Some might argue that it is paradoxical – perhaps even hypocritical – to follow a post lamenting the generally poor quality of horror cinema with one celebrating the schlocky oeuvre of Australia’s exploitation cinema during the 70s and 80s. I would suggest that an observation of this kind may well be absolutely correct, but such contradictory attitudes are a fundamental part of being human so I’m going to exercise my humanity by doing just that.Ozploitation, for those who are not aware, is the name given to low-budget Australian exploitation films made after the country’s introduction of an R rating in 1971. Quentin Tarantino initially coined the term ‘Aussiesploitation’ to refer to these films, but it was shortened and popularised to ‘Ozploitation’ in the Tarantino supported documentary Not Quite Hollywood on the same topic in 2008.
These films were generally cheaply made, poorly acted and profoundly violent genre productions whose renewed popularity has largely been fuelled by ironic appreciation, nostalgia and the unexpected success of the aforementioned Mark Hartley documentary, Not Quite Hollywood.
For anybody with more than a passing interest in retro cinema of an excessive and less than perfect nature (I.e. so bad its good), these films are absolutely essential viewing. So without further ado, here are a dozen Ozploitation films that the genre buff absolutely cannot miss.
Dead End Drive-In (1986)
A kind of post-apocalyptic dystopian vision of a world in which lazy unemployed youths are kept as prisoners in giant drive-in theatres that have been converted into concentration camps. Most notable for some unexpectedly impressive cinematography and pretty solid action sequences, this is a must see for anybody interested in the topic.
This is the definitive masterpiece of Brian Trenchard-Smith, the single most important figure of the Ozploitation era. Outside of Australia, Trenchard-Smith is best known for his direction of several entries in the absolutely disastrous Leprechaun series.
Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
Ozploitation films often invested most of their budgets on hiring waning Hollywood celebrities to improve commercial prospects internationally. In this case, Dennis Hopper was flown to Australia during the peak of his drug and alcohol fuelled stupor to play Mad Dog Morgan, a famously psychotic Australian bushranger. The performance is outstanding (as a general rule he wasn’t even acting).
At one point, Hopper’s behaviour was so erratic that his aboriginal co-star, David Gulpilil decided to abscond to the bush for several days and ask the kookaburras and the trees what they thought of Hopper. He returned several days later and told the director: “The trees say Dennis is crazy.” Directly after shooting, Hopper got violently drunk at the gravesite of Mad Dog Morgan where he was arrested and immediately deported.
The director, Phillipe Mora, is perhaps most infamously known for his later direction of one the Howling movies, which also happens to be an Ozploitation movie mentioned below.
Mad Max (1979)
The Mad Max trilogy is perhaps the most auspicious set of films to come out of the Ozploitation era, although it is only really the first of the trilogy that meets the criteria. Most of you are probably familiar with the adventures of Mad Max (Mel Gibson), the hero cop in a post-apocalyptic era of high-powered super cars who ends up a wandering nameless antihero, always on the lookout for the next tank of petrol.
The Mad Max films are all directed by Dr George Miller, who would go on to become most widely recognised outside of Australia for his direction of The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Babe: Pig in the City (1998) and the two Happy Feet films (2006, 2011).
Razorback (1984)
A giant boar roams the Australian outback killing people. What more do you need to know? Absolutely stunningly shot, this “Jaws in the outback” is an astounding collection of scenes that somehow end up being less than the sum of their parts. But I mean… giant boar in the outback… you need to see this.
Razorback was directed by Russell Mulcahy who would later become best known outside of Australia for his direction of the first two Highlander films (1986, 1991) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).
The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie (1971)
I’ve mentioned this film in an earlier post, but it’s something special. This is the irreverent tale of an Aussie bloke (Barry Crocker) who finds himself unwillingly going on a trip to England with his aunt Edna (Barry Humphries). The film is loaded with a savage critique of both Australian and English culture at the time, and people offended by the coarser side of humour should probably give it a miss. And yes, Aunt Edna’s character carries on beyond the McKenzie films and eventually becomes Dame Edna.
Bruce Beresford directed this film, and would later become best known outside of Australia for films like Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Mao’s Last Dancer (2009) and Double Jeopardy (1999).
The Man from Hong Kong (1975)
This is a surprisingly passable Kung-Fu film from aforementioned Ozploitation king, Brian Trenchard-Smith. The film starred the rising Hong Kong star Jimmy Wang-Yu, best known for his direction of classics like Master of the Flying Guillotine (1976) and The One Armed Swordsman (1976), as a Hong Kong cop who has arrived in Australia to solve a big case.
