"I asked him with my eyes to ask again yes and then he asked me would I yes to say yes my mountain flower and first I put my arms around him yes and drew him down Jo me so he could feel my breasts all perfume yes and his heart was going like mad and yes I said yes I will watch the 'Leprechaun' movies."
So went the final words of James Joyce's "Ulysses," a vital literary classic in the Western Canon, and one of the only major Irish novels devoted entirely to the watching of the "Leprechaun" film series.
The "Leprechaun" film series bears the distinction of lasting for 25 without ever offering up at least one legitimate classic. Several slasher series begin strong, or have follow-up sequels along the way, even if the vast majority of their sequels are bad or uncreative. John Carpenter's "Halloween" from 1978, for example,...
So went the final words of James Joyce's "Ulysses," a vital literary classic in the Western Canon, and one of the only major Irish novels devoted entirely to the watching of the "Leprechaun" film series.
The "Leprechaun" film series bears the distinction of lasting for 25 without ever offering up at least one legitimate classic. Several slasher series begin strong, or have follow-up sequels along the way, even if the vast majority of their sequels are bad or uncreative. John Carpenter's "Halloween" from 1978, for example,...
- 4/22/2024
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Catering directly to my interests, the Criterion Channel’s January lineup boasts two of my favorite things: James Gray and cats. In the former case it’s his first five features (itself a terrible reminder he only released five movies in 20 years); the latter shows felines the respect they deserve, from Kuroneko to The Long Goodbye, Tourneur’s Cat People and Mick Garris’ Sleepwalkers. Meanwhile, Ava Gardner, Bertrand Tavernier, Isabel Sandoval, Ken Russell, Juleen Compton, George Harrison’s HandMade Films, and the Sundance Film Festival get retrospectives.
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
Restorations of Soviet sci-fi trip Ikarie Xb 1, The Unknown, and The Music of Regret stream, as does the recent Plan 75. January’s Criterion Editions are Inside Llewyn Davis, Farewell Amor, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and (most intriguingly) the long-out-of-print The Man Who Fell to Earth, Blu-rays of which go for hundreds of dollars.
See the lineup below and learn more here.
Back By Popular Demand
The Graduate,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
Dystopian horror movies have a special power to transport us into nightmarish worlds, where man is pitted against the elements, his peers, or even himself. Whether the environment has fallen, capitalism has won, or technology has taken over– it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.
From the bone-chilling confines of Snowpiercer to the urban wasteland of Escape from New York, these ten harrowing films will immerse you in a terrifying realm where survival is a desperate battle. Brace yourself for a pulse-pounding journey through the darkest corners of dystopia as we explore the most thrilling and terrifying movies that will leave you clutching your resources and begging for daybreak.
Universal The Purge (2013)
Welcome to a world where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night every year. In The Purge, you'll witness the terrifying consequences of such a society as one family fights to survive the night. This dystopian nightmare...
From the bone-chilling confines of Snowpiercer to the urban wasteland of Escape from New York, these ten harrowing films will immerse you in a terrifying realm where survival is a desperate battle. Brace yourself for a pulse-pounding journey through the darkest corners of dystopia as we explore the most thrilling and terrifying movies that will leave you clutching your resources and begging for daybreak.
Universal The Purge (2013)
Welcome to a world where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night every year. In The Purge, you'll witness the terrifying consequences of such a society as one family fights to survive the night. This dystopian nightmare...
- 6/16/2023
- by Kimberley Elizabeth
Dystopian horror movies have a special power to transport us into nightmarish worlds, where man is pitted against the elements, his peers, or even himself. Whether the environment has fallen, capitalism has won, or technology has taken over– it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.
From the bone-chilling confines of Snowpiercer to the urban wasteland of Escape from New York, these ten harrowing films will immerse you in a terrifying realm where survival is a desperate battle. Brace yourself for a pulse-pounding journey through the darkest corners of dystopia as we explore the most thrilling and terrifying movies that will leave you clutching your resources and begging for daybreak.
Universal The Purge (2013)
Welcome to a world where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night every year. In The Purge, you'll witness the terrifying consequences of such a society as one family fights to survive the night. This dystopian nightmare...
From the bone-chilling confines of Snowpiercer to the urban wasteland of Escape from New York, these ten harrowing films will immerse you in a terrifying realm where survival is a desperate battle. Brace yourself for a pulse-pounding journey through the darkest corners of dystopia as we explore the most thrilling and terrifying movies that will leave you clutching your resources and begging for daybreak.
Universal The Purge (2013)
Welcome to a world where all crimes, including murder, are legal for one night every year. In The Purge, you'll witness the terrifying consequences of such a society as one family fights to survive the night. This dystopian nightmare...
- 6/16/2023
- by Kimberley Elizabeth
Welcome back for Day 9 of Daily Dead’s fourth annual Holiday Gift Guide, readers! Once again, our goal is to help you navigate through the horrors of the 2016 shopping season with our tips on unique gift ideas, and we’ll hopefully help you save a few bucks over the next few weeks, too. For today’s gift guide, we’re showcasing several of the amazing Arrow Video releases of 2016, and we're also featuring the work of IBTrav Illustration & Design, the Mondo soundtrack release for Deathgasm, more enamel pins, a book celebrating Marvel’s Doctor Strange, Horror LEGOs, recent Monster High releases, and so much more!
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently...
This year’s Holiday Gift Guide is sponsored by several amazing companies, including Mondo, Anchor Bay Entertainment, DC Entertainment, and Magnolia Home Entertainment, who have all donated an assortment of goodies to help get you into the spirit of the season. Daily Dead also recently...
