News

Grant Page, the Australian stunt icon who performed in and coordinating stunts for the original Mad Max, sequel Beyond Thunderdome, the upcoming prequel Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga and more than 100 other films and TV series, died Thursday in a car crash. He was 85.

His son, Leroy Page, told Daily Mail Australia that his father hit a tree while he was driving near his home in Kendall, New South Wales. “He died in very high spirits, and he was very motivated,” the younger Page told the paper. “He was very happy.”

A legend of Aussie cinema, Page worked with his Oscar-winning countryman George Miller on the 1979 action classic Mad Max, which introduced the world to Mel Gibson. He performed and served as stunt coordinator on that gas-guzzling post-apocalyptic thriller as well as its 1985 second sequel Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, which also starred Tina Turner. He also worked on Miller’s upcoming prequel,...

Grant Page, the larger-than-life Australian stunt performer famous for his jaw-dropping work in films including Mad Max, The Man From Hong Kong and Mad Dog Morgan, has died. He was 85.

Page died Thursday when the car he was driving near his home in Kendall on the coast of New South Wales hit a tree, his son Leroy Page told Daily Mail Australia.

Page worked with director Brian Trenchard-Smith on more than a dozen projects, including The Stuntmen (1973), King Fu Killers (1974), The Man From Hong Kong (1973) — where Page fights martial arts expert Jimmy Wang Yu in scenes using knives, cleavers and meat hooks — Deathcheaters (1976), Stunt Rock (1978) and Hospitals Don’t Burn Down! (1978).

And for the documentary Dangerfreaks (1987), Trenchard-Smith filmed Page standing on a ledge outside the perimeter fence on the observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York.

Page “successfully tampered with the laws of physics and probability,” Trenchard-Smith...

If you want to see a wild midnight movie, there’s a little-known Australian movie called Stunt Rock, which might blow your mind. In it, an Australian stuntman named Grant Page (playing himself) visits Los Angeles to do stunts for a TV show and hooks up with a heavy metal band named Sorcery (the band is like Kiss if they also did magic). It has many fans, including Eli Roth, who used one of Sorcery’s songs in his Death Wish remake and is prominently featured in an incredible documentary about Australian exploitation films (Ozploitation) called Not Quite Hollywood.

More than anything, this documentary was a loving tribute to Page, who did incredible stunts for almost every cool action film shot in Australia over the last fifty years, including Mad Max, and Road Games (in which he played the mostly unseen villain). Sadly, Mark Hartley, the director of Not Quite Hollywood,...

Severin Films kicks off the new year with three North American premieres that bring “one of the best labels in physical media” (Polygon) into 2024 replete with classic monsters, barbed-wire garrotes, ‘80s Italo-Sleaze in Uhd and arguably the most depraved bedtime accessory ever created.

For January, Severin presents the ultimate version of Jess Franco’s 1972 mash-up Dracula, Prisoner Of Frankenstein; the rarely-seen Ozploitation slasher Bloodmoon, complete with infamous ‘Fright Break Challenge’; and Andrea Bianchi’s off-the-rails zombie carnage classic Burial Ground, now in eye-popping, flesh-ripping 4K.

To further celebrate everyone’s favorite shambling Etruscans, an all-new Burial Ground t-shirt and Michael Pillowcase will be available in two of this month’s bundles.

January also brings much-requested wide-release versions of previously limited-edition titles — Frank Henenlotter’s black comedy shocker Bad Biology, controversial ‘80s sleaze classic Nightmare and Lucio Fulci’s giallo masterpiece The Psychic — all fully restored in 4K Uhd.

Dracula, Prisoner...

A documentary about the late music star Olivia Newton-John, who died in August 2022, is in development.

The feature-length doc will explore Newton-John’s life and work as an iconic entertainer, best-selling music artist, animal rights and environmental activist and health, wellness and plant medicine advocate.

R.J. Cutler’s production hub This Machine Filmworks has taken the onus of developing the project, reports Variety. This Machine has secured full authorised access to Newton-John’s music and personal archives.

In 1978, Newton-John co-starred with John Travolta in ‘Grease’, which catapulted her into super-stardom. During her career, she garnered four Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award and numerous other trophies. Her other feature film credits include ‘Funny Things Happen Down Under’, ‘Toomorrow’, ‘Xanadu’, ‘Two of A Kind’, ‘It’s My Party, Sordid Lives’, ‘Score: A Hockey Musical’, and ‘A Few Best Men’.

According to Variety, Cutler, along with This Machine’s Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith,...

R.J. Cutler’s production hub This Machine is developing another documentary about a music star — in this case, the late Olivia Newton-John, who died in August 2022.

