Machete Maidens: Unleashed

One of my favourite documentaries of last year was easily "Not Quite Hollywood", which looked at the little known exploitation sub-genre known simply as Ozploitation, which director Mark Hartley proved to clearly be a huge fan of, as his documentary not only looked at the random and frequently insane films which made up the genre, but clearly showed a love for these largly forgotten movies, while in turn inspiring me to run the "Ozploitation Season" here on the blog and starting what has since been an on going love for exploitation films of our Aussie cousins.

Now he is back and once again turning his attention to another obsure aspect of cinema history, with the little known Filipino genre films of the 70's and 80's, with his latest documentary "Machete Maidens: Unleashed".



The Philippines was in the 70's and 80's the ultimate playground for exploitation film makers, thanks largely to cheap labour, non existant health and safety aswell as exotic locations all in one handy location, while the films which came out of these shoots were nothing short of memorable from monsters and jungle prisons, to blaxploitation and kung fu hybrids, as Hartley has once again raided the archives to find the most random and obscure films he can, to truly provide another indepth look into yet another aspect of the obscure cinema he clearly adores .

Once more Hartley has assembled a great list of interviewees once again including Judy Brown (The Big Doll House), Marlene Clark (Night of the Cobra Woman), Roger Corman, R Lee Emery, Joe Dante, Eddie Garcia (Black Mama, White Mama) and Sid Haig (The Woman Hunt) aswell as numerous other actors, directors and producers who made the films, all getting a chance to tell their story of the part they played in these frequently random films.

Hartley is currently touring with the film and I urge you all to give it a look, as this is one documentary, I'm really keen to check out, especially if it makes it over here, to these rainy UK shores, so don't be surprised if you see a season of Filipino genre films being reviewed here in the near future.

In the meantime you can also show some love over on the Facebook page.

Ozploitation Month: Long Weekend

Title: Long Weekend
Director: Colin Eggleston

Released: 1978

Staring: John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, Mike McEwen, Roy Day, Michael Aitkens

Rating: 3/ 5

Plot: Peter (Hargreaves) and Marcia (Behets) 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

Review: Long weekend is a strange movie, not only because of it’s plot content, but mainly because even after the title credits have rolled your still not quite sure, what you have just watched, an experience that I havn't really found outside of the films of David Lynch and Shinya Tsukamoto with Gregg Araki’s “Nowhere” (1997) being the only film watching experience, that I can compare to that of watching Long Weekend, which really doesn’t help, as I sit here trying to provide you all with some form of critic on this film….oh well here goes.
As I said Long Weekend is certainly a strange movie, if not one of the few movies that falls into the genre of “Humans invading the animal sphere” (to quote Jenn, whose blog “Cavalcade of Perversions” is always worth a look) which again is unusual as it see’s us humans as the aggressors rather than a member of the animal kingdom doing the terrorising, which honestly was kind of a new one for me and not something I’d seen before and here it is used to great effect without spilling over into the usual camp horror which the creature feature genre usually comes with, as Peter and Marcia come under attack from pretty much anything that mother nature can muster to throw at them.
The relationship between Peter and Marcia is an interesting one to watch, especially seeing how they pretty much despise each other as they, bitch and moan at each other over the course of what will be a very long weekend. One of the first warning signs of their relationship, is when we see Peter sighting the scope on his rifle while using Marcia as the intended target, which is even before the first argument has even started and kind of says all sorts of things about their relationship, whose dark secrets are slowly revealed throughout the course of the film, as we start to understand why they are the way they are to each other, which might fill you with some sort of sympathy, but lets not forget this film is part of the Ozploitation genre, which means that nothing is ever straightforward, for it seems that not content with bitching at each other, these two are also a real danger to the environment around them, as Peter runs over a kangaroo and refuses to stop aswell as spending pretty much all of his time failing to cut down the surrounding forest and shooting his rifle at the local wildlife, as he plays at being a wilderness expert / cowboy, having spent their holiday budget on all this expensive camping equipment, he constantly reassures himself that he knows what he is doing like some kind of wilderness expert, while meanwhile Marcia shows an equal dislike for anything resembling nature, that interferes with her personal comfort zone, using this as further ammunition against Peter, as she refuses his sexual advances and constantly states how they could have spent the money on a nice hotel, rather than being forced to rough it like this, which doesn’t just make them unlikeable to the audience, but hoping that they are going to get slaughtered.