- 12/7/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Director Brian Trenchard-Smith is a giant among men when it comes to exploitation cinema. The director, a British transplant to the Land of Oz, is responsible for some of the most incredible examples of Ozploitation that the island has to offer. Among his contributions to cinematic ignominy are the insanely over-the-top post-apocalyptic action bacchanal Turkey Shoot, the extremely vivid BMXploitation king BMX Bandits (starring a very young Nicole Kidman), and the crazy combination of rock 'n roll and death-defying stunts, Stunt Rock. However, the film that is perhaps my favorite Brian Trenchard-Smith (Bts) project is the punks-gone-wild bonanza, Dead End Drive-In. In the film, naturally set after the world's economy has collapsed and Australia has turned to martial law, society's undesirables are lured to the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 10/23/2016
- Screen Anarchy
The good folks at Arrow Video are releasing a new Blu-ray of Brian Trenchard-Smith's Ozploitation flick, Dead End Drive-in, this week so I gave the new disc a spin. While I wasn't surprise to find I was bowled over by the film's gorgeous new 2K remaster, I was shocked at how culturally savvy the film is and how prescient it feels in the current political climate.
While there's no question that Dead End Drive-In is designed to exploit the popularity of Mad Max, as well as capitalize on New Wave youth panic, it takes a sharp turn in the last act, embracing political [Continued ...]...
While there's no question that Dead End Drive-In is designed to exploit the popularity of Mad Max, as well as capitalize on New Wave youth panic, it takes a sharp turn in the last act, embracing political [Continued ...]...
- 9/20/2016
- QuietEarth.us
In this episode of Off The Shelf, Ryan and Brian take a look at the new DVD and Blu-ray releases for the weeks of September 13th and 20th, 2016.
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Notes & Links Links to Amazon
September 13th
Aliens 30th Anniversary Edition The Captive Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe De Palma Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler The Exotic Dances Of Bettie Page The Fits Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection Hammer Horror 8-Film Collection The Horrible Dr. Hichcock Jekyll and Hyde Together Again Love Me or Leave Me Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn The Monster of Piedras Blancas Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Raising Cain Road House Sin The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Transformers: The Movie The Wolf Man: Complete Legacy Collection Yours, Mine and Ours Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
September 20th
Beauty and the Beast: 25th Anniversary Edition Beware!
Subscribe in iTunes or RSS.
Episode Notes & Links Links to Amazon
September 13th
Aliens 30th Anniversary Edition The Captive Commando Cody: Sky Marshal of the Universe De Palma Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler The Exotic Dances Of Bettie Page The Fits Frankenstein: Complete Legacy Collection Hammer Horror 8-Film Collection The Horrible Dr. Hichcock Jekyll and Hyde Together Again Love Me or Leave Me Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War Metalstorm: The Destruction Of Jared-Syn The Monster of Piedras Blancas Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Raising Cain Road House Sin The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum Transformers: The Movie The Wolf Man: Complete Legacy Collection Yours, Mine and Ours Zatoichi: The Blind Swordsman
September 20th
Beauty and the Beast: 25th Anniversary Edition Beware!
- 9/20/2016
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
The third week of September has a lot of fantastic horror and sci-fi home entertainment offerings coming our way, including an incredible pair of Criterion Blu-ray releases—Cat People (1942) and Blood Simple—as well as the 30th Anniversary Edition of Labyrinth and the Special Edition of Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In. Other notable titles being released on September 20th include the horror doc The Blackout Experiments (which premiered earlier this year at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival), Sacrifice, The Rift (1990), Beware! The Blob, and a Blu-ray set featuring all kinds of Twin Peaks goodness.
Beware! The Blob (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Re-mastered in HD! The Blob returns... more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr. (Ensign Pulver), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Sid Haig (Busting), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough), Godfrey Cambridge...
Beware! The Blob (Kino Lorber, Blu-ray & DVD)
Newly Re-mastered in HD! The Blob returns... more outrageous than ever in this 1972 sequel to the popular sci-fi classic! Plenty of familiar faces, including Robert Walker Jr. (Ensign Pulver), Larry Hagman (Dallas), Sid Haig (Busting), Burgess Meredith (Rocky), Dick Van Patten (Eight is Enough), Godfrey Cambridge...
- 9/20/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
Dystopia! What a place to be. Well, except when people are mulched to feed an over populated society (Soylent Green) or killed at the age of 30 to control it (Logan’s Run); and in the case of Turkey Shoot (1982), hunted for sport by society’s elite. Come to think of it, Dystopia is kind of a bummer.
Released in its native Australia in October, Turkey Shoot wouldn’t see the light of day in the U.S. until September of ’83 under the title Escape 2000. Both titles work; the former playing into the more lurid elements, while the latter highlights the cut rate sci-fi angle. And it’s the swirling combination of the two that gives this sucker its punch. Turkey Shoot is A class exploitation with a down under smile.
Travel with me to the near future of 1995. (The “near future”, in filmmaking terms, means the viewer is treated...
Released in its native Australia in October, Turkey Shoot wouldn’t see the light of day in the U.S. until September of ’83 under the title Escape 2000. Both titles work; the former playing into the more lurid elements, while the latter highlights the cut rate sci-fi angle. And it’s the swirling combination of the two that gives this sucker its punch. Turkey Shoot is A class exploitation with a down under smile.
Travel with me to the near future of 1995. (The “near future”, in filmmaking terms, means the viewer is treated...
