Ozploitation - An Introduction

It’s hard to imagine it now but at one point Australia was one of a small group of countries alongside Ethiopia and Iceland which didn’t have a film industry. Infact the only films being made were via studios outside of the country who came over to make classy pictures such as “Walkabout” or “Age of Consent”. Still thanks to the success of these films the Australian government’s eyes to the potential of Australia setting up its own film industry.

Australian cinema itself can be seen as falling into two categories with the mainstream cinema often coming across like a hybrid of both European and Hollywood cinema. Ozploitation meanwhile is a much more wilder and bawdy beast born out of the relaxing of censorship laws which had previously been some of the strictest by Don Chipp the minister for customs and excise who also brought in the “R” rating. With this simple change he unwittingly also opened the gate for a host of directors looking to make money off the drive in / grindhouse market both in Australia and more keyly in the states.

These early examples of the genre were largely bawdy sex comedies and skin flicks such as the hard drinking “Barry Mckenzie” films which not only featured rivers of vomit (a cinematic first for Australia) but also came with their own “NPA” Rating standing for “No Poofters Allowed”. Amusingly rather than being seen for their intended satire they were instead embraced by the same people whose lifestyles were being mocked and who instead saw it bizarrely as some kind of endorsement. By 1980 however interest in these films had severely declined though at the same the genre was still going strong thanks to the large number of genre films being produced, which embraced not only their exotic locale but also brought a distinctive style of splatter and vehicular carnage to the screen. The demand for these genre films soon providing a place for the likes of Brian Trenchard Smith who favouring a “laughs and gasps” style over traditional storytelling soon became a firm favourite amongst genre fans. At the same time other directors such as George Miller and Russell Mulcahy also made their debuts through the genre with Miller arguably crafting with “Mad Max” the definitive car smash movie and one which suprisingly didn’t usher in a host of imitators in his native Australia but Italy instead who churned out a host of post-apocalyptic car smash fantasies.



As the popularity of the films quickly increased productions started importing American actors such as Jamie Lee Curtis and Dennis Hopper to help boost their productions, though more often the so called stars being recruited had often fallen from fame due to age or personal issues making it always surprising who you find turning up in these films such as one time Bond George Lazenby who found a way out of his blacklist status through these genre films most noteworthy by appearing as the villainous gangster Jack Wilton in Australia’s only Kung fu movie “The Man From Hong Kong” staring Hong Kong Legend Jimmy Wang Yu.

These productions were often fraught with as many issues caused by these imported stars as they were the lack of general health and safety with Wang Yu seeing the production of “The Man From Hong Kong” as perhaps being beneath his legendary status, even beating up director Brian Trenchard Smith for real in the film where he appears as a thug during the elevator fight sequence, leading Roger Ward offering to give him “a slap”. Smith declined the offer stating that his “revenge would come in the box office” which it unquestionably did when the film out grossed all of Wang Yu’s own directed movies. Dennis Hopper meanwhile during the shooting of “Mad Dog Morgan” was at this point still every bit the Wildman as he proceeded to consume copious amounts of drugs and alcohol during the shoot, while rubbing many of the production the wrong way with his method acting. Unsurprisingly by the end of the production thanks to a series of offset incidents Hopper had added a ban from Australia to his list of felonies acuminated during the shoot. At the same time the influx of American actors caused tensions with “Actors Equity” who felt that jobs were being taken away from Australian actors.



By 1985 the genre was running on fumes as the quality of films being churned out severely lessened in quality with the occasional title such as “The Return of Captain Invincible”, “Turkey Shoot” and “Blood Moon” with its “fright break” appearing as standouts with “Dead In Drive In” being often touted as the last great movie of the genre, especially with stunt man Guy Norris setting a world record truck jump of 160 feet challenging the already impressive record set by "Survivor" for most gasoline exploded in one scene during its memorable plane crash sequence. Still while it might have seemed that the genre ended here, it was infact merly dormant as the spirit of these film lingered on within the next generation of film makers who'd been inspired to direct their own features having grown up with these movies.

Kicking off this new era of Ozploitation movies was the grimy and downright brutal “Wolf Creek” the debut feature by Greg McLean in which a trio of backpackers are hunted by the serial killer Mick Taylor played by Ozploitation regular John Jarratt, while not only essentially sold on it’s “Head on a Stick” scene but also marked a brutal and darker direction for horror, as it brought in elements which would be later embraced by the “New French Extremity” movement. It could be argued that this new era started earlier with the hit and miss zombie movie “Undead” but it was “Wolf Creek” which had us suddenly paying a lot more attention to what Australia was producing once more, even though it wouldn’t be until 2007 when these films really began to gain moment as McLean gave us his giant croc follow up “Rouge”, while the following year saw it being accompanied by the likes of Revenge thriller “The Horseman” which gave us a penis on the wrong end of a bicycle pump aswell as “The Loved Ones” which gave us a dark tale of high school obsession.



While these films all seemed to homage in one way or another back to the glory days of the genre while showcasing a love for shock and splatter while the popularity of these early films also inspired misguided remakes of genre favourites such “Long Weekend”, “Turkey Shoot” and “Patrick”, it would the 2015 release of “Mad Max: Fury Road” which truly made the world sit up and take notice as after 30 years of development hell and time away making delightful family fare about talking pigs and dancing penguins George Miller finally brought back his wasteland folk hero aswell as his fetishtic lens for shooting vehicular carnage as he reminded everyone how you truly make a car smash movie let alone proving he’d not lost his edge in the intervening years.