The feature-length doc will explore Newton-John’s life and work as an iconic entertainer, best-selling music artist, animal rights and environmental activist and health, wellness and plant medicine advocate. This Machine has secured full authorized access to Newton-John’s music and personal archives.

In 1978, Newton-John co-starred with John Travolta in “Grease,” which catapulted her into super-stardom. During her career, she garnered four Grammy Awards, an Emmy Award and numerous other trophies. Her other feature film credits include “Funny Things Happen Down Under,” “Toomorrow,” “Xanadu,” “Two of A Kind,” “It’s My Party, Sordid Lives,” “Score: A Hockey Musical,” and “A Few Best Men.”

Cutler, along with This Machine’s Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith, will produce the untitled docu, while John Easterling, Larry Mestel,...

Now available on VOD and digital platforms from XYZ Films, we have an exclusive look at Mark Hartley's Girl at the Window!

"In Girl At The Window, Amy (Ella Newton) and her mother (Silent Hill’S Radha Mitchell) move to a new home. Amy sees weird activity – her neighbor comes and goes at strange hours and she hears screams. Is her new neighbor and her mother’s new love interest the serial killer that’s killing her classmates?

From filmmaker Mark Hartley (genre documentary Not Quite Hollywood), this serial-killer-next-door thriller has plenty of kills, gore and suspense that will keep horror fans hooked."

Directed by: Mark Hartley Writers: Terence Hammond & Nicolette Minster Country of Origin: Australia Language: English Genre: Horror Distributor: XYZ Films Run Time: 120 min Cast: Radha Mitchell, Ella Newton, James Mackay, Karis Oka, and Vince Colosimo

"In this clip our two amateur sleuths, Amy (Ella Newton) and...

The Serial Killer Next Door Meets The Girl Next Door In Girl At The Window A Film By Ozploitation Master Mark Hartley Starring Radha Mitchell of the Silent Hill Franchise Coming to VOD/Digital Platforms November 4, 2022 from XYZ Films In Girl At The Window, Amy (Ella Newton) and her mother (Silent Hill’S Radha Mitchell) move to a new …

The post XYZ Films Brings Mark Hartley’s Girl At The Window To Digital/VOD 11/4 from XYZ Films appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.

Radha Mitchell of Silent Hill and Pitch Black stars in the upcoming thriller Girl at the Window, a today a trailer for the film has arrived online along with the announcement that XYZ Films is going to be giving it a digital and VOD release on November 4th! So take a look at the trailer and see if this looks like a movie you’ll be adding to your watch list next month.

Described as “a blend of Rear Window and Disturbia” – which doesn’t seem necessary, since Disturbia was basically just a teen take on Rear Window – Girl at the Window is about what happens when

Amy and her mother move to a new home. Amy sees weird activity – her neighbor comes and goes at strange hours and she hears screams. Is her new neighbor and her mother’s new love interest the serial killer that’s killing her classmates?...

Now up for pre-order, Vinegar Syndrome is bringing Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 to 4K Ultra HD later this month, the film newly scanned and restored in 4K!

Pre-orders ship on or around the ship date of October 25, and you can grab the Standard Edition or the Limited Slipcase Edition from Vinegar Syndrome’s website right now.

The special limited edition hard case + slipcover (designed by Tony Stella) is limited to 10,000 units and is only available at VinegarSyndrome.com.

Special Features for the release include…

4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray Set 4K Uhd presented in High-Dynamic-Range Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative Presented with it’s original 2.0 stereo theatrical mix Brand new audio commentary with film critic Patrick Bromley Audio commentary with director Tobe Hooper Audio commentary with actors Bill Moseley, Caroline Williams and special effects makeup creator Tom Savini Audio commentary...

Fair warning: Ozpolitation classic Fair Game is returning to North American movie theaters tomorrow. Directed by Mario Andreacchio, the revenge thriller stars Cassandra Delaney as a "wildlife sanctuary boss" who is pitted "against three psycho kangaroo hunters. Bored with killing kangaroos, they decide to kill the animals in the sanctuary, and when they see how attractive the owner is, they decide to have a little 'fun' with her, too. Turns out that they may get a bit more 'fun' than they bargained for." Originally released in 1986, I became aware of the film after Mark Hartley's great doc Not Quite Hollywood (2008), and I'm looking forward to seeing it (finally). If it's not playing at a theater near you, Fair Game will available On Demand...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

A mother and daughter deal with an ambiguous and uncertain threat that binds them closer together in The Girl at The Window, a new thriller helmed by Mark Hartley and starring Radha Mitchell, Vince Colosimo and Ella Newton.

