Scares from Down Under

 

Australia didn’t become an international filmmaking destination until the mid-1990s.  Prior to then many American actors journeyed down under to act in local films that were being made by enterprising Australian directors. Road Games (1981) is a suspenseful killer-on-the-loose film made by Alfred Hitchcock disciple Richard Franklin who would later direct the underrated Psycho II (1983). The film stars Stacy Keach as a long-haul trucker crossing the desolate wilderness of Western Australia with only his pet dingo as a driving companion. Observing people along the road, Keach comes to suspect that a mysterious man in a green van might be the serial killer wanted for some gruesome murders. 80s scream queen Jamie Lee Curtis enlivens the narrative as a hitchhiker who teams up with Keach as they try to catch the dangerous and elusive murderer. A wild ride that is both startling and funny in equal measure. Available on Blu-ray and Shudder.

A different kind of vehicle provides the jolts in Dead Calm (1989), a suspense thriller from the producers of the Mad Max series that takes place mostly at sea. Starring Sam Neill and Nicole Kidman, in her breakout film role, as a couple who embark on an oceanic sailing vacation in a valiant attempt to heal the recent wound caused by the death of their son. After encountering a sinking schooner they take on board a lone survivor played with darkly photogenic charm by Billy Zane. Thus begins a cat and mouse game between the three protagonists as they struggle to survive at sea in an increasingly deadly situation. Neill as always anchors the film, but the raw performances of Kidman and Zane made audiences at the time take note of two new talented actors to watch. Available on Blu-ray

Considered by many to be one of the scariest films ever made, The Babadook (2014) is an experience that never leaves you. Writer-director Jennifer Kent creates a near perfect nightmare of dread and fear as we witness a single mother struggling to understand her emotionally disturbed young son. Things go from bad to worse when they are haunted by a ghostly creature seemingly come to life from the pages of a sinister children’s storybook. An unnerving depiction of mental breakdown and parental anxiety that will have you staring into the dark corners of your bedroom for weeks afterward. Available Blu-Ray and Shudder

If sideburns, bell-bottom pants and psychedelic 70s décor scare you then Late Night with the Devil (2024) is a truly frightening experience. In their spookily accurate recreation of a late night Hollywood talk show from 1977, Australian filmmakers Colin and Cameron Cairnes’s videotape homage will have you laughing and gasping in equal measure. The gimmick of a “live” exorcism gone wrong provides the shocking set pieces, but it is the attention to character details as well as production design and cinematography that will amaze vintage viewers who remember this pre-internet era of broadcasting. Available on Blu-Ray and Shudder.