Takács was born on September 11, 1954 in Budapest, Hungary, but grew up in Canada. He described his early experiences with cinema as being the result of his “European parents who watched a lot of foreign films with subtitles.” Around the age of ten, his family moved to a more urban area with several movie theaters, where he began to see multiple American films a week for several years. He attended the University of Toronto, where he began to work in theater and directed several award-winning short films, which eventually led to commercial directing work. His film career did not begin immediately, however. In the late 70's, Takács was involved with various Toronto-area punk and metal bands. He served as manager and producer for Toronto punk bandsThe Viletones and The Cardboard Brains, and is credited as producer on the Viletones' Screamin Fist single, and Cardboard Brains'White EP" and Black EP, as well as recording engineer on the Viletones' 1977 recording sessions. Takacs collaborated with Canadian author and filmmaker Peter Vronsky during the 1970s and acted as a cinematographer and art director on some of his films. In 1978, he released his first feature-length film, the independently-produced sci-fimusicalMetal Messiah, which featured numerous Toronto-based musicians, including members of Kickback and the Cardboard Brains.
Film career
In 1987, Takács released his first studio-backed feature film, The Gate. The production originated from Takács' attempt to secure funding for a film version of the 1975young adult novelThe Girl Who Owned a City by O. T. Nelson. Producer John Kemeny passed on that idea, but offered Takács three projects, including The Wraith and The Gate. Takács later said he responded to the script because of its similarity to a fairy tale. He explained in 2017, “ I really feel like fairy tales are an important part of your development, your creativity, especially when you’re young. I feel like you have to experience fear when you’re young because it opens up a floodgate to imagination.” The Gate was a financial success, which enabled him to secure funding for his follow-up, 1989's I, Madman, an unusual horror film which combined elements of film noir and pulp fiction. I, Madman was followed by a sequel, , in 1990. It was less financially successful than its predecessor. In the 1990s, Takács moved into television, directing episodes of Red Shoe Diaries, the 1995 revival of The Outer Limits, Police Academy and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. During the same decade, he continued regularly directing feature films as well as TV, including action and sci-fi films starring Lorenzo Lamas, Mark Dacascos and Rutger Hauer. In 2000, he directed Once Upon a Christmas, following it the next year with a sequel. In the early 2000s, he began to increasingly direct made-for-TV movies, primarily for the SyFy Channel, The Black Hole, Ice Spiders, and Mega Snake ) as well as the Hallmark Channel.
