Tag: Canada

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter 25th Anniversary Review, A Holy Cult Classic Returns

Twenty-five years later, Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter returns with a restored 2K scan and renewed midnight movie energy. This Canadian cult classic remains as delightfully absurd as ever.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter Poster
Special Screening, June 11, 2026 at Mayfair Theatre (1074 Bank St) in Ottawa.

Jesus Christ Vampire Hunter is celebrating a milestone. After twenty-five years of being very, very quiet, Lee Demarbre’s cult classic is being honoured with a fresh revival. Library and Archives Canada provided a new 2K scan of the original 16mm negative for restoration, and a new DCP has been created to bring out the colours. It’s ready to sing! During the first week of June, the film had a party with Demarbre and superstar Phil Caracas attending special screenings. And this movie will keep preaching cross-country in the coming weeks, if not months, so the herald can be heard. This is the type of midnight madness cinema even Rocky Horror fans should attend!

This very beloved work was made on a shoestring budget, and it has enough romp to make a B-movie director blush. Its hilarity often feels right at home with a Troma production. But there’s more! There’s music, grindhouse attitude, and kaiju involved. Okay, not kaiju, but had it included some, I’d be beside myself. I was more impressed with the sentai influence. It’s not full-on Power Rangers style, but that flavour is clearly there. We even get some 70s-style Bruce Lee foolery when it matters.

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Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes Bonus Cut! And Captain Cannabis (Part Two)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes continues with Verne Andru tackling long-standing fan debates, from production myths to lost material, while outlining how his documentary aims to preserve a fragile piece of Canadian animation history.

Verne Andru and Captain Cannabis
Part one of our interview can be read here.

Support Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, and get some wild extras!

In part two of our interview with Verne Andru, we look at questions fans hope the documentary will answer. Long-time fans have burning questions, and given that most of the original material was lost to a fire that Verne confirmed, what remains needs to be more than a nostalgia hit. It is a chance to look back at how technologies merged to create the cult work that Rock and Rule became, right as Hollywood was running its own experiments with transitional optical effects in films like Tron and The Last Starfighter.

What is the biggest myth about Rock & Rule that you want to address?

The studio said that the launch failed because of MGM/UA not backing it. While there may be some truth to that, it misses the point that they delivered an unfinished film years late and millions over budget. It was Nelvana’s fault, nobody else.

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Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, The KickStarter. An Interview with Verne Andrusiek (Part One)

Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes dives into the legacy of the cult Canadian animated film through Verne Andrusiek’s firsthand insights, exploring its production struggles, analog artistry, and why a true restoration may never happen.

Fan Expo Vancouver Rock and RuleView the Kickstarter here

Verne Andrusiek is just one of the amazing talents who helped breathe visual life into a seminal Canadian animated classic, Rock and Rule. For the later part of his entertainment career, he went by the shorter version of his last name, and not everyone made the connection. With this Nelvana Entertainment film recognized as a cult work in the Canadiana hall of fame, anyone asking for a release will be in for a disappointment. A remaster is not likely to happen. What Verne preserved at home, though, will become part of the backbone of Rock and Rule Behind the Scenes, a video documentary that includes interviews with the directors and writers of this project. He announced this project to folks visiting his booth during Fan Expo Vancouver 2026!

With a crowdfunding campaign launching April 6, 2026, he also hopes to put some long-running fan debates to rest. He put it this way: “I became a bit of a jack-of-all-trades over my career going from music to electronics, art, film and computers in large part due to times, the 1950s through to 1980 were a period of dramatic change when not much of anything we take for granted today existed. Basically, if you wanted something you had to figure out how to do it yourself because there were no off-the-shelf solutions.”

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Wanda John-Kehewin’s Powerful Visions From The Fire Looks Toward Healing

In Visions From The Fire, Damon Quinn’s search for identity deepens through dreams, spirits, and painful truths. Wanda John-Kehewin and Nicole Marie Burton shape a thoughtful second chapter that blends coming-of-age drama with Indigenous spirituality and quiet emotional power.

Visions From The Fire Graphic Novel Cover_544x838
Volume Two is available on Amazon USA

HighWater Press

Wanda John-Kehewin and Nicole Marie Burton’s graphic novel The Dream series is beginning to take shape. With the release of the second volume, Visions From The Fire, the next stage of Damon Quinn’s journey is becoming clear. What’s presented here is more than a traditional coming-of-age story. To appreciate where it is heading, though, it helps to begin with the first book, Visions of the Crow.

Here, Damon feels like a ne’er-do-well, struggling simply to survive as high school graduation draws near. It is easy to sympathize with him. At school, he is bullied because of his mixed heritage. As a Cree-Métis teen, he is left wrestling with questions of identity and belonging. He does not know who his father is, and he desperately wants answers. At home, his relationship with his mother is strained by her alcoholism, often leaving him to spend as little time there as possible.

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Terror Awaits When Nash The Slash Rises Again!

A stylish and thoughtful documentary, Nash The Slash Rises Again! examines the life, sound, and legacy of one of Canada’s most singular musical innovators, celebrating an artist who turned performance, technology, and mystery into something unforgettable.

Nash the Slash Rises Again! Promotional Tour TrailerOpens at Select Theatres March 13

Nash the Slash is an original. A living Phantom of the Theatre, unafraid to obscure himself, he’s often seen performing wrapped like a mummy, minus the Egyptian motifs, instead donning dark sunglasses and a stiff top hat. When we see him in Nash the Slash Rises Again!, he’s not just a silent film star, but a silver age minx. He exists in a space where noir sensibilities thrive. Nearly everyone knows the name, even if the sound itself feels ephemeral, electronic, and ahead of its time.

What’s presented in Tim Kowalski’s documentary brilliantly honours him like a living memorial. Rameses the Great would be jealous. When this musician doesn’t predate the theatrical shock of early Pink Floyd or Alice Cooper, but feels spiritually adjacent to them, evolving along a parallel creative wavelength. One suspects they’d have relished sharing a stage had the opportunity arisen.

With interests leaning heavily into the horror film genre, shock becomes part of the live experience for those fortunate enough to witness him perform. Not every show has him embodying The Invisible Man, but the theatricality remains central. His life and career are explored in thoughtful detail through Tim Kowalski’s documentary.

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Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski Shine in This Thought-Provoking NFB Showcase

The National Film Board of Canada brings a striking range of animated storytelling to Victoria Film Festival. In part one, I take a closer look at Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski, two shorts that confront human duality, moral consequence, and the fragile space between love and harm.

National Film Board of Canada LOGOThe National Film Board of Canada

is presenting at the Victoria Film Festival, and what they’ve got is a wide range of adventures. From making statements about the society we’re in to a fun-filled twist on what a zombie pandemic can look like, even I have to be amazed. In part one, I’ll be taking a look at Bisou Sauvage and Szczerbowski.

This examination will be broken up into two parts to give the four pieces a decent look at why they must be viewed. And hey, Jay Baruchel is all-Canadian in this piece (you’ll have to read part two for that review), and I have to love the fact he’s broken away from his Hiccup past to show he has versatility with his vocal performances.

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