Ozsploitation! “Long Weekend” (1978)

Scott Von Doviak — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Inspired by the terrific new documentary Not Quite Hollywood, the Screengrab is proud to present Ozsploitation!, our own survey of the golden age of Australian drive-in movies. Pop a tube, throw another shrimp on the barbie and try not to chunder.

This one surprised me. The tagline, as you can see on this poster, is “Their crime was against nature…and nature found them guilty!” This led me to expect a sort of Outback Day of the Animals, complete with vicious dingoes and bloodthirsty kookaburras. Long Weekend is something altogether different: an elliptical and unsettling creepshow that defies easy categorization.

Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) are a suburban couple hoping to work out their marital difficulties with a camping trip. (Actually, Peter is the one set on the camping; Marcia would just as soon spend the long weekend in a luxury hotel.) From the beginning, director Colin Eggleston sprinkles ominous hints indicating that the trip is probably not such a great idea. We overhear a television news broadcast reporting an avian attack straight out of The Birds. We see Peter peering at Marcia through the telescopic sight of his rifle. The folks at the gas station claim they’ve never heard of the beach Peter and Marcia are looking for, even though it’s only five miles away.

All the while, as they make their way to their remote destination, Peter and Marcia bicker. He hits and runs over a kangaroo, the first episode in an emerging pattern of disrespect for the natural world. Later, he’ll toss his empty beer bottles on the beach or into the woods. She’ll shatter an eagle’s egg against a tree in anger. He’ll shoot and kill an innocent sea cow, thinking it’s a shark.

There’s a brief reconciliation, once they’ve finally reached their destination and set up camp. Still, nothing feels right, and it’s never clear where the threat is coming from. There’s a van parked down the beach. Unfamiliar animal cries pierce the night. Peter may be crazy – or maybe Marcia, or maybe both. The abstractions create a tension that pushes Long Weekend out of the realm of run-of-the-mill exploitation into unexpected, disturbing territory. The least satisfying reading of the film is a simple “nature strikes back” interpretation; although that’s one explanation for the fate that befalls Peter and Marcia, it doesn’t feel adequate when weighed against the movie’s enigmas. This is exactly the sort of buried treasure I’d hoped to dig up when I launched this foray into Ozsploitation, and that’s certainly worth four Foster’s.

Bonus attraction: Perhaps the best animal actor I’ve ever seen as the couple’s dog Cricket. This cute little fella can do both comedy and horror, and I hope he was well compensated with Snausages.

Postscript: Long Weekend was remade this year by director Jamie Blanks (Urban Legend). I haven’t seen it, but I’m given to understand it’s one of these “shot-for-shot” dealies. For your consideration, here are the trailers for both Long Weekends.

Previously on Ozsploitation!:
Turkey Shoot
Razorback

DVD Digest for July 22, 2008

Paul Clark — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:00:00 GMT

This week, Criterion gives DVD buyers a re-pressing of an old favorite and a new version of a classic. Also, plenty of Blu-Ray for your enjoyment, provided you’re not in the market for good movies.

DVD of the Week: Years ago, Criterion released four of Carl Th. Dreyer’s greatest films in deluxe versions, but his 1932 classic Vampyr has only been available in a subpar transfer from Image. Until now, that is. This week, Vampyr finally gets the treatment it richly deserves in a new two-disc set from the folks at Criterion. Along with both German- and English-credited versions of the film, the DVD contains a commentary from film scholar Tony Rayns, a 1966 documentary about Dreyer’s work, a radio broadcast of Dreyer speaking about filmmaking, and much more. Even the insert is indispensible, containing not only essays on the film, but a book featuring the film’s original screenplay as well as the story on which it was based. Naturally, any DVD version of a Dreyer film is a must for any serious film lover, but to see one of his most significant works given the top-shelf treatment like this is magnificent news.

Also this week, Criterion is re-releasing Akira Kurosawa’s High and Low in a new version featuring several new features, plus a new high-definition transfer. So if you didn’t pick up the film last time around, now’s your chance.

In a slow week for new movies coming to DVD, today brings the release of the college-students-taking-on-Vegas thriller 21 (Sony, also Blu-Ray), Famke Janssen in Turn the River (Universal), and the John C. Reilly/Seann William Scott comedy The Promotion (Weinstein).

On the TV-on-DVD front, the big news this week is the long-awaited Region 1 release of Spaced: The Complete Series (Warner). Fans of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz will finally be able to get a taste of the series that introduced to the world the stars (Simon Pegg, Nick Frost) and director (Edgar Wright) of those films, along with the witty, pop-culture-savvy brand of humor that made those movies fanboy favorites. Also this week: Las Vegas Season 5 (Universal).

Finally, coming this week to Blu-Ray only: the Sony horror trifecta of I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and Urban Legend; Universal’s Mummy trilogy of The Mummy, The Mummy Returns, and The Scorpion King; and The Perfect Storm (Warner). And if you’re actually waiting for good movies to come out on Blu-Ray, take heart- October is only three months away.

The Screengrab : urban legend

Ozsploitation! “Long Weekend” (1978)

DVD Digest for July 22, 2008