Ozploitation Top Ten

 1) Roadgames (1981)

2) The Long Weekend (1978)

3) Patrick (1984)

4) Razorback (1984)

5) The Man from Hong Kong (1975)

6) Fantasm (1977)

7) Stone (1974)

8) Mad Max (1979)

9) The Money Movers (1979)

10) Snapshot (1979)

NB.I don't include the ocker comedies in this. 

 

Movie review - "Nature's Grave" (2008) ** aka "The Long Weekend"

 I wonder why they remake it? It's basically the same script. It is an interesting comparison.

Claudia Karvan is a much better actor than Briony Behets. But Jim Caviezel isn't as good as John Hargreaves - his American boorishness also doesn't work as well in an Australian film as Hargreaves' Aussie boorishness. It's nicely shot but not as well shot as Vincent Monton and it doesn't have the same creepiness. They kept the partner swapping plot which seemed to work better in the 70s. They keep the wife masturbating to a book scene. It's on digital and film is better.

De Roche talks about writing the film in a very good career interview here. He has a cameo in the bar and Roger Ward is the truck driver.

I love the intent behind it. I just can't see the point.

Movie review - "Cassandra" (1987) **

 Weird things are happening to Tessa Humphries, daughter of Barry, who is the lead here. 

This isn't a very good movie. It's got telemovie vibes which means a lack of atmosphere, sex and violence. To be fair some televemovies can be very exciting but not this one.

Humphries reminded me of a French actor on Call My Agent - the lesbian accountant. Her dad is played by Shane Briant, her mum by Briony Behets. Plodding pace. Susan Barling as Briant's mistress throws in some nudity.

Jeff Truman and Kit Taylor are cops. A young Natalie McCurry is a receptionist.  Jeff Watson from Beyond 2000 has a cameo. Chris Fitchett wrote and the script with John Ruane and Eggleston. These credits are more interesting than the film.

TV review - "Body Business" (1986) **

 Miniseries from PBL trying to get some of that Dallas/Return to Eden ratings gold. It doesn't work because it's just... not very good. Flat. Lazy. Dumb.

Jane Maneleus, Mrs Geoffrey Rush, has the lead as a woman who comes back to Australia to work for a company. She has to deal with arch bitch Carmen Duncan, enigmatic Gary Day. Michael Pate is in there too. Oh and people like Trish Nolan and Beth Buchanan. Max Phipps. Gary Sweet! I'm not sure Meneleus is up to being a leading lady; she's fine but she's no, I guess, Rebecca Gilling.

I'm sure Channel Nine execs enjoyed leching around on the set on this one. It doesn't have a solid core though. Dallas was about family, evil JR vs Good Bobby - so was Dynasty - boring Krystle vs exciting Alexis. Return to Eden was about a woman scorned. This is just dull. Leaden pace. On the nose dialogue.

Good soap is harder to do than it looks.

Movie review - "Outbreak of Hostilites" (1985) ** (warning: spoilers)

 Ron McLean made this for his own company, he wrote and produced, David Copping the art designer directed it. It's about a family in 1939 - I wonder if it was a Sullivans rip off. McLean died in 1983 I think this was made in 1982 but didn't air on Oz TV til 1985 (I could be wrong about those dates). Copyright is 1983. McLean co produced this with Colin Eggleston.

Scott Burgess is a sensitive young man who has an affair with an older woman, Cornelia Francis - nice to see her in a change of pace. George Mallaby is Burgess' dad. The cast also includes Max Cullen, Moya O'Sullivan and Judy Nunn (who I didn't recognise).

It's fairly bland and dull. On the nose. I think McLean rehashed old movies he'd seen. The family seem to be constantly sitting by the radio listening to broadcasts from Menzies. The low budget is covered by having a lot of scenes take place at the beach or in the one house.  Oh and stock footage.

There is some war stuff at the end, tents on the sand dunes and some equipment. Mallaby has a decent death scene - actors love death scenes and Mallaby is a good actor. Then Burgess dies in an attack.

