Tag Archives: ozploitation

Retrospective: Turkey Shoot (1982)

17 Friday Sep 2021

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On its initial release when Ozploitation was at its peak, Turkey Shoot was not received favourably especially from its homegrown audience in Australia. And yet it garnered a deeper appreciation under the title Blood Camp Thatcher, the name carrying a double edged meaning for its tyrannical camp commander, Charles Thatcher (Michael Craig), but probably more so for his namesake and a certain political leader in the UK who was not looked on in a kind light.

Since then, the film has picked up a cult following which in part is due to Quentin Tarantino who cited it as an influential movie. Personally I think that Turkey Shoot has a lot of charm, infusing a dystopian, totalitarian world with The Dangerous Game. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith also has a knack for producing stellar action flicks with a strong, entertaining beat.

Saul Muerte interviews Director Brian Trenchard-Smith

Trapped in a controlled Government with supreme views, those who oppose this ruling are gathered up and shepherded to a concentration camp to either be conformed to society or be subjected to Thatcher’s will. In some cases this involves the turkey shoot, a hunt set by Thatcher and his associates, including a horse-riding, crossbow wielding socialite, Jennifer (Carmen Duncan); Secretary Mallory (Noel Ferrier); Tito, a violent sadist and his beast-like man; and Roger Ward as the camp guard, who between pick out degenerates from the camp to offer a false illusion of freedom while they track them down and kill.

Our team of misfits contain Paul Anders (Steve Railsbeck) as the Steve McQueen-esque Cooler King who has escaped from numerous camps; Rita Daniels (Lynda Stoner) an accused prostitute; Griffin (Bill Young) another escapee of numerous camps; Dodge (John Ley) a bumbling, yet loyal prisoner; and Chris Walters (Olivia Hussey), a shopkeeper falsely accused of aiding a rebel.

It’s a simple enough story but with its outlandish methods of being tracked by their pursuers, the film carries a certain energy that keeps you gripped and entertained.

The Diagnosis:

For those unfamiliar with the Ozplotiation scene, Turkey Shoot is a great entry into the genre.

It carries some great set pieces that are of the extreme and tick the boxes of satisfaction when they come about.

The cast deserve recognition too, but this is Trenchard-Smith’s movie and its his vision that is on show and peppers the film with such vigour and the character of the film shines throughout as a result.

  • Saul Muerte

Turkey Shoot is currently available as a Blu-ray release as part of Umbrella Entertainment’s Ozploitation Classics collection.

Movie review: Nightmares (1980)

17 Tuesday Aug 2021

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Nightmares is one of the pioneer movies from the Ozploitation scene, released in 1980 by director John D. Lamond who had set out to make the most gratuitous movie that he could.
The auteur of the genre would openly admit that it’s by far from being the perfect film and had room to be better.
Provided with the opportunity to make a low-budget, quick feature was in his grasp and the weaknesses are clearly on show here, but this is also part of its appeal.
A gritty, voyeuristic journey from the mind of a deeply psychologically scarred antagonist, a product of her environment, where it is little wonder that she would become unhinged. 

As a young girl, Cathy (Jenny Neumann) tries to prevent her mother from copulating in promiscuous behaviour with a strange man, but a car accident results in her mother’s fatality and her father is more intent on blaming her for the outcome than on the reasons behind his wife’s infidelity.

The story is possibly one of the weaker components without much drive for Cathy to enact her episodic killing sprees which centre on an acting troupe for a theatre production that she is one of the cast members of called Comedy of Blood. Among her fellow cast members is a certain Gary Sweet (Police Rescue) in his feature debut and possible love interest. It’s not all doom and gloom however as there are whispers of promise from screenwriter Colin Eggleston, who had notably directed another Australian classic two years earlier with Long Weekend.

The film trudges along to its own drum, and despite the misbeats, the kills are relentless and exposes humanity at its most vulnerable, and with the full frontal deaths doesn’t shy away from brutality.
It also throws in some interesting characters ripe for the kill into the mix, which you just hope will meet their due comeuppance, a hook that keeps you engaged to the end.

The Diagnosis:

The literal meaning of the words in this piece is unimportant… the beauty and the drama is contained within the drama and the opposite nature of the juxtaposition of the words . That and the comedy of death.

George D’alberg

The words of the theatre director in the movie sums Nightmares up nicely.

It’s the thin line between comedy and horror that blends in a gratuitous way, cementing the film firmly in the Ozploitation scene.

It’s either your thing or not, but for me, a solid night’s entertainment, especially if you take it for what it is, and not scrutinise too deeply.

Nightmares is currently available as a Blu-ray release as part of Umbrella Entertainment’s Ozploitation Classics collection.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Patrick (2013)

06 Friday Aug 2021

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While it’s clear that director Mark Hartley is a huge fan of the original 1978 feature of Patrick, and the Ozploitation scene, this is none more evident than in his fantastic documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! It seems an obvious choice for someone so immersed in the subgenre should take the helm and wield a reimagining of the classic Aussie feature, what is absent however, is the essence of the original feature that made it so iconic.