Meanwhile while we are watching this couple on their rampage through nature, nature is slowly beginning to muster it's forces and strike back, with these first strikes coming subtly at first, with Ants invading their camp site and the couple hearing strange noises coming from the woods, but as the film progresses, these attacks become more aggressive and obvious, while at the same time both Peter and Marcia’s sanity is being stretched more and more thin, making them unsure whether it is nature that is striking back or whether it is all in their minds and it’s these mind games that Director Eggleston enjoys playing mindgames throughout, from the camerawork, which often lurks amongst the bushes, watches on like a lurker and taking the time to film the picturesque settings, someone gaining tension from even the simplest of locations throughout and even giving nature a voice in several scenes, including having the ants screaming in pain when Marcia pours insecticide on them, as well as having a supposedly dead manatee, which Peter shoots earlier in the film, after Marcia mistakes it for a shark, slowly crawling up the beach despite being buried (if admittedly quite half assed) by Peter when it’s body washes up on the beach, with these mind games only intensifying as the film reaches it’s shocking climax, while still maintaining the aura of mystery as to what is really happening and never once feeling the need to explain what is happening, preferring instead to leave it up to the audience to figure things out for themselves.

Long Weekend is certainly a film stripped down to the bare necessities, with no special effects, a minimally intrusive soundtrack and never once going to cheap scares to keep it’s audience, it truly is a film driven by its two leads, as unlikable as they are, we are still tied to them through this whole experience and it’s with a mere curiosity to what will happen to them, or finding out the next dark secret, which they are desperately trying to hide, that keeps you drawn into the story. Ironically these same things are also which make the film less easy to get into for horror fans, which prefer something more visual and it’s these fans which are going to find this film hard to stick with, but for those of us who like a little mystery with their films, then they will no doubt find something to enjoy here.

For a film which is generally not so well known, it has lead to a shot for shot remake, bringing back memories of Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake of “Psycho”, though at present it seems to be also below the radar at present, being found purely on the festival circuit as it struggles to find some for of mainstream release. In the meantime this original version is at the least worth the price of a rental, even if it won’t be for everyone, it is still a highly original film of what I’m sure is a very lonely genre.

Ozploitation Month: The Man From Hong Kong

Title: The Man From Hong Kong
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith, Jimmy Wang Yu

Released: 1975

Staring: Jimmy Wang Yu, George Lazenby, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward, Rosalind Speiers, Grant Page, Rebecca Gilling, Frank Thring, Sammo Hung

Rating: 4/ 5

Plot: When a Hong Kong drug courier (Hung) is arrested in by undercover Australian police, they call in Inspector Fang Sing Leng (Yu) only for him to discover a link between the Hong Kong and Australian drug trade, being orchestrated by Australian Gangster Jack Wilton (Lazenby).

Review: Someone once wrote that, if you put a dozen monkeys in a room with a dozen typewriters, that they will eventually write Shakespeare. Okay I'm not too sure were they got that idea from, but I suppose the same could be said for this film, seeing how it’s a combined effort of some of the film industries prime crazies with Brian Trenchard-Smith, Jimmy Wang Yu and Grant Page all working on film, it could easily have turned out horrible, which thankfully it didn’t, seeing how it’s the first Australian Kung Fu movie, it really is really quite watchable.
“The Man From Hong Kong” or “The Dragon Files” as it’s occasionally found as stateside is a strange film at best and not only due to the fact, that it is a Kung Fu movie set in Australia, but because it falls somewhere between being a “Dirty Harry” and “James Bond”, combining all the seduction, chases and explosions of the latter, while Inspector Leng’s style of detective work is more in tune with that of the former’s Inspector Harry Callahan, while also throwing in a heavy dollop of Kung Fu, though at the same time still providing an interesting enough storyline, which unlike numerous other films in the Kung Fu genre isn’t just filler between fight scenes.
The character of Detective Leng, I found myself frequently wanting to compare to that of Detective Azuma in “Violent Cop” (1989) who was played so memorably by Takeshi Kitano and whose character like Leng, shares the belief that the best method of integration is to basically, beat the hell out of the suspect, until you get the information you need, or shud you happen to kill them, that the contents of thier wallet will tell you everything you want to know, which is basically what he spends the majority of the time doing, with this unique (and apparantly legal ) style of detective work providing a great confrontation scene early on, when Leng interrogates the drug runner played by Sammo Hung, in a surprisingly small role especially seeing how like Jimmy Wang Yu, he’d already appeared in numerous martial arts films before making this one, but despite his appearance being so brief it is still nice to see an early performance, though he is certainly a lot thinner than he is in later films, which means that he’s not so instantly recognisable with out his trademark girth.