Just not quite sure of the point of it is. There's a flashback with an old lady in make up - Colleen Fitzpatrick I think who is Burgess' mother.

Directed by David Copping. Credits refer to Brisbane production runner... was this shot in Brisbane?

Movie review - "Innocent Prey" (1984) **

Junky, silly slasher thriller which was actually quite entertaining. It's a film of starts and stops - it never seems to get momentum going and there are plot holes but it has some effective moments if you get into the spirit of the thing.

It starts in Dallas Texas where PJ Soles (a rare lead role) is married to Kit Taylor (who is a superb villain). She comes across him in a hotel room having sex with a hooker (Debi Vorhees who was in a Friday the 13th film) who he then kills. He winds up in prison (Martin Balsam is a local cop) but escapes and chases PJ to Australia where she's moved in with a friend... into an apartment house with another psycho, a guy who perves on the inhabitants with secret cameras.

If you go with that conceit you'll have fun, with PJ Soles giving an efficient performace, Taylor very good, Susan Stenmark adding some glamour as Soles' hot friend, Grigor Taylor as Soles new love interest. The death toll is very high!

Based on a script by Ron McLean and directed by Colin Eggleston - their fourth collaboration after Airhawk, Outbreak of Hostilities and The Little Feller.

Movie review - "The Little Feller" (1982) **

 Ron McLean and Colin Eggleston combined to make this and Air Hawk for the Queensland Film Corporation - both produced, McLean wrote, Eggleston directed. It's better than Air Hawk not that that was hard. This feels very cheap and isn't particular well made but isn't without interest.

This has Steve Bisley in the lead as a man married to Lorna Lesley whose best friend Sally Conaberre becomes obsessed with Bisley. The three leads aren't bad.

It has some novelty being set in Brisbane - I assume it was filmed there, with glimpses of the river (a plot point has Lesley and Bisley living by the water at St Lucia and they think their kid has gone missing in the Brisbane River) - with touches like for instance a radio news broadcast talking about Minister Hinze and referring to Indooroopilly and Upper Mt Gravatt.

The story is a soapy standard - psycho obsessed with man, tries to wreck marriage. It's not terribly well plotted and Lesley is forced to act as a dill. It would've been better had say Bisley had sex with Conabere. But it has emotional power - I mean that's why these stories are soapy standards. The scenes where Lesley and Bisley think their son has drowned are moving.

The little feller, the kid (played by Steven McLean... presumably a relation of Ron), is required by story to hang off a balcony at the end and the kid looks genuinely terrified. It's stressful to watch.

The support cast includes Allen Bickford (as a cop) who was in a lot of TV plays of the 1960s.

Movie review - "Nightmares" (1980) ** (warning: spoilers)

 John D. Lamond tried his hand at soft sore sex and here changed gears, going for the slasher market. The script was written by Colin Eggleston.

They imported a "star" Jenny Neumann, whose main credit was in Larry Buchanan's Mistress of the Apes. This has decent photography and a Brian May score. It's also got a young Gary Sweet (lots of hair and a high pitched voice), Max Phipps doing good work as the mean director, John Michael Howson in a hilariously OTT cameo as a critic, Gary Day as a cop, the people in the theatre show also include Maureen Edwards, Briony Behets, Sue Jones and Nina Landis.

 We know Neumann's the killer all along so there's not a lot of suspense. There's some okay kills - I'm not the best judge, slashers aren't my thing. The theatre atmosphere is ideal.

I wish Nina Landus has played the lead, Neumann doesn't bring a lot to the party -would she have even been vaguely known?

A film that you want to like because it was Ozsploitation and Lamond comes across as such a cheerful rogue, and Colin Eggleston made The Long Weekend but it's really not that good.