- 9/10/2016
- by Scott Drebit
- DailyDead
Arrow Video takes aim and brings a trio of madness and ooze to your home video shelf! Read on for the full details! From the Press Release: Mvd Entertainment Group furthers the distribution of Arrow Video in the Us with… Continue Reading →
The post Arrow Video Details Dead End Drive-In, The Hills Have Eyes, and Slugs Blu-ray Releases appeared first on Dread Central.
The post Arrow Video Details Dead End Drive-In, The Hills Have Eyes, and Slugs Blu-ray Releases appeared first on Dread Central.
- 8/4/2016
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
During the filming of Australia’s first martial arts movie, director Brian Trenchard-Smith set himself on fire to prove a point. Starring Jimmy Wang Yu and George Lazenby, the Man from Hong Kong holds up well
The song jazzing up the opening credits of the director Brian Trenchard-Smith’s highly energetic 1975 action movie The Man from Hong Kong is British pop group Jigsaw’s disco tune Sky High. The chorus crescendos with the words “you’ve blown it all sky high,” which might as well be an anthem for the film-maker’s colourful career – forged in the fire of SFX-laden genre pics of the ’70s and ’80s, including Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-In and Stunt Rock.
Continue reading...
The song jazzing up the opening credits of the director Brian Trenchard-Smith’s highly energetic 1975 action movie The Man from Hong Kong is British pop group Jigsaw’s disco tune Sky High. The chorus crescendos with the words “you’ve blown it all sky high,” which might as well be an anthem for the film-maker’s colourful career – forged in the fire of SFX-laden genre pics of the ’70s and ’80s, including Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-In and Stunt Rock.
Continue reading...
- 1/16/2016
- by Luke Buckmaster
- The Guardian - Film News
Alfred Hitchcock’s masterpiece Vertigo, restored and presented in 70mm, will be shown at the Hollywood Theatre in Portland on July 17, 18, and 19. I’ll be there, because this film has a special place in my heart. In 1959 we lived in the small English village of Odiham in Hampshire. 3000 people, 7 pubs, one picture palace—The Regal. I was 13 years old, and for the first time I was allowed to go to the movies on a winter’s night by myself. (My mother was a little over-protective, hence my later flirtation with stunts.) To get to the Regal on the outskirts of town, I had to walk through the cemetery of the Norman-era church. Dark shadows. Wisps of fog. Knowing I was going to see a film crafted by a director dubbed the Master of Suspense made the graveyard all the spookier. Vertigo was on its re-release, making its way through the...
- 7/15/2015
- by Brian Trenchard-Smith
- Trailers from Hell
“The truth is I’m just an old veteran character actor” says Robert Englund as we sit down to discuss The Last Showing, his latest foray into genre cinema. To find one standing opposite the genial and softly-spoken man who devoured so many hours of sleep by searing to the mind the menacing image of claws piercing first the mattress and then the torso, can only be described as ‘surreal.’ As these words flow onto the page there is a realisation that the reason horror cinema earns our affection was so eloquently phrased by Emily Berrington when she said, “There is a desire to feel that tiny part of your mind that otherwise doesn’t get tapped into.” By touching our sensibilities in a way that we crave, these terrifying encounters remain some of the most evocative and defining moments of the human experience, and therein cinema is our fix.
- 9/5/2014
- by Paul Risker
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Following in the footsteps of Peter Bogdanovich’s Stalker and Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In, Phil Hawkins’ The Last Showing returns us from our adventures on the moors and in the claustrophobic confines of the jungle to turn the place where we appreciate the filmic dreams conjured up by filmmakers into a nightmarish and hellish place.
If back in the 1980’s Robert Englund rolled over sweet dreams like black storm clouds, then three decades later his eye has turned to the multiplex where we dare to dream and lose ourselves in worlds removed from our reality.
In a special four part feature, writer-director Phil Hawkins, producer Alexandra Baranska and lead actors Finn Jones and Emily Berrington offer a series of youthful perspectives from behind and in front of the camera, before Robert Englund takes the stage to present the cineaste behind the icon.
Taking another step forward towards the...
If back in the 1980’s Robert Englund rolled over sweet dreams like black storm clouds, then three decades later his eye has turned to the multiplex where we dare to dream and lose ourselves in worlds removed from our reality.
In a special four part feature, writer-director Phil Hawkins, producer Alexandra Baranska and lead actors Finn Jones and Emily Berrington offer a series of youthful perspectives from behind and in front of the camera, before Robert Englund takes the stage to present the cineaste behind the icon.
Taking another step forward towards the...
- 9/4/2014
- by Jon Lyus
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Following in the footsteps of Peter Bogdanovich’s Stalker and Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In, Phil Hawkins’ The Last Showing returns us from our adventures on the moors and in the claustrophobic confines of the jungle to turn the place where we appreciate the filmic dreams conjured up by filmmakers into a nightmarish and hellish place.
If back in the 1980’s Robert Englund rolled over sweet dreams like black storm clouds, then three decades later his eye has turned to the multiplex where we dare to dream and lose ourselves in worlds removed from our reality.
In a special four part feature, writer-director Phil Hawkins, producer Alexandra Baranska and lead actors Finn Jones and Emily Berrington offer a series of youthful perspectives from behind and in front of the camera, before Robert Englund takes the stage to present the cineaste behind the icon.
Moving forward, Alexandra Baranska shared her...
If back in the 1980’s Robert Englund rolled over sweet dreams like black storm clouds, then three decades later his eye has turned to the multiplex where we dare to dream and lose ourselves in worlds removed from our reality.