That’s not to say that it’s poorly constructed, the film is crafted well enough and Hartley does well to tap into the world of psychokinesis, and draw it out for a modern-age audience. It boasts a decent cast in Sharni Vinson (You’re Next), Rachel Griffiths and Charles Dance. All of whom manage to craft out some nice performances from dialogue that feels a little strained at times.

For those unfamiliar with the narrative, Patrick tells the tale of Kathy (Vinson), a nurse who starts work at a psychiatric clinic where she meets the titular character, Patrick, a comatose patient who has the ability to move objects with the power of his mind. 

Patrick is also being systematically abused by Dr Roget (Dance) and the Matron (Griffiths) through a series of Electroconvulsive therapy. This is like kicking the hornet’s nest and stirring a world of hatred in Patrick, who also becomes dangerously obsessed with Kathy and begins to manipulate things and people who come close to her, so that he can have her for himself.

The Diagnosis:

The film is slick enough, perhaps too slick, not harbouring the grit of its predecessor, but the cast are engaging and tied to the script despite its flaws and bring life to the fore. 

Stand out for me will always be Vinson, who deserves more praise than she currently receives and Dance happily chews up the scenery and gives across condescending like no other performer that I know. For that it’s worth the watch.

Currently this feature serves as a double feature blu-ray alongside the original in a current release by Umbrella Entertainment.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Patrick (1978)

05 Thursday Aug 2021

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Patrick, which was released back in 1978 sits firmly in the centre of the Ozploitation scene, a genre of Australian exploitation films that are filled with a mix of low-budget horror, comedy, sexploitation and action that wears its heart  on its sleeve.

Directed by Richard Franklin under the penmanship of Everett De Roche (Long Weekend), Patrick could easily be dismissed as farcical but it’s precisely the absurd nature of the storyline that is its appeal.

The film opens with the titular Patrick (Robert Thompson – an actor who should be applauded for his ability to keep his eyes open for an elongated period of time) kills his parents in an oedipal act, throwing an electric heater into a bathtub. 

Somehow Patrick ends up in a coma, something that is never fully explained, but is arguably irrelevant when it comes to the telling of the tale and to get said subject into the setting of choice, the Roget Clinic in Melbourne with all the hallmarks of the Bates house in Psycho. This is of no surprise as Franklin is a self-confessed fan of Hitchcock and would go onto direct Roadgames for his follow up feature, a film heavily inspired by the premise of Rear Window.

Surgeons of Horror podcast: Roadgames (1981)

Franklin would even go to direct the sequel to Psycho in 1983.

We follow the film through eyes of nurse Kathie Jacquard (Susan Penhaligon) who is appointed at the hospital to look after Patrick and soon encounters that there more to her patient than meets the eye and that in spite of being physically bound to his bed, has learnt to explore other sensory means through the power of psychokinesis. Her infatuation with this discovery fuels Patrick’s own lustful desires towards Kathie and thus throws those nearest to her into his wrathful rage.

There are some notable support performances on show here that warrant recognition, namely the larger than life Robert Helpmann who plays Dr. Roget and hams up his role, injecting some much-needed melodrama into the mix and moulding the tone of the film despite Franklin’s efforts to tone it down. Equally Julia Blake’s  Matron character is suitably insipid, casting a wonderfully dark light across the spectrum of the hospital; and Rod Mullinar who plays Kathie’s wayward husband in contrast to Bruce Barry’s egocentric and potential love interest Dr. Brian.

Perhaps one of the greatest things about this movie is Franklin’s depiction of male empowerment at the heart of the film. With Kathie seemingly trying to break down this impregnable barrier in her life, from her adulterous husband, the cocksure Dr. Brian, to the deranged Dr. Roget..Even Patrick himself who is incompacitated throughout the bulk of the film is trying to exert his will over Kathie, who must ultimately rise above this all.

Upon its release in Australia, Patrick did not receive the praise that it deserves but instead saw greater success abroad, but controversially was heavily dubbed Stateside, in spite of Franklin deliberately casting English actors to gain greater appeal abroad. The irony being that this very move is partly what isolated its homegrown audience.

Since then however it has reached a cult following and even gained a fan from acclaimed American director Quentin Tarantino.

For me, I went in expecting a certain kind of film, which it is, but was happily rewarded by the sheer enjoyment and direction. 

It would go on to inspire a sequel in Italy called Patrick Still Lives and then more recently in 2013 a remake would transpire, the latter of which would star Charles Dance and Sharni Vinson (You’re Next) and serves as a double feature alongside the original in a current release by Umbrella Entertainment.

