Tag: Canadian horror

Really Awful Movies: Ep 233 – Backcountry

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People lost in the woods. Common fodder for horror, right? It’s a terrific conceit, and we as Ontarians have a particular affinity for it as there are thousands upon thousands of kilometers of remote green-space in our gorgeous and at times dangerous, province. Backcountry, like any self-respecting horror film, exploits these very real, visceral fears.

Around these parts, the wilderness itself can kill you. After all, the province of Ontario is nearly 3X the size of Germany. It might be tough for a European to conceptualize. We have SO MUCH space, and most of us are populated along a tiny strip by the US border. It’s easy to wander off the trail and be stuck in a precarious position. As what happens here.

Director Adam MacDonald sets the table beautifully with a believable couple, the male half (Alex), an arrogant outdoors man with confidence to spare and his girlfriend (Jenn) more concerned about being safe in the deep, dark woods.

 

Really Awful Movies: Ep 209 – Zombie Nightmare

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What do you get when you mix ancient Haitian voodoo mystery with uber-cheap tax shelter bargain basement Canadiana? Why, Zombie Nightmare, of course.

Zombie Nightmare is a 1986 Canadian zombie film produced and directed by Jack Bravman. It stars Jon Mikl thor, who had a lengthy career fronting the eminently forgettable power metal band, Thor. The movie also stars a young  Tia Carrere (the babe from Wayne’s World) and of all people, Batman’s Adam West. West portrays a grizzled, stoagie-puffing police captain.

Zombie Nightmare was filmed in the suburbs of Montreal and cost all of $180,000 to make. And it looks it.

Because this was the 80s, and because it is a sorta-horror movie, there has to be a prologue. Prologues are deliciously fun any way you slice it, whether it’s this one, or the kid from Hospital Massacre getting rejected on Valentine’s and then growing up to be a vicious healthcare serial killer (whoops, spoiler. do check out our Hospital Massacre podcast!) Here, young Tony witnesses his father dying at the hands of two street thugs, as the guy is intervening on behalf of a woman who’s being attacked.

Years later, and our boy is Tony all grown up and a baseball playin’ fun-lovin’ guy. Jon Mikl Thor plays our protagonist, and there’s one thing we should mention about Mr J.M.T: he was a body builder of some renown. Hence, Tony is totally RIPPED and looks like he’d tear the cover off a fastball.

Tony, it seems, inherited his father’s Good Samaritan tendencies. While thwarting a robbery, Tony is run over by some street toughs. The victim, a store proprietor garbling one of the worst Italian accents in celluloid history, drives Tony’s limp, lifeless body to mom’s place, and it’s there that she enlists the help of a Haitian voodoo priestess to raise Tony from the dead.

Tony, thus revived, seeks vengeance on everyone who was in the vehicle that bowled him over.

Silly in the extreme, Zombie Nightmare was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Join us, as we discuss the film on the Really Awful Movies Podcast.

Really Awful Movies: Ep 204 – Bells

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It’s time to talk tech on the podcast! Since we already covered, Don’t Answer the Phone! we thought we’d approach another communications movie, Bells, aka, Murder by Phone! Call it a preoccupation, not a hang up (!) of ours. Oooh, that was deliciously bad.

This one is a Canuxploitation not-quite-classic from the 1980s, back when government-funded drek was all the rage. For whatever reason, Bells has Richard Chamberlain and John Houseman, two actual, bona fide actors. Why? Not sure.

Even Oscar-winning actors have to appear in something called Murder by Phone once in a while.

What’s fun about this crappy flick is that it’s set in Toronto. But not just that. It features the TTC, which we called “Take the Car” as kids, but actually stands for the Toronto Transit Commission. There are also scenes of Bay St, our financial district, and other fun locales.

As for the movie…it’s not much…but killer technology is hella fun, and a killer phone made its way into our book, Death by Umbrella! The 100 Weirdest Horror Movie Weapons.

You’ll enjoy (sorta) this movie. There’s a lot to love, and just as much to loathe. Come join us every week as we champion misbegotten horror, sci fi, action, musical and post-apocalyptic wasteland movies.

THANKS!