In a special four part feature, writer-director Phil Hawkins, producer Alexandra Baranska and lead actors Finn Jones and Emily Berrington offer a series of youthful perspectives from behind and in front of the camera, before Robert Englund takes the stage to present the cineaste behind the icon.
Moving forward, Alexandra Baranska shared her...
- 9/3/2014
- by Paul Risker
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Following in the footsteps of Peter Bogdanovich’s Stalker and Brian Trenchard-Smith’s Dead End Drive-In, Phil Hawkins’ The Last Showing returns us from our adventures on the moors and in the claustrophobic confines of the jungle to turn the place where we appreciate the filmic dreams conjured up by filmmakers into a nightmarish and hellish place. If back in the 1980’s Robert Englund rolled over sweet dreams like black storm clouds, then three decades later his eye has turned to the multiplex where we dare to dream and lose ourselves in worlds removed from our reality. In a special four part feature, writer-director Phil Hawkins, producer Alexandra Baranska and lead actors Finn Jones and Emily Berrington offer a series of youthful perspectives from behind and in front of the camera, before Robert Englund takes the stage to present the cineaste behind the icon. To commence the feature, what better...
- 9/2/2014
- by Paul Risker
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Brian Trenchard-Smith has been a director for 40 years and has made around the same amount of movies, from 1975’s George Lazenby-featuring action film The Man from Hong Kong through 1986’s cult film Dead End Drive-In to last year’s straight-to-dvd thriller Absolute Deception, which starred Cuba Gooding Jr. “I’ve never met a green-light I didn’t like,” chuckles the urbane auteur.
Trenchard-Smith is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite filmmakers and a frequent contributor to Joe Dante’s fantastic Trailers from Hell website, alongside such fellow Tfh “gurus” as Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, and John Landis, and...
Trenchard-Smith is one of Quentin Tarantino’s favorite filmmakers and a frequent contributor to Joe Dante’s fantastic Trailers from Hell website, alongside such fellow Tfh “gurus” as Guillermo del Toro, Edgar Wright, and John Landis, and...
- 7/30/2014
- by Clark Collis
- EW - Inside Movies
Anglo/Australian filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith is developing Sword Point, a drama about an injured Chinese gymnast who takes up fencing in a bid to realise her dream of representing China in sport.
The Los Angeles-based filmmaker and his producing partner Marty Fink are shopping the project to Chinese companies with a view to a mounting it as an Australian/Chinese co-production.
The sports-themed drama may seem far removed from the usual milieu of the writer-director whose credits include the action adventures BMX Bandits, The Man from Hong Kong and Stunt Rock, horror movies Turkey Shoot and Dead End Drive-in, and TV.s Flipper.
.I have no usual milieu if you look at my resume, GenresRUs; this will be a sports movie,. said the filmmaker who is on the Gold Coast shooting Hard Drive, an action comedy that stars John Cusack as a mysterious American who arrives in Brisbane, goes looking...
The Los Angeles-based filmmaker and his producing partner Marty Fink are shopping the project to Chinese companies with a view to a mounting it as an Australian/Chinese co-production.
The sports-themed drama may seem far removed from the usual milieu of the writer-director whose credits include the action adventures BMX Bandits, The Man from Hong Kong and Stunt Rock, horror movies Turkey Shoot and Dead End Drive-in, and TV.s Flipper.
.I have no usual milieu if you look at my resume, GenresRUs; this will be a sports movie,. said the filmmaker who is on the Gold Coast shooting Hard Drive, an action comedy that stars John Cusack as a mysterious American who arrives in Brisbane, goes looking...
- 6/23/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Brian Trenchard Smith will direct Australian action film Weekend Warriors.
The Spice Factory, Hannay Productions/Vincero Productions and Stealth Australia are on board to produce.
Stealth is handling sales.
Trevor Howis writes the script, about an army reserves officer who is disgraced and plots his revenge on his psychopathic former mentor.
The writer is Dhp head of development Trevor Howis. The producers are Michael Cowan, Jason Piette, David Hannay, and Trevor Howis.
Casting is underway with Maura Fay Casting.
Trenchard Smith’s credits include The Man From Hong Kong, Dead End Drive-In and The Quest.
The Spice Factory, Hannay Productions/Vincero Productions and Stealth Australia are on board to produce.
Stealth is handling sales.
Trevor Howis writes the script, about an army reserves officer who is disgraced and plots his revenge on his psychopathic former mentor.
The writer is Dhp head of development Trevor Howis. The producers are Michael Cowan, Jason Piette, David Hannay, and Trevor Howis.
Casting is underway with Maura Fay Casting.
Trenchard Smith’s credits include The Man From Hong Kong, Dead End Drive-In and The Quest.
- 6/18/2013
- ScreenDaily
BMX Bandits
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Written by Patrick Edgeworth and Russell Hagg
Australia, 1983
The 1980′s saw a big boom in the sport of BMX racing, and the bikes began appearing in several Hollywood and non-Hollywood productions. Long before Rad, and a year before E.T. put BMX bikes on the world stage, Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-In), directed BMX Bandits – a breezy, action-packed adventure most famous for employing Nicole Kidman in her very first movie role. The film has grown to become a considerable cult hit in many circles and with reason. Bandits is an irresistible time capsule, showing what the sport, and bikes, were once like. These were the days when you could actually sit on a BMX bike seat and didn’t need to rely on your feet to break. And while the Kuwahara was made famous thanks to Spielberg’s ’84 masterpiece, Bandits featured a blue Mongoose,...
Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith
Written by Patrick Edgeworth and Russell Hagg
Australia, 1983
The 1980′s saw a big boom in the sport of BMX racing, and the bikes began appearing in several Hollywood and non-Hollywood productions. Long before Rad, and a year before E.T. put BMX bikes on the world stage, Ozploitation legend Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-In), directed BMX Bandits – a breezy, action-packed adventure most famous for employing Nicole Kidman in her very first movie role. The film has grown to become a considerable cult hit in many circles and with reason. Bandits is an irresistible time capsule, showing what the sport, and bikes, were once like. These were the days when you could actually sit on a BMX bike seat and didn’t need to rely on your feet to break. And while the Kuwahara was made famous thanks to Spielberg’s ’84 masterpiece, Bandits featured a blue Mongoose,...
- 5/19/2013
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
★★★☆☆ Resembling a neon-drenched, coming-of-age version of Mad Max (1979), Brian Trenchard-Smith's Dead End Drive-In (1986) has all the familiar Ozploitation trappings. There's gratuitous nudity, sporadic bursts of violence and some truly outrageous stunt work (including the most astounding car jump ever committed to film). Yet, amongst all, it's also a strange and surreal commentary on apathetic, aimless 80s youth culture. Set in a future society on the brink of collapse, buff young meat-head Crabs (Ned Manning) borrows his brother's prized '57 Chevy to impress a girl he's taking to the local drive-in.
Read more »...
Read more »...
- 4/9/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Scanners | The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey | The House In Nighmare Park | The Servant | Dead End Drive-in
Scanners
From Sam Raimi to Peter Jackson, horror has always been a great way for directors to get a career start: as long as they provide marketable gore, they can pretty much make whatever they want. David Cronenberg used the tactic too, but his early films are perhaps closer to science fiction.
Scanners was his big breakthrough success. It fulfilled the basic horror requirements with little more than a single image – the exploding head – but it was such a strong image that it sparked a trend in the early 80s. Scanners are misfits with telekinetic powers who don't fit into society. A scanner underground network is waging war against multinational ConSec, whose reckless drug testing on pregnant women caused these aberrations (playing the rebels' leader is Michael Ironside, a never-unemployed actor with the ideal...
Scanners
From Sam Raimi to Peter Jackson, horror has always been a great way for directors to get a career start: as long as they provide marketable gore, they can pretty much make whatever they want. David Cronenberg used the tactic too, but his early films are perhaps closer to science fiction.
Scanners was his big breakthrough success. It fulfilled the basic horror requirements with little more than a single image – the exploding head – but it was such a strong image that it sparked a trend in the early 80s. Scanners are misfits with telekinetic powers who don't fit into society. A scanner underground network is waging war against multinational ConSec, whose reckless drug testing on pregnant women caused these aberrations (playing the rebels' leader is Michael Ironside, a never-unemployed actor with the ideal...
- 4/6/2013
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Stars: Nicholas Bell, Ngaire Dawn Fair, John Brumpton, Eddie Baroo, Justin Batchelor, Amber Clayton, Ditch Davey | Written by Eddie Baroo, Justin Dix, Adam Patrick Foster | Directed by Justin Dix
Directed by award winning special effects supervisor Justin Dix (whose best known in the SFX community for his work on the Star Wars prequels) and lensed down-under in Australia, Crawlspace follows a group of elite soldiers sent to infiltrate and extract the lead science team from Pine Gap, Australia’s top secret underground military compound – think the Aussie equivalent of Area 51 – after it comes under attack from unknown forces. The mission is compromised after they encounter a young woman with no memory of who she is or how she came to be there. As they try to escape, the group quickly discovers all is not as it seems and the facility has become a testing ground for something far more sinister…...
Directed by award winning special effects supervisor Justin Dix (whose best known in the SFX community for his work on the Star Wars prequels) and lensed down-under in Australia, Crawlspace follows a group of elite soldiers sent to infiltrate and extract the lead science team from Pine Gap, Australia’s top secret underground military compound – think the Aussie equivalent of Area 51 – after it comes under attack from unknown forces. The mission is compromised after they encounter a young woman with no memory of who she is or how she came to be there. As they try to escape, the group quickly discovers all is not as it seems and the facility has become a testing ground for something far more sinister…...
- 4/2/2013
- by Phil Wheat
- Nerdly
Arrow Video will be revisiting 80's Australian exploitation when it finally releases Brian Trenchard-Smith's cult 'Dead End Drive-In' onto DVD here in the UK. Based on a short story by Peter Carey and adapted by writer Peter Smalley director Smith put the whole project together in a short 35 day shoot as 'an allegory for the junk values of the eighties'. The Ozploitation classic lands on DVD here in the UK from 8 April. The flick stars Ned Manning, Natalie McCurry, Peter Whitford, Wilbur Wilde, Dave Gibson, Sandie Lillingston, Ollie Hall, Lyn Collingwood, Nikki McWaters, Melissa Davis and Margi Di Ferranti. The DVD release comes complete with a special collectors edition booklet and you can check out the DVD artwork below....
- 3/23/2013
- Horror Asylum
6- The 10th Victim (La Decima vittima) (The Tenth Victim)
Directed by Elio Petri
Written by Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Ennio Flaiano and Elio Petri
Italy,1965
The 10th Victim was the first film to offer up the concept of a TV show wherein people hunt and kill one another for sport and to expand the idea into a satire on gameshows. Set in the 21st Century, the government and the private sector have joined forces to create a solution to crime by giving it a profitable outlet titled “The Big Hunt,” a popular worldwide game show in which contestants are chosen at random to chase one another around the world in a kill or be killed scenario. The winner of the first round moves on to the next. After ten wins, a player is retired from the game and gets a cash prize of one million dollars, but very few make it that far.
