South African Crapola Cinema

[Trevor]

I am going to start this thread off with the opening of the horror that is Sam Firstenberg's Operation Delta Force (1997) 

My apologies in advance. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xtpjtrgAVTU

[claws]

Cobra Force (1988)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE80Ze9mrFE

2/10
So atrocious it is somewhat funny
ove-helleren 10 July 2005

10/10
Greatest Low Budget South African Movie!
comradcorner 10 June 2002

[bob]

Nukie (1987)

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

[Trevor]

Cobra Force (1988)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE80Ze9mrFE

2/10
So atrocious it is somewhat funny
ove-helleren10 July 2005

10/10
Greatest Low Budget South African Movie!
comradcorner10 June 2002

That is one of the crappy so-called "subsidy scandal films" which plagued our film industry in the 1980s: films made for little to nothing by "filmmakers" who didn't know which end of the camera to look through and never paid their casts or crews, yet made much $$$ in government subsidies. 

[Trevor]

Nukie (1987)

Error 404 (Not Found)!!1

Oy is all I can say. I was wondering if this thing would turn up and it has 

[Trevor]

Percival Rubens' The Demon (1979) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zML5xR-PSLk

[claws]

That is one of the crappy so-called "subsidy scandal films" which plagued our film industry in the 1980s: films made for little to nothing by "filmmakers" who didn't know which end of the camera to look through and never paid their casts or crews, yet made much $$$ in government subsidies. 

I believe they had something similar in Canada in the 1980s. Filmmakers would finance their movies through government/tax cuts. Films like Curtains (1983) or Fatal Attraction (1980). Not sure how this worked or if this is accurate but I've read filmmakers would then "hide" revenues from the canadian government. Apparently these movies weren't supposed to make money, but if they did they had to pay back the government or something like that.

[Trevor]

I believe they had something similar in Canada in the 1980s. Filmmakers would finance their movies through government/tax cuts. Films like Curtains (1983) or Fatal Attraction (1980). Not sure how this worked or if this is accurate but I've read filmmakers would then "hide" revenues from the canadian government. Apparently these movies weren't supposed to make money, but if they did they had to pay back the government or something like that.

That is exactly what happened in SA during the 1983 - 1990 period but our situation was worsened by the fact that the films were subpar - most were shot on 16mm film - and the producers committed massive fraud. The scheme was wound up in 1991 and our industry took a serious nose-dive.

[Trevor]

This is the YouTube channel for most of those subsidy films: mostly terrible things that even bad movie connoisseurs like all of us on here would barf at.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-IejxKwd7E&list=PLI_6kedHHY6qQal8gOrWv8ZiBIAemfYWl

[Newt]

I believe they had something similar in Canada in the 1980s. Filmmakers would finance their movies through government/tax cuts. Films like Curtains (1983) or Fatal Attraction (1980). Not sure how this worked or if this is accurate but I've read filmmakers would then "hide" revenues from the canadian government. Apparently these movies weren't supposed to make money, but if they did they had to pay back the government or something like that.

This?  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tax-shelter-films

[Trevor]

I believe they had something similar in Canada in the 1980s. Filmmakers would finance their movies through government/tax cuts. Films like Curtains (1983) or Fatal Attraction (1980). Not sure how this worked or if this is accurate but I've read filmmakers would then "hide" revenues from the canadian government. Apparently these movies weren't supposed to make money, but if they did they had to pay back the government or something like that.

This?  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tax-shelter-films

If that's how those films were funded, then ours was different as in SA, people made films for a certain amount and then could approach the Department of Home Affairs for subsidies based on the number of tickets sold. This is where the fraud came in big time.

[claws]

I believe they had something similar in Canada in the 1980s. Filmmakers would finance their movies through government/tax cuts. Films like Curtains (1983) or Fatal Attraction (1980). Not sure how this worked or if this is accurate but I've read filmmakers would then "hide" revenues from the canadian government. Apparently these movies weren't supposed to make money, but if they did they had to pay back the government or something like that.

This?  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tax-shelter-films

The info I got was years ago from a person working in the film biz licensing movies mostly from canada and how difficult it was to do so. Could be he meant those tax shelter movies.

[FatFreddysCat]

I don't know if you'd consider it "crapola," Trevor, but when I watched "Death Race 3: Inferno" recently I noticed it said it was filmed in South Africa during the end credits ...

[Trevor]

I don't know if you'd consider it "crapola," Trevor, but when I watched "Death Race 3: Inferno" recently I noticed it said it was filmed in South Africa during the end credits ...

I haven't seen that one (or the second one which was also made here) but it's amazing how many films made here go straight to DVD or streaming or in the case of films like Tomb Raider and The Dark Tower, don't really find much success at the box office. Sad.

[FatFreddysCat]

I haven't seen that one (or the second one which was also made here)

They're not Shakespeare, obviously, but they're dumb car crashin' fun.