Skip Tracer

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][4]

Petersen received a Canadian Film Award nomination for Best Actor,[5] and Dalen received the Wendy Michener Award for "most promising new talent", at the 28th Canadian Film Awards.[6] In 1978, Skip Tracer was screened at the Chicago International Film Festivall,[4] and would also become the first Canadian film ever selected for screening at the New York Film Festival.[2]

The film received generally mixed reviews, with Elliott Stein for Film Comment calling the film "more tedious than interestingly harrowing."[7]

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.[8]

The film has gained reputation as a cult classic, with many categorizing it as "Canuxploitation."[9]

In 2022, the film was remastered for the first time on Blu-Ray by Canadian independent distributor, Gold Ninja Video.[10]

• Skip Tracer at IMDb