The fight sequences throughout are all full of bone crunching action, from the first fight sequence on Ayres Rock (Just one of several landmark, which make an apperence throughout) and Wilton’s dojo to the final showdown between Leng and main bad guy Jack Wilton, with none of these scenes having the feeling of reputition, as Sammo Hung and Hung Kan Po in his sole martial arts choreography credit, really set out to showcase the abilities of Jimmy Wang Yu, using both weapons and hand to hand combat and whose fighting style comes across as being extremely fluid, even when fighting against actors, dafted in to play various thugs, one of which being played by director Trenchard-Smith whose Thug character manages to receive a particularly brutal beating, which would later turn out, was him actually getting battered, seeing how Jimmy Wang Yu wasn’t throwing punches, instead actually connecting with all of his blows, which does add a certain element of realism to the film, with a similar style of screen fighting later being seen in “Eastern Condors” (1987) which also had actors connecting with their blows and kicks, though with this film, it was probably not so intended and more down to Jimmy Wang Yu, who by all accounts was not the easiest person to work with, being generally disliked by the crew and constantly battling Trenchard-Smith for directorial control of the film, who he felt was inexperienced, especially considering that this was only Trenchard-Smith’s second film. He also had a strong dislike of Western women, especially actresses which possibly isn’t the best thing, when he is playing a character which shares several characteristics with James Bond, especially when it comes to the ladies, who despite being devoid of any form of charisma, doesn’t seem to have much problem picking up the ladies. However with Wang Yu’s views on women, he would often pick flies from the air and eat them, during these romance scenes. Still despite the lack of charisma on Jimmy Wang Yu’s part, thankfully George Lanzenby manages to provide enough charisma to go around, having only signed on for the film after having been pretty much blacklisted at this point in his career, having failed to take over the Bond role from Sean Connery in the lacklustre “On Her Majesties Secret Service” making him personally my sixth favourite bond, though he more than redeems himself here as the Gangster Jack Wilton and had he been this good as Bond I would have probably liked him a lot more, as here he plays the character with an air of constant cool and calm, never allowing himself to be fazed by Inspector Leng’s investigation, while also processing equal martial arts skills as those used by Leng, which makes the final showdown, even more exciting to watch, even though it is kind of questionable that he only has one henchman to protect his penthouse hideout.
The Man From Hong Kong could easily, have just been a great Kung Fu movie, but seeing how this is an Aussie movie, it also means that we also get some great car smash action, which when you consider the legacy of great car smash movies, that the country has produced in the past, it is great that this film has several scenes which easily meet with those high standards one of which is at the start of the film, intercut with shots of the first of the big fight scenes, ending with the car rolling over and exploding and the door flying off in the direction of the camera and only just missing and with the other standout chase coming near the end of the film, as cars are drove off the road and through houses, all without the use of CGI, which only makes them all the more exciting to know that what your watching is actually happening, with credit especially going to Grant Page, who it could be said is just as insane as the directors, allowing himself to get kicked off motorcycles and generally get the living hell beaten out of him.
Still outside of the great fights and chase sequences, I am still left with a few grumbles with the main one being Detectives Gross and Taylor played here by Hugh Keays-Byrne & Roger Ward, who are humorous enough in the scenes which they appear, especially the Xenophobic Detective Taylor, but they are neglected to the background far too soon and go from working with Leng, to basically just trailing his path of destruction and occasionally producing a witty remark.

