It’s Toonie Tuesday at The Horror Blog, and today I’m offering up two fellow Canadians who are keeping the fine tradition of Canuxploitation alive and well into the 21st Century.

Brett Kelly directed one of my favourite horror films of last year, My Dead Girlfriend, recently wrapped Prey for the Beast with screenwriter and Horror Roundtable contributor Jeff O’Brien and is hard at work on a remake of Attack of the Giant Leeches.

When I was a kid I think the piece of art that frightened me the most was the old Michael Redgrave movie “Dead of Night”, there was a scene involving a coachman and a prmonition of death that freaked me out. I still love that movie.

Nothing recently has scared me.

David DeCoteau has been crafting totally hot horror films for more than two decades, including Creepazoids, The Brotherhood, Witchhouse and personal favourite Leeches! and shows no sign of slowing down.

I remember back in December 1978 I was invited to a sneak preview of a little horror movie called HALLOWEEN. The movie scared the crap out of me and my friends. Never heard an audience scream louder since! Amazing evening!

Screenwriter Jeff O’Brien has pointed me in the direction of that most elusive beast, the Canadian backwoods creature feature trailer. I’m looking forward to a good ol’ fashioned foam and rubber monster bloodbath.

Billy! What did you do to one of my favourite movies, Billy?!?

“Thanks” to Cinematical for directing me to this teaser.

“The fans demand nipples!”

Filming has wrapped on canuxploitation creature feature Prey For The Beast and screenwriter Jeff O’Brien was kind enough to send some gory pics my way. It’s nice to see Jody Haucke making an apperance. He was hilarious in My Dead Girlfriend.

I live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the nation’s capital and have done so for over four years now. I fucking hate Ottawa. Situated partway between Montreal and Toronto, Ottawa is passed over time and time again when it comes to really cool stuff, particularly when it comes to the selection at the horrorphobic repertory theatres in town.

That said, there is one area in which Ottawa seems to excel. I wouldn’t swear to it, but Ottawa must have one of the largest amounts of low-budget and no-budget horror filmmaking per capita in all of Canada. There’s Lee Demarbre of Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter fame, Brian Singleton’s Forest of the Dead, and the recent production of Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer starring Robert Englund. And then there’s the prolific Brett Kelly, with his steadily improving output of backwoods masterpieces. His last, My Dead Girlfriend, is one of my favourite films in what is turning out to be a remarkably strong year for horror and will be available late October through Tempe Video.

Last week local alternative rag Ottawa Xpress ran a profile on his next project, Prey For The Beast, a film which screenwriter Jeff O’Brien calls “Deliverance meets Night of the Demon”.

Oh, fuck yeah.

I won’t be posting on Saturday, so i’d like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy Canada Day! And what better way to celebrate than with some good ol’ down and dirty Canuxploiation, eh?

Canuxploitation is by far the greatest place to find out everything you need to know about Canadian B-movies, and is one of my all-time favourite sites. Site creator Paul Corupe’s dedication to these throwaway films makes my heart swell with patriotism. Not only can you find reviews on practically every obscure no-budget Canuck film ever made, but Canuxploitation also has an excellent Downloads section, which includes snippets of dialogue from the aforementioned Rock ‘N Roll Nightmare to songs like the end theme from My Bloody Valentine.

Oh, Canada, We Stand On Guard For Thee!

The long-awaited, much-anticipated DVD release of Rock ‘N Roll Nightmare has finally arrived. This sweet slice of hair metal heaven is a Canuxploitation legend and worthy of the attention of the Gods themselves!

Don’t take my word for it. Synapse Films, the masterminds behind this special edition, have compiled a handy list of reviews for your perusal. But wait! Even more exciting is a link to an interview with Writer/Producer/Actor/God of Metal Jon Mikl Thor, the steely hand behind Rock ‘N Roll Nightmare! This is a man who was immediately placed on my top friends list on The Horror Blog MySpace as much out of awe and fear as respect.

But my hammer’s gotten more developed over the years, as well as the costuming, more leather and studs, and the hammer have gotten bigger and more powerful.

Intercessor Rides…Through The Night!

I attended the premiere of local horror filmmaker Brett Kelly’s latest release, My Dead Girlfriend, just prior to starting this blog. The film was fantastic, with razor sharp timing and rapid fire dialogue that had the entire audience laughing the whole way through. It seems that with every film Kelly becomes more assured as a filmmaker, which bodes well for Prey For The Beast, a little slice of backwoods Canuxploitation he currently has in pre-production. From a talk with screenwriter Jeff O’Brien.

With PREY FOR THE BEAST, producer/director/star Brett Kelly and I are reviving the long-dormant Canadian gorefest. Films such as PROM NIGHT, TERROR TRAIN, HUMONGOUS, BULLIES, etc. defined down-and-dirty, nasty, scary shockers—the kind of films you took Granny to see at the drive-in when you wanted her to get reeeeeally quiet.

My little heart goes pitter patter. If Kelly keeps on this winning streak, Prey For The Beast will be one to watch out for.

There are so many pressing horror announcements coming out these days that I can hardly find the time to sort through them.  And when I do, the ones that I should centre on the most tend to be remakes, something which makes my soul grow colder with each passing day.  Fuck ‘em.  Today I’m going to talk about Canadian alien invasion movie Decoys instead.

I became aware of the first Decoys movie because it was filming in the city I currently reside in, Ottawa.  It had all the promise of a tawdry live-action piece of tentacle porn, but proved to be an unfunny, scattershot horror-comedy with a nasty and out-of-place mean streak.  After it died at the box office, the producers’ claims that there was going to be a sequel seemed unlikely.  Guess again, as Decoys 2 is currently in production further to the West in Edmonton.  Hopefully they’ve got all the kinks worked out this time around.