As of the time of writing Australia’s film production especially for horror films has only continued to grow marking a promising future for its genre cinema and ensuring that the Ozploitation spirit continues to live on, as it continually proves as it did during its golden years as a valuable source of inventive cinema for genre cinema fans.

Starting Point – Five Ozploitation Essentials

 

Long Weekend - Peter and Marcia decide to go camping for the weekend, at a remote beach in an attempt to save their marriage, only to find that nature isn’t in an accommodating mood. This is an eco-horror where nature itself runs amok or is it? The movie won’t confirm it either way, but to those outside of its native Australia the woods surrounding the couple have never seemed so menacing, while director Colin Eggleson teases us with what is happening to them and what is actually responsible which is a hard trick to pull off but one perfectly achieved here.

The Return of Captain Invincible – Released during the dying days of the Ozploitation boom, this random mishmash of Musical and superhero movie, sees the titular superhero who is essentially superman with the power of magnatism forced into retirement after being accused of being a communist. Now thirty years later he is hiding out in Australia and a raging alcoholic while called back into action by the US government to battle his nemesis “Mr. Midnight” played by a game Christopher Lee who is threatening the world with his hypno-ray.

A random film to say the least and one which while it might not work all the way through, still has enough randomness to make it worth a curious watch alongside some fun songs. Plus how many superheroes can cite Alcoholism as their weakness?

Roadgames – Playing like a road movie version of “Rear Window” as Patrick a truck driver traveling across the Australian outback finds himself tracking a serial killer praying on women along the highway. Director Richard Franklin is a self confessed Hitchcock obsessive and here it really shows in this unique road movie which had originally been penned for Sean Connery to play the lead role which eventually went to Stacy Keach instead after he couldn’t afford Connery’s salary. Still the film is noteworthy for featuring Jamie Lee Curtis on the end of her Horror starlet period which ended with her next role in “Halloween 2”.


Celia - Celia is a nine year old with an active imagination growing up in 1950s suburban Melbourne, who constantly escapes into a fantasy world to escape the ongoing troubles around her, while society deals with both the fear of communism and the rabbit plague. An obscure film which sits amongst the likes of “Lord of the Flies” and “War of the Buttons” with a playful dark side which at the same time left me wanting to compare this film to arguably Peter Jackson’s best film “Heavenly Creatures” plus how many films can boast of their child cast carrying out a mock hanging?

The Loved Ones - When Brent turns down Lola’s invitation to the school prom, she concocts a plan for her own prom instead. One of the most exciting entries in the Ozploitation revival this tale of the scorned wallflower with a dark side is grimly gripping viewing which plays better than being just another torture porn movie, especially as this one is packed with some truly jaw dropping surprises throughout.

Razorback

Title:  Razorback

Director: Russell Mulcahy
Released: 1984
Starring: Gregory Harrison, Arkie Whiteley, Bill Kerr, Chris Haywood, David Argue, Judy Morris, John Howard, John Ewart, Don Smith, Mervyn Drake

Plot: Two years after his grandson was killed by a massive razorback boar Jake (Kerr) has dedicated his life to hunting the creature in the Australian outback and soon finds himself teaming up with Carl (Harrison) the husband of a wildlife reporter also killed by the same boar.

Review: A film which has certainly been on my radar for some time but for one reason of another its taken me until now to actually watch it. This of course is quite surprising seeing how it’s a movie about a giant killer pig, which of all the eco-horrors is probably one of the rarer creatures of terror with only the much overlooked “Pig Hunt” coming to mind when I tried to think of another of these movies.

Opening to a pretty haunting attack on Jake’s home in which the razorback essentially charges through his house and dragging away his grandson, the film then proceeds to skip forward two years after he is wrong accused of murdering the child and acquitted due to lack of evidence the years which have passed having left him a bitter shell of his former self as like Quint in “Jaws” he seemingly lives only for revenge, while happy to contend himself in the meantime hunting the smaller boar in the area as he snarls to Beth

“There’s something about blasting the shit out of a razorback that brightens up my whole day.”

I love the fact here that Beth is setup like she will be the female lead of the film only to soon find herself turned into Razorback chow, following a failed rape attempt by local brothers and general thugs Benny (Haywood) and Dicko (Argue) who don’t take to kindly to her filming their illegal pet food operation.  Her death of course soon leading to her husband Carl turning up in town to look for her as the film plays things surprisingly like some kind of mystery thriller which would have been great had we not seen her clearly being attacked by the giant razorback.

Surprisingly though this is far from your traditional eco-horror seeing how the titular Razorback is for the most part very much a background character who appears infrequently to stir things up when the film starts to slow down.  Still despite hardly appearing in the film the fully animatronic model which cost $250,000 is still impressive to look at, especially when it comes to the snarling face unlike when its required to move anywhere where it looks like the model is being pushed around on castors than being given any kind of realistic movement.

