, bundle up, put on your headphones, and settle in for Episode 172: Canadian Horror!
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