shadow of the hawk (1976)

"Evil is around us."
Mike (Jan Michael-Vincent) is plagued by visions of a powerful evil spirit, and when his grandfather, a native American Shaman, Old Man Hawk (Chief Dan George) turns up unexpectedly asking to be taken home, Mike is pursuaded to reluctantly journey to their ancestral village. With a reporter (Marilyn Hassett) tagging along, Hawk reveals he is in a spiritual battle with an evil sorceress and Mike is drawn into the ancestral curse.
Atmospheric road movie thriller, that loses its way after a while.

ravenous (2017)

aka Les affamés.
"I don't want to scare you, but if you ask me, there is something up on Route 8."
Bonin (Marc-André Grondin) and Tania (Monia Chokri) dodge zombies, whilst looking for other survivors in upstate Quebec.
Disturbing French-Canadian horror, as much for the lack of explaination.

spider (2002)

"One does get used to it after just a few years."
Spider (Ralph Fiennes), an acute schizophrenic, is attempting to reintegrate himself into society, after twenty years in an institution, but his illness starts to overwhelm him as he revisits his parents dysfunctional marriage, and his grip on reality becomes more precarious.
A quiet film; not one to shout its virtues, but one that slowly unravels its story, much as the main character unravels mentally.

battleground (2012)

aka Skeleton Lake.
"Grown men crying like babies."
Following a bank robbery that goes wrong, the gang flee into a forest. But unfortunately for them a ex Vietnam vet who lives there has taken against them.
Southern Comfort meets Predator, without the money, talent or ambition.

the house that cried murder (1973)

aka No Way Out. The Bride.
"I can handle her..."
Newlywed Barbara (Robin Strasser) finds her husband David (Arthur Roberts) bedding his old flame Eva (Iva Jean Saraceni). Barbara obviously doesn't take kindly to this new arrangement and attacks the couple and flees. As the husband settles down with Eva, little do they know what Barbara has in store for them...
Psychological horror, that lacks much in the way of horror.

satan's sabbath (1972)

aka The Devil Is Among Us. Le diable est parmi nous. The Possession of Virginia. The Sensual Sorceress.
"He left you all he had?"
After her boss commits suicide, Virginia (Danielle Ouimet) inherits his antique shop, and Journalist Paul Drouin (Daniel Pilon) begins to investigate the suicide, which draws him into the murky world of satanic cults.
With plot holes, inconsistencies, the pace of a snail and less action, this promising premise is quickly squandered.

embrace of the vampire (2013)

"...or is he talking about the monster himself? The creature of the night who wishes for a moment, however slight, to be human again."
Orphan Charlotte (Sharon Hinnendael) arrives at university, not knowing that an ancient evil has followed her there, plaguing her dreams. But that is not the worst of it, she could be being stalked by a vampire.
Initial promise, soon turns to frustration, as the story seems to go nowhere slowly!

american mary (2012)

"Thank you Lance."
Medical student, Mary Mason (Katharine Isabelle), is extremely bright but broke. The end to her money worries comes unexpectedly when she finds herself in the world of unlicensed surgery, performing body modification on willing subjects, all too willing to pay for her talents, but this effects her psychologically more than she suspects.
The Soska Sisters produce an interesting horror, playing out a love story to Asian horrors such as Audition.

lonely boy (1962)

"This is a candid look at Paul Anka from both sides of the footlights."
Documentary about 50's teen idol Paul Anka and his continued success as he moves between appearances in front of screaming girls at amusement parks, and the sophisticated cabaret circuit. A reputed influence on Peter Watkins and his movie Privilege.

ginger snaps II unleashed (2004)

"If you keep me here people are gonna die."
Bea (Emily Perkins) is on the run, dosing herself up on Wolfsbane to prevent her transformation, and when she is found unconscious in the street it's presumed she's a drug addict. So Bea's held in a chemical dependency unit, battling to withhold the beast within.
Just about survives the curse of the sequel, this keeps you watching, though provides none of the thrills and thoughts of the original.

fear island (2009)

"Welcome to paradise..."
A young woman (Haylie Duff) is discovered with amnesia wandering alone on an island. Her six companions dead. Dr. Chalice (Anne Marie DeLuise) is tasked with protecting her and unraveling her memories to discover what happened.
Less of a horror and more of a whodunit, so pick the least likely and you'll probably be right.

zombie king and the legion of doom (2003)

aka Zombie Beach Party. Enter... Zombie King!
"One of us."
Professional wrestler Ulysses (Jules Delorme), sees a poster for Tikki (Rob Etcheverria), advertising a wrestling bout featuring zombie graplers, but during the fights some zombies kill a girl. To get to the bottom of the nights events Ulysses decides to track down the zombie king...
Taking the Mexican El Santo films as its template this is cheap, Canadian and full of garage punk listening Luchas. What's not to like? Well a lot really, as its an interesting concept directed in the most mundaine way possible. Still despite itself it managed to hold my attention.