Directed by Elio Petri
Written by Tonino Guerra, Giorgio Salvioni, Ennio Flaiano and Elio Petri
Italy,1965
The 10th Victim was the first film to offer up the concept of a TV show wherein people hunt and kill one another for sport and to expand the idea into a satire on gameshows. Set in the 21st Century, the government and the private sector have joined forces to create a solution to crime by giving it a profitable outlet titled “The Big Hunt,” a popular worldwide game show in which contestants are chosen at random to chase one another around the world in a kill or be killed scenario. The winner of the first round moves on to the next. After ten wins, a player is retired from the game and gets a cash prize of one million dollars, but very few make it that far.
- 3/26/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
It’s that time of the year, Killer Fans! We are back with our annual Halloween Watch List. Besides some of our writers recommending flicks for October, we will be bringing in a few of our friends who work in the industry to see what they watch at the most wonderful time of the year for genre fiends.
Legendary auteur Brian Trenchard-Smith, the director of Escape 2000, Dead-End Drive In and Leprechaun 3, gives us his favorite flicks for Halloween!
Night of the Demons 2
Naturally.
Audition
Shared a taxi with that girl and she recited Japanese poetry she had written.
Evil Dead 2
The best of the trilogy.
The Haunting
Robert Wise version please! Such atmosphere. Such skill with what you don’t see.
Ju-On
The last hour of creeping dread is fantastic.
Rec
Spanish version is much better than the Us copy.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Great creature and atmosphere...
Legendary auteur Brian Trenchard-Smith, the director of Escape 2000, Dead-End Drive In and Leprechaun 3, gives us his favorite flicks for Halloween!
Night of the Demons 2
Naturally.
Audition
Shared a taxi with that girl and she recited Japanese poetry she had written.
Evil Dead 2
The best of the trilogy.
The Haunting
Robert Wise version please! Such atmosphere. Such skill with what you don’t see.
Ju-On
The last hour of creeping dread is fantastic.
Rec
Spanish version is much better than the Us copy.
Pan’s Labyrinth
Great creature and atmosphere...
- 10/14/2011
- by Jason Bene
- Killer Films
Beginning life as a ‘fake’ trailer, made as part of a competition tied to the release of Grindhouse, Hobo with a Shotgun is now a fully fledged feature film and on July the 15th it finally reaches UK cinemas. “Delivering justice, one shell at a time” in the role of the titular Hobo is Rutger Hauer and accompanying him in ‘Scum Town’ are Pasha Ebrahimi, Robb Wells, Brian Downey and many more.
Hobo with a Shotgun is directed by Jason Eisener and we were recently given the opportunity to speak to him. Below is a transcription of our discussion.
There are films like Dead End Drive-in that seem to be big influences on you and their influence is clearly evident in Hobo. What were your key influences and how did you decide to incorporate them?
Me and John, the writer of the film, are best friends and grew up together.
Hobo with a Shotgun is directed by Jason Eisener and we were recently given the opportunity to speak to him. Below is a transcription of our discussion.
There are films like Dead End Drive-in that seem to be big influences on you and their influence is clearly evident in Hobo. What were your key influences and how did you decide to incorporate them?
Me and John, the writer of the film, are best friends and grew up together.
- 7/12/2011
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
In this new feature on the site, I'll be periodically posting various oddballs trailers from the far reaches of cinema obscurity. So, without any further ado, let's check out some "coming attractions"!
Stunt Rock (1978):
This mind-melting slab of Australian lunacy pairs footage of wild stuntman Grant Page with performances by goofy 70's rockers/magicians Sorcery! Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith of Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-in and Leprechaun 4: In Space fame.
Frankenstein General Hospital (1988):
Oh boy, this looks ridiculous. A forgotten straight-to-video comedy featuring a respectable cast of recognizable character actors including lovable lug Irwin Keyes, Mark Blankfield, Leslie Jordan and even Ben Stein. There's a part of me that wants to check this out, while another part of me screams "What the fuck is wrong with you?!".
Night of the Dribbler (1990):
Jesus Christ, where did this come from?! An absurd high school slasher flick/goofball comedy...
Stunt Rock (1978):
This mind-melting slab of Australian lunacy pairs footage of wild stuntman Grant Page with performances by goofy 70's rockers/magicians Sorcery! Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith of Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-in and Leprechaun 4: In Space fame.
Frankenstein General Hospital (1988):
Oh boy, this looks ridiculous. A forgotten straight-to-video comedy featuring a respectable cast of recognizable character actors including lovable lug Irwin Keyes, Mark Blankfield, Leslie Jordan and even Ben Stein. There's a part of me that wants to check this out, while another part of me screams "What the fuck is wrong with you?!".
Night of the Dribbler (1990):
Jesus Christ, where did this come from?! An absurd high school slasher flick/goofball comedy...
- 7/1/2011
- by noreply@blogger.com (Kevin, Mark & Parker)
The new, Nsfw action movie Hobo With a Shotgun is so extreme even star Rutger Hauer thinks it goes too far. How did a fake trailer made for just $150 become the year’s maddest movie?