The film is most notable for the performance of George Lazenby (one-time James Bond) in the role of the villain. Due to a low budget, Trenchard-Smith asked Lazenby if he could dowse himself in petrol and set himself on fire for a pivotal fight scene. Unfortunately, the fire didn’t go out as quickly as expected and Lazenby suffered nasty burns. His response was to punch Trenchard-Smith square in the face.
Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)
Everybody interested in horror films has seen The Howling (1981). Few have seen this, the third film in the series. I don’t know how Philippe Mora got his hands on the rights to make this travesty but he did. Most notable for an actual birth sequence involving a were-roo, this is abysmal. Don’t miss it!
Patrick (1978)
This is perhaps the film most commonly identified with Ozploitation, best evidenced by Mark Hartley’s (Not Quite Hollywood) decision to remake it. Told simply, this is the tale of a psychotic young man who winds up becoming a vegetable, confined to his bed. However, when Patrick develops the ability to control things with his mind, things get ugly. A personal favourite of Tarantino’s – he decided to give the unconscious Uma Thurman a spitting reflex in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) as a reference to the same behaviour in Patrick.
Patrick was directed by Richard Franklin, who would become best known for directing Psycho II (1983).
Turkey Shoot (1982)
If Dead End Drive-In is Trenchard-Smith’s masterpiece, this is his greatest disaster. This dystopian tale of a futuristic concentration camp where the prisoners are bought and hunted by the rich sounds much better than it is. Loaded with much of the worst dialogue of all time, and featuring the least convincing monster costume in living memory, this is the anti-masterpiece of the Ozploitation era. Brilliant. Note – often referred to as Escape 2000 in the United States.
Road Games (1981)
Jamie-Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach star as two Americans who happen to bump into each other in the outback. Keach is a trucker carrying a load across the vast desert, and Curtis is a hitchhiker just looking for a ride. As they move through the vast empty Australian space, the two find themselves involved in a series of murders that seem to occur wherever they go. This is a surprisingly good Hitchcockian thriller from the aforementioned Richard Franklin – definitely one of the Ozploitation peaks.
Stone (1974)
Allegedly Australia’s answer to Easy Rider, this bikie movie’s cast is largely comprised of real bikies who were reportedly very difficult to keep under control. A cop infiltrates a bikie gang, becomes one of them, must betray them. You get the idea.
Not Quite Hollywood (2008)
Thought I’d chuck this one in at the end. This outstanding documentary from Mark Hartley is the definitive look at Ozploitation cinema and is absolutely essential for anybody interested in this subject. Quite an outstanding film – largely due to some outstanding interviews with Tarantino and all the key players of the era.
Comments
58 responses to “Ozploitation: Twelve Australian exploitation classics”
[…] actions features. As with the 10BA tax subsidies set up by the Fraser government in 1981, saw these ‘Ozploitation’ films continue from the early 1970’s well into the 1980’s (Burns & Eltham, 2010 p.105). These […]
[…] Check out some of the craziest Ozploitation films ever made > http://curnblog.com/2013/06/09/ozploitation-twelve-australian-exploitation-classics/ […]
[…] concession, the creative freedom afforded to filmmakers resulted in films that have not only become classics, but above all else, audiences actually wanted to see. Whilst I am definitely not advocating for […]
[…] long been a fan of Australian exploitation or “ozploitation” cinema, so I’m always excited when this under-appreciated segment of Aussie film history gets […]
[…] plethora of films were produced – the finest of which you can see here. Of course, as most do, the good times did not last and the bubble burst, which saw an end to the […]
[…] Films falling within this style are defined as ‘Ozploitation’ cinema, a term coined by filmmaker Mark Hartley. The phrase covers “horror/fantasy, period, comedy, art-house, pornography and ‘ocker’ comedy” (O’Regan 1989, p. 75) films that arose mostly through the 70s and early 80s. Such films, as displayed in the above trailer, are often characterised by low budgets, low quality production and an obsession with boobs and gore. Think Turkey Shoot, Fair Game, Road Games, Mad Dog Morgan – the list goes on. […]
[…] of the film in Mark Hartley’s incredibly popular documentary on Australian exploitation cinema (Ozploitation), Not Quite Hollywood (2008). One of the great victories of Wilson’s book is that he provides an […]
[…] repositioning the perception of Australia (Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Devil’s Playground), and irreverent counter-cultural cinema that seemed to implicitly suggest that good taste represented the pretension of our British […]
[…] loaded with violence, car-crashes and/or sex, and they are all retrospectively now referred to as Ozploitation films. Most were awful, some were decent, and at least one was great – Mad […]
[…] be this good, but it is. Mark Hartley takes us through the erotic and explosive highs and lows of Ozploitation, making sure the viewer has a firm grasp of the various subgenres in play, and the historical […]
Awesome post. I just did a piece tying neo-Ozploitation to South Korean revenge cinema and linked back to this page. Looking forward to checking out Mad Dog Morgan!
