Turkey Shoot (1982)

AFTER WATCHING FILMMAKER Mark Hartley’s fantastic documentary Not Quite Hollywood (about Australian exploitation films of the ‘70s and ‘80s), I came to one conclusion: I had to see Turkey Shoot.

In a near-future (“1995”) prison camp where inmates are set loose and hunted for sport, Turkey Shoot stars Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet, Black Christmas) and Steve Railsback (Helter Skelter, The Stunt Man) as accused radicals who are sentenced to the camp and rely on each other to survive the conditions – and ultimately, survive the hunt as they become the “game” the camp’s leaders plan to track down and kill like wild animals.

Based on the scenes in Not Quite Hollywood, Turkey Shoot looked to be a ridiculously over-the-top flick filled with action, cartoonishly graphic violence, and ample amounts of gratuitous nudity. If only it were that awesome. The titular “turkey shoot” (hunting the prisoners for sport) doesn’t happen until 40 minutes in, and things are slow until then. Even during the shocking act of man hunting man, the action is lacking and the pursuits far from exciting.

 
Hussey doesn’t get to do much besides act like a damsel in distress (save for a few acts of savagery in the film’s climax) and Railsback is passable as the smirking antihero. But the most memorable character is Ritter – the bald, towering, sadistic guard played by Roger Ward. From the first time we meet Ritter, as he beats a woman prisoner half his size to death, we know he’ll show no mercy to anyone who doesn’t follow the rules of the camp.

Not Quite Hollywood made Turkey Shoot look like a balls-out, gratuitous, violent free-for-all worthy of Trashterpiece Theatre. But the frustrating reality is that it isn’t until the final minutes that Turkey Shoot brings the crazy, with people run over, cut in two by a bulldozer blade, getting their hands chopped off, and more – all in graphic, hanging close-ups that helped get the film cut by 10 minutes before it could be released in US theaters.

Turkey Shoot may have been shocking in 1982, but 30 years later it’s no more than a time capsule of its era…and a poorly stitched-together hybrid of prison camp exploitation and grindhouse violence.

Fun facts:

• Based on cast interviews from Not Quite Hollywood and its own DVD commentary, Turkey Shoot was a nightmare production. There were major cuts in both the budget and the shooting schedule, and the cast was put at risk many times (allegedly, some were shot at using real bullets for authenticity).

• Composer Brian May (not the Queen guitarist) created Turkey Shoot’s synth-heavy soundtrack. He also created a soundtrack a year earlier for another brutal, futuristic Aussie export: The Road Warrior.)

aka Escape 2000, Blood Camp Thatcher.

Rating:

Is it suitable for your kids?

No. Way. People are beaten to death, burned alive, dismembered, shot, run over and, in one deliciously cheesy scene, a head is splattered via an explosive arrowhead. There are also copious amounts of male and female nudity, and continuous profanities.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

Unless she’s fan of grindhouse, exploitation, or cult films, I’d say no.

Hey! That was my last JujyFruit– give it back!

Turkey Shoot

* Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

* Screenwriter: Jon George, Neill Hicks

* Stars: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward

* MPAA Rating: R

 

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Class of 1984 (1982)

IT'S BEEN A LONG TIME COMING, but it’s here at last: a new addition to Trashterpiece Theatre.

Plot:
The new music teacher at run-down Abraham Lincoln High School, pacifist Andy Norris (Perry King), clashes with student and gang leader Stegman (Timothy Van Patten), who declares the school as his own. The idealistic Mr. Norris soon becomes the main target of Stegman’s gang, as ongoing incidents build to a brutal showdown.

Critique:

Director Mark Lester (Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw, Commando) puts plenty of substance into Class of 1984 to raise it above typical B-movie exploitation. In addition to frequent and brilliant use of foreshadowing, he balances the sleaze and violence with scenes that give dimension to the characters and earn our empathy – such as Norris and his wife (Merrie Lynn Ross) talking about their pregnancy and Roddy McDowall’s biology teacher, Mr. Corrigan, tearfully lamenting to Norris that he feels like a failure at his profession.

A large part of Class of 1984’s personality is its atmosphere. The grimy, graffiti-covered walls of the high school, paired with the eerie and synth-tastic score by Lalo Schifrin, create a setting of decay and grime that oozes off the screen.

King is perfect as the peaceful Mr. Norris, who tries in vain to play by the rules to have Stegman’s gang arrested. Van Patten portrays one of the most underrated sociopaths in B-movie history as the formidable Stegman, the gifted delinquent who runs his gang, the school, and even the town’s punk nightlife. And while it may seem like he’s slumming here, McDowall gives a terrific performance as the cynical Corrigan, bringing more depth and emotion to the role than expected in a film like this. (Best line, as he raises a drink in his classroom full of caged lab creatures after hours: “To the lower animals. They never kill each other without good reason.”)