Producer Antony I. Ginnane describes the feature, now shooting in Melbourne, as a mix between Rear Window and Disturbia.

The film is the prolific producer’s 72nd, and already looks set to reach a wide audience – international sales agent Blue Fox Entertainment has already sold the it to territories including USA, UK, South Africa, Indonesia, Cis (Commonwealth of Independent States) and the Middle East.

“Audiences worldwide love thrillers, and our script is filled with twists and turns that will engage and excite. I’m looking forward to seeing Mark Hartley work with our terrific cast to bring this story to life,” Ginnane says.

The script is penned by Terence Hammond (Last Dance) and Nicolette Minster,...

Blue Fox handles sales.

LA-based Blue Fox Entertainment and Australian producer Antony I. Ginnane have announced the start of principal photography in Melbourne on Radha Mitchell thriller The Girl At The Window.

Mark Hartley is directing the film from a screenplay by Terence Hammond (Last Dance) and Nicolette Minster under strict Covid Safety protocols.

Ginnane, whose producing credits include Screamers and Patrick, described the project about a mother and daughter dealing with an ambiguous threat that brings them closer together as a blend of Rear Window and Disturbia.

Mitchell’s credits include Silent Hill, Finding Neverland and the Has Fallen...

Former Hopscotch Films and eOne colleagues Troy Lum and Jason Hernandez have partnered to launch a new distribution company, Kismet, with a stated commitment to local films and an international slate that includes Palme d’Or winner Titane.

Joining Julia Ducournau’s horror-thriller are other acquisitions from Cannes like Mamoru Hosoda’s sci-fi anime Belle and Charline Bourgeois-Tacquet’s debut feature, French romance Anaïs in Love.

Kismet titles also include Zach Braff’s A Good Person, starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman; Nick Cassavettes’ Cus and Mike; Queen Bees, featuring Ellen Burstyn, Ann-Margret and Christopher Lloyd; Flore Vasseur’s Bigger Than Us, produced by Marion Cotillard; Jean-Albert Lievre’s Whale Nation and Emma Seligman’s Shiva Baby, released last weekend.

Lum is the founder of Hopscotch Films and Hopscotch Features, and former managing director of eOne Asia Pacific, while Hernandez is eOne’s former head of theatrical sales Anz.

Joining...

Exploitation films have their mavericks, their patron saints and their bad boys: this well-researched and lovingly assembled shock-bio introduces us to a particularly talented persistent filmmaker whose sexed-up horror & action grindhouse non-epics proved commercially viable even into the video age. Then comes the Ghastly Death part, a cruelly undeserved finish for a movie guy liked and admired by his collaborators.

Blood & Flesh: The Reel Life & Ghastly Death of Al Adamson

Blu-ray

Severin Films

2019 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 101 min. / Street Date April 21, 2020 / available through the Severin Films / 24.00

Starring: Al Adamson, Samuel M. Sherman, John ‘Bud’ Cardos, Russ Tamblyn, Stevee Ashlock, Gary Graver, Fred Olen Ray, Vilmos Zsigmond, Zandor Vorkov, Chris Poggiali, Robert Dix, John Bloom.

Cinematography: Jim Kunz

Film Editors: Michael Capone, Mark Hartley

Original Music: Mark Raskin

Motion Graphics: Michael Etoll

Produced by Jack Bennett, David Gregory, Nicole Mikuzis, Heather Buckley

Directed by David Gregory

What makes lower-echelon exploitation producer-directors so interesting?...

The heyday of Cannon Films, that is when the company was led by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus back in the eighties, has been subject of fairly recent documentaries: Mark Hartley’s Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films and Hilla Medalia’s The Go-Go Boys: The Inside Story of Cannon Films. And now, for those fans of crazy cinema that would like to dig even deeper into the world of Cannon, there’s a new book out that tackles one specific filmmaker from those glorious days. Stories From The Trenches: Adventures In Making High Octane Hollywood Movies With Cannon Veteran Sam Firstenberg is a mammoth collection of interviews with the director behind such Cannon flicks as Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Scream Factory will release Roadgames on Blu-ray on November 12, and riding shotgun is a host of new bonus features, including a new interview, audio commentary, script read, and music demos. Customers ordering from Shoutfactory.com will receive an exclusive 18x24 rolled poster featuring our brand new artwork, available while supplies last.

