[Editor’s Note: Our own Scott Drebit hosted panels last weekend at the sixth annual Calgary Horror Con. At the three-day event, Scott caught up with Shivers Entertainment founder Brenin Barrow to discuss the launch of his new home media distribution label, the 15th anniversary release of Massacre Up North, and shining a light on obscure Canadian horror films.]
Now, I’ve known you a bit over the years, going back to when you were based here in Calgary, running Burning Moon Video. You’ve been in Victoria, BC, for five or six years now, but you always make it back for Calgary Horror-Con.
Brenin Barrow: Oh yeah, I always have my Calgary supporters here, so I love coming back.
I believe I first met you when Burning Moon Video was a brick-and-mortar store just off of 14th Street.
Brenin Barrow: Yeah, that was how it all started with Burning Moon Video, being a rental and sales store for horror and cult [films], but I was too late for the rental market and eventually had to shut it down. However, I still had a lot of supporters, so I kept Burning Moon going through online sales, eBay, and conventions like this.
After running the Burning Moon Video website for a few years, what made you decide to start up Shivers Entertainment, and how does it differ?
Brenin Barrow: Burning Moon was basically just a distribution company; a third party reseller of films I would get from wholesalers. But with Shivers Entertainment, I decided to start an actual film label, so I could release my own films on DVD and Blu-ray—go for the more obscure.
Shivers Entertainment houses all Canadian content, correct?
Brenin Barrow: Yes, Shivers is nothing but Canadian horror and cult, produced in and/or shot in Canada. I thought I would make this my niche; there are so many releasing companies out there, and I’m going for more regional-based [content]. I know there are a lot of great older Canadian titles that haven’t been released yet, so I’m happy to represent the country.
It is a market that the horror community is familiar with at least; so many great titles in the ’70s and ’80s were made in Canada due to the tax incentives offered at the time. But you plan on searching a little more under the bushes, to shine a light on more regional offerings, maybe films people aren’t aware of.
Brenin Barrow: As you said, there a lot of great horror films from here that are recognized worldwide, and I celebrate those of course, but I want to shine a light on the lesser-known, underappreciated ones. There are a lot of undiscovered Canadian films out there.
Which brings us to your first release under the Shivers Entertainment banner, 2001’s Massacre Up North.
Brenin Barrow: Yes! It’s very obscure. It’s only ever been released in Canada, under the Rogers Video label [a now defunct department of the massive Rogers Communications empire]. They would release all these independent Canadian films directly to video, and we picked Massacre Up North, which is an indie slasher, almost a horror comedy at times. They released it on VHS, and it basically fell into obscurity after that. It’s been lost for 15 years, so I’m bringing it back. It deserves to be out there.
And it’s shot on video—so it has a similar feel to, say, Sledgehammer (1983)?
Brenin Barrow: Yeah, exactly! And I think Massacre was the only Canadian-made, shot-on-video slasher. I know the US and Germany were making a bunch of genre and slasher shot-on-video films in the ’80s. And I’m not even sure if the director [Paul Stoichevesk] was intentionally making a throwback to films like Sledgehammer and 555, but it ended up being similar to those old movies.
So with the release of Massacre Up North, do you already have future releases planned, or is it contingent on how this does?
Brenin Barrow: I do have some ideas for future releases; nothing is concrete at the moment. I would like to put some out on VHS [I’ve held Massacre’s clamshell—it’s a beauty] and DVD, and hopefully one day, Blu-ray. Nothing is secured, but I have a lot of plans for the future.
We look forward to seeing much more from Shivers Entertainment, flying that Canadian flag through the independent field. Anyone interested in regional horror, Canadian-style, should check out Massacre Up North, available now through Shivers Entertainment at the website below (plus lots of other cool, hard-to-find Canadiana):
Scott Drebit lives and works in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. He is happily married (back off ladies) with 2 grown kids. He has had a life-long, torrid, love affair with Horror films. He grew up watching Horror on VHS, and still tries to rewind his Blu-rays. Some of his favourite horror films include Phantasm, Alien, Burnt Offerings, Phantasm, Zombie, Halloween, and Black Christmas. Oh, and Phantasm.
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