Review: 100 Bloody Acres


Three young travellers (including Anna McGahan, her boyfriend Oliver Ackland, and comically obnoxious pommy friend Jamie Kristian) break down in a rural part of Australia. They are offered a lift from nervy Reg (Damon Herriman), who runs a fertilizer business with his brother, that has the special ingredient of road kill added to the smelly mix! Unfortunately, whilst McGahan gets to sit up the front of the truck with the seemingly harmless (but very, very distracted) Reg, her two companions are in the back with all the fertilizer. And is that a human corpse they see hiding in there? Before long, Reg has the trio tied up in his shed back at the family farm. And that’s when his brother Lindsay (Angus Sampson) turns up, and the terror really begins. Chrissie Page plays the boys’ auntie, who has a very close relationship with Reg, but an uncomfortably closer one with Lindsay.

 

Getting a wider theatrical release in 2013 after its film festival debut in 2012, this very dark comedy-horror from debuting co-writer/co-director duo Cameron and Colin Cairnes is a fun genre movie. It’s not exactly a good movie in the traditional sense, and the performance by Angus Sampson (mostly known for broad comedic work on TV) is like something out of a bad TV sketch comedy show, which is a bit unfortunate. He threatens to cheapen the film somewhat. It doesn’t work terribly well on the horror front, but this isn’t a straight horror film by any means, just enough of one that Sampson’s dud performance stands out like a sore (green?) thumb.

 

However, it is indeed a good example of the comedy horror subgenre, and it’s unfair to think of it in any other context, it’s not aiming for high art or even high art horror. There’s an excellent turn by the underrated Damon Herriman, a cute and charismatic one by Anna McGahan (Who has really nice norks, too. Hey, it’s important, OK?), and a startling cameo by Page that comes out of nowhere. Add to that a nasty sense of humour, a nice rural setting (more Ivan Milat territory than say, the outback), the amusing casting of John Jarratt as a cop, and a soundtrack full of quirky Aussie country songs (Ranging from Slim Dusty tunes to John Williamson’s classic ‘Old Man Emu’), and you’ve got a good time for those who can take it. It’s just that it could’ve been even better with an actor of some genuine talent in the Sampson role.

 

Definitely recommended to fans of “Motel Hell”, and the film at least answers the question of how you escape a murderer when you’re tripping balls in an amusement park called Fairyland (Answer: Not very effectively). I can’t wait to see what these guys come up with next.

 

Rating: B-

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more