If the general backstory of how a tax incentive leads to the rise of Canada’s horror industry sounds at all interesting, here are 60 minutes that should float your boat. This isn’t a deep dive into specifics, it’s more a friendly old neighbor recalling glory days of their career–only edited together with many others to greatly reduce the rambling that occasionally takes hold. 

In 1974 the Canadian government began a tax shelter scheme to help usher in a new Golden Age of Canadian cinema. What followed was closer to a Blood Red Dawn of horror and sexploitation helped along by producers John Dunning & Andre Link. Film historians, producers, directors, actors, and surviving partner Andre Link cover what the film industry was like before the tax incentive, how people utilized it to their advantage, the impact these movies made, and several notable films produced over the years.

Valerie, Shivers, Rabid, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS, The Brood, Scanners, Prom Night, Black Christmas, and My Bloody Valentine are some of the films covered as well as a couple “newer” ones from twenty years ago. While you don’t need to have seen all these–not by any means–being somewhat familiar with or at least partial to the genre would certainly help in enjoying Tax Shelter Terrors. Otherwise, I imagine that’d be like me watching a documentary about whatever sport from *any* time in human history–I have no interest, don’t pursue it, and would almost definitely change the channel. Oh, and they enjoy talking about David Cronenberg a bunch–he’s like a rock star. 

A handful of shots where you see the interviewer’s reflection in windows/whathaveyou, the camera jostles around a second, or in some way you see the man behind the curtain gives the whole experience a lovingly fanmade, passion project quality. Going further in detail would defeat the point of watching the documentary, I think, as like I said it’s only an hour (plus old movie trailers take up a bit of that runtime). So, if you’ve got a free hour and a minor interest in how Canadian horror from 40 years ago came to be then run, don’t walk, to a remote control near you.

6 out of 10 Canadians on Cronenberg