Stacy Keach is Pat Quid, a lone trucker who plays games to keep his sanity on long hauls through the desolate Australian Outback. Jamie Lee Curtis is a free-spirited hitchhiker looking for excitement with a game of her own. And somewhere up ahead is a maniac in a van whose game may be butchering young women along the highway. But when the killer decides to raise the stakes, Quid's game becomes personal ... and the rules of this road are about to take some very deadly turns.

Director Richard Franklin (Psycho II) packs plenty of Hitchcock-like twists and suspense into...

Initially announced at their Comic-Con panel, Scream Factory has now revealed the full list of special features and cover art for their Collector's Edition Blu-ray of 1981's Road Games (starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis) ahead of its release on November 12th:

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – Scream Factory will release Road Games on Blu-ray™ on November 12, and riding shotgun is a host of new bonus features, including a new interview, audio commentary, script read, and music demos.

Customers ordering from Shoutfactory.com will receive an exclusive 18x24 rolled poster featuring our brand new artwork, available while supplies last.

Stacy Keach is Pat Quid, a lone trucker who plays games to keep his sanity on long hauls through the desolate Australian Outback. Jamie Lee Curtis is a free-spirited hitchhiker looking for excitement with a game of her own. And somewhere up ahead is a maniac in a van whose...

It’s not that Australian horror hasn’t been worthy of talking about; it’s that availability has been wanting due to limited distribution and the ravages of time that crumble many a worthy release. But this is a new age, and I’m thankful that companies like Severin Films are around to revive top-notch efforts like Next of Kin (1982), a surreal and haunting Italian-flavored genre piece that more than earns a revival.

The story goes like this: Linda (Jacki Kerin – The River Kings) returns to Monteclare Retirement Home upon the death of her mother, who has left the entire property to Linda. Overwhelmed at the prospect of running such a huge operation, she leans on head nurse Connie (Gerda Nicolson – Gallipoli) and Dr. Barton (Alex Scott – Romper Stomper). Familiar faces from her childhood, they offer a guiding hand in Linda’s transition as she reacquaints herself with her old home,...

"The terror is now everywhere" in 1987's Howling III, coming to Blu-ray from Scream Factory on January 15th, and ahead of the movie's new home media release, the full list of special features has been revealed, including a new digital transfer and a new audio commentary with writer/director Philippe Mora (who also directed Howling II).

From the Press Release: "Los Angeles, CA – The terror is now everywhere! Scream Factory proudly presents Howling III on Blu-ray for the first time on January 15, 2019. This release of the third entry in the popular werewolf horror franchise features an all-new digital transfer and new bonus features including interviews and audio commentary with director Phillippe Mora.

The race is on as a colony of marsupial werewolves attempts to outwit and outlast their human counterparts in the offbeat horror film Howling III.

Long ago, the now-extinct marsupial wolf (a.k.a. Tasmanian Tiger) roamed the Australian Outback.

John D. Lamond.

John D. Lamond, one of the pioneers of Australia’s Ozploitation film industry, died today in a nursing home on the Gold Coast, aged 71.

The producer-writer-director had been battling Parkinson’s disease for more than 20 years.

Mark Hartley’s documentary Not Quite Hollywood celebrated Lamond’s idiosyncratic contributions to the Ozploitation genre and featured his tongue-in-cheek quote, “I’m told I treat women like a sex object. I suppose it’s true because I ask for sex – and they object.”

Hartley tells If: “He was a lovely guy, funny, cheeky, warm and irreverent, and so supportive of me. John, Tony Ginnane, Brian Trenchard-Smith and Richard Franklin kept egging me on to make Not Quite Hollywood.

“He was always totally unapologetic about his films and he had no reason to be apologetic. It was only when he tried to make more commercial films that his finger wasn’t on the pulse.

Scream Factory takes viewers into a dystopian future of cannibal pirates, human/robot hybrids, and Jean-Claude Van Damme in their new Collector's Edition Blu-ray release of Cyborg, and with the cult 1989 sci-fi thriller out now on home video like never before, we've been provided with three Blu-ray copies to give away to lucky Daily Dead readers!

---------

Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Collector's Edition Blu-ray copy of Cyborg.

How to Enter: We're giving Daily Dead readers multiple chances to enter and win:

1. Instagram: Following us on Instagram during the contest period will give you an automatic contest entry. Make sure to follow us at:

https://www.instagram.com/dailydead/

2. Email: For a chance to win via email, send an email to contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Cyborg Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.

Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on May 1st.

Jean-Claude Van Damme? Check. Cyborg hybrid? Check. Flesh-eating pirates? Check. On April 24th, Scream Factory will release the Collector's Edition of Cyborg (1989) on Blu-ray, and we have three high-def clips and a trailer from the sci-fi gem to share with Daily Dead readers:

Cyborg Collector's Edition Blu-ray: "Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as the future's most fearsome warrior in this adrenaline-charged sci-fi thriller.

