Apr 22, 2020

National Canadian Film Day - Thrills, Chills, and Kills HXFF Style!


April 22 is National Canadian Film Day! As a proud Canadian genre film festival based in Hamilton, ON -- and with the continued importance of staying home and social distancing during this COVID-19 pandemic -- the HXFF is proud to present a list of Canadian-made feature films you can stream from the comfort from your own home -- all of which were official selections of our festival in past years. 

So crack a cold one and take off with thrills, chills, and kills from the Great White North....Hexploitation style!




THE HERETICS
2018, DIR. CHAD ARCHIBALD. 88 MIN. CAN

A notorious cult kidnaps a young girl and sacrifices themselves by the light of the locust moon. The next morning the girl awakes, covered in blood and surround by corpses… but safe – or so she thinks. Years later, the locust moon is set to rise again and the girl is captured once more by a surviving member of the cult. She is taken to a remote cabin where she learns that a demon has been growing inside of her all these years, and before dawn breaks, it will rise. Director Chad Archibald and screenwriter Jayme Laforest (BITE) weave a tale of satanic abduction, crazy cults, cabins in the woods, and demonic possession anchored by top notch performances by Ry Barrett (THE DROWNSMAN) and Nina Kiri (THE HANDMAID'S TALE).



BLOOD HUNTERS
2016, DIR. TRICIA LEE. 90 MIN. CAN

A character-driven horror film about a single mother who wakes up in a medical facility to find that everyone is dead and she's nine months pregnant. And to make matters worse, strange blood-hungry creatures are lurking in the darkness. Starring Julian Richings (Man of Steel, The VVITCH, Cube), Lara Gilchrist (Battlestar Galactica), Mark Taylor (Flashpoint), and Torri Higginson (Stargate: Atlantis).



NOVA SEED
2016, DIR. NICK DILIBERTO. 64 MIN. CAN

Beneath the decay of a dying world lives the Mad Doctor Mindskull. Using the planet's power of creation he has created the ultimate Weapon. Can mankind find a way to stop this Evil before time runs out?



SHE WHO MUST BURN 
2015, DIR. LARRY KENT. 90 MIN. CAN

When Angela (Sarah Smyth) refuses to leave her planned-parenthood clinic after it is shut down by the state, a family of fanatical evangelists vow to make her pay.

https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/she-who-must-burn


WOLFCOP
2014, DIR. LOWELL DEAN. 79 MIN. CAN

As a series of strange and violent events begin to occur, an alcoholic policeman realizes that he has been turned into a werewolf as part of a larger plan.


LATE NIGHT DOUBLE FEATURE
2015, DIR. VARIOUS. 89 MIN. CAN

During a late night taping of Dr. Nasty's Cavalcade of Horror, bloody chaos takes place while screening two features (Dinner for Monsters and Slit). Samantha/Nurse Nasty is frustrated with how the show is being run by its womanizing director and its drunk and crazy host, Dr. Nasty.

THE EDITOR
2014, DIR. ADAM BROOKS & MATTHEW KENNEDY. 95 MIN. CAN

Rey Ciso was once the greatest editor the world had ever seen. Since a horrific accident left him with four wooden fingers on his right hand, he's had to resort to cutting pulp films and trash pictures. When the lead actors from the film he's been editing turn up murdered at the studio, Rey is fingered as the number one suspect. The bodies continue to pile up in this absurdist giallo-thriller as Rey struggles to prove his innocence and learn the sinister truth lurking behind the scenes.

https://www.justwatch.com/ca/movie/the-editor


BLOODY KNUCKLES
2014, DIR.  MATT O'MAHONEY. 85 MIN. CAN

Travis is an underground comic book artist with a penchant for the obscene. When one of his comics insults a Chinatown crime boss, the gangster punishes Travis by removing his drawing hand. A daunted Travis retreats into a life of alcoholic misery. That is, until his hand returns from the grave...


SILENT RETREAT
2013, DIR. TRICIA LEE. 95 MIN. CAN

Janey is sent to a silent meditation retreat, in the woods, for rehabilitation, only to realize that the men who run it are brainwashing women, and if she breaks the rules, she'll discover what lurks beyond the trees.