Infliction Films is an independent Montreal-based production company founded in 1994 by filmmaker Mitch Davis, launched with the goal of nurturing confrontational, personal horror film projects in a city that seemed to have forgotten that these sorts of pictures could exist. At the time of the company's birth, many of the people in Davis' circle were writers, filmmakers, photographers, musicians, special Make Up effects technicians etc., whose collective talents were equaled only by their shared inability to get work on projects that they were truly interested in. These people, in their late Teens and early Twenties, were united by their dreams of pushing boundaries and doing radical new things in the fantasy / horror genre. All felt that they had been born at least a decade too late, as Montreal's once-thriving independent horror scene of the 70's and 80's was now an embarrassing celluloid death camp of bland cable thrillers and unambitious direct-to-video sequels. In fact, the discontent stretched beyond mere geography, as virtually everyone involved found inspiration in the low budget European arthouse / exploitation films of the 60's, 70's and 80's. It seemed impossible to imagine that modern audiences would exclusively prefer to see the formulaic slasher movies and freeze-dried, ultra hip teen horror films that were polluting the cinemas. Box office numbers spoke volumes, but at the same time, it was clear that audiences weren't being given much of an alternative. It was impossible to ignore the reality that truly groundbreaking modern horror filmmakers such as Richard Stanley, Michele Soavi and Shinya Tsukamoto could barely get their films screened in North America. Just the same, the fact remained that it was still possible for these sorts of films to be made and find acceptance, if only overseas. So be it. Infliction Films was born, created out of necessity so that this team of artists could work together under a single banner. The hope was that after the first production, the company name would give individual projects an enhanced presence, and a better chance at raising investment and government grants. In theory, a first-time director who had worked on another Infliction project would have an easier time earning the trust of an investor if (s)he could propose the new project under the company name, so that some form of "track record" would be perceived. The first Infliction production was to be Karim Hussain's Subconscious Cruelty, which Davis produced, Teruhiko Suzuki scored, David Kristian created Special Sound Design, C.J. Goldman did Special Make Up Effects and Patrick Tremblay A.D.'d. Rounding out the Infliction Team on the 2nd leg of production (Post 1995) Robert Cotterill and Julien Fonfrède did virtually every major Lighting and Dolly Grip job, along with various A.D stints. While many others worked generously on the feature, particularly 1st leg cinematographer Francois Bourdon, 1st leg Art Director Sonia Capogrecco, and key actors Christopher Piggins, Brea Asher and Ivaylo Founev, the aforementioned names were, or some cases, have become, the Infliction nucleus. The production of Subconscious Cruelty was undertaken without any government assistance or corporate investment, and as a result, it spanned many years. In the beginning, the company had raised close to $40 000 CDN and being packed with naïve idealists, all involved were positive that the film could be in the can on budget. It was assumed that once a workprint was cut together and shown around, raising Post-Production funding would be simple. Again , the team was young and naïve. After a straight month shooting, with funds nearly depleted, Hussain and Davis set out to raise extra resources by whatever means necessary, as production slowed to a crawl. It seemed to go on forever, but the team refused to give up and in the end, nearly six years after beginning production, Subconscious Cruelty was wrapped. During the production period, Infliction Films assisted a string of other local productions, lending time and equipment to a series of short films and music videos. About half way through the 6 year production period of Subconscious Cruelty, the team began production on Davis' own film, the award-winning short Divided Into Zero. Production on the super low-budget short film was initiated partially so that the team could complete a project while waiting for enough funding to accumulate to be able to return to the feature. As funds are now coming in from the two completed films, Infliction Films finds itself in an entirely new position, where future projects will not entail the same kind of every-sixth-weekend guerilla filmmaking approach that had been necessary in the past.