Instead of the expected rampaging Razorback we instead spend way too much time following what almost feels like the plot for a revenge movie, especially with such a focus on Benny and Dicko trying to cover for their part in Beth’s death with Carl in the final quarter dedicating all his focus to hunting down the two brothers, before finally having a slaughterhouse showdown with the Razorback who essentially just shows up rather than because of any attempt to attract the creature. It almost feels like director Russell Mulcahy set out with the intention of making something intentionally different than your run of the mill eco-horror, more so when he brings such interesting imagery to what is a very straightforward story aswell as focusing more his human cast than his monster pig.

Equally disappointing are the few attacks we get with Beth’s death being as graphic (while strangely akward) as things get as this remains a surprisingly dry film in terms of gore.  The film still however manages to produce several surprisingly tense moments such as Carl spending the night in the outback being chased and tormented by the Razorback which while being intresting shot help to keep your interest and even without the gore it never feels like we are somehow being cheated out of something the film promised.

An interesting feature film debut for Mulcahy whose only film before this one was the concert documentary “Derek and Clive Get the Horn” aswell as some of the most memorable music videos of the 80’s especially for “Duran Duran” and “Elton John” for who he was seemingly the music video director of choice. That being said though as a movie director Mulcahy’s resume is equally impressive as he followed this film with the first two film in the “Highlander” series before drifting into directing TV and DTV features.  Teaming up here though with Dean Semler  who takes on director of photography while at the same time bringing his same eye for the Australian outback that he brought to “Mad Max 2” as its shown here once more as beautiful hostile environment where if the wildlife doesn’t kill you then one of the grizzled backward locals might. We even get a pair of trucks which look like leftover stock from “Mad Max 2” while covering the requirement that any Ozploitation movie most feature a healthy dose of car porn and here it certainly delivers not only with the trucks aswell as a posse of hunters heading out on a half-assed attempt to hunt the creature, whose enthusiasm only seemingly stretches to dashing off in a convoy of trucks only to find they’ve been mislead by the tracker and at which point give up the hunt without a second thought of looking in the nearby area, especially when they can be boozing it up in the local bar instead.

A strange film to say the least and one which managed to enthral and disappointment me to with equal measure which I couldn’t place if it was down to my own high expectations of getting to see “Jaws on Trotters” or Mulcahy’s general directing style. As such it makes it a hard film to recommend especially when it fails in the sense of being a traditional eco-horror yet at the same time its characters and interesting visuals help to hold your attention for the questionably large amount of times you’re not getting to see the pig.

Dark Age

Title: Dark Age

Director: Arch Nicholson
Released: 1987
Starring: John Jarratt, Nikki Coghill, Max Phipps, Burnham Burnham, David Gulpilil, Ray Meagher, Jeff Ashby, Paul Bertram, Ron Blanchard, Gerry Duggan, Ken Radley

Plot: When a giant crocodile starts feeding on the local population, park ranger Steve (Jarratt) must work with a pair of Aborigine guides Oondabund (Burnham) and Adjaral (Gulphilil) to track down the beast.

Review: Probably one of the more elusive films I have track down as of late, having first caught by interest when it was featured on the essential Ozploitation documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” which served to provide a shopping list of titles as it did expose the until then little recognised sub-genre of cult cinema. Of course its nothing compared to its native Austrailia which didn’t get to see the film untill 14 years after its release thanks to Avco Embassy who held the Australian distribution rights going bust and even then it was down to Quentin Tarantino once again doing his part for film preservation held a screening of the film in 2011.

Entering into the film I was pretty much expecting another fun crocodile movie in the vein of “Lake Placid” or “Alligator” but what I got here was something actually a little different as what starts off essentially as a scene by scene remake of “Jaws” only to then goes off in a completely different direction for its final twenty minutes as director Arch Nicholson throws us an ecological curveball. Infact its rather uncanny when the film is examined closer just how much it matches up as John Jarratt’s park ranger is essentially a transposed Sheriff Brody while Hooper is represented for the most part by Aborigine elder Oondabund who sees the croc as being the mythic croc “Numunwari” and as part of his peoples beliefs belives that the creature has to be saved rather than destroyed which is exactly what local hunter / poacher Jackson and his band of lowlifes have planned.

Jackson here essentially fills the Quint role as the blue collar thug who cares only about making his living hunting the local crocodile population while also to blame for the monster croc showing up in the first place when him and his buddies piss it off during a failed hunting expedition. Outside of the fact that him and his gang are constantly drinking, to the point where there is no scenes in this film where one of these isn’t at any time seen holding a beer, he also becomes obsessed with an Captain Ahab style desire for hunting “Numunwari” after it chews him arm off following his misguided attempt to kill the creature with an axe and while standing precariously in a boat no less and which ends pretty much how you’d expect. But for that one moment it looks pretty badass if still totally ridiculous at the same time.

