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Tigon British Film Productions orTigon was a film production and distribution company, founded byTony Tenser in 1966.
It is best remembered for itshorror films, particularlyWitchfinder General (directed byMichael Reeves, 1968) andThe Blood on Satan's Claw (directed byPiers Haggard, 1971).[1] Other Tigon films includeThe Sorcerers (1967),The Haunted House of Horror (1969) andDoomwatch (1972), based on theTV series of the same name.[2] As the name of the company implies, atigon appears in the logo.
Tigon was based at Hammer House inWardour Street, London, and released a wide range of films fromsexploitation (Zeta One), to an acclaimed television adaptation ofAugust Strindberg'sMiss Julie (1972) starringHelen Mirren.[3][4] The largest part of its output, however, was made up by low-budget horror films in direct competition for audiences withHammer Film Productions andAmicus Productions.
In February 2005, a region 2 DVD box set of Tigon films was released byAnchor Bay in the UK. The box set containsWitchfinder General,The Body Stealers,The Haunted House of Horror,The Blood on Satan's Claw,The Beast in the Cellar, andVirgin Witch. 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.[5]
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".[6] Hamilton had access to production files, diaries and personal correspondence, as well as recording a number of exclusive interviews with the likes ofVernon Sewell,Michael Armstrong,Christopher Lee,Ian Ogilvy andPeter Sasdy. 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, includingThe New York Times andThe Independent, as well asFilm Review andSPFX (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 likeThe Darkside,Shivers andLittle Shoppe of Horrors; in 2015, Hemlock Books publishedTigon: Blood on a Budget, the author's look at the studio's horror and fantasy movies.[7]
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