Turkey Shoot follows three new inductees to a futuristic totalitarian torture camp for 'deviants'. It's presided over by Thatcher, who organises what he calls a 'turkey shoot' in which a handful of inmates are set free but then hunted for sport by himself and his similarly psychopathic guests. A stellar cast (Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 10- Turkey Shoot (1982)
Martha is a 78 year old woman living with cancer. She is cared for by a visiting nurse, Malinka. She regularly sees her son and her friends and also cares for her elderly neighbour Billy who lives next door. A Woman's Tale had been on my radar for years as it stars the inimitable Sheila …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 9- A Woman’s Tale (1991)
Two drag queens and a transsexual journey from Sydney to Alive Springs for a fortnight of drag shows on their bus Priscilla. Adventures abound. The first time I saw Priscilla was at a screening in London just after its release. Star Terrence Stamp had videotaped an intro in which he said that the role of …
Peter Weir's 1975 film involves the students of an all-girls school going to Hanging Rock with a couple of teachers from the school. However, several girls and one of the teachers seemingly vanish into thin air. Whilst there is a linear narrative running through Picnic at Hanging Rock, it is more a film that the …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 7- Picnic At Hanging Rock (1975)
Kitty arrives from England with her husband who is arrested for past crimes. She then enters a life of crime to survive. I first heard of Kitty and the Bagman because of my love of Prisoner Cell Block H. But rather than this just being a movie of interest to fans of this show, this …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 6- Kitty And The Bagman (1982)
Patrick Quid is a truck driver transporting meat to Perth with his pet dingo, Boswell. He stops outside a motel one night and, the next morning awakens to find Boswell growling at a garbage bag outside the truck. A resident of the motel (who we have seen earlier killing a young woman) is noticed by …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 5- Road Games (1981)
A gorgeous slice of Ozploitation that is extremely well made, acted and written. A young man named Patrick is in a coma after killing his parents three years earlier. A new nurse named Kathie has been assigned to tend to him. They strike up a relationship through a typewriter that Patrick can telekinetically control and …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 4- Patrick (1978)
A young schoolteacher tries to escape small-town Australia and reach Sydney…but gets waylayed in the darkest possible way. This is an amazing examination of small-town madness, the unspoken insanity of such a life and the brutality and destruction undertaken by men.It's also an amazing portrayal of cabin fever being caused by huge open spaces. The …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 3- Wake In Fright (1971)
George Miller's Mad Max is set in a future in which lawlessness is abundant. Max (Mel Gibson) is a young cop battling with a motorcycle gang who are bringing chaos to whomever they cross paths with. There's lots to like about Mad Max. Miller's comic book dystopic vision of the future, the stylisation not being …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 2- Mad Max (1979)
I first learnt of this film when it was marketed as The Day After Halloween, a sequel to John Carpenter’s classic. It isn’t, but it’s still a really interesting movie. Angela (played by Prisoner Cell Block H’s brilliant Sigrid Thornton) is persuaded to ditch her low-paid hairdressing job and enter the world of modelling. Nude modelling. This …
Continue reading Marsupial March- 31 Days of Aussie Movies- Day 1- Snapshot (1979)
