STACK May 2016 Issue 139

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visit DVD&BD FEATURE
34 MAY 2016
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If you're an adventurous viewer who's eager to leave the comfort zone
of generic Hollywood blockbusters, let Scott Hocking point you towards
strange and exciting new frontiers in cinema, and explain what you
need to know prior to taking the plunge.
[Note: Some titles discussed may not be available on DVD and Blu-ray, so please check the JB Hi-Fi website.]
WHAT TO EXPECT
Blood, boobs and bums. They don't call 'em
B-movies for nothing! The R-rating's introduction
in 1971 coupled with the popularity of drive-
ins created a huge demand for homegrown
exploitation flicks; sex comedies, horror and
action suddenly became a lucrative investment.
Don't expect to see the period drama,
indigenous issues or rites of passage themes
that were being explored in more highbrow
Aussie fare of that era, like Picnic at Hanging
Rock and My Brilliant Career . But do expect to
see rising stars like Jacki Weaver and Wendy
Hughes in the buff, Nicole Kidman riding a BMX,
martial arts mayhem on the slopes of Uluru, and
fearless stuntmen like the legendary Grant Page
risking life and limb.
Ozploitation films satisfied our desire to
see fair dinkum movies made in Australia for
Australians and featuring Australians, although
you will spot a number of imported stars – like
Jamie Lee Curtis, Gregory Harrison and Robert
Powell – alongside local talent. International
stars helped sell our wares to overseas markets.
Early Ozploitation films were sex romps
(Alvin Purple, 1973) and faux documentaries
that masqueraded as sex education films (The
ABC of Love of Sex, 1978) or exposés of the
strange and bizarre (Australia After Dark, 1975).
Their commercial success not only kickstarted
a wave of genre filmmaking, but Australia's film
industry as a whole. Without Alvin Purple and
Barry McKenzie, there would be no Picnic at
Hanging Rock and Mad Max.
The, er, bottom line is that Ozploitation
films are audacious, outrageous, loud, rude
and crude – much like Australians themselves,
which makes them culturally relevant. They're
also an important and amusing time capsule
of a bygone era: Ozploitation movies may be
enjoying a renaissance, but ultimately they don't
make them like they used to.
WHERE TO START
Start with the 1970s – the golden era of
Ozploitation. Or more specifically, Alvin Purple,
Australia's first R-rated film. This bawdy comedy
about an ordinary bloke with an extraordinary
sex life may not seem risqué by today's
standards, but you'll still be
impressed by what they
were getting away with
back in the seventies. Not
surprisingly, Tim Burstall's
trailblazer was a smash hit
and held the record as the
most successful Australian
film until 1977.
Proceed from the
sexy to the scary with Patrick (1978),
an antipodean sibling of Carrie. The first
screenplay by Ozploitation stalwart Everett
De Roche is the story of a comatose patient
(played by a bug-eyed Robert Thompson) with
telekinetic powers, and like the aforementioned
Brian De Palma film, Patrick features one
hell of a jump-scare at the end. It's also the
breakthrough film for director Richard Franklin,
a Hitchcock potégé who would go on to helm
another Ozploitation classic, Road Games
(1981), and Psycho II (1983)
Follow Patrick with another Everett De Roche-
penned gem, LongWeekend (1978), in which a
bickering married couple (John Hargreaves and
Briony Behets) on a beach getaway pay a deadly
price for environmental neglect. "Their crime
was against nature... nature found them guilty"
BEGINNER’S
GUIDE
#2 - OZPLOITATION
WHAT IS OZPLOITATION?
Simply put, Australian-made exploitation movies. The term was popularised by the 2008
documentary feature on the subject, Not Quite Hollywood.
Australian genre movies have enjoyed a resurgence in the last 10 years, spearheaded by the
success of Wolf Creek. And while recent films like Wyrmwood and The Loved Ones fit the term,
Ozploitation primarily encompasses the sex comedies, action films and horror shockers made during
the local film industry's boom period from the early '70s to mid-'80s, when the introduction of the
R-rating, relaxed censorship and government tax shelter deals incited a frenzy of filmmaking.
Patrick