OBSERVANCE (2015) (Artsploitation Blu-ray Review)

OBSERVANCE (2015) 

Label: Artsploitation Films

Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 86 Minutes
Audio: English Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 with Optional english Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Joseph Sims-Dennett
Cast: Lindsay Farris, Stephanie King, Brendan Cowell, John Jarratt, Benedict Hardie, Tom O'Sullivan, Roger Ward

Synopsis: Atmospherically creepy and visually unnerving, Australia’s Joseph Sims-Dennett’s startling feature film debut follows Parker, a young man in the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, but who reluctantly returns to work as a private investigator. His assignment it to observe a woman from an abandoned apartment, and as her watches bizarre happenings surrounding her, he slowly becomes aware that the derelict building he is in has a dark presence which slowly threatens to consume him. A frightening horror tale of a man spiraling into madness and reminiscent of Roman Polanski’s THE TENANT, Hitchcock’s REAR WINDOW, and the works of David Cronenberg and David Lynch.

The creepy voyeur film Observance comes from Australia by way of distributor Artsploitation Films who have been doing good work bringing the best (and weirdest) that foreign cinema has to offer for a few years now. This one is a real creeper that brought to mind Francis Ford Coppala's underrated The Conversation (1974) by way of a David Lynch tinged version of Rear Window (1954). We have a troubled private eye named Parker (Lindsay Farris) who is hired to monitor a young woman named Tenneal (Stephanie King) for the span of seven days, tasked to watch her and report back to his benefactor, which seems a simple enough assignment. He is set-up in an apartment across the way from the woman with a great view of her place, but the flat they've set him up is real nightmare fuel, the place has faulty electricity and the walls are lined with yellowed newspaper, it looks like a place where nothing good has ever happened ... and what the fuck is that black liquid in a jar up on the shelf? Increasingly Parker becomes aware of the while not much is happening to the mysterious woman that a lot of weird stuff is happening to him, things not easily dismissed. 

He become increasingly obsessed with the beautiful woman, haunted by sexual dreams of her, all the while becoming more and more concerned about the nature of the assignment, of which everything seems ambiguous, nothing is clearly defined. Soon sores begins appear on his back, he begins vomiting awful black goo, and as his health and sanity begin to erode as he begins to spiral down a hole of madness, one with possible supernatural overtones. The movie brought to mind the early works of Roman Polanski like Repulsion (1965) and The Tenant (1976), with a bit of that David Lynch strangeness and some choice Brian De Palma tendencies, but without coming off as a clone or copy, all of these influences are swirled together into a claustrophobic concoction of weirdness, voyeurism and paranoia that made for a great watch. 

It is a bit of slow-burn that doesn't go out of its way to explain much to the viewer, which I appreciated, this is definitely a movie for fans of slow-burn weirdness. This Australian export is a high recommend, a thoroughly eerie and spellbinding watch. Fans of creepy slow-burn cinema like Session 9 (2001), The Tenant (1976), and Kill List (2011) are strongly urged to seek this one out.  

TURKEY SHOOT (1981) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

TURKEY SHOOT (1981)

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: Region-FREE

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 93 Minutes

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Cast: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Roger Ward, John Ley, Lynda Stoner, Gus Mercurio, Carmen Duncan, Steve "Crusher" Rackman, Michael Petrovich, Noel Ferrier

Brian Trenchard-Smith's Turkey Shoot (1982) a ridiculous Australian update of the classic man-hunt movie The Most Dangerous Game with some trashy women-in-prison tropes and and dystopian future stuff thrown into the mix for some added entertainment value. Set in the once futuristic sounding year of 2000 the government doesn't care much for dissent among the people, you're either a non-questioning member of society or you are interred in one of the prison camps where you are subjected to a nightmarish blend of social re-education and behaviour modification including physical punishment, rape and brutal murder.

The most notorious of the concentration camps is Camp 47, which is where we catch up with three subversive members of society sent for rehab, there's an innocent shopkeeper Chris Walters (Olivia Hussey, Black Christmas), a suspected whore Rita Daniels (Lynda Stoner) and repeat dissident Paul Anders (Steve Railsback, Lifeforce) notorious for having previously escaped from the other camps. The prison facility is run by sinister character warden type character Charles Thatcher played by actor Michael Craig (Vault of Horror), a role that could have easily been over-the-top but the actor keeps it pretty straight-faced, which works quite nicely against Railsback who seems to be off on another planet as the unbreakable subversive Anders, we have yet again another overly intense character from Railsback, which is a lot of fun, he keeps it entertaining.Olivia Hussey as the innocent seems a bit frazzled, not sure if that's her character or just her, it's noted on the special features she was deathly afraid of the Aussie wildlife, whatever the reason her fear translates well on-screen, but the woman just cannot handle weaponry, she looks pretty damn ridiculous firing a mounted 50 cal rifle.