  • Saul Muerte

Retrospective: Hostage

07 Thursday May 2020

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If you’re familiar with Australian cinema, you’d be aware of the Ozploitation movement that peaked in the late 70s and 80s, and that director Quentin Tarantino projected these movies back into the limelight in the early 2000s by declaring his love for the subgenre. 

Embedded right in this timeframe that projected a mix of sexploitation, bikers, horror and action upfront and in your face comes the 1983 feature Hostage based on the true story of Christine Maresch, who is forced to endure a life of crime under the dominant hand of her husband Walter – a man that embodies narcissism.

Watching this film now, it lends itself easily to the #metoo movement as Christine is subjected to rape and torture in a land foreign to her own when she follows her husband and daughter to Germany in order to make an honest go in life.

When we first meet Christine, she’s a happy-go-lucky, larger than life character, who is working at the circus, where she feels free and in her element. Here she meets the dark and mysterious Walter and falls for his rugged yet caring nature, only to discover that he holds a sadistic side with pursuits in Neo-Nazi activities. This itself can feel a little obvious by today’s standards, but the brutality of his treatment is still hard to bear and we long for Christine to find a way out of her turmoil, which goes steadily from bad to worse.

The hardest hitting moment comes when she ends up in Istanbul and receives a tumultuous confrontation with some unsavoury characters at a petrol station. The scene is edgy, sharp, and filled with vitriol that was synonymous with the Ozploitation scene, but its Walters ill treatment of Christine that is the most uncomfortable to watch and is more relevant today than ever.

The film is peppered with some upbeat sounds from composer Davood A. Tabrizi, who manages to tweak every ounce of action and thrills into his score, casting the film forwards with some much needed pace at times.

The Prognosis:

Hostage is a film that is indicative of its time but despite its place and setting has enough fuel and fire to ignite a still unsettling scenario that resonates with the viewer.
Its character is the major selling point and its two leads in Kerry Mack and Ralph Schicha do enough to engage the audience beyond the ‘based on a real story’ setting.

One for the Ozploitation enthusiasts but I highly recommend this to anyone with and interest in Australian cinema.

  • Saul Muerte

Hostage is available to view now via Video On Demand

Movie review: Boar

18 Monday Jun 2018

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You could probably count Killer Pig movies on one hand, and leading that charge would be Australian B-Movie brilliance, Razorback that established a firm cult following back in 1984.
So when I heard that director Chris Sun would be ensuing his middle-of-the-road, but promising feature, Charlie’s Farm with homage (of sorts) to the rampaging boar, my heart fluttered with anticipation and glee at the thought of such a premise.

I was also intrigued as to how Sun would present said hog throughout the feature and hats off to the effects team, who pull off an impressive animatronic beast to entice you in, whilst the directive is to go with CGI more towards the films climax.
It’s just a shame that Sun chose not to tease out the creatures full presence a bit longer, as it kind of takes away from the scares and you’re left relying on character development to pull you along as a result. (More on that in a moment.)
It has a promising start though, with a glimmer in the pre-credit sequence and then its lower jaw is all that is visible in the next kill scene.

Much to Sun’s credit too, he has some great pulling power in his casting, enticing Bill Moseley (House of 1,000 Corpses, The Devil’s Rejects) back to work with him as patriarchal family man, Bruce.
Also returning to collaborate with Sun is Megaman himself, Nathan Jones as Bernie, the larger than life Uncle and is used to great effect when squaring off against the beast.
Joining the cast is a who’s who of Australian actors, notably John Jarratt (Wolf Creek) and Roger Ward (Mad Max) who offer one of the more comical moments in the movie, riffing off each other in true larrikin style.
In addition, there is also Chris Haywood (Quigley), and 90’s pop icon Melissa “Read My Lips” Tkautz, but its actually a cameo turn from Steve Bisley (Jim Goose – Mad Max) as town drunk Bob, that almost steals the entire movie with a brilliant performance that captivates the audience.

Ultimately though, Boar strides onto the screen with its tusks bared emanating its predecessors in the Ozploitation scene and Sun throws as much blood and guts to accentuate this style in the feature and fans of this genre won’t be disappointed when these moments are thrust in the audiences faces.
It’s a shame then that the film suffers from the dialogue on display.
Too often the audience is left feeling adrift in vacant and vapid conversations that have no place in the movie and pulls the movie down as we’re left dragging our hooves. Personally it felt that either the conversations or camera shots were left too long.
My attention drifted, and the curiously long running time became hard to bear, as I was willing for the film to reach its conclusion.
Some people may forgive the choices made in edit, (which on occasion left the movie feeling like a first cut, rather than a polished movie), and thrive on the gore element, but for this reviewer it kept throwing me out of the picture.

The Diagnosis:
All guts, no glory for Chris Sun’s fourth outing in the director’s chair.

 

  • Saul Muerte