Sunday 28 February 2016

Razorback - Retro Review





Well it was Sunday morning yet again, In bed with a cuppa. I awoke quite early and thought sod it i'll stick a film on so I  ventured in to the DVD library(or spare room as you may well call it!)
Whilst looking through various organised sections of my shelf such as "The zombie section" or "The classic British section" I spotted a section that I hadn't delved in to for quite a while, this was the "Ozplotation" section. Now, This got me thinking about how I originally created my ozploitation section and it was thanks to the great Horror Etc. Podcast. Sadly it was announced last week that the podcast had wound up. It has been going for many years with Tony,Ted and sometimes Doug. They did several episodes on the subject and introduced me and many others to new titles and classic old titles such as Razorback. So I thought in praise of them I'll stick it on.



Made in 1984 by director Russell Mulachy  most famously known for Highlander 1 and 2 as well as Resident Evil : Extinction and ton's of music video's for likes of Culture Club, Duran Duran, Elton John and Queen. It tells the tale of an old man who his searching for a giant Razorback who one night smashed through his outback home and took his child never to be seen again. No one believes him that a Razorback could grow that large and he is determined to prove them all wrong.
Years later a reporter from New York who is an animal activist sees a report on TV regarding the Kangaroo cull in the outback of Australia and decides to head there and see why they feel the need to do it. Her trip takes her to the town unknown to her of the legendary giant Razorback.



It's a brilliantly shot film with some great and real creepy images of the desolate outback. The town folks are as you would expect of the inbred types akin to characters in Mad Max.
I hadn't seen it since I saw it on VHS but my expectations were not let down at all. It's really funny in places with some typical 80's themes and some way over the top acting.
To be honest there is not really a lot of the actual Razorback in the film but that doesn't take anything away from it at all. There is a really trippy segment where on of our main characters gets lost in the desert and starts hallucinating seeing all manner of crazy shit!
So on summing up if you haven't seen it you really should. 91 minutes of ozploitation lunacy. And you never know it may well lead you to start your very own Ozploitation section!
8/10
Jonny T.




2 comments:

  1. I am intrigued by the idea of 'sections' as opposed to using the classic 'alphabetical' system...

    My Ozploitation section wouldn't be massive - but would encourage me to buy more films, like Patrick, for example, or Razorback, of course.

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    1. It's hard work trying to section it all especially when it comes to directors, but I find the system works best for me

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