Canadian director Jason Eisener originally wanted to make his debut feature film Hobo With a Shotgun a couple of years ago. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for those pesky kids. The (fictional) children in question played a small but crucial part in the script for Hobo that Eisener, his producer Rob Cotterill, and his writer John Davies...
Canadian director Jason Eisener originally wanted to make his debut feature film Hobo With a Shotgun a couple of years ago. And he would have gotten away with it, too, if it wasn’t for those pesky kids. The (fictional) children in question played a small but crucial part in the script for Hobo that Eisener, his producer Rob Cotterill, and his writer John Davies...
- 5/3/2011
- by Clark Collis
- EW - Inside Movies
It’s Monday! That means it’s time for us to give you the new DVD & Blu-Ray releases for this week. We got some hi-def Brian Trenchard-Smith plus some kaiju, an Asylum release and Sharktopus! Read on fiends to see the full list.
All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here.
Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!
The Absent
Format: DVD
———————
When twin brothers Oscar and Vincent discover their parents are plotting to kill them for insurance money, they beat them to the punch.
All Descriptions of the following titles are provided by Amazon.com unless otherwise noted. If you plan on buying a flick from this list, please click on the links provided or click on the cover as it helps us pay the bills around here.
Also, unlike most sites, we provide the Netflix widget which we think is pretty convenient to add these films to your queue. If you don’t have Netflix, feel free to click on “Free Trial” and try it out!
The Absent
Format: DVD
———————
When twin brothers Oscar and Vincent discover their parents are plotting to kill them for insurance money, they beat them to the punch.
- 3/14/2011
- by Andy Triefenbach
- Destroy the Brain
Severin Films has set a street date of March 13, 2011 for this hard to find movie from Aussie filmmaker Brian Trenchard Smith. This was an early turn for actress Nicole Kidman.
After The Others, Quentin Tarantino says, this is my favorite Nicole Kidman performance! The future Academy Award® winner made her movie debut at 16 years old as the pouffy-haired star of this action/comedy about a cache of stolen walkie-talkies, three BMX-riding friends, and the ruthless bank robbers who will pursue them through every graveyard, shopping mall, construction site and waterpark in New South Wales, Australia. It s a high-flying ride to adventure filled with wild stunts, cool BMX outfits, creepy innuendo, cheezy synth music, an obnoxious fat kid, and gobs of fast & furious fun. John Ley (Mad Max), David Argue (Razorback) and Bryan Marshall (The Long Good Friday) co-star with thrilling cinematography from future Oscar® winner John Seale (The English Patient...
After The Others, Quentin Tarantino says, this is my favorite Nicole Kidman performance! The future Academy Award® winner made her movie debut at 16 years old as the pouffy-haired star of this action/comedy about a cache of stolen walkie-talkies, three BMX-riding friends, and the ruthless bank robbers who will pursue them through every graveyard, shopping mall, construction site and waterpark in New South Wales, Australia. It s a high-flying ride to adventure filled with wild stunts, cool BMX outfits, creepy innuendo, cheezy synth music, an obnoxious fat kid, and gobs of fast & furious fun. John Ley (Mad Max), David Argue (Razorback) and Bryan Marshall (The Long Good Friday) co-star with thrilling cinematography from future Oscar® winner John Seale (The English Patient...
- 1/9/2011
- by Jason Bene
- Killer Films
Brian Trenchard-Smith is awesome. He's like the Roger Corman of Australia. Escape 2000, Dead End Drive In, Night of the Demons 2, Frog Dreaming and Stunt Rock are just a few of the many kick ass titles in his arsenal of awesome.
Now the ozploitation master has returns with a schlocky made for TV post-apocalyptic flick called Arctic Blast. We reported on it a ways back, but we've got the trailer so it's time for an update.
Synopsis:
When a solar eclipse sends a colossal blast of super chilled air towards the earth, it sets off a catastrophic chain of events that threatens to engulf the world in ice!
Jack Tate is a brilliant yet troubled physicist specializing in Earth Sciences. Complicating his life is a messy divorce from the local medical examiner Emma (Alexandra Davies) and a strained relationship with his teenaged daughter Andrea (Indiana Evans). When Jack learns...
Now the ozploitation master has returns with a schlocky made for TV post-apocalyptic flick called Arctic Blast. We reported on it a ways back, but we've got the trailer so it's time for an update.
Synopsis:
When a solar eclipse sends a colossal blast of super chilled air towards the earth, it sets off a catastrophic chain of events that threatens to engulf the world in ice!
Jack Tate is a brilliant yet troubled physicist specializing in Earth Sciences. Complicating his life is a messy divorce from the local medical examiner Emma (Alexandra Davies) and a strained relationship with his teenaged daughter Andrea (Indiana Evans). When Jack learns...
- 12/14/2010
- QuietEarth.us
Rating: 2.5/5
Directors: Israel Luna
Cast: Krystal Summers, Kelexis Davenport, William Belli, Erica Andrews, Jenna Skyy
You had me at the title. Ticked Off Trannies With Knives was one of the most buzzed about films at Tribeca this year and you want to know why? Yep, the title. It’s a title that is tailor made for the midnight slot. Hell, at this point it’s hard to remember which came first – midnight movies or the exploitation genre. Now, since grind house went art house, exploitation has received a lot of overdue praise. Directors like Jack Hill (Coffee, Switchblade Sisters, Spider Baby) and Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-in) have been embraced by a larger audience lately, largely due to the cultural influence of younger director’s like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Craig Brewer. They helped make cult cool.
Read more on Tribeca 2010 Review: Ticked Off Trannies With Knives…...
