13 Scary Canadian Films For Halloween
It's that time of year to break out the scary movies and why not add some Canadian horror films into the mix?! Canada has been producing horror films since the 60s that have both shaped and challenged the horror genre. Here are 13 of REEL CANADA's favourite Canadian horror films to add to your Halloween movie marathons.
GINGER SNAPS
The Fitzgerald sisters Ginger and Brigitte, fascinated by the macabre, have sworn an oath: "Out by sixteen, or dead in the scene, but together forever". Outsiders at school, their only friends being each other, they live in a querulous world of their own. When they set out to take revenge on a girl who sleighted them, Ginger is attacked by a wild animal: The Beast of Bailey Downs. Later that night, as Ginger's wounds miraculously heal, it is clear she is changing. Ginger wants to believe it is nothing more than the onset of puberty; but her sister Brigitte knows better...
PONTYPOOL
A psychological thriller from Bruce McDonald, in which a deadly virus infects a small Ontario town.
TREEVENGE
A comedy horror short film from Hobo With A Shotgun director Jason Eisener and starring Jonathan Torrens. Christmas trees ripped out of their forest plan revenge against people enjoying the holidays.
SCANNERS
From director David Cronenberg is the 1981 cult hit Scanners, about a scientist sends a man with extraordinary psychic powers to hunt others like him.
MY BLOODY VALENTINE
A decades old folk tale surrounding a deranged murderer killing those who celebrate Valentine's Day, turns out to be true to legend when a group defies the killer's order and people start turning up dead.
THE GATE
Three young children accidentally release a horde of nasty, pint-sized demons from a hole in a suburban backyard. What follows is a classic battle between good and evil as the three kids struggle to overcome a nightmarish hell that is literally taking over the Earth.
Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named Fido. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom and Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A zombie comedy directed by Andrew Currie.
CUBE
A science fiction psychological horror film about 7 complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics who are involuntarily placed in an endless kafkaesque maze containing deadly traps.
An eerie and playful supernatural thriller about a tabloid reporter Flavien and his photographer buddy Armand who are dispatched to a rural Quebec village to investigate a series of mysterious disappearances. Almost immediately things begin to go awry, as Armand vanishes on their first night in town.
PIN
A doctor has a lifelike, anatomically-correct medical dummy, with muscles and organs visible through its clear skin, named Pin (after Pinocchio). Via ventriloquism, Pin explains bodily functions in a way kids can relate to. When the over-strict doctor and his wife are killed in a car crash, his son (Leon) transfers his alter-ego into Pin, whom he always believed was alive. He starts using Pin as an excuse to over-protect his sister (Ursula) from admirers and deflect unwanted intrusions, even to the extent of committing murder.
JACK BROOKS, MONSTER SLAYER
As a child Jack Brooks witnessed the brutal murder of his family. Now a young man he struggles with a pestering girlfriend, therapy sessions that resolve nothing, and night classes that barely hold his interest. After unleashing an ancient curse, Jack's Professor undergoes a transformation into something not-quite- human, and Jack is forced to confront some old demons... along with a few new ones.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME
Virginia is proud that she belongs to a clique. The best students at a private school. But before her 18th birthday, a grueling set of murders take place and her friends are the ones who are falling prey. Could it be her? She suffers from blackouts due to a freak accident one year earlier. We soon learn the truth behind her accident and what is going on...
PROM NIGHT
A masked killer stalks four teens responsible for the accidental death of a child six years earlier at their high school's senior prom.