Under the Gun (1995)
The early to mid 90s was a ripe time for action films made in Australia. A period where a plethora of beefcakes smashed their way through the Great Southern Land. From Tom Selleck in Quigley Down Under, Christopher Lambert in Fortress, to Carl Weathers in Hurricane Smith.
Sensitive New Age Killer (2000)
If you have read my Dead End Drive-In articles you may have noticed my fascination for Australian action films. From Brian Trenchard-Smith’s forays in the genre, to Mark “Jacko” Jackson’s baffling buddy-cop outing. I can’t get enough. Sensitive New Age Killer fits perfectly as a successor to these films.
Deathcheaters (1976)
Stuntmen. Saboteurs. Hellraisers! With a tagline like that who in their right mind wouldn’t want a Deathcheaters DVD for a Christmas present? That’s exactly what I thought when I gave this to my ladyfriend for Christmas and subsequently forced her to watch it that night.
Bullet Down Under (1994)
Mark "Jacko" Jackson tries hard in his role as Jack Moran. Really hard. His effort is admirable. You can see it in his munted face.
Running from the Guns (1987)
Running from the Guns, the seldom-seen Australian crime caper from the late eighties, has almost everything you want in a buddy/car chase film. It contains fast things and furious things. In fact it reminds me of that car movie franchise that has both fast and furious things.
The Chain Reaction (1980)
A fast drive into paradise turns into a nuclear nightmare – an enthralling tagline to an entertaining eco-thriller. The Chain Reaction features the kind of elements modern Australian cinema lacks. Thrills, spills, car chases and Steve Bisley’s junk.
BMX Bandits (1983)
Is there a radder film than Australia’s very own BMX Bandits? Of course there bloody isn’t. How rad is it? Well it contains all the raddest things ever: BMXs, walkie-talkies, Nicole Kidman’s twisted mane and, uh, foam.
Fortress (1985)
WARNING: I’ve tried not to give away any specific details, but some sections of this article may border on spoilers. Even as an Australian, I can appreciate the Aussieness of kids in Australian films from the 1980s. While hearing “streuth” and “bloody oath” in films normally makes my fucking skin crawl, there’s something endearing about...
Out of the Body (1989)
Brian Trenchard-Smith is, without a doubt, Australia’s finest purveyor of genre flicks. Throughout the 70s and 80s, Trenchard-Smith delivered us such classics as The Man from Hong Kong (1975), Turkey Shoot (1982), BMX Bandits (1983) and, the film this regular article is named after, Dead-End Drive In (1986). As the 90s rolled by, Trenchard-Smith started...
Salt, Saliva, Sperm and Sweat (1988)
About a hundred years ago, when I was a teenager, my obsession with Philip Brophy’s underrated Body Melt (1993) began. At the video store, they had a rental deal – “rent ten videos for five bucks” or something – and Body Melt was tossed in to make up numbers. Who would’ve thought I’d luck out...
Inn of the Damned (1975)
Australia may not have a particularly impressive history of horror and exploitation, but in recent years – especially thanks to the attention brought by the deservedly lauded documentary Not Quite Hollywood (2008) – we have been reminded that a few gems peppered the past decades. Great films like Next of Kin (1982) and The Long...
Body Melt (1993)
Damn. We’ve really neglected Dead End Drive-In, our supposedly “regular” article about Australian exploitation flicks. And this post is really not going to make up for that neglect – I’m half asleep, somewhat deliriously so, I have a pile of boring real work to do and I just had the hot water turned on in...