John Jarratt now no doubt best known for his turn as the psycho Mick Taylor in the “Wolf Creek” films here is almost unrecognisable as he plays the dashing Shrieff Brody esq lead here who constantly tries to walk the tightrope between his loyalty to his boss who is concerned it will affect tourist developments while equally noteworthy for being played by legendry soap actor Ray Meagher from “Home and Away” and keeping the local Aborigine popularity happy. At the same time he also has to deal with his feeling for his ex Cathy who he is forced to work alongside and inevitably they get back together with Nicholson randomly deciding that their sex scene should be dumped in the middle of a chase scene as one moment we get an old man being chased by some local thugs and the next we have the argument foreplay between Cathy and Steve which soon leads to a gratuitous sex scene before we are then flung back into the chase. It’s almost as if Nicolson suddenly remembered that he hadn’t finished the scene and randomly tossed its conclusion in not knowing any other way to work it in and no doubt hoping that we were all too distracted by Nikki Coghill’s boobs to really care. The same could be also said for the final act car chase which not only sees Oondabund sitting on the front bonnet of a speeding truck like a old man hood ornament but him also being launched through the air when said truck crashes with him still on the bonnet in a scene which I had to rewatch a few times as I couldn’t figure out if it was the actor or a dummy being launched through the air. Still this being an Ozploitation movie it would be kind of disappointing if we did get random nudity and car chases being the backbone of the genre that they are.

The final act on a whole though is pretty random seeing how we essentially have a great ending only for the film to carry on for another twenty minutes which I would argue should have been cut had this extra time not contained so many great moments which loosely justify its inclusion here. At the same time I like the idea of the group trying to save the croc and relocate it rather than being another film in which they have to kill the monster animal with Nicolson including arguments for the crocodile following its nature than any kind of desire to hunt people.

When it comes to the crocodile while its always great to see a practical effect, even if it is a rubbery looking croc, let alone one which moves oh so slowly, making it all the more surprisingly that it can catch anyone had it not been for its ability to randomly pop out from any body of water it chooses including one memorable moment where it’s supposed to be tied to the front of the boat only to suddenly appear at the back of the boat. Nicolson even gives us his version of the beach attack from “Jaws” in probably one of the better known scenes from the film and also one of the most violent scene as the croc chomps down on a small child in a scene which is actually surprisingly shocking to watch. While the attack scenes are certainly a lot better than anything we’ve seen from recent croc attack movies with their heavy use of CGI and sudden cuts, it’s still a pretty gore light film outside of some bubbling red water and the occasional lost limb but still satisfying to watch none the less.

Despite his background mainly being in TV Nicholson here crafts a film which is strangely intriguing as I’m sure there is a great film which could be if you can cut through the frequently plodding plotting and rubbery looking croc. While it might equally be as noteworthy as other films in this category it’s still miles ahead of more recent efforts.

Mad Max: Fury Road

Title: Mad Max: Fury Road

Director: George Miller

Released: 2015

Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey Lee, Courtney Eaton, Megan Gale, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Richard Carter, Angus Sampson, Melissa Jaffer

Plot: In the distant future society has all but collapsed while those who remain battle over the last remaining resources. In this latest instalment of the series Max (Hardy) has been captured by the fanatical War Boys who in turn are ruled by the tyrannical fascist Immortan Joe (Keays-Byrne). Meanwhile supply truck driver Imperator Furiosa (Theron) decides to break away from his rule as she liberates his captive wives with a plan to head for the Green lands, with her path soon crossing with Max’s as the two realise that their salvation will require them to work together.

 

Review: Coming a staggering thirty years after the flawed yet still highly enjoyable “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” there was unquestionably a sense of hesitation as much as there was giddy excitement to finally have a new addition to the franchise for while it had been left open with potential for further adventures the fans weren’t left feeling that there was still things that hadn’t been left unanswered at the end of the last film which could very well have remained the end of Max's journey. So while Miller went on to other projects, including more randomly the celebrity voiced animal features “Babe” and “Happy Feet” there was however always an undying desire from the fans for another entry in the series. Still considering the film has been in various stages of development hell since 1998, on one hand its surprising that the film has now actually been released, while unquestionably setting a bar of expectation from the fan base which couldn’t possibly be met….could it?

Well thankfully I can report that the wait has been more than worthwhile as Miller shows he’s not lost any of the vision which made the original films stand out and if anything has spent the last thirty years thinking of ever more creative ways to bring chaos and destruction to screen once more which he delivers here in spades. At the same time this is also not so much a reboot but rather a tweaking of the series which sees the film being shot with more brighter colours than the original trilogy and with minor changes to Max's character, while Miller clearly chooses to leave it to the fan boys to hammer this entry’s position onto the timeline, especially with no real clear indication on where the story is supposed to happen on the timeline.

One of these major changes of course sees  the original road warrior Mel Gibson passing the torch to Tom Hardy who he has gone on record to call "a real firecracker" and its great to see Hardy once more being able to take on a such an iconic role while at the same time continuing to his reputation as the human chameleon. Max here is shown as still a shell of a man, whose years in the post-apocalyptic outback have at this point left him essentially feral while still haunted by the ghosts of the family he lost. However its fun to see Hardy pulling off some of Max's classic badass moves including entering into a standoff with an empty sawn off shotgun, while bringing a smile to my face with his ideas for unchaining himself from Nux. This time though he is equally matched by the feisty Imperator Furiosa who also carries with her, her own ghosts while hoping to find salvation at the mythical green lands much like her rag-tag band of survivors she takes along for the ride. Furiosa is equally enhanced beyond being just a female Max she might seem on the surface thanks to feminist writer / activist Eve Ensler who is no doubt best known for writing “The Vagina Monologues”  and here Miller brings on board to help develop the female characters. A smart decision especially in this world were the wives are see by Joe as being another commodity, an aspect which see’s Ensler bringing her real life experiences of working with abused and dominated women to help shape their creation, as seen with their rebellious graffiti they leave behind in their former prison / quarters proclaiming such slogans as “We Are Not Things” an aspect only further highlighted by their shedding of barbed Chasity belts they have had padlocked to their bodies.