The Man From Hong Kong, could all to easily have been a movie that didn’t work, especially when you consider, just how insane the idea of an Aussie Kung Fu movie is, to begin with let alone the people who made it, but despite this it still makes for an enjoyable kung fu film, that fans of the genre and trash cinema will adore for all it’s randomness, as it flicks between genres letting the audience decide for themselves what sort of movie it is supposed to be, as I still don’t know whether it was going down the route of being a more brutal version of Jackie Chan’s “Police story” (1985) or if it’s trying to make Jimmy Wang Yu, the Asian James Bond? I’m still not quite sure, but I know that if anything it has the one of the most catchy theme songs ever with “Sky High” by Jigsaw, which like “The Bermuda Depths” (1978) achieved with “Jennie” by Claude Carmichael and giving me yet another song which will no doubt be stuck in my head for the next week or so.

Ozploitation Month: Rogue

Title: Rogue
Director: Greg Mclean
Released: 2007
Staring: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington, Caroline Brazier, Stephen Curry, Celia Ireland, John Jarratt

Rating: 4/ 5

Plot: Pete (Vartan) is an American travel writer who on his way back to the airport stops off in a small rural town for a river cruise (as you do), led by the local tour guide Kate (Mitchell). However while responding to a distress flare, their boat is rammed by something from below and tour is thrown into disarray as they become stranded on a tiny mud island. Now as night falls and the tide starts to rise, the group slowly realise they are being stalked by a huge saltwater crocodile, beginning a terrifying struggle for survival in one of the most remote places in the world.

Review: It’s pretty safe to say that Australia is home to more creatures that can kill / horribly maim you than any other place in the world, which makes it all the more surprising that it has in the past only produced a handful of movies, using any of these creatures with the main two that instantly spring to mind being “Razorback” (1984) and “Dark Age” (1987), which respectively featured a giant pig and a giant crocodile and yet for some reason we still don’t have the Australian version of “Jaws” (1975) even though Bollywood managed to churn out their own (if rather unique) version with “Aatank” (1996)

So it seems it was up to Greg Mclean to step up to the plate, who is probably best remembered for his feature length debut “Wolf Creek” (2005) which though a lot of people liked it, I personally didn’t (there I said it), finding that it took things to far in terms of the torture aspects, pushing the film past being suspenseful, to the point it was almost voyeuristic, in how much of an ordeal the lead characters could be put through, which ended up making it just another grizzly entry in the torture porn genre, still despite this it was still clear that Mclean was certainly a talent worth watching and it’s faith not misplaced, as “Rogue” clearly proves that he is not a one trick Pony.

“Rogue” is a beautifully shot film, not only with the main story focus, but also with it’s National Geographic style views of the surrounding wilderness, as Mclean takes the time, to allow the audience to become enveloped in the outback setting once again, in much the same way that he did with “Wolf Creek” while replacing the desert landscape of the outback, to the lush jungle like surroundings of Australia’s Northern territories, in many ways making us feel like we are on the same tour boat, as the characters and experiencing the things which they are, as he cuts back and forth to the characters on the tour boat, as he slowly introduces them all and taking the time with each character, to establish them properly, while at the same time certainly being in no hurry to unleash his killer croc, which doesn’t even make an appearance till the 30 minute mark and even then, Mclean chooses to allow us only view the creature in brief glimpses, in much the same way as Spielberg did with “Jaws” which is a clear inspiration, for this film and which could be argued that, these teasing glimpses was more a result of having a distinctly plastic looking shark, where as Mclean’s killer croc, is certainly more impressively lifelike, as the animatronics effects are seamlessly combined with CGI, which is none more clear than during the final cave showdown, when we finally get to see the creature in it’s full glory.

