Tibor Takács is a

Hungarian-Canadian Hungarian Canadians (, ) are persons in Canada of Hungarian ancestry. According to the 2016 Census, there are 348,085 Canadians of Hungarian ancestry. The Hungarian minority is the 24th largest ethnic group of Canada. The bulk of Hungarian im ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

, noted for directing '' The Gate'' (1987) and its sequel, '' The Gate II: Trespassers'' (1990). His career has largely been associated with

horror movies Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with Transgressive art, transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include Mo ...

, though he has also directed many

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

-themed films, often for the

Hallmark Channel Hallmark Channel is an American cable television network owned by Hallmark Media, a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards. The channel broadcasts family-oriented general entertainment programming, including television series and made-for-TV movies. ...

. He also directed the

TV movie A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrest ...

Sabrina the Teenage Witch ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch'' is a comic book series published by Archie Comics about the adventures of a fictional American teenager named Sabrina Spellman. Sabrina was created by writer George Gladir and artist Dan DeCarlo, and first appeared ...

'' which became the basis for the TV series of the same name.

Early life

Takács was born on September 11, 1954, in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, but grew up in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. He described his early experiences with cinema as being the result of his “European parents who watched a lot of foreign films with subtitles.” Around the age of ten, his family moved to a more urban area with several movie theaters, where he began to see multiple American films a week for several years. He attended the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, where he began to work in theater and directed several award-winning

short film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

s, which eventually led to commercial directing work. His film career did not begin immediately, however. In the late 70's, Takács was involved with various Toronto-area

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

and

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

bands. He served as manager and producer for Toronto punk bands

The Viletones The Viletones were a Canadian punk band from Toronto led by Steven Leckie on vocals. Other members from the original line-up were Freddie Pompeii, (some sources list him as 'Frederick DiPasquale') on guitar; Chris Hate (Chris Paputts), on bass g ...

and The Cardboard Brains, and is credited as producer on the Viletones' ''Screamin Fist'' (1977) single, and Cardboard BrainsWhite EP''" (1977) and ''Black EP'' (1978), as well as recording engineer on the Viletones' 1977 recording sessions (eventually released in 1994 as ''A Taste of Honey''). Takacs collaborated with Canadian author and filmmaker

Peter Vronsky Peter Vronsky is a Canadian author, filmmaker, and investigative historian. He holds a PhD in criminal justice history and espionage in international relations from the University of Toronto. He is the author of the bestseller true crime histor ...

during the 1970s and acted as a cinematographer and art director on some of his films. In 1978, he released his first feature-length film, the independently-produced

sci-fi Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

Metal Messiah ''Metal Messiah'' is a Canadian rock opera musical science fiction film, directed by Tibor Takács and released in 1977. An adaptation of Stephen Zoller's theatrical stage musical, the film centres on a space alien (David Jensen) who comes to ear ...

'', which featured numerous Toronto-based musicians, including members of Kickback and the Cardboard Brains.

Film career

In 1987, Takács released his first studio-backed feature film, '' The Gate''. The production originated from Takács' attempt to secure funding for a film version of the 1975 young adult novel '' The Girl Who Owned a City'' by O. T. Nelson. Producer John Kemeny passed on that idea, but offered Takács three projects, including ''

The Wraith ''The Wraith'' is a 1986 independently made American action-fantasy film, produced by John Kemeny, written and directed by Mike Marvin, and starring Charlie Sheen, Sherilyn Fenn, Nick Cassavetes, and Randy Quaid.I, Madman'', an unusual horror film which combined elements of

film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...

and

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American independent crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino from a story he conceived with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; It tells four intertwining tales of crime and violence ...

(of which he was a collector). ''The Gate'' was followed by a sequel, '' The Gate II: Trespassers'', in 1990. It was less financially successful than its predecessor. In the 1990s, Takács moved into

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, directing episodes of ''

Red Shoe Diaries ''Red Shoe Diaries'' is an American erotic drama anthology series that aired on Showtime from 1992 to 1997, and was distributed by Playboy Entertainment, but as of 2025, Paramount Global Content Distribution overseas. It is a spin-off of the t ...

'', the 1995 revival of ''

The Outer Limits ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

'', '' Police Academy (the series)'' and ''

'' (including the 1996 pilot movie for the latter and its 1998

sequel A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music, or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the same ...

). During the same decade, he continued regularly directing feature films as well as TV, including action and sci-fi films starring

Lorenzo Lamas Lorenzo Fernando Lamas (born January 20, 1958) is an American actor and producer. He is widely known for his role of Lance Cumson, the irresponsible grandson of Angela Channing—played by Jane Wyman—in the soap opera ''Falcon Crest'' (1981� ...