Once more it is a colourful cast of characters that Miller brings to life here, while he clearly takes advantage of the time which has passed to bring back Keays-Byrne who originally played “Toecutter” in the original “Mad Max” and who here returns as the equally colourful Immortan Joe, with his skull mask and ventilator backpack and who like so many members of his clan he is slowly dying of disease and infection, while using his monopoly on a seemingly unlimited supply of water (or aqua cola as he calls it) to keep maintain his position of power and using his wives to breed the next generation of war boys. His gang the War Boys are equally an fascinating group as they live with a set of beliefs comparable to that of the Vikings as they view it an honour to die in battle, fuelled with hopes of making it into their version of Valhalla as they call for their brothers in arms to frequently witness them as they sacrifice themselves for their greater cause as highlighted by the conflicted path travelled by Nux (Hoult). At the same time Miller this time doesn’t just settle with one gang, as this cross desert chase also sees several other clans also joining in the fight, each with their own distinct styles including one who seem to be paying a direct homage to Peter Weir’s “The Cars Which Ate Paris” in particular its spiked beetle which is again replicated here.

Unquestionably the cars though are the star of the show with Miller this time crafting a film which is essentially one big car chase, with over 150 vehicles being created for the film of which over half were destroyed throughout filming. It is of course refreshing to see a director insisting on practical effects with CGI here only being used to highlight or cover for sequences which would otherwise be impossible, while the film more than delivers on its promises of a world of fire and blood as cars explode and crash in ever more spectacular ways with Miller seemingly setting out to top the already spectacular carnage he crafted with the original trilogy, a mission he more than achieves here. At the same time his eye for detail only adds to these sequences as he gives us such delights as a war drum truck complete with its own flamethrower welding guitar player or the tank treaded Mopar which makes for the ride of choice for the Bullet Farmer (Carter) it almost demand a repeat viewing just to take in the wide selection of instantly iconic vehicles featured. At the same time the cinematography by John Seale who was tempted out of retirement for this film, only emphasises the carnage with his use of crash cams and slow motion footage, for if car crash porn didn't exist before here he certainly gives us it. 

If there is any flaw in this film it could mainly be in the fact that this really doesn’t feel like Max’s film as like we saw with the recent "Godzilla" here the marquee name is pushed frequently to the background with Furiosa taking the lead, even though he is once again essentially doing the same thing he did with the previous two films by entering a community and helping them resolve their issues. Unsurprisingly this has led to several critics referring to this as being a feminist action movie, even though Miller has frequently featured strong women in the series from Mad Max 2’s “Warrior Woman” through to Thunderdome’s “Aunty Entity”. Equally the plotting is paper thin with much more of the focus on the chase which forms the real meat of the film, but honestly it’s so much fun let alone fast paced that you really won’t care.

Ultimately this is easily the film of the summer, while here's hoping that audiences also feel the same way as the critics, especially with Miller already having the next to films in this new trilogy planned out and currently awaiting the studio green light, which will no doubt happen if the box office matches the current excitement levels for this film. But if your an established fan then you will no doubt devour this latest entry while at the same time it still provides a nitro fuelled introduction for the uninitiated. This is one wild ride you don't want to miss!!

Stone

Title: Stone

Director: Sandy Harbutt
Released: 1974
Starring:  Ken Shorter, Sandy Harbutt, Helen Morse, Roger Ward, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Vincent Gill, Bindi Williams, Dewey Hungerford, Rebecca Gilling

Plot: Police officer Stone (Shorter) goes undercover with the Gravediggers, an outlaw motorcycle gang to find out who is murdering their members.

 

Review: Originally I had intended to review this movie way back when I did “Ozsploitation Month” only to get distracted by other films to the point were I’ve only now finally got around to watching it. It is also safe to say that it is also far from the biker movie I first expected going into it, as what director Harbutt gives here instead is more of a tibute to biker culture and the outlaw lifestyle than most biker movies would concern themselves, as the focus is put less on their hell raising antics and instead more on the family unit they have crafted for themselves.

Released five years before the first of the “Mad Max” films, which several the cast would also go on to appear in, this film would also have the honour of being the first Australian biker movie, which considering what gear heads Australian audiences are really makes it all the more surprising that no one made one earlier. At the same time the Ozploitation era would frequently be responsible for so many of firsts like this including giving the world Australia’s first Kung fu movie with “The Man From Hong Kong”. Sadly though despite this legacy the film has largely been forgotten and no doubt I too wouldn’t have known about it like so many films in the genre had it not been for the truly essential documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” which equally served to provide a handy watch list for the Ozploitation genre aswell as countless stories to highlight the indie film making methods being used to make them.

Opening with not only with some seriously trippy visuals as one of the bikers witnesses the assassination of a politician while on a serious acid trip, but some fun bike porn for those of you who like your motorcycles as the Gravediggers roll out on old school Kawasaki’s (according to Wikipedia) with the opening credits being made up of sudden freeze frame shots of different parts of the motorcycle as the rider prepares for a ride. From here we get to watch various members of the Gravediggers being taken off in a variety of creative ways including the old wire decapitation aswell as an incredible cliff jump. While these moments are fun they are then completely overshadowed by arguably the best scene of the whole film with a biker funeral precession complete with motorcycle and sidecar coffin and a line of bikers which never seems to end, as some four hundred bikers turned out to help with the filming of the scene.