Deteriorating from a deadly plague, 21st-Century America is descending into a barbaric nightmare. Only Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon), a beautiful half human/half cyborg, has the knowledge necessary to develop a vaccine. But during her quest to gather data and bring the cure to the world, Pearl is captured by cannibalistic Flesh Pirates who plot to keep the antidote for themselves and rule the world. Now, only saber-wielding hero Gibson Rickenbacker (Van Damme) can rescue her and save civilization.

Bonus Features

New 4K Scan From The Original Film...

Pitting Jean-Claude Van Damme against the Flesh Pirates, the 1989 sci-fi thriller Cyborg is coming out on a Collector's Edition Blu-ray from Scream Factory this April, and we have a look at the full list of special features, including several interviews and a new audio commentary from writer/director Albert Pyun:

Press Release: Los Angeles, CA – Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as the future’s most fearsome warrior in the adrenaline-charged sci-fi thriller Cyborg, available on Blu-ray in a Scream Factory Collector’s Edition set loaded with new bonus features, on April 24, 2018.

Deteriorating from a deadly plague, 21st-Century America is descending into a barbaric nightmare. Only Pearl Prophet (Dayle Haddon), a beautiful half human/half cyborg, has the knowledge necessary to develop a vaccine. But during her quest to gather data and bring the cure to the world, Pearl is captured by cannibalistic Flesh Pirates who plot to keep the antidote...

Director Mark Hartley's Not Quite Hollywood was a game changer for the genre film documentary scene when it released back in 2008. A chronicle of the insane Australian B-movie boom of the '70s and '80s, Hartley's film ignited interest in what has become known as Ozploitation around the globe and a resurgence of these films and interest in them that continues to this day. Combine a fascinating and exciting subject with Hartley's equally kinetic visual style, and you've got one hell of a fun ride that will leave the viewer gasping for breath and reaching for pen and paper in an effort to track down all of these masterpieces, many of which have since received lavish special editions on home video thanks to companies like...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Featuring: Martin Scorsese, Eric Roberts, Traci Lords, J.J. Abrams, john landis, Robert Forster, Barbara Carrera, Rick Baker, Joe Dante, Yaphet Kotto, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, Eric Bogosian | Written and Directed by Steve Mitchell

Buckle up for the true story of writer, producer, director, creator and all-around maverick, Larry Cohen. Told through compelling live interviews, stills and film/TV clips, the people who helped fulfill his vision, and industry icons such as Martin Scorsese, John Landis, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, Yaphet Kotto and many more, including Larry himself, bring one-of-a-kind insight into the work, process and legacy of a true American auteur…

I’m not going to lie, there’s no way I can talk about the documentary King Cohen without any bias. Larry Cohen is, to this day, one of my all-time favourite filmmakers. He has been since the first time I saw Q The Winged Serpent on TV. Seeing...

When Anthony Bourdain took issue with “Baby Driver” in a blunt tweet a few days after the movie’s release, the celebrity chef was advocating for another kind of action movie experience. He followed up his initial outburst by singling out “The Raid,” the bloody Indonesian martial arts film, as a superior movie. Whether or not the comparison is fair, Bourdain did hit on two crucial factors with respect to the action genre — it is big, and it is global. No discerning viewer can truly claim complete knowledge of the genre before at least getting familiar with the range of possibilities around the world.

Here are the four essential subgenres every diehard fan should know. If Bourdain traveled the world going to film festivals in search of authentic regional action films, instead of food, these are the sorts of kickass flavors likely to entice him.

Read More:Anthony Bourdain Lashes...

Director and documentarian Mark Hartley scores both a film history and comedy success with this ‘wild, untold’ account of the 1980s film studio that was both revered and despised by everyone who had contact with it. The ‘cast list’ of interviewees is encyclopedic, everybody has a strong opinion, and some of them don’t need four-letter words to describe their experience!

Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films

On a double bill with

Machete Maidens Unleashed!

Blu-ray

Umbrella Entertainment (Au, all-region

2014 / Color / 1:77 widescreen / 106 min. / Street Date April 4, 2017 / Available from Umbrella Entertainment / 34.99

Starring: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Al Ruban, Alain Jakubowicz, Albert Pyun, Alex Winter, Allen DeBevoise, Avi Lerner, Barbet Schroeder, Bo Derek, Boaz Davidson, Cassandra Peterson, Catherine Mary Stewart, Charles Matthau, Christopher C. Dewey, Christopher Pearce, Cynthia Hargrave, Dan Wolman, Daniel Loewenthal, David Del Valle, David Paulsen, David Sheehan, David Womark, Diane Franklin, Dolph Lundgren, Edward R. Pressman,...