Unlike most films of the same genre due to Mclean taking the time, to introduce his characters, it makes them more than just disposable croc chowder and also when combined with the high quality cast he has assembled, which also see’s the return of Mclean regular John Jarratt, after his memorable performance as Mick Taylor in “Wolf Creek” it’s not surprising to see him once again and again, he is on form as widower “Russell” even if it is a more toned down performance. The lack of bit players in the cast, also means that your never quite sure, which of them is going to be meeting their maker next, which only helps to further the tension, which is slowly cranked up, as the situation for the group only continues to grow more dire.
John Jarratt is not the only returning Mclean regular, as Frank Tetaz again returns to provide the score, fusing aboriginal chants with a more traditional classical score, to superb effect as it moves from mysterious to dramatic and suspenseful, as the situation for the characters change, while remaining firmly in the background and never once threatening to overpower the film to create a false sense of mood, which numerous lesser creature features have relied on in the past, it is surprising that this crocodile, doesn’t come with his own signature theme, which when combined with the lack of the usual Creature POV shot, means that an attack can happen at any time, without the audience being able to see it coming a mile off, though no doubt the horror veterans will have little difficulty predicting when these are going to happen anyway.
Seeing how crocodile attacks are usually messy and violent, the gore is surprisingly light, with the few heavier moments of gore, only being used to emphasis the injuries being suffered, still despite this the attack scenes are none the less enjoyable. I have to admit though, that I found this especially surprising, seeing how “Wolf Creek” contained numerous shocking moments of gore and violence, with the memorable “Head on a stick” being one especially, but with “Rogue” he has surprisingly chosen to hold back, aiming for realism rather than gory shocks.

We might still be waiting for the Aussie version of “Jaws”, which I’m sure is just a film lurking in development hell, but at least with Rouge, we have almost the next best thing till that movie shows up, no doubt in some car wash DVD dump bin, but for all the “Jaws” comparisons that Rogue draws it is still a great creature feature and it’s just a shame that thanks to crappy distribution, which meant that the UK it never got a release even on DVD let alone in cinema, which was slightly surprising when you consider how well “Wolf Creek” was received, still I can only hope that like Kevin Smiths “Mallrats” (1995) which did equally poorly in theatre’s and like that film, that this film will finally find it’s audience on DVD.

Ozploitation Month: Turkey Shoot

Title: Turkey Shoot
Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Released: 1982

Staring: Steve Railsback, Oliva Hussey, Michael Craig, Carmen Duncan, Noel Ferrier, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Michael Petrovich
Rating: 4/ 5

Plot: In the near future (or shud that be an alternate past seeing how it’s supposed to be 1995), people deemed as being Deviants by the totalitarian government are held at a rehabilitation camp, till theycan be reprogrammed as useful members of society. Camp director Thatcher (Craig) however, has chosen five inmates to be take part in his latest hunt, with the chance of freedom if they survive. The only catch is that they are the prey!

Review: Ever since the release of “Battle Royale” (2000) which along with the like of “Ringu” (1998) and “Audition” (1999) helped push Asian cinema, into the mainstream conscious, exposing films that would have largely been ignored by most of the cinema going public, other than cinema snobs and the foreign film fans. However since the release of “Battle Royale” it seems that when ever you have a film, come out which involves any group of people being hunted for sport, be it by people, zombies or pretty much anything else, you will always find critics quick to attach the label of a film being a “Battle Royale Clone”, which is ironic when that film is basically the same idea as “Turkey Shoot” except on a larger scale, increasing this films group of five to a school class of 42 pupils, but it’s clearly “Turkey shoot” that provides the groundwork and even though both films share the same idea, they both have enough originality to stand on their own, but if anything is a clone of anything, then it has to be of “Turkey Shoot”, but then at the same time you could say that this film is also a homage to Richard Connel’s "The Most Dangerous Game" and George Orwell's "1984", proving once again that like everything else it is just really a homage of a homage.

Opening with a montage of stock footage of riots around the world, which provides all the backdrop you need, to were society has been heading to the point, that the faceless government has set up concentration style camps, to re-educate those who wish to stand up against their Orwellian vision of society. We are quickly introduced to our so called heroes a resistance member Paul Anders (Railsback), an accused sex worker Rita (Stoner) and Chris (Hussey) who is a shopworker, who after attempting to stop the beating of a man, by government police is accused of being part of the resistance and sentenced to re-education at the camp along with Paul and Jennifer, who will soon be taking part in the hunt planned by the well spoken, pipe smoking camp director Thatcher, who is played effortlessly laid back here by Micheal Craig, who uses the sadistic camp guards to enforce his wrath on the camp detainee’s, rather than dirty his hands with such things.