The downside of this scene appearing so close to the start though is that the rest of the film never manages to better it, especially as the pace becomes more sedate with Stone slowly earning the trust of the Gravediggers while at the same time becoming ever more drawn into their outlaw lifestyle, which here Harbutt chooses to show as being less anarchic in nature than other biker films and instead showing the group living in an almost hippie commune style situation. Equally interesting is the fact that Stone openly admits to being a police officer from the start, rather than the film taking the more well-travelled road of him hiding his true identity and finding a way into the gang. This honesty does as a result create an almost anthropological style situation, as the bikers immediately distrust Stone due to him being a cop and hence the embodiment of everything they despise. The scenes which follow all charting the slowly increasing trust he earns from the group by participating in gang brawls and from his riding skills all the while finding himself slowly being increasingly drawn to their lifestyle the more he learns about them. This is of course only further helped by the Gravediggers being slightly deeper than your usual bikers as highlighted during the scene where they share their stories of what brought them all together, with the majority of them taking on the outlaw lifestyle due to delusion with various aspects of society, with most falling under hot topics of the period.

While Harbutt might not here be focused on the usual biker antics he does however still give us a fair few including a parking lot brawl with a rival biker gang. What is especially interesting about these scenes though is trying to figure how much of the action was planned, seeing how Harbutt recruited a number of real bikers for the film who he was also paying in beer leading unsurprisingly to a number of fights breaking out on set, with the situation only being further antagonised by Roger Ward who for some reason thought it would be a good idea to call the local Hell’s Angels chapter a bunch of poofters from the hotel balcony. Harbutt aswell was a big fan of the group being believable in their roles and insisted on the group living embracing their roles as much as possible which saw them living the biker lifestyle throughout filming, a situation which also reportedly made it far from a fun set for the female cast members many of which complaining of being objectified throughout filming.

While it might be now more overshadowed by the “Mad Max” films this is still an enjoyable movie, even if its opening fifteen minutes is misleading as to what the rest of the film will be like, especially with the earlier mentioned funeral scene but it ensures that while the tone for the majority of the film is pretty sedate that it still saves a jaw dropping surprise for the ending! True it might be a very different biker movie and more for the completest than the casual viewer, but as a curious watch the set pieces alone make it a worthwhile watch.

Primal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Title: Primal

Director: Josh Reed

Released: 2010

Starring: Zoe Tuckwell-Smith, Krew Boylan, Lindsay Farris, Rebekah Foord, Damien Freeleagus, Will Traval, Mark Saunders

Plot: Anja (Tuckwell-Smith) and her friends are looking for a remote collection of cave paintings in the bushlands of the Australian outback, unaware of an ancient evil lurking in the area, which soon turns the fun loving Mel (Boylan) into a primal savage who soon starts hunting the rest of the group.

 

Review: When it comes to producing great horror Australia has frequently been able to pull out surprising and original horror films, even if the output of the country has been more sporadic since the glory days of the Ozploitation era. This film however is not one of the more memorable films as of late. Frustratingly this is not a bad film, but rather a decidedly average one, which for every great idea it throws out there, it then proceeds to throw something stupid into the mix and inturn throwing the film off.

Opening with the usual setup of friends heading out to some remote location, only to soon find themselves way out of their depth, it essentially doesn’t deviate from the usual checklist which once again left me wondering when we will actually have a horror film, were you don’t have every character figured out within the first five minutes. Still it is not too long before Mel suddenly takes on a more savage form with  director Reed wasting no time on a gradual transformation as she goes from bubbly blonde to frenzied killer in a matter of minutes. True it isn’t a huge change seeing how this monstrous form basically consists of a pair of black contacts and a set of monstrous teeth which is no discredit to the film as while a simple change it is still an effective one and one fitting of the savage nature she takes on.

Here of course lies the first of the many issues with this film, in that the reason for this sudden change is never really explained, outside of suggesting that the evil spirit / worm thing in the caves has the power to turn anything which comes into contact with the nearby lake into a primal beast. Sadly the only things we see it affecting other than Mel and later group leader Dace (Traval) is a couple of rabbits, a bunch of leaches and the midge population which suddenly develops the ability to eat anything from tents to car tyres. The confusion is only added to by the random scenes of Mel tossing half eaten carcasses in the cave entrance to supposedly please whatever it is that lives I the cave. Half-baked plot ideas though are frustratingly the order of the day here and frequently proved to drag the film down every time it seem to established the direction the story was going to go, even more frustratingly when it seemed to have established a plot line involving trying to capture Mel, using a variety of Guerrilla tactics which felt in many ways like a nod to “Predator” especially when they construct a net trap which bizarrely seemed to be as far as their planning goes though in surreal moment, this lack of forward planning is even acknowledged by Dace and Warren (Freeleagus), who look up at the now trapped Mel and question what to do next. I mean seriously how can you build any kind of non-lethal trap without planning on what to do when it actually works?!?