Thatcher has a pair of henchmen who enforce the camp rules, the brute Ritter (Roger Ward, Mad Max) and the whip-wielding Red (Gus Mercurio, The Blue Lagoon), both of whom taunt and brutalize the subversives interred at the camp for fun. Ritter at one point makes an example of a young woman whom he nearly beats to death when she cannot recite the camp mantra, another is burned alive after an escape attempt, while Anders is made to stand in a narrow cage under a large weight which threatens to crush him. All this prison camp stuff is just foreplay to the real meat of the movie - the titular turkey shoot - a manhunt sponsored by Thatcher for the benefit of his wealthy friends. We have Secretary Mallory (Noel Ferrier, The Year of Living Dangerously), and VIPs Jennifer (Carmen Duncan, Harlequin) and Tito (Michael Petrovich, The Exorcism of Hugh). Each of the VIPS, including Thatcher, select a prisoner from camp to hunt for sport with the understanding that if the prisoner is able to evade the hunters until sundown they will have earned their freedom and entrance back into society. The chances of the unarmed prisoners making it till sundown seems pretty damn slim, but they have little 
opportunity to complain.

The weapons of choice used by the hunters include a paralyzing pistol, a crossbow with explosive-tipped bolt, and then there's my favorite of the bunch, a nutty looking man-beast named Alph (Steve "Crusher" Rackman) who looks a bit like Mr. Hyde with his top-hat! Once the prisoner's are released the game is on and as you might expect the tables are turned as the hunters become the hunted. The ensuing violence is action-pack, weird and loads of fun as the some of the hunted are killed-off in a myriad of gruesome ways and the wealthy cronies get a proper comeuppance, culminating in an action-packed air strike by the government. 

Turkey Shoot is not a flawless movie by any means, the special effects can be a bit goofy but the b-movie action and carnage is straight-up entertaining from start to finish, though some of the early camp scenes do go on for a bit too long, basically a vignette of scenes modelled after women-in-prison movies. Some of it is played for thrills and some just seem to be comedy, such as when the half-man, half-beast circus freak bites off the pinky-toe before giving his victim a fatal back-breaker wrestling move, it's just goofy stuff. Carmen Duncan as the deadly huntress with a crossbow is a lot of fun, filled with murderous desire and list, sending one bolt after another into the flesh of her victims with so much delight. There are some nice moments of gore peppered throughout, we have a pair of hands chopped off at the wrist which is done very nicely, the after image of the victims hands pulled up inside his sleeve not so much, ha ha. someone else meets their end when they are sliced in half by the plow of a bulldozer, screaming in pain as his lower half and entrails slide down a tree. Not all the effects are as effective, but Trenchard-Smith front loads this one with plenty of action and b-movie carnage. 

Audio/Video: Turkey Shoot arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films looking very nice, uncut and restored from the original camera negative, offering an eye-popping presentation of this Ozploitation nutter. A few minor blemishes here and again by way of white speckling but otherwise very nice, a little on the soft side at times but colors are solid, black levels are nice and skint ones look accurate, I only wish there'd been more of Olivia Hussey bare-skin to properly judge, ha ha. audio comes by way of an English language DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo track that is also solid and renders audio crisp and clean, free of distortion, the Brian May score, dialogue and sound effects come through strong, there are no subtitle options. 

Onto the extras we have what appear to be all the bonus content from the old Escape 2000 DVD from Anchor Bay including the Brian Trenchard-Smith commentary plus a 10-minute interview with BT-S in one of his patented Hawaiian short. They also carry-over the  24-minute Blood and Thunder Memories featurette with actors Michael Craig, Roger Ward and Lynda Stoner, the latter of whom doesn't exactly seem to love the movie, scoffing at the idea that it is a cult-classic, not a phrase she seems to appreciate. They also have the Escape 2000 Alternate Title Sequence and the original theatrical trailer for the movie.