http://monsterattheendofthedream.com/2014/12/23/outback-invasion-mystery-road-wake-in-fright-and-the-need-for-more-neo-ozploitation-on-netflix-instant/
[…] check out Picnic at Hanging Rock and Walkabout. And here’s a fantastic list of some classic Ozploitation flicks. -Also, Noise on on Netflix Instant is a strange-but-worthwhile modern Aussie cop thriller (its […]
[…] sit well with all aficionados of Australian film – my taste for the ironic appreciation of Ozploitation cinema is not shared by all. However, having compiled this list, I will take a moment to stand up […]
Haven’t seen Razorback since I was a kid. I’ve always views Mulcahy’s work as always looking great though not strong in the storytelling department. I guess it’s the video director background. Highlander II is a great example. There are some absolutely beautiful scenes and set pieces in that crap film. This isn’t a knock against him. Tim Burton can be much the same way without a solid script.
Agreed. Nobody could argue that the films of the ozploitation era showed a great deal of depth or narrative congruence – Mulcahy’s Razorback especially. Razorback is by no means a good film, but as you say, it is a great looking one 🙂
Never heard of The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie — but have certainly heard of so many of the participants who became famous afterwards. I mean, like the origin of Dame Edna! Looks like a total hoot —
And the idea of the director then going on to make Driving Miss Daisy is mind-blowing!
Haha. Yeah – humble beginnings for many great talents 🙂
Awesome list. Mad Max and especially The Road Warrior are amongst my very favourite films. There is one called The Castle, it’s not an Ozploitation flick or anything but it’s worth checking out for a fun, satisfying time.
Yeah, The Castle is a solid film. A great and affectionate parody of middle-Australia.
[…] That said The Conjuring has been hugely popular with U.K. audience (as it has been in America) who seem happy to buy into the supernatural, eating up films like the Paranormal Activity franchise with voraciousness. So it seems we are a nation happy to believe in ghosts and the supernatural if nothing else. American’s on the other hand, based on the glut of possession movies we are constantly bombarded with, is clearly still a highly religious country. Which brings me back to why I described The Conjuring as ironically one of a minority of original America horror films to have a wide reaching success at the box office in recent years, a minority Wan’s other films in collaboration with writer Leigh Whannell (Saw, and Insidious) can also be counted in. Ironic because the shining lights of current American horror cinema both hail from Melbourne, Australia. This is no surprise when you look into the rich legacy of Australian horror and exploitation cinema. (you can read a really great article about said cinema here on Curnblog: http://curnblog.com/2013/06/09/ozploitation-twelve-australian-exploitation-classics/) […]
Perhaps the Richard Frankland I am thinking of is not the same as yours, referred to here?! My Frankland is an Aboriginal author, musician and film maker whose last film, I think, was The Stone Brothers. His focus is on telling Aboriginal stories.
Oh – haha. Yes, you are right, it’s a different person! I haven’t watched The Stone Bros but I’ve seen it around. Will take a look 🙂
Bloody hell but it makes ya proud to be an Aussie, eh? So many great films that have somehow, unexpectedly, disappeared from mind. Must be senility or dementia and not the unique qualities of these various gems. Wonderful that you have reminded us of our cinematic provenance, though. Yes, schlock they may be but they’re OUR schlock and it’s good that we have sufficient depth of unique culture to develop a weird genre like this. Thank you for your research and presentation. Good stuff!
Bloody oath 😉
Thoroughly enjoyed this post – thanks!
I am wondering where you see “The Cars That Ate Paris” fitting (or not) within this list?
It’s not an obvious choice but it defies other genres and certainly influenced Taratnino’s ‘graveyard’ in ‘From dusk till dawn” .. and it would be great to read your thoughts .. 🙂
Glad you liked it!
That’s an interesting one! Peter Weir is largely seen as a director of the ‘Australian New Wave’ which is very much considered to sit in opposition to Ozploitation. This is a film that makes us consider how separate the two movements (if that’s the right word) really were. But yes, ‘The Cars That Ate Paris’ would appear to share all the hallmarks of Ozploitation, with perhaps an added level of subtext not particularly common in the genre. Thoughts?