With Paul having been sent to his camp, he now see’s this as the perfect time to hold a Turkey Shoot, gathering together several like minded fellow hunters, who each choose themselves a target prisoner to hunt with each prisoner then given twenty four hours to escape, with the promise of freedom if they do.
This simple plot, helps keep the pace of the film moving quickly and despite the lack of prisoners being hunted, a modest five compared to the 42 of “battle royale”, it still manages to remain satisfying enough for those of us, who heard the comparisons to “battle royale” and picked this film up hoping for a similar style bloodbath, as all four of the hunters have their own unique style of hunting with the well spoken Tito (Petrovich) preferring to chase after his target in what can best be described as a mini bulldozer and unleashing his sideshow freak / werewolf pet “Alph” to remove parts of his targets anatomy, including one scene in which he invites Alph to eat the toes of prisoner Dodge, before letting him go, so that he might enjoy hunting him again. Meanwhile Jennifer (Duncan) prefers to dress like she is going on a foxhunt, taking time with her crossbow, as she plays with her target, like a cat with a mouse, aswell as any other of the prisoners, she gets in her sights regardless of whether they are her target or not, only truly revelling the extent of her dark side towards the end, in one of the more surprising and chilling scenes, which works all the more strongly when the film is hardly subtle and pure grind house fodder for the majority of it’s run time.

Gore wise there is plenty of interesting moments, to rival that of “Battle Royale” which I know I keep drawing comparisons to, but that will be the film which most viewers will compare this film to and “Turkey Shoot” does have more than enough of it’s original moments, as limbs are removed and a memorable exploding head being only a few of the delights on offer.
On the soundtrack, Brian May adds his usual orchestral styling to the film soundtrack, once again like he did finding the perfect score to soundtrack, the events unfolding on screen, heightening the experience in the same way that he did with the “Mad Max” movies and here also it works perfectly to complement the film.

“Turkey Shoot” is defiantly a lost classic, that will now hopefully find it’s audience once more, especially since being featured in the “Ozplotiation” documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” which will no doubt have the “Battle Royale” fans hunting it down already, something that I urge you to do, even if this film has so many random moments, such as the werewolf create and most of the bad guys, appear to have come from the Star Trek school of villainy, it still possesses that grubby charm that makes it still a highly watchable movie, I’m now after seeing both this film and the documentary “Not Quite Hollywood” torn between which has the better story, the film or the making of the film, which if I’m to believe the documentary, had half the budget being funded, through betting funds at the dog track and live ammunition being fired at the actors, let alone the story of Oliva Hussey almost cutting Roger Wards real hands off with a machete, which all in all only helps further this films reputation as a Ozploitation classic!

Ozploitation Month: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

So here is the first review, as part of my month long look at "Ozploitation" movies and what better place to start than with one of my all time favourite movies "Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior. If you want to have your thoughts, on the subject of Ozplotiation be it reviews, essays or anything that ties in with this months theme, just click here for details of how you too can be part of Ozploitation month.





Title: Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Director: George Miller
Released: 1982
Staring: Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence, Michael Preston, Max Phipps, Vernon Wells, Kjell Nilsson, Emil Minty
Rating: 5/ 5


Plot: Continuing after the event of the first film, Max (Gibson) now travels through the post apocalypse Australia where Gasoline has become most valuable commodity. It’s here that he becomes involved in a struggle between a group of psychotic bandits lead by the Humangus (Nilsson) and a town that has built its defences around a small refinery.

Review: When it comes to naming the greatest sequels of all time, it’s usually a pretty short list, especially when you limit it to movies which manage to surpass the original film from which they have been spawned, which will no doubt leave you with a list that looks a lot like this.

* Godfather part 2
* Gremlins: The New Batch
* Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
* Terminator 2: Judgement Day
* Aliens
* Baby cart at the River Styx

