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| Outback Vampires - like Pee Wee's Playhouse Down Under but PG |
Modern Aussie horror was given a jump start in the mid '00s by filmmakers like Greg McLean, the Spierig Brothers, Jon Hewitt, and Jamie Blanks, but it never really hit the Outback running like I expected it to. Thanks in large part to Mark Hartley's brilliant 2008 doc Not Quite Hollywood (if you haven't seen this yet, then you must have a kangaroo loose in the top paddock), which chronicles the "Ozploitation" flicks of Australia's cinematic Golden Age, there has been a renewed interest in horror from Down Under. Fortunately, this has led to easier access to some classic films, like Nightmare and Night of Fear. It also means that there are more and more Oz horror films coming out every year, and frankly, for every brilliant gem like the The Loved Ones, there are twenty unwatchable movies like Reign in Darkness.
Fear not! I am willing to do the dirty work and weed through all the bottom-of-the-billabong schlock so that you don't have to. And with that said, here are the most promising horror movies coming soon to the US from The Wonderful Land of Oz. Keep in mind that I apply a "blind adoration" handicap to everything from Australia, so what I may view as "promising" may make you flee like an extra in Turkey Shoot.
The Bunyip Movie
Dir: Miri Stone & Denby Weller
US release date: NOT SOON ENOUGH!
Unless you count The Naked Bunyip or the ominious beach-dwelling dugong in the original Long Weekend, my favorite cryptozoological creature has never been the subject of a horror film! I know, uh! This year we are being treated to TWO bunyip movies! The Bunyip Movie seems to be a low-budget take on the typical Outback monster movie, while Bunyip: The Movie is apparently taking a mockumentary approach. Neither film looks particularly special, but I will enthusiastically watch them both, and I really pray to the holiest of booze buses that the hacks at The Asylum are paying close attention so that we can have a third bunyip movie, possibly called The Movie Bunyip or The Bunny Ip.
Bunyip The Movie
Dir: Gavin Hecker
US release date: ???
Throwback
Dir: Travis Bain
US release date: late 2013
Throwback eschews the legend of the Bunyip altogether and goes for something that will be a little more familiar to American audiences. Yowie!
100 Bloody Acres
Dir: Cameron Cairnes & Colin Cairnes
US release date: extremely limited theatrical release 6/28/13, DVD and VOD Sept 2013 (on Music Box Film's new horror offshoot, Doppelganger Releasing)
One of the few upcoming Aussie horrors that is actually getting some international attention, Acres looks to follow in the footsteps of classics like Motel Hell while taking a few notes from modern buddy comedies like Tucker and Dale vs. Evil and Shaun of the Dead. Original concept? No, but it admittedly seems like a healthy and hilarious good time, and I absolutely adore how fully entrenched in their marketing campaign these folks are:
https://www.facebook.com/MorgansOrganic
http://morgansorganic.com/
http://yandoitnews.com/public_service_announcement.html
Muirhouse
Dir: Tanzeal Rahim
US release date: 9/17/03 (DVD and VOD)
Of course there is an obligatory found footage flick! Filming in an actual notorious haunted house is a novel twist to the subgenre--we've had countless found footage movies set in abandoned sanitariums and asylums, why not a haunted house? If you're not familiar with Monte Cristo Homestead, which is basically Oz-ityville, check the following: Australia's Most Haunted Home. It does look a bit spooky!
MurderDrome
Dir: Daniel Armstrong
US release date: Late 2013?
OMG IT IS THE AUSSIE ROLLER DERBY SLASHER YOU NEVER KNEW YOU NEEDED. I bet Whip It would have been a better movie if it went this route instead of RomCom! I NEED THIS TO LIVE.
You're welcome!
