Tag: ozploitation

The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)

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Welcome to B-Movie Enema for another review to sate your appetites.

So I was trying to think what would make for a good review for this week. I was driving along the roads of New South Wales in Australia and took a detour into the French countryside. I eventually found my way through my European GPS, which was just some road signs, to a strange little village. That’s when it struck me… I want to talk about Peter Weir’s The Cars That Ate Paris.

Turns out, the same inspiration that struck me to talk about this movie with a very peculiar title was the same inspiration that struck Weir to make the film to begin with. He was in Europe and claimed that the road signs on the French roads diverted him into what he called strange little villages. From this, being an outsider from a wholly different continent, he got the idea to make a movie where the inhabitants of a small village, that he named Paris, profit from car wrecks.

Continue reading “The Cars That Ate Paris (1974)” →

Dark Age (1987)

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We’re goin’ to a land down under where John Jarrat and crocs rumble. Can’t you hear Arch Nicholson tell Nikki Coghill cut? You better run, I better get started.

Oh yes, it’s time to return to Australia for one of the most well liked Ozploitation horror adventures! This week, I’m talking about Arch Nicholson’s 1987 giant crocodile flick Dark Age. Now, check it out, this was part of a two-picture deal with the recently resurrected RKO Pictures. RKO was a golden age of cinema studio. Their biggest claim to fame? Motherfuckin’ King Kong, of course. RKO dissolved at the very end of the 50s and returned in 1981 and collaborated with some of the major studios.

I’m gonna guess this and the partner movie in the deal with RKO, The Lighthorseman, were products of the post-Crocodile Dundee Australia hysteria that not only gave us a bunch of Paul Hogan stuff and Yahoo Serious. I think we know who won in that deal. Also, we had lots of Mel Gibson stuff in the late 80s, as he was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood at that time too. So, yeah, I can see RKO wanting in on that action.

So, here we are! I guess.

Continue reading “Dark Age (1987)” →

Turkey Shoot (1982)

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It’s been a little while since I covered anything from the Ozploitation era of Australian filmmaking. I think it’s the perfect time to check back in with our friends Down Under! This is one that I questioned whether or not it fits properly on B-Movie Enema. It’s not so much because it seemed like a crazy dystopian “Most Dangerous Game” sort of scenario. Mostly it’s because of this movie featuring Olivia Hussey, an actress that I’d say has a considerable amount of standing in the world of acting in the 70s and 80s.

When I do my research for these movies to see what I can do to punch up the start of one of these articles, I’m usually curious what the reviews were. That’s when I realized Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Turkey Shoot would not disappoint. I think it might be best to talk about Trenchard-Smith first.

He is an English-Australian director, producer, writer, etc. that has a filmography that could cover a buttload of B-Movie Enema articles for months. He was a producer on a past movie featured here that came out the same year as Turkey Shoot – Blood Tide. He did Dead End Drive-In, BMX Bandits (with a very young Nicole Kidman), Night of the Demons 2 (a sequel to a favorite Halloween movie of mine), and even two Leprechaun movies – Leprechaun 3 and Leprechaun 4: In Space. These are all things I know a thing or two about. In fact, I have BMX Bandits on my shelf. I may have to look into scheduling that for an article.

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Felicity (1978)

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Oh, and you thought I was done with Severin Films releases that are connected in some way to the French book/movie/character Emmanuelle…

Well, we’re not.  This week’s feature, Felicity, features a young girl, played by the lovely Glory Annen, who is a sheltered Catholic school girl who indulges in erotic novels… as well as a lesbian love affair.  You might remember Annen in another late 70s film in which she was indulging in a lesbian affair that I’ve already covered – Norman J. Warren’s Prey.  In that, she was the kept orphan of her parents’ housekeeper who ran afoul of an alien who was more fox than man.

I find Annen particularly interesting.  If you check out that previous article on Prey, I touch upon her involvement with a man who was possibly involved in some pretty deep criminal shit in the horse racing industry.  Since her death in 2017, her various notes and documents compiled about her relationship with Ivan Allan have begun the editing process to create exposés and a series of books detailing that alleged criminality of Allan.  Continue reading “Felicity (1978)” →

Snapshot (aka The Day After Halloween, 1979)

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The other great thing about the high quality shit you get here at B-Movie Enema is that Halloween is always a bonus episode.  So today, we’re getting back to our regular Friday stuff.

Here we are, one day after Halloween.  I know of at least 47 movies called “Halloween” starring some dude named Freddy Michael Jason Hellraiser.  I don’t know any movie ever called November First.   But I do know of a movie called Snapshot.

Which is also called One More Minute.

Which also goes by the title The Day After Halloween. Continue reading “Snapshot (aka The Day After Halloween, 1979)” →

Sheborg (aka SheBorg Massacre, 2016)

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Australia – the land of scary ass deadly spiders, nasty snakes, kangaroos that will probably kick you in the balls, koalas with chlamydia, and movies!

The land down under has given us lots of entertainment over the years like Russell Crowe, Yahoo Serious, OG Mad Max, Paul Hogan.  You know, people you probably don’t really want to hang out with (though Yahoo Serious is probably cool).  Since about the 70s or so, they have been pumping out a certain brand of movies too usually referred to as “ozploitation”.  These movies started rolling out over the 70s and 80s after the R rating was introduced.  There are some spectacular entries under the ozploitation banner too – Mad Max, Thirst, Dead End Drive-In, and Patrick to just name a few.  Thirst, is a particular favorite of mine.

The Wikipedia page discussing and listing Ozploitation films lists this week’s feature, Sheborg (aka SheBorg Massacre) as one of the newer films in the subgenre.   Continue reading “Sheborg (aka SheBorg Massacre, 2016)” →

Thirst (1979)

Published on by Geoff ArbuckleLeave a comment

This week’s B-Movie Enema is a bit of a change of pace.  First, it’s a good movie.  Second, it’s an interesting take on an old idea.

From Australia, allow me to present to you Rod Hardy’s Thirst…

I should note that the director, Hardy, has gone on to work on some things of note relatively recently.  He’s directed episodes of Battlestar Galactica, The X-Files, The Librarians, and Supernatural.  So he’s no schlub.  The film also stars a beautiful actress by the name of Chantal Contouri who is a little Greek and a little Australian, and all around alright by me.  While she did have a brief stint on General Hospital in the late 80s, for the most part, she’s primarily stayed in Australia and been on many of their TV shows.  Unfortunately, we don’t get many of those so I can’t give any overview of that in any real sense like the shows that Rod Hardy worked on here in the States. Continue reading “Thirst (1979)” →