| Skip Tracer | |
| Director: | Zale Dalen |
| Producer: | Laara Dalen |
| Starring: | David Petersen John Lazarus |
| Music: | J. Douglas Dodd Linton S. Garner |
| Cinematography: | Ron Orieux |
| Editing: | Zale Dalen |
| Studio: | Highlight Communications |
| Distributor: | International Film Distributors G.G. Communications |
| Runtime: | 95 minutes |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $250,000 |
Skip Tracer, also known as Deadly Business, is a Canadian drama film, directed by Zale Dalen and released in 1977.[1]
The film stars David Petersen as John Collins, a repo man who begins to regret his career choice after being paired with Brent Solverman (John Lazarus), a new trainee whose very different perspective on the job begins to trigger Collins' conscience.[1]
Skip Tracer was Dalen's feature-length directorial debut. The film was made for a budget of just $250,000 after Dalen and his wife Laara, acting as the film's producer, decided that they were dissatisfied with their jobs and wanted to work in film.[2]
The film was released on VHS under the name Deadly Business.[3]
Petersen received a Canadian Film Award nomination for Best Actor,[4] and Dalen received the Wendy Michener Award for "most promising new talent", at the 28th Canadian Film Awards.[5] In 1978, Skip Tracer was screened at the Chicago International Film Festival
The film received generally mixed reviews, with Elliott Stein for Film Comment calling the film "more tedious than interestingly harrowing."[6]
It was later screened at the 1984 Festival of Festivals as part of Front & Centre, a special retrospective program of artistically and culturally significant films from throughout the history of Canadian cinema.[7]
The film has gained reputation as a cult classic, with many categorizing it as "Canuxploitation."[8]
In 2022, the film was remastered for the first time on Blu-Ray by Canadian independent distributor, Gold Ninja Video.[9]