Biography
Kier-La Janisse (1972-) is a Canadian film writer, programmer and producer, founder of international horror school The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies and author of A Violent Professional: The Films of Luciano Rossi (FAB Press, 2007) and House of Psychotic Women: An Autobiographical Topography of Female Neurosis in Horror and Exploitation Films (FAB Press, 2012). Her first feature film as director/producer, Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror is due out from Severi...
Known For
Complete Filmography
The Art of the Calendar
2024
Director
Kier-La Janisse's documentary about the importance of advertisement for small theaters.
Kier-La Janisse on Cockfighter
2024
The author of Cockfight: A Fable of Failure recounts her long history with Monte Hellman’s Cockfighter (1974), which is effectively illegal to screen ...
The Reluctant Icon: A Tribute to Laura Gemser
2023
as Narrator
A poignant ode to the star of the Black Emanuelle series and the real-life love story at its core, written, directed and narrated by Kier-La Janisse b...
A Tribute To Karin Schubert: The ‘Nackedei’ Actress
2023
as Narrator
A video tribute to actress Karin Schubert.
The Reluctant Icon: A Tribute to Laura Gemser
2023
Director, Writer
A poignant ode to the star of the Black Emanuelle series and the real-life love story at its core, written, directed and narrated by Kier-La Janisse b...
A Tribute To Karin Schubert: The ‘Nackedei’ Actress
2023
Director
A video tribute to actress Karin Schubert.
Ajita Wilson: An Elusive Icon
2023
Producer
Video documentary on Ajita Wilson.
The Naked Eye: Sex and the Mondo Film
2023
Producer
Documentary taking a look at Mondo movies.
To Fire You Come at Last
2023
Executive Producer
In rural 17th-century England, a group of men gather to carry a coffin on the long walk to the local graveyard for burial. Much ancient folklore and s...
The Kid from a Kibbutz: Daliah Lavi and the Road to Il Demonio
2021
Producer
A short documentary on Daliah Lavi’s life and career, with an emphasis on the film Il Demonio.
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror
2021
as Self
An exploration of the cinematic history of the folk horror, from its beginnings in the UK in the late sixties; through its proliferation on British te...
Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror
2021
Writer, Additional Editor, Director
An exploration of the cinematic history of the folk horror, from its beginnings in the UK in the late sixties; through its proliferation on British te...
Blood In The Streets: The Quinqui Film Phenomenon
2021
Director, Producer
Quinqui cinema encompassed a series of Spanish crime films with a unique national sensibility, as they reflected the times of the Franco dictatorship ...
A Folk Horror Tale
2021
Script
Maison Margiela 'Artisanal' 2021 Collection - A Folk Horror Tale - a film based on an original concept by John Galliano and directed by Olivier Dahan.
Tales of the Uncanny
2020
as Self
A detailed look at the history of horror anthology films.
Tales of the Uncanny
2020
Producer
A detailed look at the history of horror anthology films.
S.W.A.L.K. II
2020
Writer
John Galliano, Nick Knight and SHOWstudio continue their creative partnership, revealing the Maison Margiela S/S 21 co-ed collection. S.W.A.L.K first ...
From the Woods to the Cosmos: John Leman Riley on the History of Soviet Fantasy and Sci-Fi Film
2019
Director, Producer, Editor
Documentary tracing the history of Soviet fantasy and sci-fi films. Included on Severin's release of Viy.
Tights Worship: Inside the Practices of The Rita
2019
Producer
The film traces Sam McKinlay’s early days as a punk skateboarder through his academic development as a conceptual artist into a highly esteemed noise ...
We Always Find Ourselves in the Sea
2017
Executive Producer
A windswept ghost story set on England's southeastern coast.
Raw, Rough and Rabid: The Lacerating Legacy of Cinépix
2015
as Herself
A featurette looking back at the early years of the celebrated Canadian production company, including interviews with author Kier-La Janisse and speci...
Parasite Memories: The Making of 'Shivers'
2014
as Self
"Parasite Memories" is a brand new retrospective piece on the film produced by High Rising Productions with lively contribution from effects artist Jo...
Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau
2014
as Self
The story of the insane scandals related to the remake of “Island of Dr. Moreau” —originally a novel by H. G. Wells—, which was brought to the big scr...
Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s
2012
Producer
A documentary concerning the violent Italian 'poliziotteschi' cinematic movement of the 1970s which, at first glance, seem to be rip-offs of American ...
Celluloid Horror
2004
as Herself
Celluloid Horror explores Kier-La Janisse's tireless crusade to bring obscure cult horror film to the masses through her independently run internation...
The Stone Forest
N/A
as Narrator
Newly commissioned short film by Severin shot on shooting location of Pobiti Kamani for their release of Morgiana in the House of Psychotic Women Volu...
Terminal City Blues — Vancouver Onscreen In Out of the Blue
N/A
Writer, Producer
A video essay discussing the Vancouver shooting locations in Dennis Hoppers's Out of the Blue. Included as a special feature for the Severin Films DVD...
Killing for Culture: The Birth of Atrocity Cinema
N/A
Director, Adaptation
A feature-length documentary film adaptation of the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name, chronicling the history of Mondo cinema and the "death fil...