Agreed .. it’s an odd one for Weir & perhaps best not considered within an Auteur framework for that reason?
Interrogating any binary divide usually does raise more (interesting) questions than it answers and any text that makes such divisions problematic is always worth a look at right? 🙂
As for subtext – yes, CTAP has some different observations and in-house discussions going on for sure .. it is making point/s that perhaps keep it at the fringes of the genre but like you, I find the elements that tether it to Ozploitation most interesting (maybe due to this?)
Cheers
[…] Ozploitation: Twelve Australian exploitation classics. […]
I’d give a shout out to Dark Age (1987) (which could be crocxpoitation?). It took me ages to find, but am very glad I did. I thought it much better than its trailer would suggest.
One I’ve been meaning to see for a long time!!
[…] promised (I think? or at least mentioned), beetleypete brings us the British answer to the post on Curnblog about Ozploitation films I reblogged recently. “It is definitely bad; but so bad. it’s […]
Good stuff and thanks for the follow, hope I keep you interested :).
Hey James! I just wanted to thank you for liking http://thedisorderpodcast.wordpress.com! I always enjoy reading the blogs of those who like us and this has proven to be no exception! I hope you won’t be a stranger over at The Disorder, because we always love hearing from people. Us James’s need to stick together! 🙂 Feel free to stop by anytime and like/comment on content (we could always use it!) 🙂
-Jim
Not a problem, Jim. It’s a great blog! Will definitely keep an eye on it 🙂
You’re really tempting me with The Adventures of Barry Mackenzie – sounds absolutely brilliant.
Haha. Definitely worth a look.
Great stuff, very interesting
Thanks!
I’m really rather amazed that there’s only three of these I haven’t seen… Razorback is a long-time favorite, especially.
Nice. Sounds like you’ve got your finger on the pulse!
Thanks for the Mad Dog Morgan reminder! Hopper was freakin hilarious in it. Does everyone go thru a Hopper watching phase or is it just me?
Haha… Hopper is definitely an important viewing phase.
Razorback! Loved it as a child – should see it again (maybe!).
Just don’t expect too much!
Reblogged this on Cary’s Blog and commented:
As a lover of B horror and scifi flicks I had to pass on this great post from Curnblog. It includes such gems as “Howling III: The Marsupials”:
“I don’t know how Philippe Mora got his hands on the rights to make this travesty but he did. Most notable for an actual birth sequence involving a were-roo, this is abysmal. Don’t miss it!”
Wow, thanks! Razorback used to scare the hell out of me as a child. Gonna have to check out some of the others.
Please do!
Great list. I’m definitely looking forward to this mountain of golden cheese.
Haha! Enjoy 🙂
i will check these out, i’m a fan of most all that is out there in the cinematic world, both past and present. great blog –
Enjoy!!
An interesting partisan list from you here James. As usual, I like to note the ones that I have seen, and will check out the others you mention.
I have seen, and really liked, ‘Patrick’, also ‘Razorback’, which as you say, is actually very good (in parts). I did see the Barry McKenzie film, but like many comedians in films, the joke often goes on for too long. ‘Road Games’ falls into the category of films that call upon better-known actors from the USA, or England, to cross-sell an otherwise average effort. Mad Max speaks for itself, only the first one, please.
I thought I might respond with a ‘Britsploitation’ list. The possibilities are endless. London as a ‘setting’ for American stars, stupid Brits wearing bowlers, all talking like Dick Van Dyke. It will take some research, but for now, I offer this; http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072732/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShTtkSRAurU
Regards from England as always, Pete.
I’d certainly love to see your Brit list, Pete. Looking forward to it!
Here it is…
http://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2013/06/15/some-britsploitation-films/
Brilliant list, Pete. And I have to confess the only films on this list that I have seen are Frenzy and Straw Dogs (I generally agree with your evaluation of both of these films).
I’m definitely going to check the rest out.
If I may make a humble suggestion… start with Psychomania. And the sooner the better. It’s absolutely ridiculous, and I love it like a fat kid loves cake. I say this as a fat kid who had a second piece of cake at a graduation party yesterday.
(The Dave Clark Five are now forgotten? They get pretty regular airplay on classic-rock and oldies stations in America still. I saw them live in, I think, 86, they still had it…)
Appreciated – will do!
I have followed your blog in anticipation of this. 🙂