Fans of Mark Hartley's groudbreaking documentary Not Quite Hollywood will be very familiar with Road Games. This Australian exploitation classic, directed by Richard Franklin, features in that documentary in a big way, largely because of the fact it was one of the first Australian productions that brought on big American talent. That talent, in the form of a grizzled but affable Stacy Keach as a long haul truck driver and the nubile Jamie Lee Curtis as an American hitchhiker making her way across the outback, set the film apart from many of its contemporaries. Franklin's film ends up juggling a couple of genres quite effectively by the time it winds up, and it dodes so with relative ease. Pat Quid is a long haul truck...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Documentaries exploring the strange niche corners of the film world aren’t new, but they tend to be fascinating. Director Mark Hartley built his career on this subgenre with films like Not Quite Hollywood, which explored the Australian exploitation film scene, and Electric Boogaloo, which told the truly insane story of Canon Films and the people who […]

The post ‘Celluloid Wizards in the Video Wasteland’ Trailer: The Story of Empire International Pictures Arrives in Documentary Form appeared first on /Film.

Fantaspoa’s tradition of paying homage to living legends of genre cinema, such as Lloyd Kaufman, Richard Stanley and Fabio Frizzi, continues in 2016 with a mini retrospective dedicated to fearless filmmaker Brian Trenchard-Smith, key figure of the so-called Ozploitation subgenre. In part thanks to the likes of Mark Hartley, director of the Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! documentary, and Quentin Tarantino, who dedicated a Kill Bill screening in Australia to Trenchard-Smith, new generations are learning about the importance of this crazy wave of Australian cinema, which even had a representative this year at the Academy Awards in the form of George Miller and his brilliant Mad Max: Fury Road. In conversation with Trenchard-Smith, this is what he had to say about...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Cannon. A name that means excellence in cinema history. Ok, maybe excellence isn’t the word. However, when I saw that logo or the Cannon name, I knew that I was at least due for a treat. After seeing Mark Hartley’s excellent documentary, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, it seems that there has been a spike in interest into the Cannon film history. While there is another documentary that we are waiting to see, one that probably paints the combination of Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus in a more positive light, news has been posted on the site, The Action Elite (boss name, gang), which was pulled from company portion of the Cannon Films website. It looks like this info has been on Cannon’s site since September or November.

Further investigation alludes that this information may have been published last year based off their Cannon’s Facebook.

This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...

Subtitled The Wild Untold Story of Cannon Films, director Mark Hartley’s 2014 documentary is a treasure trove for 80’s movie nostalgists. Hartley puts together a remarkable band of over 80 Cannon vets (including Bo Derek, Elliott Gould and Dolph Lundgren) to tell their own stories while further embellishing the already outrageous legends of Cannon founders Menahem Golan and his cousin Yoram Globus. Guru Mark Helfrich even chimes in with his own experiences working at Cannon. Though given a very limited theatrical release, the film was well received and can be found on dvd and streaming services.

For fans of trashy, low-budget action films, Cannon Films defined the 1980s. The company was revitalized, after a decade-long rocky start, by director Menahem Golan and producer Yoram Globus, Israeli cousins now seen by many as the dollar-store precursor to the Weinstein brothers. As tasteless as they were unscrupulous, Golan and Globus are responsible for a flood of Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, and Jean-Claude Van Damme films, not to mention cheapy ninja-sploitation films, eccentric art-house films (including Jean-Luc Godard's King Lear and John Cassavetes's Love Streams), and, uh, Lou Ferrigno as Hercules. This week, Warner Brothers collected a ten-film DVD/Blu-Ray box set to coincide with and bolster the release of Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, director Mark Hartley's funny, informative documentary. In the spirit of Hartley's inclusive doc, we present a list of the ten most Cannon-y moments included in the box set.

Revelation Perth International Film Festival is set to screen Australian classic Long Weekend as part of its October 26 event.

Australian Revelations is a celebration of Australian film via monthly screenings.

Each Australian Revelations feature screening will be accompanied by a Western Australian made short film, providing opportunities for local filmmakers to have their work seen by new audiences. .Revelation encourages Wa filmmakers to forward their short films for consideration.

Released in 1978, Colin Eggleston.s film is a taut two-hander starring the John Hargreaves and Briony Behets as a married couple trying to salvage their relationship by spending a long weekend away camping..

As things progress, their environment turns increasingly hostile — mirroring the internal conflict of the couple — and playing out as a very tense psychological drama.