ginger snaps back: the begining (2004)

"Ours was a story of survival, a bond of blood that would not be broken."
1815 near Hudson's Bay North America, and two sisters, Ginger and Brigitte (Katharine Isabelle & Emily Perkins) are lost, trying to find their way back to civilisation. When one steps in a bear trap they are rescued by Hunter (Nathaniel Arcand) a native american, who takes them to them to Fort Bailey. A fort under attack from a most singular group of animals...
The third installment of the series, sees the two sisters prequel their story in an engaging thriller, with some black comedy to lighten the tension, though lacking the uniqueness of the original film.

jesus christ vampire hunter (2001)

"I'm everywhere!"
Daylight prowling vampires are stalking downtown Ottawa. Welcome back Jesus Christ (Phil Caracas), who times his second coming to allow himself some time to kick some vampire ass.
Tries to be all things to all men, with its mix of comedy, martial arts, music, and horror. Unfortunately some promising ideas are poorly executed and it spreads itself too thinly with its scatter gun approach, they even bring El Santo into the fray.

pontypool (2008)

"I quoted the bible. There's ain't no jokes in the bible!"
A talk radio station in a small Canadian town has a breakfast show with Grant (Stephen McHattie) a fractious radio host. His grouchy world is interupted when news of a riot turns nasty comes in. His producer Sydney (Lisa Houle) and engineer Laurel-Ann (Georgina Reilly) try and get on top of the story as it breaks.
A psychological horror in which we are dependent on the radio presenters to be our eyes and ears. A trick that opens up the imagination to run riot, as we are fed snippits of information via news reports, as a deadly virus infects the town. The effectiveness of the horror conveyed by the news reports added to the claustrophobia of the studio, makes for an effective horror. An imaginative twist on the language is a virus theory.

scanners (1981)

"All right. We're gonna do this the scanner way. I'm gonna suck your brain dry!"
An underground network of people called 'scanners' threatens the world as we know it. These are people with psychic powers and the ability to control others, who led by Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside) is determined to achieve world domination. Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is an undiscovered psychic, who is tasked with finding Revok and bringing down his network, by Doctor Paul Ruth (Patrick McGoohan).
A scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.
Cronenberg continues his exploration of body horror, this time concentrating on the brain. More money brings better actors and better special effects. A cult classic.

ilsa: she wolf of the ss (1975)

"Call yourself men? I see no manhood between your legs."
Ilsa (Dyanne Thorne) runs Nazi prison camp, Medical Camp 9, conducting experiments into pain tolerance by day and raping the prisoners by night, as she searches for sexual satisfaction. But none can give it to her (pardon the pun), until she meets American GI Wolfe (Gregory Knoph).
A fine example of exploitation cinema, with torture, mayhem and warped sadistic sexual thrills its only reason for existance. So bad was this film, that the Ilsa character came back for three more attempts at revolting us in different prison scenario's.

the brood (1979)

"Thirty seconds after you're born you have a past and sixty seconds after that you begin to lie to yourself about it."
Nola Carveth (Samantha Eggar) is under the care of unconventional psychologist Dr. Hal Raglan (Oliver Reed). When the daughter returns home from a visit with her mother covered in bruises, the father (Art Hindle) attempts to stop his wife from seeing the girl. Meanwhile, Nola's parents start being attacked by weirdly deformed children...Her husband starts to suspect there may be a connection with the psychologist's methods.
Physical manifestations of rage come to the fore in this continuing exploration of medical horror by Cronenberg. This one supposedly driven in part by a contencious divorce the director was going through at the time.

shivers (1975)

AKA They Came from Within.
"...disease is the love of two alien kinds of creatures for each other. That even dying is an act of eroticism."
There is a murder/suicide in an exclusive apartment block. The dead scientist had been experimenting on parasites for use within organ transplants. Then other residents start to act weirdly, giving in to wild abandon. Could it be that the scientist developed a parasite that preys on humans, increasing their sexual desire and violent tendancies? A parasite that is now loose within the block?
Early Cronenberg that established his dwelling on medical horror. A sort of sexualised version of 'Night of the Living Dead', which is a good thing, if you are wondering. All this and Barbara Steele.

5ive girls (2006)

"The devil is a liar, a trickster, and a thief... but he ain't a Latin major."
St. Marks catholic boarding school takes in five troubled teens, Alex, Mara, the blind Cecilia, Leah and Connie, who are overseen by the strict headmistress Miss Pearce (Amy Ciupak Lalonde) and Father Drake (Ron Perlman). The girls are soon fighting demons and have to uncover the truth about the school...
Run of the mill modern horror, with feisty females kicking demon ass.