On the flip side of these plotting issues the film does manage to pull out a few surprises mainly in the form of personality switches between characters, with the carefree joker actually having a sensitive side and a seemingly bookish member actually hiding an inner badass in one the more memorable confrontations between the group and their primal former friends. Honestly this did help break up the predictability of the plotting which sticks largely to the usual character clichés, while equally failing by this same effect to give us a satisfying final girl as neither of the remaining female characters manager to step up while one seems to be kept around for the sole purpose of cramming in an unwanted monster rape plot line (complete with mutant fetus). Such a disappointing lack of noticeable final girl has a lot to do with the casting, as none of the cast are particularly memorable, but this seems to be just another sign of the times when it comes to modern horror, especially when every new horror frequently seems like a GQ spread, with actors being seemingly chosen for their physical appeal rather than acting ability. This of course is unless you’re in an Eli Roth movie and then it’s more about your willingness to get naked.

Ultimately this film is forgettable at best and outside of a curious watch, it is doubtful that it will hold your interest to warrant a second. True there is a number of good idea, but these have to be found amongst the numerous half-baked ones, which frequently take away from the film, much like the lack of connection I felt with any of the characters and hence found it even harder to care about the situation they are in, much less find the enthusiasm to write this one up so approach with caution.

Mad Max

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Title: Mad Max

Director: George Miller
Released: 1979
Starring: Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Time Burns, Geoff Parry, Roger Ward, Vincent Gill

Plot: Set in the near future were with the Earth’s oil supplied nearly exhausted, society has begun to fall apart. Meanwhile Main Force Patrol (MFP) officer Max (Gibson) soon finds himself the target of a vengeful motorcycle gang lead by the Toecutter (Keays Byrne) after he accidently kills one of their members

 

Review: One of the key Ozploitation movies of the Australian New Wave era and a film which despite its limited budget would not only spawn two sequels (with the third “Fury Road” as of the time of writing currently in production), it would also go on to set the benchmark for car smash movies. This is only further justified when you look at what is possibly one of the greatest opening sequences ever rivalled perhaps only by “Narc”, as we are mere minutes into the film, before we are straight into the opening car chase, featuring a caravan being decimated, cars flipped and even a rocket car, all shot with a heavy dose of car porn as Director Millar ensures that the whole sequence is shot at break neck speed.

Inspired by a strange yet effective combination of the post apocalyptic cult classic “A Boy And His Dog” (Sadly he choose not to also use a talking dog), the 1973 fuel shortages in Australia, were motorists were frequently resorting to violence to fill their fuel tanks, aswell as what Millar was seeing while working as an Emergency Room doctor and from these sources he crafts a world of violence and chaos, one he would continue to build on with the sequels to create a truly original vision of a post-apocalyptic Australia. However it is not a world without hope which in this film comes from the skeleton crew of MFP officers still trying to maintain law and order, despite the local populace becoming increasingly more wild and violent, while the courts have all but collapsed meaning that they frequently struggle to make their arrests stick, with the crumbling halls of justice sign essentially capturing their current state. Meanwhile Millar truly captures a society on the edge of implosion.

Within this world Miller undoubtedly crafts some truly memorable characters, a trait he also carried over to the sequels, with fleshed out characterisation which extends well beyond the main characters and carried right through to even the most minor characters so that it feels like a living world that the film exists within. As the big evil of the film Keays-Byrne makes for a suitable intimidating villain as the Toecutter, a role he reportedly based on Genghis Khan which is a pretty suitable model considering the nomadic styling his gang and while he might not be anywhere as psychotic as the villains who followed, as he prefers to have his gang carry out his dirty work, while using his towering size to intimidate those he encounters, aswell as to keep his gang in line.

Despite the challenges and horrors Max faces on a daily basis, he refuses to give in as he continues to try and fight the good fight, finding solace from the horrors he sees from his loving wife and child who provide him the rock he needs, something which is only emphesised by him becoming the titular Mad Max after they are viciously killed by bikers in a truly hunting sequence and one which I found affecting me more while rewatching it for this review, possibly because of being a father myself, something I was on the previous times I had watched this film. It is a role embodied by the fresh faced Gibson, with this film launching him into superstar status, despite originally only attending the auditions for the film to support his close friend Steve Bisley who here appears similarly as Max’s best friend Goose. Ironically it would be the battered appearance he turned up to the audition in as a result of the previous nights bar brawl that would land him the part, with one of the casting agents advising him to come back as “We need freaks”. Gibson despite his inexperience perfectly manages to potray the two sides to Max, especially in his transformation from loving family man to ice cold avenger.

The violence here despite the films legacy is largely retrained and more implied with Miller preferring to give the viewer bursts of intense violence, which can be slightly disappointing after such a strong opening that the film on first viewing can feel like one drawn out chase movie, as Max and his family try to escape from Toecutter and his men, who are quick to spurn themselves into a whirlwind of violence and rape (Both male and female with bisexual / homosexual villains one of the more random  reoccurring themes of the series). While future instalments would amp up the violence, this film instead is more a study of revenge and what happens when a man reaches his breaking point, with Max’s revenge being especially blunt as he utilises both his trademark black pursuit special but also a sawn off shotgun as his tools of revenge, while memorably forcing one gang member to choose between sawing through a chain or his ankle to avoid being blown up in a scene which would also provide the inspiration for “Saw”. Needless to say this is world were only those willing to fight or give in to more primal instincts survive, aswell as one were the intimidating MFP Captain is called FiFi (Ward)

While it is my least favourite of the trilogy, it is a film which benefits from a repeat viewing or atleast some prior warning over what to expect, especially when comparing to the sequels, which are very much a different beast in comparison, but as an origin story it is still solid on its own merits and a films which certainly has lost nothing in the years since its release.