Movie review - "Airhawk: Star of the North" (1982) * (warning: spoilers)

 The famous (ish) comic strip gets a TV movie treatment. Eric Oldfield from The Young Doctors was logical enough casting as Airhawk. 

The script was written by Ron McLean of Spyforce fame who also produced (Colin Eggleston co produced, David Stevens directed). The "plot" involves some crooks from Hong Kong (cue some stock shots) who are after Hawk's brother.

Some of this is incredibly dopey. Michael Aitkens in sunglasses hamming it up as someone called Cowboy. An assassination attempt on Hawk, his brother (David Robson) and two ladies (Louise Howitt, Eli McClure) on top of a Gold Coast high rise... via a man with a machine gun in a bi plane. Two baddies talking in European accents.

There's a weird plot where Hawk is being chased after for money owed by the tax office and he goes on a rant about how the government don't deserve it. Was this McLean having a whinge?

They don't get out to the outback until 43 minutes in when the piece picks up. We aren't told the brother is into diamonds until over an hour in. The two villains, male and female, talk in broad accents and ham it up. Presumably director David Stevens allowed that.Maybe he could have also done something about uninspiring blocking and slack handling.

Some good things: I didn't mind the twist at the end that the old lady was involved. And there's a well-shot chase at the end where a jeep is driving after a trio on horseback. The actual plane. (But it's hardly ever flown.)

But generally this is shoddy work an those associated with it should be ashamed of themselves.

A couple of old pros don't disgrace themselves: Margaret Christensen, Lois Ramsay, Myra de Groot. The Queensland Film Corporation invested in this!.

Movie review - "The Long Weekend" (1978) *** (re-watching)

A sort of sequel to Don's Party with John Hargreaves and Briony Behets is middle class types recovering from some couple swapping and an abortion by heading to the country, where they whinge, make a mess, shoot things.

An eerie, effective movie that one has to be careful not to overpraise or else you might cause false expectations but is extremely good. Beautifully shot. Wonderful use of sound. Editing. So on.

Everett de Roche scripts often had well rounded female characters compared to others in the genre - the influence of his wife? He did have six daughters or something.

The quality of this gave a false picture of what Colin Eggleston movies would be like from this point on. (There's quite a few Aussie directors who fall into the "one good movie only" category.)

Movie review - "Sky Pirates" (1986) **

No one seems to have a kind word to say about this Oz 10BA Indiana Jones knock off but it's sheer existence is extremely winning. It was made by the producer-director combo of John D Lamond and Colin Eggleston, best known for soft core sex and horror movies, but they managed to raise a relatively healthy budget for this.

That's healthy in terms of Australian films - it suffers badly in comparison with Hollywood blockbusters... though not say Hollywood B films. Judged by the standards of Raiders knock offs it's fine, helped with cheerful performances from John Hargreaves and Max Phipps.

It starts quite well with Hargreaves and Phipps and Simon Chilvers going off on a mission to a Pacific Island.  This is great... but then all this stuff happens off screen, people go missing, and Hargreaves winds up back in Australia being court martialled, then escapes and heads off with Chilvers' daughter, Meredith Phipps to figure out what's going on.

The main problem with this film structure wise is the action keeps stopping and starting again - would've been a much more fun had the mission started and everything built from there. Them being on the run from the authorities has no real pay off or threat once they're going because the bulk of the action happens out in the isolated Pacific.

It's full of irritating holes - why is Phipps evil? Why have a silly Russian roulette scene? What is the Mysterious Power and why does it do what it does.

There's some good stunts and sets. Loved the photography and location work on Easter Island. It's full of tropes I love, like pilots and dingy bars in the third world. It's silly and over the top just a bit sloppy. People were too mean about this.

Movie review - "The Long Weekend" (1978) ***1/2 (re-viewing) (warning: spoilers)

This movie holds up well. Seeing it people must have imagined really great futures for writer Everett de Roche and director Colin Eggleston - and while both had decent careers (de Roche especially) they never quite hit the heights promised (or at least implied) by this low budget flick.