But for myself when it comes to one movie that not only surpasses its original film, but blows it out of the water, I always think of this film, which was released three years after the original movie and costing ten times the budget of the original movie, it’s hardly surprising that this was at the time one of the most expensive Australian movies made at the time of it’s release, but for myself this truly is a film that surpasses it's original, which honestly I never really cared for, seeing how it had a strong memorable opening and a great finale, but somewhere in-between it became just a run of the mill chase thriller, as Max and his family found themselves constantly on the run from “The Toecutter” and his marauding group of bikers and true it’s storyline might be important, due to it showing how Max became the shell of the man he is, when we catch up with him in this film, where it seems since the last time we saw Max, the world has gone to hell in a hand basket, thanks to the war over oil, ravaging the planet which only proves all the more ironic when we look at the conflict currently happening in Iraq. Still thanks to the dramatic opening narrative, we are quickly brought up to speed, before being thrown into the first of the films many chase sequences, which after all were the selling point of the first film and realising this Miller, has with this sequel created some of the most memorable chase sequences put onto film, maximising on the apocalyptic setting, to not only create strange hybrid vehicles, but also using the setting to bring a new primal and more brutal edge to these sequences, with the standout of course being the final tanker chase, which not only clocks in at an impressive 15 minutes, but in many ways modernises the familiar set piece of westerns by giving us his version of a stage coach ambush setting, as we see the Humangus’s dogs of war leaping from vehicles, to try and climb onboard the tanker.


It’s true that “Mad Max 2” might also be almost a complete reimagining of the world created in “Mad Max” (1979), which despite having a future time frame still looked very current for the time of it’s release, but it’s a reimaging or even a reboot which saved the series, which at the end of the first film had really no where to go, but by making the subtle tweaks to the setting, such as the world now being post apocalyptic, it helps make the film more open to creativity, which is none more present than with Humangus and his dogs of war, who are really a rag tag band of bikers and savages still trying to cling onto familiar symbols of the old world, such as several members of the gang, being seen wearing police uniforms, similar to the ones we saw Max and his fellow officers wearing in the first film, while the bikers tend to favour the more traditional leather and Mohawk combo, with the Humangus’s muscle “Wez” (played here by Vernon Wells in what would prove to be his most memorable role) even sporting a pair of ass-less chaps, which along with the affection he has for the blonde guy who rides with Wez on his bike, only further fuels, the idea that several of these bandits are openly gay and idea not usually associated with tough and sadistic villains like these, who are happy to torture and rape their victims, whenever provided the opportunity and judging by the comments made by the Humangus while trying to calm down a psychotic Wez, saying the following words softly, as he restrains him

“I understand your pain. We've all lost someone we love.”

We are also shown that these bandits, have also been driven insane by the violence, which has erupted around them and that Max could easily have become one of these men, as he to seems to care for nothing in this world which has taken everything he cares about, having become a shell of his former self, with his emotions as barren as the desert landscape which surrounds him, with the only real sign of any emotion in the whole film, being at the start, when he finds a small music box, which when wound up plays the tune of “Happy Birthday” raising a slight smile on his face. Still it would seem that Max, still holds onto a lot of his old values, as he keeps his deals with both the Gyro captain (Spence) and PappaGallo (Preston) again proving, that even though he is emotional dead, thanks to the experiences he has been through, he is still not ready to turn into a savage like the Humangus and his gang have long since become. The Villagers on the other hand seem strangely innocent compared to Max and the bandits, dressing almost uniform like in their Nomadic white cloth wraps, yet are prepared to defend their makeshift village, no doubt having learned from previous experience that passive behaviour, holds little weight in this world, an idea only re-enforced by the opening montage, as the narrator explains states that

"Only those mobile enough to scavenge, brutal enough to pillage would survive."
Though like the bandits they too, have chosen to follow the leadership of a charismatic leader, with their leader coming in the form of PappaGallo, whose command they follow without question, despite having launched numerous failed attempts to escape from the bandits. It is also curious that with a society that these villagers have created for themselves that they have a feral child, the imaginatively named Feral Kid (Minty) amongst their number, who speaks only in grunts and howls and despite his young age has already become desensitised to the escalating violence around him, while showing no remorse when his steel boomerang kill’s Wez’s partner, giving the viewer the impression that this child is the new evolution of humanity, created in this societies soup of violence and rage.



