Hungarian-Canadian
Hungarian Canadians ( hu, kanadai magyarok) 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 b ...
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
Budapest
Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
,
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
, but grew up in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...
. 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 research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institu ...
, where he began to work in theater and directed several award-winning short films, 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 and
metal
A metal (from Greek μέταλλον ''métallon'', "mine, quarry, metal") is a material that, when freshly prepared, polished, or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electricity and heat relatively well. Metals are typi ...
bands. He served as manager and producer for Toronto punk bands The Viletones 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 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 (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univ ...
musical
Musical is the adjective of music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact def ...
''
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 ea ...
'', 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
''The Girl Who Owned a City'' is the only published novel by O. T. Nelson, first published in 1975. This book, sometimes taught in schools, is considered to be best suited for those between the ages of 12 and 15. A graphic novel adaptation by Dan J ...
'' 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 cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...
and pulp fiction (of which he was a collector).
''I, Madman'' 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, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication Media (communication), medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of Transmission (telecommunications), television tra ...
, directing episodes of '' Red Shoe Diaries'', the 1995 revival of ''
The Outer Limits ''The Outer Limits'' or ''Outer Limits'' may refer to:
Television
* ''The Outer Limits'' (1963 TV series), a black-and-white science fiction series that aired from 1963 to 1965
* ''The Outer Limits'' (1995 TV series), a revival of the older series ...
Mansquito
''Mansquito'' (also known as ''Mosquito-Man'') is a 2005 American made-for-television monster movie directed by Tibor Takács, and stars Corin Nemec, Musetta Vander and Matt Jordon. It shares many similarities with the 1986 adaptation of '' T ...
Ice Spiders
''Ice Spiders'' is a 2007 science fiction horror film which premiered on June 9, 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel. A team of young Winter Olympic hopefuls must slalom to safety when a hoard of giant mutated spiders spin their way out of a top secret lab ...
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
-themed films).
Selected directorial filmography
*
*''
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 ea ...
The Outer Limits ''The Outer Limits'' or ''Outer Limits'' may refer to:
Television
* ''The Outer Limits'' (1963 TV series), a black-and-white science fiction series that aired from 1963 to 1965
* ''The Outer Limits'' (1995 TV series), a revival of the older series ...
White Light Fever
This page is a list of the episodes of '' The Outer Limits'', a 1995 science fiction/dark fantasy television series. The series was broadcast on Showtime from 1995 to 2000, and on the Sci Fi Channel in its final year (2001–2002).
Series overvi ...
Mansquito
''Mansquito'' (also known as ''Mosquito-Man'') is a 2005 American made-for-television monster movie directed by Tibor Takács, and stars Corin Nemec, Musetta Vander and Matt Jordon. It shares many similarities with the 1986 adaptation of '' T ...
Ice Spiders
''Ice Spiders'' is a 2007 science fiction horror film which premiered on June 9, 2007 on the Sci Fi Channel. A team of young Winter Olympic hopefuls must slalom to safety when a hoard of giant mutated spiders spin their way out of a top secret lab ...
'' (2007)
*'' Mega Snake'' (2007)
*'' NYC: Tornado Terror'' (2008)
*'' Lies & Illusions'' (2009)
*''Meteor Storm'' (2010)
*'' My Babysitter's a Vampire''
**"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
''Spiders'' (also marketed as ''Spiders in 3D'') is a 2013 American 3D science fiction monster horror film directed by Tibor Takács. The film was released on February 8, 2013.
Plot
Debris from a destroyed Soviet space station (where experimen ...
Black Warrant
An execution warrant (also called death warrant or black warrant) is a writ that authorizes the execution of a condemned person. An execution warrant is not to be confused with a " license to kill", which operates like an arrest warrant but ...