Directors: Israel Luna
Cast: Krystal Summers, Kelexis Davenport, William Belli, Erica Andrews, Jenna Skyy
You had me at the title. Ticked Off Trannies With Knives was one of the most buzzed about films at Tribeca this year and you want to know why? Yep, the title. It’s a title that is tailor made for the midnight slot. Hell, at this point it’s hard to remember which came first – midnight movies or the exploitation genre. Now, since grind house went art house, exploitation has received a lot of overdue praise. Directors like Jack Hill (Coffee, Switchblade Sisters, Spider Baby) and Brian Trenchard-Smith (Turkey Shoot, Dead End Drive-in) have been embraced by a larger audience lately, largely due to the cultural influence of younger director’s like Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Craig Brewer. They helped make cult cool.
Read more on Tribeca 2010 Review: Ticked Off Trannies With Knives…...
- 5/4/2010
- by Drew Tinnin
- GordonandtheWhale
Forgotten Films [1] is a semi-regular feature on Film Junk where we explore interesting movies that have fallen off the radar or slipped through the cracks over the years. If you've seen the recent documentary Not Quite Hollywood, about the history of Australian b-movies and exploitation flicks, then you're probably familiar with the name Brian Trenchard-Smith. Trenchard-Smith directed some of the most beloved cult classics from down under including The Man From Hong Kong, Turkey Shoot, and Dead-End Drive In, before eventually going on to helm some of the later installments of the Leprechaun series. To the average person that might not mean much, but for hardcore genre fans, that basically makes him royalty. Back in the '80s, he also took some time away from the carnage and blood-soaked mayhem to direct a family-friendly film of sorts called Bmx Bandits. The movie has an interesting claim to fame in that...
- 11/11/2009
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
There are two essential books that celebrate region-specific horror films both well-known and obscure. One is Stephen Thrower’s Nightmare USA (with a companion volume planned). The other is They Came From Within, Caelum Vatnsdal’s history of Canadian horror movies. What these two books suggest is that the best of the cinema’s independent horror films are really regional works. Three of the most famous horror films of all time, Night of the Living Dead, Carnival of Souls, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are really regional films, independently financed and shot far from Hollywood with local actors and crew members. Thus they have a flavor not found in mainstream genre movies, spices of quirkiness, unpredictability, and rigorous bleakness that mainstream movies can’t or won’t allow themselves.
As far as I know there isn’t a book about Australian genre cinema yet, but now there is a film:...
As far as I know there isn’t a book about Australian genre cinema yet, but now there is a film:...
- 10/7/2009
- by dkholm
Disclaimer: This article may contain sarcasm, irony and “LOLs”; proceed with caution.
It’s time once again for horror at the Oscars. Sunday’s festivities were filled with folks who have worked in the genre and per usual, I feel if it’s a win for Danny Boyle, it is a win for rage-zombie fans everywhere. Seems like a lot of folks this year are veterans of Exorcist: The Beginning, Amityville: A New Generation and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Of course, the most important genre win would be Greg Cannom, a staple of 80’s horror effects; he worked on such films as Fright Night Part 2, The Lost Boys and The Howling.
Now some movies on this list might be “kinda horror.” These thrillers or genre-friendly frameworks are on the ghoulish cusp and are marked with an asterisk. Some flicks on the list are there because, what the fuck,...
It’s time once again for horror at the Oscars. Sunday’s festivities were filled with folks who have worked in the genre and per usual, I feel if it’s a win for Danny Boyle, it is a win for rage-zombie fans everywhere. Seems like a lot of folks this year are veterans of Exorcist: The Beginning, Amityville: A New Generation and Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Of course, the most important genre win would be Greg Cannom, a staple of 80’s horror effects; he worked on such films as Fright Night Part 2, The Lost Boys and The Howling.
Now some movies on this list might be “kinda horror.” These thrillers or genre-friendly frameworks are on the ghoulish cusp and are marked with an asterisk. Some flicks on the list are there because, what the fuck,...
- 2/24/2009
- by Heather Buckley
- DreadCentral.com
In the final part of my 2009 American Film Market report and review roundup, I tackle another 11 movies that I caught during my annual Santa Monica moviegoing orgy. For an overview of the trip, see here; the first batch of reviews can be found here. And for more information on the Afm, held each November in Los Angeles, go here.
Not Quite Hollywood: Fans of “Ozploitation” will jump over the barbie for Mark Hartley’s winning documentary on exploitation films produced in Australia since the ’70s, tackling everything from Patrick to Wolf Creek. Just about anyone ever associated with an Australian genre film is interviewed here, including actors (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach on Road Games; Dennis Hopper on Mad Dog Morgan), directors (George Miller, Brian Trenchard-Smith, the late Richard Franklin), screenwriters (Everett De Roche, who wrote almost every Aussie fright flick) and producers (Antony Ginnane, who wrangled financing for...
Not Quite Hollywood: Fans of “Ozploitation” will jump over the barbie for Mark Hartley’s winning documentary on exploitation films produced in Australia since the ’70s, tackling everything from Patrick to Wolf Creek. Just about anyone ever associated with an Australian genre film is interviewed here, including actors (Jamie Lee Curtis and Stacy Keach on Road Games; Dennis Hopper on Mad Dog Morgan), directors (George Miller, Brian Trenchard-Smith, the late Richard Franklin), screenwriters (Everett De Roche, who wrote almost every Aussie fright flick) and producers (Antony Ginnane, who wrangled financing for...
- 12/17/2008
- Fangoria
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