Tigon British Film Productions or Tigon was a film production and distribution company, founded by

Tony Tenser Samuel Anthony Tenser (10 August 1920 – 5 December 2007)Gavin Gaugha"Obituary: Tony Tenser" ''The Guardian'', 13 March 2008 was an English-born film producer of Lithuanian-Jewish descent. He began as the producer of low budget exploitation fi ...

in 1966. It is best remembered for its

horror film 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 ...

s, particularly '' Witchfinder General'' (directed by Michael Reeves, 1968) and '' The Blood on Satan's Claw'' (directed by Piers Haggard, 1971). Other Tigon films include '' The Sorcerers'' (1967), ''

The Haunted House of Horror ''The Haunted House of Horror'' (also known as ''Horror House'' and ''The Dark'') is a 1969 British horror film directed by Michael Armstrong and starring Frankie Avalon and Jill Haworth. it was written by Armstrong and Gerry Levy (as Peter ...

'' (1969) and '' Doomwatch'' (1972), based on the

TV series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platf ...

of the same name. As the name of the company implies, a

tigon The tigon is a hybrid offspring of a male tiger (''Panthera tigris'') and a female lion, or lioness (''Panthera leo'').Wardour Street Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, London, Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century th ...

, London, and released a wide range of films from

sexploitation A sexploitation film (or sex-exploitation film) is a class of independently produced, Low-budget film, low-budget feature film that is generally associated with the 1960s and early 1970s, and that serves largely as a vehicle for the exhibition o ...

('' Zeta One''), to an acclaimed television adaptation of

August Strindberg Johan August Strindberg (; ; 22 January 184914 May 1912) was a Swedish playwright, novelist, poet, essayist, and painter.Lane (1998), 1040. A prolific writer who often drew directly on his personal experience, Strindberg wrote more than 60 pla ...

's ''

Miss Julie ''Miss Julie'' () is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg. It is set on Midsummer's Eve and the following morning, which is Midsummer and the Feast Day of St. John the Baptist. The setting is an estate of a count in Sweden. ...

'' (1972) starring

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (; born Ilyena Lydia Vasilievna Mironov; 26 July 1945) is an English actor. With a career spanning over six decades of Helen Mirren on screen and stage, screen and stage, List of awards and nominations received by Helen Mirre ...

. The largest part of its output, however, was made up by low-budget horror films in direct competition for audiences with

Hammer Film Productions Hammer Film Productions Ltd. is a British film production company based in London. Founded in 1934, the company is best known for a series of Gothic horror and fantasy films made from the mid-1950s until the 1970s. Many of these involve classi ...

and

Amicus Productions Amicus Productions was a Cinema of the United Kingdom, British film production company, based at Shepperton Studios, England, active between 1962 and 1977. It was founded by American producers and screenwriters Milton Subotsky and Max Rosenberg. ...

. In February 2005, a region 2 DVD box set of Tigon films was released by Anchor Bay in the UK. The box set contains '' Witchfinder General'', ''

The Body Stealers ''The Body Stealers'', also known as ''Invasion of the Body Stealers'' and ''Thin Air'', is a 1969 British science fiction film directed by Gerry Levy, and starring George Sanders and Maurice Evans. Two investigators uncover an alien plot to st ...

'', ''

'', '' The Blood on Satan's Claw'', '' The Beast in the Cellar'', and ''

Virgin Witch ''Virgin Witch'' is a British horror sexploitation film directed by Ray Austin and starring Ann and Vicki Michelle, Patricia Haines and Neil Hallett. A prospective model and her sister join a coven of white wizards. The film was shot in ...

''. Providing an audio commentary on a number of the films, as well as writing the productions notes, was the author and film critic John Hamilton. The same year, FAB press in the UK published John Hamilton's biography of Tony Tenser, a comprehensive look at the career of Tigon's founder and the man dubbed "the Godfather of British Exploitation". Hamilton had access to production files, diaries and personal correspondence, as well as recording a number of exclusive interviews with the likes of

Vernon Sewell Vernon Campbell Sewell (4 July 1903 – 21 June 2001) was a British film director, writer, producer and, briefly, an actor. Sewell was born in London, England, and was educated at Marlborough College. He directed more than 30 films during his c ...

, Michael Armstrong,

Christopher Lee Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a career spanning more than sixty years, Lee became known as an actor with a deep and commanding voice who often portrayed villains in horr ...

Ian Ogilvy Ian Raymond Ogilvy (born 30 September 1943) is an English actor, playwright and novelist. Early life Ogilvy was born in Woking, Surrey, England, to Francis Fairfield Ogilvy, brother of advertising executive David Ogilvy, and actress Aileen R ...

and

Peter Sasdy Peter Sasdy (born 27 May 1935 in Budapest, Hungary) is a British film and television director. In addition to his numerous TV credits, notable among which is the Nigel Kneale-scripted '' The Stone Tape'' (1972), he directed several horror film ...

. He also recorded over 18 hours of interviews with Tony Tenser himself, all of which went to create an in-depth look not only at the making of the films but the machinations involved with running a film company. The book was critically acclaimed in a number of newspapers and magazines, including ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', as well as ''

Film Review Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films and the film medium. In general, film criticism can be divided into two categories: Academic criticism by film scholars, who study the composition of film theory and publish their findin ...

'' and ''SPFX'' (the latter dubbed it the "best single volume history ever written on British horror"). Hamilton has gone on to write a number of articles on Tigon film productions, published in magazines like ''The Darkside'', ''Shivers'' and ''Little Shoppe of Horrors''; in 2015, Hemlock Books published ''Tigon: Blood on a Budget'', the author's look at the studio's horror and fantasy movies.