Of course, films like Class of 1984 aren’t any fun if the good guy always plays by the rules, and Norris finally takes matters into his own hands – starting with trashing Stegman’s prized car and ending with a brutal, nighttime cat-and-mouse showdown in the catacombs of the high school during a band concert.

Normally, the violence displayed would be repulsive and reprehensible. But in the context of a movie like this, it’s delicious, depraved, and deserving. There are gruesome, over-the-top kills – including a final death that’s a literal showstopper.

Class of 1984 does have its shortcomings. There are one too many “nobody saw them do it” excuses by the school administration and the police for not arresting Stegman and his gang. Van Patten overdoes the “crazy eyes” at times when putting Stegman’s psychosis on display. And Ross’ portrayal as King’s expectant wife is underwhelming and more of a plot device than anything (Ross was once married to Lester).

Class of 1984 is exploitative B-movie fun. True, it has a still-relevant social commentary and a solid story at its core. But it’s the layers of sleaze, grime, and violence that make it a highly entertaining Trashterpiece.

Tidbits:
* Co-writer Tom Holland wrote and directed two of the ‘80s biggest horror films: 1985’s Fright Night (also starring McDowall) and 1988’s Child’s Play.
* Lester often shoots Van Patten’s Stegman from below to make him more ominous, following D.W. Griffith’s adage, “Shoot from above for an angel; shoot from below for a devil.”
* Class of 1984 features an early film appearance by Michael J. Fox as Arthur, the innocent trumpeter torn between helping Mr. Norris or facing the wrath of Stegman and his gang.

Rating:

Is it suitable for your kids?

No. No it’s not. A big part of Class of 1984 is the violence, and it comes in many forms: People are bullied, stabbed, beaten, burned alive, dismembered, run over, hanged, and fall to their death. Two members of Stegman’s gang occasionally wear shirts featuring swastikas, and in one scene they do a mock Nazi salute as Norris takes attendance. There’s also strong use of profanities (including a few gay and racial slurs), a scene of full female nudity, drug and alcohol use, and a classroom of lab animals are shown mutilated after an act of vandalism.

Will your FilmMother want to watch it?

I’d love to get my wife, a high school English teacher, to watch Class of 1984 and hear her thoughts (she has a music degree, and both of her parents are retired music teachers). However, I think the brutal violence of the film would be off-putting to her. If you can get your FilmMother to watch Class of 1984, be sure to share her reaction in the comments.

“Hey, weren’t you in The White Shadow?”
“Yeah, aren’t you gonna be in Riptide?”

Class of 1984
* Director: Mark Lester
* Screenwriters: Mark Lester, John Saxton, Tom Holland
* Stars: Perry King, Timothy Van Patten, Roddy McDowall, Merrie Lynn Ross, Michael J. Fox
* MPAA Rating: R


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Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies (2001)

Plot:
Schlock! chronicles the decades-long business of exploitation cinema, which first appeared during America’s post-WWII boom of prosperity. Finding an outlet on TV with the dawn of Vampira’s “Movie Macabre” TV show of the 1950s, the exploitation film biz churned out countless B-movies every year, including titles from the ’50 and early ‘60s such as The Beast with 1,000,000 Eyes, I Was a Teenage Werewolf, Invasion of the Saucer Men, War of the Colossal Beast, The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, and Carnival of Souls. As years passed, these low-budget cheapies shifted their core themes from Atomic-Age fears and teenage adolescence to the sexploitation comedies of the ‘60s, followed by more graphic, gory exploitation films of the ‘60s and early ‘70s.

Critique:

Schlock! features numerous interviews with pioneers of the exploitation movement, such as directors Roger Corman and David F. Friedman, actor Dick Miller, and producer Samuel Z. Arkoff. It’s interesting to hear these filmmakers give firsthand descriptions of how they approached their work, and how they kept it highly profitable while the big studios struggled to reach the same audiences.

But beyond the interviewees, Schlock! – while informative and impressive in its roundup of archival footage – lacks in execution. It comes off as a bit textbook or pedestrian for tackling such a salacious subject. (Writer/director Ray Greene’s mellow, subdued narration doesn’t help matters.)

However, what Greene may have accomplished with Schlock! is what any good documentary does: It drives you to explore more about the subject matter. And that’s exactly what Schlock! achieves: It whets your appetite just enough to make you want to seek out the movies that appear in Greene’s film. So in that aspect, congrats to him.

Side note: In my career in advertising, I’ve actually had the chance to meet exploitation filmmaker Herschell Gordon Lewis (director of Blood Feast and partner of Friedman). After he stopped making movies in the early ‘70s, Lewis became a guru in the world of direct marketing. If you saw Juno, you’ll remember Ellen Page and Jason Bateman discussing Lewis’ work versus legendary horror director Dario Argento. Bateman then has Page watch Lewis’ film The Wizard of Gore. (For the record, I agree with Bateman's character that Argento is merely “okay.”)

Rating:

Is it appropriate for kids?

