Although many of them are now out of the realms of obscurity thanks to DVD, Australian exploitation movies were for a long time the kind of unheralded jewels genre fans would stumble upon on occasion in the local video store alongside all the better known American horror flicks. Mark Hartley’s superb documentary feature, co-edited by Jamie Blanks (who, as a filmmaker, has been reviving the spirit with the nicely grimy STORM WARNING and the upcoming remake of LONG WEEKEND), is a celebration of these sleazy, violent gems with an astonishing array of guest speakers and some riotously entertaining movie clips. Even its title sequence – a gaudy, inventive montage of Ozploitation highlights – is awesome.
NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD documents the evolution of this unofficial cycle, tracing its origins back to the proliferation of nudity in Australian TV and movies of the 70’s and the homophobic crudity of BARRY MCKENZIE HOLDS HIS OWN. The prominence of drive-in culture in the country helped encourage a stream of movies featuring pantie-sniffers, peeping toms and horny lesbians. Running concurrent with the era of arty, European-influenced historical dramas like PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK was a run of brutal, excessive horror films like LADY STAY DEAD, INN OF THE DAMNED, BROTHERS (nuns on fire!) and PATRICK (an acknowledged influence on a notable scene in KILL BILL VOLUME ONE).
Hartley has gathered together an outstanding ensemble of relevant actors, writers, directors and offended bystanders : it’s fabulous to see the likes of Briony Behets, Everett De Roche, Stacy Keach, the late Richard Franklin, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brian Trenchard Smith, John Seale, Russell Mulcahy, Philippe Mora, George Miller and actor John Waters reflect on a remarkable bunch of movies. Quentin Tarantino displays particular enthusiasm, as you might expect, for the form, specifically LONG WEEKEND, while film critic Bob Ellis openly condemns the work of Anthony Gianane, derided as “Australia’s Roger Corman”. (Ellis is among the most entertaining of the contributors, at one point lamenting, with trademark stony face, “Americans are scum and shouldn’t be let anywhere near our money”).
There are numerous hilarious, raw anecdotes about the movies and the people who made them, along with weird / funny revelations like the fact that the demented HOWLING III : THE MARSUPIALS almost starred Nicole Kidman and DID feature a sedated mouse in a werewolf-foetus costume (!). Forgotten curios like THE SURVIVOR, SNAPSHOT (with a Mr Whippy van as an instrument of evil), ROADGAMES (an influence on WOLF CREEK), NEXT OF KIN (stylish and surreal) and DARK AGE (See! A kid being eaten by a croc!) are referenced as keenly as acknowledged benchmarks like MAD MAX (with Leigh Whannell on hand to acknowledge its influence on a moment in SAW). The doc will serve as a particularly vivid appetite-whetter for some movies that remain unavailable, like the tit-and-bum-slashing of 1980’s NIGHTMARES, a particularly nasty and rare Oz entry in the stalker cycle.
There are too many stand-out moments to list here, but it’s an absolute must-see for the stories of what a total bastard the star of the wild MAN FROM HONG KONG was, plus an insight into that film’s insane stunts : even George Lazenby was set on fire! You also get to catch Dennis Hopper chuckling over his own drunken behavior on the set of the outrageous MAD DOG MORGAN and Steve Railsback appearing wasted as he reminisces on TURKEY SHOOT, a movie he hates while acknowledging the beauty of its show-stopping exploding head sequence.
– Steven West
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