Severin have brought a new wave of extras for their Blu-ray, beginning with 77-minutes of extended interviews with Brian Trenchard Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, Steve Railsback, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Gus Mercurio, Bob McCarron from director Mark Hartley's awesome Not Quite Hollywood doc, which are all focused on Turkey shoot. If you have not seen the doc 
it is mandatory viewing for b-movie and cult cinema fans. 

The Ozploitation Renaissance – round table discussion with director Brian Trenchard-Smith, producer Antony I. Ginnane and Ozploitation cinematographer Vincent Monton regroups the creative trio who brought us the movie as they discuss the ozploitation heyday and the various films they worked on, from the early sexploitation movies through to the nadir of the scene, more good stuff.  

Special Features:
- Not Quite Hollywood Extended Interviews with Brian Trenchard Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, Steve Railsback, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Gus Mercurio, Bob McCarron (77 Mins) SD 
- The Ozploitation Renaissance – round table discussion with director Brian Trenchard-Smith, producer Antony I. Ginnane and Ozploitation cinematographer Vincent Monton. (26

minutes) HD
- Turkey Shoot: Blood and Thunder Memories – featurette (24 minutes) (24 Mins) SD
- Brian Trenchard-Smith Interview (10 minutes) (10 Mins) SD
- Audio Commentary with Director Brian Trenchard-Smith
- Turkey Shoot Trailer (3 Mins) SD
- Escape 2000 Alternate Title Sequence (2 Mins) SD
- Blood Camp Thatcher Alternate Title Sequence (2 Mins) SD (Easter Egg) 

Turkey Shoot is everything you would expect from a Ozploitation update of The Most Dangerous Game, a sleazy, action-packed slice of b-movie perfection. The Blu-ray from Severin looks mighty impressive and is stuffed with value-added extras, a very high recommend for b-movie fanatics who crave some mondo exploitation in HD.

MAD MAX (1980)

MAD MAX (1980) 

Label: Scream Factory

Region Code: A

Rating: R

Duration: 93 Minutes

Audio: DTS-HD MA 2.0, DTS-HD MA 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: George Miller

Cast: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Steve Bisley, Tim Burns, Geoff Parry, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Roger Ward

Synopsis: In the ravaged near-future, a savage motorcycle gang rules the road. Terrorizing innocent civilians while tearing up the streets, the ruthless gang laughs in the face of a police force hell-bent on stopping them. But they underestimate one officer: Max (Gibson). And when the bikers brutalize Max's best friend and family, they send him into a mad frenzy that leaves him with only one thing left in the world to live for – revenge! Also starring Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne (Mad Max: Fury Road) and Steve Bisley (The Great Gatsby, Red Hill), this rugged racecar of a film runs on "comic book volatility… exhilarating rowdiness and visual intensity" (The New York Times)!

I can distinctly remember my parents bringing Mad Max home on Laserdisc in the '80s and what a white-knuckle viewing it was from the very start, it begins with a high speed pursuit of the cop-murdering outlaw biker named Nightrider (Vincent Gill). The Nightrider has made off with one of the Main Force Patrol (MFP) high-octane pursuit cars and managed to evade several rookie units before veteran officer Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) catches up to him and engages him in a nerve-shredding game of chicken, the Nightrider flinches first and  goes up in a fantastic fireball. We're only just a few minutes into the movie and already my nerves were shattered with an overload of amped up Ozploitation speed and vehicular destruction

Mad Max takes place prior to the more apocalyptic sequel The Road Warrior, things seem bad already but they aren't quite as bad as what's to come in. The world is ravaged by an energy crisis and the open roads of Australia are being menaced by rogue bikers bent on rape, murder and scrounging gasoline. It's not idyllic but society has not completely crumbled just yet. The MFP are leather clad brigade of toughened officers in souped-up muscle cars patrolling the open roads who seemingly offer a thin line of protection, sort of, you never see them stop a crime, just clean-up afterward. I guess it's comforting to know your rapist or murderer might at least be caught. The leather clad officers have a fetishistic quality about them, a dystopian version of the Tom of Finland illustrations, especially the beefy Captain Fred "Fifi" Macaffee (Roger Ward). 

