Hoser Horror: An Interview with Allan Levine (Emmeritus Productions & More!)

Notes From the Back Row

If you're the kind of person who browses Canuxploitation or Bleeding Skull, you may perk up when you hear the name Emmeritus Production.

The brainchild of Lionel Shenken, this Hamilton company churned out over 30 shot-on-video productions in the 1980s. For this episode, I was lucky enough to sit down and chat with Allan Levine, a Canadian film and television producer who directed two features for Emmeritus Productions (The Chronicle of 1812 aka The King's Regiment in 1984 and The Edge aka Doomsday Plot in 1985) and went on to have a long and fascinating career.

We discuss how they got involved with Emmeritus Productions, what it was like to direct a shot-on-video, made-for-TV and the foreign market feature films, some amazing stories straight of the sets of Skull: A Night of Terror and Graveyard Shift, plus so much more. So much actually, that one day you might just see a sequel to this very interview. We'll see!

For now, sit back and get ready for some truly untold tales from the world of Canadian low-budget filmmaking. Enjoy!

For more information about Emmeritus you can read the Canuxploitation article about the company here, and special thanks to Cyd and Allan Levine for being gracious with their time and allowing me the opportunity to have this wonderful discussion!