Mark Dacascos Mark Alan Dacascos (born February 26, 1964) is an American actor, martial artist and television personality. A 4th-degree black belt in Kajukenbo#Wun Hop Kuen Do, Wun Hop Kuen Do, he is known for his roles in Action film, action films, including ...

and

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

. In 2000, he directed '' Once Upon a Christmas'', following it the next year with a

. In the early 2000s, he began to increasingly direct

made-for-TV A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a terrestr ...

movies, primarily for the SyFy Channel (including '' Mansquito'' (2005), ''

The Black Hole A black hole is a region of extreme gravitational pull. Black hole or blackhole may also refer to: Computing *Black hole (networking), in computer networking, a place where traffic is silently discarded * Blackhole server, a DNS server that han ...

'' (2006), '' Ice Spiders'' (2007), and '' Mega Snake'' (2007)) as well as the

(where he has directed multiple

-themed films).

Selected directorial filmography

* *''

'' (1978) *''The Tomorrow Man'' (1981) *'' The Gate'' (1987) *'' I, Madman'' (1989) *'' The Gate II: Trespassers'' (1990) *''

Tropical Heat ''Tropical Heat'' (known as ''Sweating Bullets'' in the United States) is a Canadian action series produced in co-operation with Mexico and Israel, that aired between April 8, 1991 to October 18, 1993. The series ran for three seasons totaling ...

'' (1991) TV Series *''

'' :*"Double Dare" (1992) TV Episode :*"Borders of Salt" (1994) TV Episode *'' Bad Blood'' (1994) *''

'' :* "Blood Brothers" (1995) TV Episode :*" White Light Fever" (1995) TV Episode :* "The Voyage Home" (1995) TV Episode :* "I, Robot" (1995) TV Episode :* "If These Walls Could Talk" (1995) TV Episode *''

'' (1996) Showtime original movie *''Sabotage'' (1996) *''

Redline The redline is the maximum engine speed at which an internal combustion engine or traction motor and its components are designed to operate without causing damage to the components themselves or other parts of the engine. The redline of an eng ...

'' (1997) aka ''Deathline'' aka ''Armageddon'' *'' Earth: Final Conflict'' :*"Pandora's Box"(1998) TV Episode :*"If You Could Read My Mind"(1998) TV Episode *'' Sabrina Goes to Rome'' (1998) (TV) *'' The Crow: Stairway to Heaven'' :*"Through a Dark Circle" (1999) TV Episode :*"The People vs. Eric Draven" (1999) TV Episode *'' Once Upon a Christmas'' (2000) *''Nostradamus'' (2000) *''

Twice Upon a Christmas ''Twice Upon a Christmas'' is a 2001 film directed by Tibor Takács. A sequel to the 2000 PAX television film, '' Once Upon a Christmas'', it stars most of the original cast from the first film. The filming location was in Vancouver, British ...

'' (2001) *''Tornado Warning'' (2002) *''Killer Rats'' (2003) *'' Mansquito'' (2005) *'' Nature Unleashed: Earthquake'' (2005) *''

'' (2006) *'' Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep'' (2006) *'' Ice Spiders'' (2007) *'' Mega Snake'' (2007) *'' NYC: Tornado Terror'' (2008) *'' Lies & Illusions'' (2009) *''Meteor Storm'' (2010) *''

My Babysitter's a Vampire ''My Babysitter's a Vampire'' (released as ''My Babysitter's a Vampire: The Movie'' in some regions) is a 2010 Canadian comedy horror television film directed by Bruce McDonald. It stars Vanessa Morgan and Matthew Knight. The film's plot cente ...

'' **"Double Negative" (2011) TV Episode **"Smells like Trouble" (2011) TV Episode **"Die Pod" (2011) TV Episode **"The Brewed" (2012) TV Episode **"Welcome Back Dusker" (2012) TV Episode **"Fanged and Furious" (2012) TV Episode **"Flushed" (2012) TV Episode **"Hottie Ho-Tep" (2012) TV Episode **"Independence Daze" (2012) TV Episode **"Siren Song" (2012) TV Episode *'' Spiders 3D'' (2013) *'' Bunks'' (2013) *'' Destruction: Los Angeles'' (2017) *''Rocky Mountain Christmas'' (2017) *''It's Christmas Eve'' (2018) *''Memories of Christmas'' (2018) *''A Christmas Miracle'' (2019) *''The Secret Ingredient'' (2020) *''The Christmas Aunt'' (2020) *''Blowback'' (2022) *''

Black Warrant An execution warrant (also called a death warrant or a black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the execution of a condemned person. United States In the United States, either a judicial or executive official designated by law issues an ...

'' (2022)

References

External links

*
Interview on Iconsoffright.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Takacs, Tibor 1954 births Living people Canadian horror film directors Hungarian emigrants to Canada