Still, they have this. It's not a masterpiece and shouldn't be over-hyped. The running time does feel padded - I feel at heart this was a 60 minute feature if that. Because there's not much story - it's really a collection of incidents, a building of unease and mood... the cigarette but in the grass, the shooting of a dungog, animal cries, a deserted beach.

It helps that the locations are so beautiful - desolate, isolated, stunning, with the sand dunes, and bush and sea. Also Vincent Monton's Panavision photography is breathtaking. The sound and editing are first rate.

There's good playing from John Hargreaves; less assured work from Briony Behets (who goes overboard... I kept wishing for Wendy Hughes). But she's not bad and the drama is solid.  Critics have complained about the unlikeability of the two leads - but that means when they die we don't feel so bad.

Also the characters feel real - he's a bit of a bogan, for all this white collar job: he likes shooting gun and beer and Playboy; he's controlling and won't listen to her, and she complains; there's been adultery in the past involving another couple and an abortion which is causing trouble; she's unhappy, wanting to connect with her husband but not really. Maybe it's because I'm getting on in years myself, in life and my marriage but I found this surprisingly engrossing.

Behets goes topless and engages in some masturbation to a Harold Robbins novel - a bit of sex was a good idea, but to Harold Robbins? It does seem a little extraneous.

There are other flaws to be sure, but it's interesting and original and there is some decent drama, powerful atmosphere and some knock out moments such as the death of Behets and Hargreaves.

Movie review - "Outback Vampires" (1987) *

Dull jokey horror comedy which smells of 10BA video, and is mostly shot through blue fluro like an 80s video clip. Two cowboy brothers pick up a female hitchhiker and get caught up with some vampires, led by John Doyle (aka Rampaging Roy Slaven) as a count - which gives this film it's one real point of distinction. He's one of several cast members who those old enough will recognise from Australian TV - people like Brett Climo, Lucky Grills, Dave Gibson, Antonia Murphy and Richard Carter.

They all seem to be having a good time in a campy way but the fun isn't infectious. This is a dopey, unscary, unfunny movie which lacks scares and sexiness - or even gags.

Was this Colin Eggleston's last directorial effort? He co wrote it so has to take the blame.

Movie review - "Long Weekend" (1978) ***

Colin Eggleston seemed to launch himself as a talent to watch when this movie came out - but none of his subsequent movies impressed and it soon became obvious the real talent to watch was the writer, Everett de Roche, who soon established himself as one of Australia's leading screenwriters. It's a very clever, tricky idea of humans vs nature - a couple go away for the weekend and pick away at the world: throw cigarettes out the window, hit kangaroos, chop down trees. Eventually nature strikes back.

If I'm being really honest there's not quite enough story here for a feature, so it doesn't quite come off, but it's very skilfully done - I kept thinking of early Roman Polanski films. There are lots of noises, and jolts, and a creeping sense of unease.

The domestic spats between John Hargreaves and Briony Behets is pretty good but occasionally spills into TV on the nose dialogue (when it's restrained and implied it is much better). There's a bit of nudity from Behets who also does a masturbation scene - I guess it's a cheap special effect.

Hargreaves is very strong as always; Behets is less good although she matches him at times. Her fate is a superbly done sequence - the movie has a strong ending after tap dancing in the middle.

Movie review - "Fantasm Comes Again" (1977) **

A much bigger budget than Fantasm but it didn’t do as well. The “plot” has a retiring sex advice journalist going over letters with his replacement (played by an actress with the ability of a porn star only she doesn’t take her clothes off). 

Locations seem to be the big motivating factor for sex here: there’s sex in a gym, the library, a drive-in, an elevator, a barn, a bedroom (more conventional though its amongst family members to make it interesting), a church, a van (another unfortunate rape sequence), in a pool. Writer Ross Dimsey and director Colin Eggleston used pseudonyms; Ginnane didn’t bother. On ya, Ginnane!