Rev director, Richard Sowada, said it was always a pleasure bringing to Wa audiences some of the rare and rarely seen classics of Australian cinema.

We’re only a little over a month away from Halloween now, kiddies, and Tuesday’s home entertainment releases are primed to get you ready for the haunting season. John Carpenter’s classic adaptation of Stephen King’s Christine is making its way to Blu-ray on September 29th, as well as the cult slasher film Savage Weekend, which is being presented by the fine folks over at Kino Lorber.

For those of you Cannon Films fans out there, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films documentary is arriving on DVD this week and Kevin Bacon’s latest outstanding thriller, Cop Car, is also coming to Blu and DVD September 29th. A handful of indie horror films are also being released this week, and for those of you out there with genre-loving progeny, a few fun movies perfect for younger viewers will arrive on home media as well.

Christine (Sony Pictures Home Entertainment,...

Brian Trenchard-Smith's outrageous futuristic gore-fest imagines an Australian extermination camp run by the sadistic Michael Craig and Roger Ward, where jaded rich folk come to hunt human prey. The leading targets for this week's jaunt are Steve Railsback and Olivia Hussey. It is snarky? Is it subversive? An alternate title was Blood Camp Thatcher! Turkey Shoot Blu-ray Severin Films 1982 / Color / 2:35 widescreen / 93 80 min. / Escape 2000, Blood Camp Thatcher / Street Date September 22, 2015 / 24.98 Starring Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Carmen Duncan, Noel Ferrier, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward, Michael Petrovitch, Gus Mercurio, John Ley. Cinematography John McLean Film Editor Alan Lake Original Music Brian May Special Effects John Stears Second Unit Director / Executive Producer David Hemmings Written byJon George, Neill Hicks, George Schenck, Robert Williams, David Lawrence Produced by William Fayman, Antony I. Ginnane Directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith

Reviewed by Glenn Erickson

Who cannot appreciate a movie that carries the alternate title Blood Camp Thatcher?...

Bronson!….Norris!…..Dudikoff!

Electric Boogaloo was the name of the wacky 1985 sequel to the break dance epic Breakin’ – which I don’t know was worthy of a follow-up but if there was one studio up to the effort in the mid-‘80s, it was Cannon Films. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild Untold Story Of Cannon Films is the title of a new documentary that plays for one night only in St. Louis at Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater Thursday, September 17th at 7pm.

Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, prolific salesmen with little regard for quality, bought Cannon Films for half million dollars in 1979 (it was founded in ’67) and turned it into an efficient assembly line of high-concept, action, and exploitation. Lovers of low-brow cinema could always count on a good time when that Cannon Films logo appeared on-screen. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Pt 2, the Sly Stallone arm wrestling opus Over The Top,...

.Hollywood studios rarely release theatrical documentaries so Mark Hartley is chuffed to be invited to Los Angeles next month for the premiere of his profile of the 1980s filmmaking machine run by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus.

Warner Bros. is launching Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-igpjqRDgDI&feature=youtu.be) in 17 Us cities on September 18.

Hartley and his producer, Wildbear Entertainment.s Veronica Fury, found an ally in Brett Ratner and James Packer.s RatPac Entertainment, which co-finances films with WB.

Ratner contacted Hartley when he read a story in Variety about Drafthouse Films acquiring the Us rights to the doc.. Subsequently a big piece of the Australian funding fell through when Screen Australia declined to invest in the project (although the agency later put up completion funds).

Drafthouse agreed to step aside, realising that RatPac's investment was the only...

Turkey Shoot, the Ozploitation favorite from Australian treasure Brian Trenchard-Smith (BMX Bandits, Stunt Rock) will make its Blu-ray debut this September from Severin Films. Featured prominently in Mark Hartley’s essential Not Quite Hollywood doc (of which never-before-seen outtakes will be included on this disc), Turkey Shoot (aka Escape 2000 and Blood Camp Thatcher) is 1982 shocker…

The post Turkey Shoot: Ozploitation Classic Comes to Blu appeared first on Shock Till You Drop.

With my first Siff now in the books, I can say that I’ve learned some valuable lessons. The first being what a remarkable festival and diverse program the organizers came up with for the 41st edition. From the venues to the volunteers, everything was top notch. Like most festivals, it was a bit front-loaded with premieres, but there were also notable premieres later in the program, including Max Landis’ Me Him Her on the closing weekend. From top to bottom, this was a great line-up with very few thin spots.

