Five Canadian horror movies to watch this Halloween

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It’s time to take a look at a handful of maple-flavoured treats that might give you a good ol’ fashioned scare at this spooky time of year.

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Black Christmas (1974)

Many horror fans consider this the first of its kind — slasher — and it’s not. That title belongs to Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, but that didn’t stop famed horror director John Carpenter from admitting how much Black Christmas influenced his classic film Halloween.

Black Christmas was Canadian through and through. One of its stars was Margot Kidder — a future Lois Lane — and also included standbys Art Hindle and comic Andrea Martin. While director Bob Clark wasn’t a Canadian, he had a major effect on the industry as he went on to helm Porky’s (1981), and the holiday favourite, A Christmas Story (1983). Finally, it should be noted, besides Keir Dullea, John Saxon, and Olivia Hussey, the entire cast is Canadian.

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Elevator pitch: An intruder hides in a sorority house, makes obscene calls and kills residents one by one

How to watch:Shudder, AMC+

The Dead Zone (1983)

Filmmaker David Cronenberg was the first and only director to bring justice to a Stephen King novel on the big screen (ya, we know both Shawshank and Stand By Me are good movies, but hardly Halloween favourites). The Canadian director shot much of the movie in Canada and besides its stars, much of the behind-the-scenes production crew, including artistic and technical departments, was comprised of prominent Canadian film-industry professionals working in Ontario. Places filmed included: Canada’s Wonderland (north of Toronto), for the roller-coaster sequence and Niagara Falls for the famous tunnel scene. Cronenberg also got excellent performances from Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen and Brooke Adams. William B. Davis has a blink-and-you-miss-it scene and later found fame as The Smoking Man in The X-Files.

Elevator pitch: After a serious accident, a teacher wakes up from a coma with the ability to see into the future.

Dawn of the Dead (2004)

A young Zack Snyder (300, Man of Steel and Zack Snyder’s Justin League among others), was behind the remake of the 2004 remake of George A. Romero’s original 1978 Dawn of the Dead. Despite being set in small-town Wisconsin, the film was shot in Ontario and starred acclaimed Canadian actress Sarah Polley. Other Canadian actors included Kim Poirier, Lindy Booth, and Matt Frewer (a.k.a. Max Headroom).
It’s a typical zombie movie with plenty of blood, guts, screams and chainsaws. The mall scenes were shot in Thornhill, Ont. (an abandoned shopping mall), while neighbourhood scenes were captured in Toronto suburbs and smaller centres such as Caledon, Ont. Polley, who first came to attention as Sarah Stanley in the wholesome CBC series Avonlea, went on to win an Oscar for best adaptive screen play for Women Talking.

Elevator pitch: A small group of survivors take shelter in a shopping mall and look to escape quick-footed zombies.

Pontypool (2008)

Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool was produced as both a film, and as a radio play. Both versions were influenced by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio production of The War of the Worlds.

The 2008 movie, directed by McDonald (Hard Core Logo, 1996, Dance Me Outside, 1994), starred the Canadian husband-and-wife team of Stephen McHattie and Lisa Houle, and was basically set in the basement of an underground radio station during a zombie attack.
The flick appears on many lists as a favourite among Canadian horror fans.

Elevator pitch: A shock jock and his crew are stuck at his basement radio station when a virus, passed through spoken word, is spreading.

The Fly (1986)

While most would consider this an American film, fans say this may be esthetically, creatively, and geographically, Cronenberg’s Canadian masterpiece. The film also featured composer Howard Shore, who wrote the score, while most of the crew and production was based out of Kleinburg Studios.

The film will always be remembered for Jeff Goldblum’s transformation into the pesky fly. The special effects eventually won the duo of Chris Walas, a Chicago native and Stephan Dupuis, who was originally from Montreal, an Oscar for best makeup.

Elevator pitch: A researcher accidentally mixes his DNA with a common housefly and slowly turns into a grotesque monster.

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