*contains spoilers and strong course language Ian Barry (1946-) was born in Sydney. Growing up as a child, he was inspired through his Uncle Harold’s backyard cinema which seated fifty, to make movies. He describes his Uncle in retrospect as “the architect of my life”. Armed with an 8mm camera bought by his aunt, Barry…
Read more Director Ian Barry on The Chain Reaction, Cult Movie Airtight and plenty more…
*contains spoilers The Australian exploitation film The Chain Reaction (1980) was, along with Mad Max (1979), a ground-breaking and extremely well-made genre film directed by Ian Barry (1946-). Barry, like George Miller on Mad Max (1979), created something with the vision of an Aussie Roger Corman, a low-budget masterpiece, which remains his best movie. But…
Read more The Cult of Director Ian Barry’s The Chain Reaction
*contains spoilers There’s something about Long Weekend (1978 and 2008). It’s a mystery of sorts and yet it is a man vs. nature type film or eco-horror which first became popular in America in the 1970s with such films as Frogs (1972) and Day of the Animals (1977). Such films are the original influence but…
Read more The Eco-Horror Cult of Long Weekend and its remake
*contains spoilers Lemora: A Child’s Tale of the Supernatural (1973) aka Lemora is a tasteful movie which is, basically, about a lesbian vampire who preys on children – and one young girl in particular, who she hopes will join her as the undead to live together forever. Don’t worry as sexual deviancy doesn’t come into…
Read more The Cult of Actress Cheryl Rainbeaux Smith in Lemora
*contains spoilers Name: RichardAge: 70 Occupation: Actor Favourite Movie: The Conversation (1974)Starring: Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Williams and Robert Duvall First Saw It: Probably with a girlfriend in my early 20s at a Sydney cinema on Pitt Street. Plot: Director Francis Ford Coppola’s film is about an obsessive surveillance expert…
Read more My Cult Movie: “It’s a film about language and dialogue…”
*contains strong course language Haydn Keenan (1951-) is originally from Melbourne. He formed the company Smart Street Films with his friend Esben Storm while they were still teenagers and moved to Sydney to work for the Commonwealth Film Unit as you will learn from this interview… He made one of his first short films Stephany…
Read more Producer/Director Haydn Keenan on 27A and his Cult Film Career…
*contains spoilers and course language In Search of Anna’s cast includes Moir in the lead role along with Judy Morris (1947-), who Moir had worked with on the short film Judy contained in the feature Three to Go (1971) which was directed by a friend of Moir’s named Brian Hannant (1940-). “She’s beautiful,” remarked the…
Read more The Cult of Director Esben Storm’s 27A and In Search of Anna (Part Two)
*contains spoilers and course language “We were the three musketeers of the film scene,” said Brisbane born actor Richard Moir (1950-) about himself, director Esben Storm (1950-2011 heart problems) and producer/director Haydn Keenan (1951-). For a period, from their late teens onwards they worked and socialised together, creating some classic Australian cinema. The three of…
Read more The Cult of Director Esben Storm’s 27A and In Search of Anna (Part One)
*contains spoilers If I have a favourite movie from Alfred Hitchcock’s early English period – it is definitely The Lady Vanishes (1938). It is funny, it is mysterious and there’s a bit of action. It also has a great cast of English actors who, together with the director, keep the film moving along the tracks…
Read more Director Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938)
*contains spoilers Actor Miles Buchanan (1966-) was an Australian star of movies, television and the stage. He shone for a time and then burnt out due to a case of alcohol and drug abuse and mental illness. And whereas there were a few who could carry on some sort of career under such a heavy…
Read more The Cult of Actor Miles Buchanan and Dangerous Game (1988)
