Thatcher the Life Snatcher

Turkey Shoot (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1982)

Certain films are criminally consigned to the trash pile while exhibiting high doses of entertainment that far out reach their arthouse cousins. Brian Trenchard-Smiths ozploitation classic, Turkey Shoot is one such film. The beauty of this antipodean masterpiece rests solely on its brazenly unashamed attitude to immerse the viewer in a melting pot of various film subgenres and hope for the best. Remarkably, it succeeds, because after forty years, there really hasn't been an exploitation film of this calibre to cover so many bases. Chin-stroking kino heads would probably be thankful, I would imagine.

The film's plot revolves around a not too distant future where an oppressive totalian regime controls its people and places its undesirables in brutal reform camps. One such camp, run by a sadistic warden, hilariously named Thatcher, takes the initiative of running a death hunt with his elitist friends in pursuing and executing prisoners with a three hour headstart. It's Down By Law (1986) meets The Most Dangerous Game (1932) on paper. However, being an ozploitation movie in its DNA, prepare for some spectacularly surprising moments like Alph, a werewolf looking cannibal employed as muscle by one of the hunting party members.

What initially started out on page as a lavish historical prison drama, Turkey Shoot fatefully ended up in the hands of writer and director, Brian Trenchard-Smith; the man who gave us BMX Bandits (1983) and Leprachaun 4: In Space (1994). Trenchard-Smith took the original script and turned it into an Orwellian sci-fi treatment. Of course, Turkey Shoot happened to be a troubled production where pages of the script were ripped due to pre-production having being drastically shortened due to renewed budget constraints. Its cast, were none the wiser that this would turn from a dystopian science fiction film and result into an outlandish extravaganza from exploitation cinema. Cast members Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey and Lynda Stoner were none too happy with the constant changes while working on the film; in Hussey's case, she became traumatised having to work in the bush under such horrible conditions. Foreign actors given lead roles in Australian films wasn't anything new; the classic Hitchcockian thriller, Road Games (1981) also performed a similar casting decison with Stacey Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis. This trend really parrallels what was going on in UK and European territories, too.

Turkey Shoot (Trailer)

(Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1982) 

Despite the dystopian setting, Turkey Shoot doesn't dwell too much on any poignant social commentary, instead it borrows elements from a veritable trove of exploitative sub-genres. Some scenes are reminiscant of Jack Hill's 'Women in Prison' movies, while others evoke the Italian 'Jungle Horror' era, ala Cannibal Holocaust (1980). It's a bizarre concoction which makes it a unique yet thrilling over-the-top viewing experience with never a dull moment. For those reasons alone, all the various gripes cast members had says more about them, in my opinion; in fact, some of them ought to be grateful they have Turkey Shoot in their otherwise forgettable resumes.

Can't say I've ever had the time nor the inclination to sit through all of Trenchard-Smith's films, but of those I have seen, Turkey Shoot is undoubtedly my favourite. Producer, Anthony I. Ginnane submitted the film to the A.F.I (Australian Film Institute) as a defiant fuck you for their pretentiousness towards Australian film; an attitude that failed to keep the hey day of ozploitation cinema at bay. Overseas, Roger Corman bought the U.S. film rights and released it in 1983 under the name Escape 2000. Still think the alternative U.K title, Blood Camp Thatcher, is the best of the lot, and should be its official name. Avoided it like the plague, but Ginnane produced a 2014 remake, with the big Aussie veteran, Roger Ward, the only actor from the original film appearing in it. 

Dada Debaser wholeheartedly recommends the original to the uninitiated simply for the pleasure of witnessing a film spiralling into such a ludicrously entertaining spectacle, that it's impossible not to admire the sheer audacity of it. Classic ozploitation!