The other major lesson I learned is that it’s impossible to adequately cover a film festival in the city in which you live. Family, friends, and full-time jobs don’t simply disappear just because you want to have some fun. I come away feeling disappointed that time constraints kept me from seeing a lot of great films, as...

In the 70s Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's reign at Cannon Films produced some of the shlockiest B-movies to (dis)grace the screen. Andrew Pulver remembers some old favourites (Enter the Ninja, Invasion USA, The Last American Virgin) and explains why Mark Hartley's documentary about the studio that gave early breaks to Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris and Charles Bronson is worth your time this week. Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films is out in the UK now Continue reading...

★★★★☆ There are few Hollywood stories as intriguing as that of Cannon Films, the independent distributor born from the ambitions of Israeli immigrants Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus. Throughout the 1970s and 80s the pair made a name for themselves as purveyors of low brow, trashy cinema that would almost accidentally engrave their names into Hollywood folklore, and make them infamous among cinephiles for years to come. Through a serious of rueful interviews and archive footage, Not Quite Hollywood (2008) director Mark Hartley relives their pursuit of the 'American Dream', which they would achieve by any means necessary.

Recent years have been Very good for fans of psychotronic cinema, especially when it comes to documentaries. We have had Jake West’s Video Nasties: Draconian Days, his follow up to Video Nasties: Moral Panic Censorship & Videotape, Andrew Leavould’s Search for Weng Weng, Wiktor Ericsson’s The Sarnos: A Life in Dirty Movies and my personal favourite, Mike Malloy’s wonderful Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films. Another film related documentary released this year was the highly anticipated Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films directed by Mark Hartley, who many cult film fans will know for his other documentaries, Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozsploitation, Machete Maidens Unleashed and his remake of Richard Franklin’s cult classic, Patrick. I remember hearing about Electric Boogaloo when it was still in the early stages of development. Ever since then I have been waiting with much anticipation.

★★★★☆ From 1979 to 1989, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus were cinema's premier purveyors of low-budget schlock. "It's hard to say the words 'Cannon Films' without laughing" says one commentator at the very beginning of Mark Hartley's documentary history of the company, Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014). That is proved correct by a look at the inexorable rise of these two wannabe moguls whose dream was to be successful all over the world and who very nearly made it. Filled with affection, insight, and no little humour, it's a hugely entertaining film that will prove popular with Cannon fans and those of moviemaking in general.

The 15th edition of Film Comment Selects opens tomorrow with Mark Hartley's Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films and runs through March 5 in New York. Films in this year's program for which we already have entries going: David Robert Mitchell's It Follows, Duane Hopkins's Bypass, Shinya Tsukamoto's Fires on the Plain, Christian Petzold's Phoenix and Larry Clark's The Smell of Us. At Critics Round Up, James Kang has an excellent entry on Ann Hui's The Golden Era. And in conjunction with the "rare screening of the test preview cut" of Gremlins (1984), Michael Sragow's been interviewing Joe Dante for Film Comment. » - David Hudson...

The 15th edition of Film Comment Selects opens tomorrow with Mark Hartley's Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films and runs through March 5 in New York. Films in this year's program for which we already have entries going: David Robert Mitchell's It Follows, Duane Hopkins's Bypass, Shinya Tsukamoto's Fires on the Plain, Christian Petzold's Phoenix and Larry Clark's The Smell of Us. At Critics Round Up, James Kang has an excellent entry on Ann Hui's The Golden Era. And in conjunction with the "rare screening of the test preview cut" of Gremlins (1984), Michael Sragow's been interviewing Joe Dante for Film Comment. » - David Hudson...

Film Comment Selects, Film Society of Lincoln Center's annual film series that showcases the best films from all corners of the world selected by folks at Film Comment magazine, marks the arrival of spring for New York cinephiles in an otherwise dreadful February/March movie season. This year's selections are as diverse as ever; the series blasts off with Mark Hartley's hilarious doc Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (read James Marsh's review here) with some of Cannon's greatest hits as the sidebar selections, includes Larry Clark's Kids part deux, The Smell of Us (skater kids in Paris, this time), a tribute to the late Mike Nichols with a screening of his underrated, underseen The Fortune, Philippe Garrel's rarely screened elegy Un ange passe,...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

“In my Top 5 favorite Australian movies. It’s a true little undiscovered gem that is just begging to be rediscovered and take its place in 70s genre cinema.” – Quentin Tarantino

“A nifty little sleeper.” – Nathaniel Thompson, Mondo-Digital.com

Upon its 2005 DVD release, the Australian thriller Long Weekend quickly became one of the most highly-regarded films in the Synapse Films library, later to be prominently featured in Mark Hartley’s acclaimed … Continue reading →

Horrornews.net...