Movie review – “Dark Age” (1987) **1/2

A “lost” film for many years, despite its eminently exploitable subject matter (I remember seeing a TV show segment on its filming which made it sound terrific) – apparently because of troubles caused when RKO bought it for world distribution. I know Arch Nicholson died tragically young but his handling is very TV, and he misses opportunities wholesale to scare the audience or create any sort of atmosphere (the music doesn’t help). The photography is stunning, as are the locations and production design.

John Jarratt and Nikki Coghill are very attractive as the young lead couple – how pretty was Coghill! She is the attractive girl next door, very engaging, with terrific legs and genuine acting ability - look at her expression in her farewell scene to Jarratt when he goes off to fight the croc. Jarratt does his boy next door thing and is winning as the park ranger trying to keep the peace - protecting a crocodile which is eating people. They even have a corny late 80s nude love scene to boot, which feels thrown in, but it is part of the movie's charm.

The script is a bit of a mess in places (eg one minute Coghill is angry at Jarratt, the next she’s fine), and low on croc action. It is however surprisingly PC – the film does this switch half way through and becomes about saving the crocodile rather than killing it, with Max Phipps being the villain and all these aboriginals dying to save the croc. (This is after the crocodile has eaten an aboriginal kid!)

Quentin Tarantino brought this film back – I saw him present it at a Popcorn Taxi Q and A, which was very entertaining despite Quentin’s cold. However he had Jarratt and Coghill up on stage, and Anthony Ginnane in the audience; they needed Ginnane up there because Jarratt and Coghill didn’t know much about the making of the film. Ray Meagher is in the film too, playing a role that could best be described as “Alf Stewart gone evil”, worried about Japanese property developers and the like. He does this hilarious thing where after every line he takes a puff on his cigarette.

 

(In Brian Trechard Smith's memoirs he says he was offered to direct it. He should've done it!)