Cine Excess Cult Film Festival kicks off its tenth year with the UK premiere of TAX SHELTER TERRORS (UK, 2016), a new hour-long documentary in which leading filmmakers and scholars consider the social and historical significance of a generation of Canadian cult films that launched the careers of David Cronenberg and kick started the 1970s slasher film craze. The rising popularity of horror TV shows and issues around genre film distribution also form centrepiece panel discussions In addition to a whole host of daytime seminars and evening screenings. The annual international celebration of cult cinema, takes place in Birmingham from 10th to 12th November.
TAX SHELTER TERRORS investigates the controversial Tax Shelter scheme, which was launched by the Canadian government in 1974 as an incentive to fund and develop a new era of ‘quality’ national cinema. Politicians and cultural commentators were dismayed to discover that the schemes was actually used to create a rush of mad scientists movies, backwoods horror films, home invasion narratives and urban siege dramas, all of which were roundly condemned at the time.
Directed by Xavier Mendik, Professor of Cult Cinema Studies at Birmingham City University, the film received its world premiere at Toronto’s Horrorama Film Festival in October. It’s the sixth documentary on global cult film traditions that Professor Mendik has completed, and the project resulted from collaborations with film crews working across Toronto and Montreal. The documentary is part of a wider international research project that will explore the cultural importance of Cinepix Films, the most prolific creator of Tax Shelter cinema productions.
Other films being screened at Cine Excess include the UK premiere of Agoraphobia director Lou Simon’s latest thriller ALL GIRLS WEEKEND (US, 2016), where a high school reunion weekend goes horribly wrong. It stars Jamie Bernadette (I Spit On Your Grave: Déjà Vu) and Kate Carpenter (TV’s Maid To Order). Mexico comes under focus with Adrián García Bogliano’s SHERZO DIABOLICO (2015), introducing us to a frustrated accountant who turns into a vengeful killer, and Diego Cohen’s HONEYMOON (Luna De Miel, 2016), where an infatuated neighbour invites Isabel to stay forever in his basement.
CINE EXCESS INTERNATIONAL CULT FILM CONFERENCE AND FESTIVAL CELEBRATES TENTH ANNIVERSARY. Birmingham, 10th- 12th November 2016.