The Nightrider belonged to a biker gang called The Acolytes, a nasty bunch led by the charismatic Toecutter (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and Bubba Zanetti (Geoff Parry). Toecutter has the twisted charm of a warlord and makes for quite a leader, he never chews up the scenery, but is very menacing. Soon after the death of the Nightrider's the Acolytes attack and rape a young couple, in the aftermath the MFP find one of the Acolytes strung out on drugs still on the scene and arrest him. However, when the case goes to court no witnesses or victims dare show up to trial and the biker walks free. A short time later Max's partner Jim "Goose" Rains (Steve Bisley) is ambushed by the gang who burn him beyond recognition, there's a scene of Max visiting Goose in the hospital, what he sees sends a wave of horror across his face. 

Disillusioned by the violent series of events Max threatens to leave the   he loses his mind, but is convinced by Capt. Fifi to take a short leave of absence to think it over first. Max and his wife Jessie (Joanne Samuel), along with their infant son, head for the coast and along the way encounter the Acolytes which ends in tragedy for Max. Afterward a grieving and revenge driven Max once again dons his leather MFP uniform and pursues the gang in a souped-up black Ford Falcon XB GT.  

I don't think that any movie prior to Mad Mad even came close to the amount of amped-up crash and burn that first-time George Miller put onscreen in 1980, this was some wild stuff and the death-defying stunt work and fiery awesomeness of Mad Max still holds up some thirty-five years later, these chase sequences still get the blood pumping, the cinematography roughly captures all the excitement from low angles and heighten the action, it looks and feels dangerous, because it is.  

Mel Gibson is bad ass as the revenge driven Max Rockatasnky, looking impossibly young and menacing in his steely, cold way. Sure, it takes about an hour for Max to actually get mad, but once he loses his cool he is one of the big screen's most iconic vengeance characters, a vigilante cop decked out in leathers and carrying a sawed-off shotgun. It makes for a pretty great back story for the Max we come to know in The Road Warrior, the wasteland warrior. 

Audio/Video: Mad Max has previously been issued on a pretty damn decent Blu-ray courtesy of MGM back in 2010 with some solid extras. Scream Factory's Collector's Edition Blu-ray ports over the extras from that disc and adds new interviews with stars Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel And Director Of Photography David Eggby. 

The MGM and Scream Factory transfers seem almost identical, sporting minor print damage and discoloration from the source material, there's a nicely managed layer of film grain offering as much fine detail as the soft-focus cinematography will allow. Color saturation is strong, black levels and contrast are pleasing. Astute HD viewers will notice some compression artifacting creeping in from time to time, I myself struggled to notice this during as I was enjoying the film, but they are there for scrutinizing, which gives the MGM disc the upper hand in respect to PQ.

Onto the audio options we are given the choice of the original Australian audio in both DTS-HD MA 2.0 and 5.1, plus the English-dub offered in DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The surround mix is potent and aggressive where it should be with great fidelity but I do prefer the 2.0, feels more natural with plenty of low-end roar and rumble. 

Onto the special features we have all the featurettes from the 2010 MGM release plus a brand new set of interviews with stars Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel and Director Of Photography David Eggby.

Additionally there's a sleeve of reversible artwork featuring the original poster artwork and a newly commissioned piece done by illustrator Paul Shipper, who designed a similarly layed out cover for Scream's Escape from New York Blu-ray. Most of the time I would say that the upgrade to the Collector's Edition from Scream is a no-brainer but in the case of Mad Max which already had a decent Blu-ray that largely depends on how much you value the new interviews and artwork option. I have some minor quibbles with the compression issues that appear throughout, but honestly you have to be scoping this out hardcore to notice it, this is a solid presentation from Scream, but it's not the definitive release. 

Bonus Features
- Contains Both the Original Australian English Audio and the US English Dubbed Audio
- NEW Interviews With Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel And Director Of Photography David Eggby (26 Mins) HD
- Audio Commentary By Art Director Jon Dowding, Director Of Photography David Eggby, - Special Effects Artist Chris Murray And Tim Ridge
- Mel Gibson: The Birth Of A Superstar (17 Mins)
- Mad Max: The Film Phenomenon (25 Mins)
- Theatrical Trailers (4 Mins)
- TV Spots (1 Mins)
- Photo Galleries (9 Mins)

Mad Max is a white-knuckled thrill ride loaded with amped-up car chases and fiery death scenes set in the near apocalyptic outback of Australia, Max Rockatansky is a fantastic leather-clad revenger and the black Ford Falcon XB GT is truly one of cinema's most bad-ass vehicles. Watching this has primed me for seeing Mad Max: Fury Road this weekend at the cinema, which looks mind-blowing. ***1/2 3.5/5