After all these years, “Skip Tracer” is up on Youtube.  It’s not quite the original.  This is the version that some distributor decided to rename as “Deadly Business” (Just as a Hollywood major was attempting to buy my title.) and my original company logo has been removed.  But it’s mostly otherwise complete.

One should never read Youtube comments, but in this case they are generally very favorable.  Obviously my film made an impression, and has a tiny cult following, as revealed by comments such as this one:

MethaneMcGuiness2 years ago
Haven’t seen this flick in 30 years. Still a good one.

And

Jonathan Levine1 week ago
Wow – what a treat to find this here. I’ve got a tape – made from a CBC broadcast back in the day, probably – with audio almost too low to hear. I’ve been hoping for years that a new copy would surface. Skip Tracer really is an unknown gem.

And

flashtheoriginal2 years ago
I have rambled on about this movie for over 30 years since a one-off screening on BBC2 in England. Overjoyed to find this post, thank you so much. For those within the IMDB brotherhood (you know who you are) I have message boarded as a supplement to my original review. And now….,ENJOY !!!

Ah, so great to feel appreciated.  But then there’s my troll.

Jack Hunter1 year ago
+David Scott Anyone who borrows what they cannot pay back DESERVES what happens to them. If I offer to give you 10 million loan its up to YOU to say NO, because if you say YES, you dont get to cry about me chopping you up and selling your body parts to get back my money and interest. Poor people are scum.

Uh, okay.  And of course I should never engage with this mindset but I couldn’t resist.  You’ll have to go to Youtube to experience the exchange.  I’m not particularly proud of teasing him.  Suffice it to say that Jack Hunter, who apparently made his money writing books on how to get laid, revealed himself to be a true horror show of a human being and not somebody I want to discuss things with, not even for the fun of it.

For the record:

When I wrote “Skip Tracer” it was not my intention to say that people who borrow money should not have to pay it back.  That is such a shallow and, frankly, stupid take away from my movie.

“Skip Tracer” was an attempt to depict predatory capitalism, so well represented by people like Jack Hunter.  It was a study of manipulation.  The consumer is sold on a lifestyle where ownership of products equals status and identity.  The loan company exists to manipulate the gullible into taking out loans they can’t afford to repay to buy the lifestyle they are told they should want, but can’t achieve within the system.  The office manager is put under pressure to get those below him to produce.  They in turn put pressure on those they have seduced into taking loans to buy the things they don’t really need.

“Skip Tracer” is not saying that people shouldn’t have to repay what they borrow.  It’s saying that predatory lending practices, such as those perfected during the sub prime mortgage housing bubble, need to be regulated and controlled.  Capitalism is a system without love or empathy.  It needs regulation, or it needs people of conscience to walk away, just as John Collins walks away at the end of the movie.