Despite the campiness and kitsch of the subject matter, Schlock! has some scenes of drug use (LSD and marijuana), plus copious amounts of nudity and graphic violence – as well as graphic close-ups of childbirth and venereal disease symptoms (thanks to scenes from the so-called “clap opera” social hygiene films of the ‘50s).

Will your FilmMother like it?

Eh. It might be more fun to sit down with her and rent some of the films that were covered in Schlock!, rather than watch the documentary itself.

Up next for the Supreme Court: The case of Water v. Wet.

Schlock! The Secret History of American Movies
* Director: Ray Greene
* Screenwriter: Ray Greene
* Stars: Roger Corman, David F. Friedman, Dick Miller, Vampira, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Harry Novak, Doris Wishman
* MPAA Rating: N/A

Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw (1976)

I DON’T HAVE a witty, topical lead-in to this review, except to say I watched Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw as a download from the now-defunct Cultra Rare Videos, which was a great place for free downloads of rare movies and movie trailers.
(UPDATE 2/22/12: Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw is now available for instant viewing at Netflix; see the link at the end of this post.)

Plot:
• Against a New Mexico landscape, we meet loner Lyle Wheeler (Marjoe Gortner) as he makes a fast buck winning a quick-draw contest.
• Later at a gas station, he steals a car and crashes it into a pursuing police vehicle, escaping in his hot ride while totaling the cop car.
• Lyle then pulls up at a drive-in diner and is served by Bobbie Jo (Lynda Carter). She lives with her widowed mom (Peggy Stewart), who gets on Bobbie Jo’s case about staying out late and “letting boys kiss her.”
• To feed her rebellion later that day, Bobbie Jo hops into Lyle’s stolen car as he sits in it, stalker-like, across the street from her house. Next thing we know, they’re walking arm in arm across a countryside, then sitting down as Bobbie Joe serenades Lyle – which leads to small talk and some sweet, sweet casual ‘70s lovemaking by the fire.
• After Lyle’s spotted driving the stolen car by a local cop, he and Bobbie Jo (along with Bobbie Jo’s friend Essie (Belinda Balaski)) go on the lam, seeking help from Bobbie Jo’s stripper sister Pearl (Merrie Lynn Ross) and her club’s cokehead owner, Slick (Jesse Vint).
• Help is the last thing they get from Slick, as he gets Lyle to try and help him steal a semi-truck, with Slick killing a security card in the process. Bobbie Jo, Lyle, Essie, Pearl, and Slick then wind up on the run as a group, pursued across the state by tobacky-chewin’, appropriately-named Sheriff Hicks (Gene Drew) – who vows to bring Lyle in, dead or alive.

Critique:
• Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw was directed by Mark L. Lester. If you don’t know him, you probably know his work – many guilty-pleasure, B-movie exploitation flicks, as well as high-profile films like Firestarter and Commando.
• Bobbie Jo was Carter’s film debut, and at times it shows. Her Southern twang comes and goes, and when somebody close to her is killed, her emotional delivery is subdued, to be generous. (Funny flub: When she’s paying for food at a grocery mart, she’s actually handing over the money before saying, “How much do I owe you?”) Still, it was weirdly entertaining watching the future Wonder Woman spout off profanities that would make Wonder Girl blush.
• The film’s big claim to fame/infamy is Carter’s topless scenes. To paraphrase the slogan of a certain spaghetti sauce, “They’re in there!” Actually, “it’s in there” would be more accurate, for her nude scenes are all, strangely, only her left breast in side profile. (Balaski obliges both boobs in an extended scene where Essie, Bobbie Jo, and Lyle are tripping on mushrooms in a pond.)
• The film features quite the twangy ‘70s country soundtrack, featuring Bobby Bare’s grating “Those City Lights” four times during the film. (If I never hear that song again, it’ll be too soon.)
• Bobbie Jo does follow the on-the-run framework of Bonnie & Clyde and the imitators that came in the 9 years between that film and this one. But here, it was hard to engage myself with what was going on. I felt a bit detached, despite all the gunplay and T&A (well, mostly T). By the time the movie picked up steam in the last 25 minutes, it was simply too little too late.

Rating: 2 stars (out of 5).

Will your kids want to see it?

Today's kids have probably never heard of this film, or even Carter’s late-‘70s stint as TV’s Wonder Woman. Still, keep children and young teens away from Bobbie Jo and The Outlaw: There’s boobs, drugs, and cussin’ a-plenty. Today’s high-school-age kids should be fine with what’s shown, but would probably wind up mocking the film anyway.

Will your FilmMother like it?

Only if she’s a fan of ‘70s exploitation, southern style. It’s not a very good movie, but unfortunately not bad enough to make watching it a spectator sport.

"Heh-heh, heh..."

Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw
* Director: Mark L. Lester
* Screenwriter: Vernon Zimmerman
* Stars: Marjoe Gortner, Lynda Carter, Belinda Balaski, Jesse Vint, Gene Drew, Merrie Lynn Ross
* MPAA Rating: R (nudity, adult situations and language, and violence)


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