The Loved Ones

Title: The Loved Ones

Director: Sean Byrne

Released: 2009

Staring: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, Victoria Thaine, Jessica McNamee, Richard Wilson, John Brumpton

Plot: When Brent (Samuel) turns down Lola’s (McLeavy) invitation to the school prom, she concocts a plan for her own prom instead.

Review: Despite being released three years ago to zero fanfare, for one reason or another this film has suddenly become a hot topic in the horror blogging community, were in the space of the week I’ve seen posts from at least four different bloggers. Meanwhile it seems my finger had been far from the pulse (no doubt jammed somewhere else to paraphrase "Mallrats" Brodie) , having recorded this film ages ago yet only now finally getting around to watching it.

The feature debut of director Sean Byrne who is probably best known for his short films, a reputation which may soon be challenged by this film as it’s popularity continues to increase and with good reason as here he takes the usual torture movie conventions yet has somehow managed to produce a highly original film, which like it’s nastier predecessor “Wolf Creek” makes you wonder what it is about Australian film makers which allows them to still manage to make original films in what is fast becoming a genre almost as overworked as the Zombie genre, much less were they are drawing such vicious inspiration from?

The plot is simple enough with the shy and retiring Lola having eyes for the moody Brent and only wanting for him to take her to the prom, sadly to be shot down.  Possibly not the best decision Brent could have made seeing how Lola doesn’t exactly take rejection that well. Still Brent soon learns the cost of saying no to Lola, as she soon has him tied up in her house which she has converted into her own prom, with the help of her equally unhinged father (Brumpton) who is more than happy to ensure that his princess gets the prom she wants. Now while most directors would just see this as all the setup they need to get into unleashing their twisted ideas onto the screen, Byrne instead throws us something of a curve ball by breaking up the scenes of torture with what would at first seem to be random comedic asides as we follow Brent’s portly best friend Jamie (Wilson) as he manages to convince the hot Goth Mia to go with him to prom, only to soon find out that perhaps Lola isn’t the only unhinged girl at their school. Initially I was put off by the random cuts to Jamie’s prom night, but ultimately it is the right decision here as it adds a much needed relief to the essentially relentless scenes of torture and torment, which while it might remove some of the snarl from the film, certainly stopped it turning into another brutal assault like “Wolf Creek” which only helped me enjoy it more.

The real power in this film though comes from McLeavy’s performance which always stays on the right side of demented, without becoming comical especially as she frequently teeters close to the edge of farcical, while her out of tune . Still Lola is slightly more complex than your usual slasher, especially as she’s essentially bi-polar when it comes to her torture parties, switching on a moments notice from snarling confidence to crippling panic, especially when parts of her plan don’t work out how she originally planned them as especially seen during the scenes of her attempts at home lobotomy surgery something which only had me draw further comparisons between her and the equally obsessed Annie Wilkes from “Misery” with the shots of Lola and her power drill almost holding the same power as Annie and her sledgehammer. Were their obsessions differ though is in the fact that her obsession with Brent can be rooted to her serious daddy issues, which boil down to the fact that she wants to jump her dad’s bones. Still it is a fascinating relationship that she shares with Daddy (Brumpton) who seemingly is happy to do whatever it takes to keep his daughter happy, while also appearing to be responsible for some of the more disturbing elements of the film such as the lobotomised Bright eyes and no doubt the basement full of cannibals, while also hiding a nasty streak of his own which is slowly revelled as the layers of the bumbling bumpkin are peeled away to show his true colours. Such multi layered characterisation is a running theme throughout the film, with only a few characters such as Jamie actually being who they first appear with Brent being a mass of guilt and angst, as the result of his father’s death, something he deals with by self mutilation and generally keeping himself doped up, though no doubt his encounter with Lola has given him a whole new bunch of issues, especially when he finds himself tied up in her kitchen and rendered mute, thanks to her injecting his voice box with bleach, something which also adds another interesting layer to the film, as we are faced with watching a character who cannot speak or make any sound bar a raspy scream when subjected to the more extreme tortures that Lola and her father unleash on him over the course of the evening.

The gore which while frequently graphic which mutilation and impalement heavily featured, it is never at the same gratuitous levels as many of its contemporaries to which it is significantly lighter in tone as Bryne has crafted a film which very much plays by it’s own rules and is only all the stronger for it. Even more so after baring witness to the stream of clones which followed in the wake of the success of Eli Roth’s “Hostel” and while it still features the same kind of visceral seat-squirming visuals it still at the same times bothers to do more than just pile on the grime and gore, with Byrne seemingly fighting these conventions further by dressing Lola in bright pinks, while her mumbling rendition of “Am I Not Pretty Enough?” is nothing short of haunting and filled with the same loneliness which seemingly inhabits every aspect of Lola’s life, while only further ensuring that this is one prom your unlikely to forget anytime soon.