This movie is rife with the stench of back bacon!

October 24, 2009 3:11 PM

From Abraxas, Guardian of the Universe to Zombie Nightmare, Canuxploitation is your guide to the world of Canadian B-movies. Via the always indispensable (and occasionally NSFW) Mondo Digital.
posted by Horace Rumpole (32 comments total)

Dammit, I miss MonsterVision.

Nice post. Thanks. :)
posted by zarq at 3:23 PM on October 24

I just came here to poke my head into the thread, inquire "Rowsdower?" and wander away.

Seriously, this is nifty.
posted by Countess Elena at 3:24 PM on October 24 [6 favorites]

Cube
posted by Flashman at 3:30 PM on October 24

(spoiler alert!)
posted by Flashman at 3:32 PM on October 24

"Rowsdower?"

I was surprised not to see The Final Sacrifice in the reviews list, but it's there under it's alternate title Quest for the Lost City.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 3:37 PM on October 24

Anyone remember the proto-Evil Dead Canadian horror from the 70s, where the kids out in the snowed-in cabin confront some ancient evil spirit that causes them to kill each other one by one? I only remember a few scenes, one of which involved a woman saving herself from the evil killer by throwing a toaster into his bathtub.

I didn't think so.
posted by clvrmnky at 3:38 PM on October 24

I spent two hours of my life watching this movie that I will never, ever get back.

And now you can, too!

*Spoiler: Every time you think the movie's sort of prescient and going somewhere interesting, it lets you down, hard. Also, there is no nudity and hardly any violence. A guy does get the spike of a combine's corn header through his head, but the unlikeliness of such a precise injury, coupled with the ineptitude of the stunt's execution, sucks all the awesome right out of it. *
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 3:38 PM on October 24 [1 favorite]

clvrmnky I believe that would be Manitou?

(I used to watch a LOT of B-movies.)
posted by ErikaB at 3:49 PM on October 24

"You're right, this is either America in the 80s, or Canada today."
posted by SansPoint at 3:52 PM on October 24

Canadian B-Movies? As opposed to their Eh-Movies?
posted by Freon at 3:53 PM on October 24 [3 favorites]

clvrmnky I believe that would be Manitou?

I don't think so; I've sort of seen The Manitou (it was at 4AM in an all-night movie marathon, and I was half asleep) and it pretty much all takes place in a hospital. I was Googling around a little bit, and the closest thing I could find was Shriek of the Mutilated, and I feel certain clvrmnky would have mentioned the Yeti.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 4:02 PM on October 24

Tommy... possess the "anti-life equation." This all seems quite important, although the film never bothers to go into much detail about these mysterious terms.

...Abraxas prepares to once again guard the universe and uses a "travel warp" to follow Secundus to Earth...

With the help of their last functioning pieces of space gadgetry, "answer boxes"...

... his answer box is obviously the greatest technological innovation in the universe. Not only do both characters use their boxes to receive orders from disembodied voices ... but they can also be used to " sense vibrations," measure energy, kill people by shooting out blue electrical bolts, and heal lamp wounds!

So, Canadian Fourth World starring Jesse Ventura? I can't tell if that would be a good thing or a bad thing.
posted by lekvar at 4:22 PM on October 24 [1 favorite]

from "The Dog Who Stopped the War" Review:

"The comparison between human and animal in The Dog Who Stopped the War is poetic and progressive, eschewing the common ideology that man is superior to the brutish animal and instead forcing us to reconsider our idea of civilization."

is this right? i am dubious...
posted by marienbad at 4:44 PM on October 24

and yet no Terminal City Ricochet. What's up with that?
posted by philip-random at 4:48 PM on October 24

lekvar, I just popped in to make that same observation. The makers of Abraxas were so obviously riffing on Jack Kirby. That makes it strangely awesome.
posted by JHarris at 4:48 PM on October 24

I've always wanted to see this one, it was done in my hometown apparently.
posted by Hoopo at 4:50 PM on October 24

How is "Strange Brew" not on this list‽
posted by hattifattener at 5:27 PM on October 24

How is "Strange Brew" not on this list‽

Because it's neither Canadian, nor a B-movie, nor an empire. Well, maybe it's a B-movie, but it was produced by MGM. The stars just happen to be Canadian.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:37 PM on October 24

Hm. But is it not Canuxploitative? Could a sexploitation movie not be produced by a eunuch?
posted by hattifattener at 5:43 PM on October 24

his answer box is obviously the greatest technological innovation in the universe. Not only do both characters use their boxes to receive orders from disembodied voices ... but they can also be used to " sense vibrations," measure energy, kill people by shooting out blue electrical bolts, and heal lamp wounds!

It sounds like Damian Lee has just as much of an excuse as Nokia does to sue Apple over intellectual property infringement on the iPhone.
posted by kowalski at 5:51 PM on October 24

Horace Rumpole, YES you're right, I had the wrong title. I was thinking of Frostbiter: Wrath of the Wendigo.

(Wendigo, manitou... understandable mistake, right?)
posted by ErikaB at 7:18 PM on October 24

The first R-rated movie I snuck into was the Canadian precursor to American Pie, "Porky's". And I still feel exploited.
posted by Hardcore Poser at 7:20 PM on October 24

Wendigo, manitou... understandable mistake, right?

Not to be confused with Mandingo or Matango.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 7:29 PM on October 24

Jesus, Porky's was Canadian? I had no idea I had cause for shame so long before Celine.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 12:27 AM on October 25

I had no idea I had cause for shame so long before Celine.

Corey Hart, Bryan Adams, David Foster, Monty Hall,
posted by philip-random at 12:37 AM on October 25

Hey, you leave Monty out of this.
posted by Durn Bronzefist at 1:04 AM on October 25 [1 favorite]

Canuxploitation?

Awesome.
posted by flippant at 1:05 AM on October 25

No US gameshow hosts ever made it into the Dungeon Master's Guide.
posted by GuyZero at 11:31 AM on October 25

I had no idea I had cause for shame so long before Celine.

Corey Hart, Bryan Adams, David Foster, Monty Hall,

Now, now. The Canadian government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions.
posted by oats at 3:09 PM on October 25

Bryan Adams was pronounced not Canadian Content by the CRTC back in the summer of '92. uh huh.... back in the summer of '92...
posted by GuyZero at 9:18 AM on October 26

Aww. No 'Tales From Gimli Hospital', or 'How I Came to Eat my Father' (which is both more, and less disturbing than you'd think- Also not about that, what ever you think 'that' is).
posted by LD Feral at 9:35 AM on October 26

Abraxas is where I get high.
posted by MNDZ at 12:16 PM on October 26