Filmography

As production company

*''Mini Weekend'' (1967) *'' The Sorcerers'' (1967) *'' The Blood Beast Terror'' (1968) *'' Witchfinder General'' (1968) *'' Love in Our Time'' (1968) *'' Curse of the Crimson Altar'' (1968) *''

'' (1969) *'' What's Good for the Goose'' (1969) *''

'' (1969) *''

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

'' (1970) *''

Monique Monique is a female given name. It is the French form of the name Monica. The name has enjoyed some popularity in the United States since about 1955, and is less common in other English-speaking countries except for Canada although mostly used ...

'' (1970) *'' Zeta One'' (1970) *''

Black Beauty ''Black Beauty: His Grooms and Companions, the Autobiography of a Horse'' is an 1877 novel by English author Anna Sewell. It was written from a horse as main character's perspective. She wrote it in the last years of her life, during which s ...

'' (1971) *'' The Beast in the Cellar'' (1971) *'' The Blood on Satan's Claw'' (1971) *''

Hannie Caulder ''Hannie Caulder'' is a 1971 British Western (genre), Western film directed by Burt Kennedy and starring Raquel Welch, Robert Culp, and Ernest Borgnine. Plot Hannie Caulder is a frontier wife, living with her husband at a horse station between ...

'' (1971) *''

The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins ''The Magnificent Seven Deadly Sins'' is a 1971 British sketch comedy film directed and produced by Graham Stark. Its title is a conflation of ''The Magnificent Seven'' and the seven deadly sins. It comprises a sequence of seven sketches, each ...

'' (1971) *''

'' (1972) *'' Doomwatch'' (1972) *'' For the Love of Ada'' (1972) *'' Neither the Sea Nor the Sand'' (1972)

As distributor

*'' Castle of the Living Dead'' (1964 - UK release 1968) *'' Terror-Creatures from the Grave'' (1965 - UK release 1968) *'' Sandy the Seal'' (1965 - released 1969) *'' Snow Treasure'' (1968) *'' O.K. Yevtushenko'' (1968 – released 1975) *'' Love Variations'' (1969) *''

Simon, Simon ''Simon, Simon'' is a 1970 British sound effect comedy short film directed by Graham Stark and starring Stark, Norman Rossington, John Junkin and Julia Foster. The film features a host of cameo appearances by veteran British comedians. The ti ...

'' (1970) *''

Permissive Permissiveness may refer to: * Permissiveness (endocrinology), between hormones and cells. * Permissiveness (virology), between viruses and cells. Permissive may refer to: * Permissive society, a liberalization of social norms in a society. * ...

'' (1970) *'' Clegg'' (1970) *'' The Nude Vampire'' (1970) *''

Stork Storks are large, long-legged, long-necked wading birds with long, stout bills. They belong to the family Ciconiidae, and make up the order Ciconiiformes . Ciconiiformes previously included a number of other families, such as herons and ibise ...

'' (1971) *''

'' (1972) (TV movie) *''

Wrong Way Wrong way may refer to: * a traffic sign to warn of wrong-way driving * nickname of Douglas Corrigan (1907–1995), an American aviator who flew east from New York to Ireland instead of west to California in 1938 * nickname of Roy Riegels (1908–1 ...

'' (1972 – released 1981) *'' Sex, Love and Marriage'' (1972) *'' The Fiend'' (1972) *''

Au Pair Girls ''Au Pair Girls'' is a 1972 British sex comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring Gabrielle Drake, Astrid Frank, Me Me Lai and Nancie Wait. Part of the British 1970s softcore sex comedy genre, the film also includes appearances by mains ...

'' (1972) *'' The Flesh and Blood Show'' (1972) *'' Blood Brides'' (1973) *'' The Creeping Flesh'' (1973) *'' The Sex Thief'' (1973) *'' A Candle for the Devil'' (1973) *'' Murder Inferno'' (1973) *'' The Great McGonagall'' (1974) *'' Double Agent 73'' (1974) *'' All I Want Is You... and You... and You...'' (1974) *'' Sizzlers'' (1976) *'' Intimate Games'' (1976) *'' Erotic Confessions'' (1976 – released 1981) *'' The Red Nights of the Gestapo'' (1977) *'' Come Play With Me'' (1977) *'' Tänzerinnen für Tanger'' (1977) *'' The Playbirds'' (1978) *'' The Violation of the Bitch'' (1978) *'' Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair'' (1979) *'' Queen of the Blues'' (1979) *'' The Ecstasy Girls'' (1979) *'' Sex with the Stars'' (1980) *'' Come Play with Me 2'' (1980) *''

Rude Boy Rude boy is a subculture that originated from 1960s Jamaican street culture. In the late 1970s, there was a revival in England of the terms ''rude boy'' and ''rude girl'', among other variations like ''rudeboy'' and ''rudebwoy'', being used t ...

'' (1980) *'' Emanuelle: Queen Bitch'' (1980) *'' Hotel Paradise'' (1980) *'' Mary Millington's World Striptease Extravaganza'' (1981) *'' Emmanuelle in Soho'' (1981) *'' Ring of Desire'' (1981) *'' Electric Blue - The Movie'' (1982) *'' Hellcat Mud Wrestlers'' (1983)

References

{{Authority control Film production companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1966

Filmography

As production company

As distributor

Further reading

References