Now were most movies would be lucky to manage one interesting villan, this film is unusual in the fact that it has two, with both the Humangus and Wez fighting for the title of supreme evil of the wasteland, even though it made clear that the Humangus is the one with the power, easily commanding his followers with a few simple words and inspiring them with his torture party demonstrations of power, aswell as Neo Nazi like rants at the towns folk, with his style of leadership having possibly been inspired by his own father, as we see in the Humangus’s gun case a photo of a man, who could be his father wearing a Nazi uniform. However he is slightly let down by his costume choice, which thanks to S & M style leather and a hockey mask covering his disfigured face, means he does end up looking like Jason’s gay Australian cousin. Wez on the other hand is less focused with his intentions and merely a man of action, admittedly these actions are mainly of a psychotic and violent nature, who draws pleasure from pain, demonstrated near the beginning when we see him pulling an arrow from his own flesh, with an almost transfixed look of concentration on his face. Still for myself the most memorable character of the film, will always be the Gyro Captain, with Bruce Spence playing the role, like it had been written for him, which makes his appearance in “Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome” (1985) all the less suprising. The Gyro Captain makes for an interesting choice of sidekick for Max, even though Max rejects his offers of partnership, whenever it is brought up he continues to follow Max around, knowing that they both need each other, if they are to survive in this new world, even if Max isn’t forthcoming in admitting to it, only expressing his respect for the Gyro Captain at the very end of the film.

Brain May once again provides a great orchestra score to the film, adding real tension and drama, to what is unfolding on the screen, in much the same way that he would later do for many Ozploitation classics including “Turkey Shoot” (1982) and “Patrick” (1978), the score coming into real effect during the chase sequences, all of which were shot without the use of CGI, making every smash and crash all the more exciting, as Miller attempts to top each chase sequence with the final chase especially easily worth noting as one of the most spectacular and exciting ever captured on film.

Since it’s original release Mad Max 2 has been endless paid homage to, with many films sharing it’s apocalyptic setting drawing heavy influence from the ideas which it along with the other films in the trilogy laid the foundations for. The film is also packed with textbook examples for how chase sequences should be done and certainly something which Australian films have in time become renown for, but Mad Max 2 just ups the ante with these sequences almost as if Miller was playing a game of one upman ship with himself, to see just how insane a chase sequence it would be possible to create and these sequences stand as a testament, giving almost textbook example as to how chase sequences should be shot.
Mad Max 2 is also a film that since I first saw it, back in my early teens, it has frequently been a film, which I have returned to and even after countless viewings still manages to create the same emotions in me, that it did the first time I saw it in much the same way as “Zulu” (1964) and like that film, it is one of the films which I hope gets passed onto the next generation of film junkies, who will no doubt never get to experience a film like this, especially in these times were CGI has pretty much replaced the role of old school effect, atleast this film much like John Carpenter’s “The Thing” (1982) will remain testament as to the power of the old school style of film making.

Ozploitation Month And How You Can Take Part!

Ok so for awhile I've been tossing around the idea of focusing on one group of movies for a whole month, in a celebration of a particular genre of films and for awhile it was a close run thing between either "The Films of Sonny Chiba" or "Creature Features" both of which I would still really love to do at some point, but for the first of these genre dedicated months, starting on May 1st I have to decided to go with "Ozploitation Month".
This idea having been heavily influenced by the documentary "Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!" (2008) which I finally got around to watching this morning and provides a great look at some of the classic films of Ozploitation genre including "Mad Max" (1979), Roadgames (1981) and "Thirst (1979) aswell as some awful movies like "The Howling 3 (1987), with interviews from various directors, crew members and cast, as well as commentary from fanboys like Quentin Tarantino, James Wan and Leigh Whannell



So yes I will be looking at a whole bunch of movies, which fall into the Ozploitation genre, over the month as I attempt to track down cult classics as well as the films that are probably not remembered with good reason.
I'm also opening it up to my fellow like minded blog writers and readers of this blog, to submit your own reviews, essays or just random collected thoughts on the genre and in return I will link to your blog, in return for a link back in very much the same way that the "Final Girl Film Club" works, which will also be responsible for a temporary departure from the theme, as I will once again be joining in the fun of the film club, by looking at "Amityville II: The Possession" (1982) which is the Final girl film club pick for this month.

So if you want to submit something during Ozploitation month and join in the fun and get some free publicity for yourself, either post the link to your contribution in the comments box or drop me an e-mail @ red_dragon@techie.com.

In the meantime I urge you to check out the documentary, as if the trailer caught your intrest you will adore, this facinating and fun documentary, about one of the lesser known genres of cinema.