Alvin Purple
1973 · Australia · 97m
Obscurity: obscure. watchable legallyThe sex comedy that funded the entire boom. Historically important, hard going.
Exploitation films from Australia
reelscum catalogues 21 exploitation films credited to Australia. They were released between 1971 and 1986. The subgenres that appear most often are Ozploitation (18 films), Carsploitation (5 films) and Occult & satanic panic (2 films).
The busiest decades in the catalogue are the 1970s (13) and 1980s (8). Directors with more than one entry include Brian Trenchard-Smith (4), George Miller (2) and Richard Franklin (2).
Entries include Alvin Purple (1973), Stunt Rock (1978) and Next of Kin (1982). Each links to its own page with a verdict, rating axes and where to watch.
Stunt Rock
1978 · Australia · 91m
Obscurity: obscure. watchable legallyNo plot. A stuntman and a prog band. Exists purely so Grant Page can work.
Next of Kin
1982 · Australia/New Zealand · 89m
Obscurity: obscure. watchable legallyA slow-burn gothic in a nursing home. Much better than its obscurity suggests.
Snapshot
1979 · Australia · 92m
Obscurity: obscure. watchable legallyA young model is stalked after a nude shoot. A slow-burn Australian thriller with a real sense of dread.
Turkey Shoot
1982 · Australia · 93m
Obscurity: obscure. watchable legallyThe budget vanished mid-shoot and they kept going. Chaotic, mean, fun.
Fair Game
1986 · Australia · 86m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA woman alone at an outback wildlife reserve is hunted by three kangaroo poachers. Lean and nasty.
Hawk the Slayer
1980 · UK/Australia · 90m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyJack Palance chewing a fantasy kingdom to splinters while a sword flies about on wires. Beloved for it.
Thirst
1979 · Australia · 98m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA secret society farms humans for blood. Ozploitation does vampires as corporate agribusiness.
Dead End Drive-In
1986 · Australia · 87m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA drive-in turned into an internment camp. The satire is not subtle.
Long Weekend
1978 · Australia · 92m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA couple litter, and Australia decides to kill them. Excellent.
Patrick
1978 · Australia · 96m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA man in a coma does telekinesis. Better than that sentence implies.
Stone
1974 · Australia · 103m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyAustralia's outlaw-biker scripture. Mad Max drank from this tank.
Razorback
1984 · Australia · 94m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyA giant pig film shot like a perfume ad. Somehow works.
The Man from Hong Kong
1975 · Australia/Hong Kong · 106m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyJimmy Wang Yu wrecks Sydney, with hang-gliding and a man actually on fire. Peak crossover.
Road Games
1981 · Australia · 101m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyRear Window in a truck, with Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis.
Tales from the Crypt
1972 · UK/USA · 92m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyThe best Amicus omnibus, and Joan Collins versus a killer Santa two years before Black Christmas.
The Cars That Ate Paris
1974 · Australia · 87m
Obscurity: cult. watchable legallyPeter Weir's debut. A town that farms car crashes. Very strange.
To the Devil a Daughter
1976 · UK/West Germany · 95m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyHammer's last gasp. Christopher Lee said it finished the studio off.
Wake in Fright
1971 · Australia/USA · 114m
Obscurity: known. watchable legallyA masterpiece and an ordeal. The kangaroo hunt is real footage and it is unbearable.
Mad Max 2
1981 · Australia · 95m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legallyThe template the whole Italian post-nuke cycle copied for a decade.
Mad Max
1979 · Australia · 88m
Obscurity: canon. watchable legally. banned somewhereMade for nothing on public roads. You can feel every dollar missing.