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Why humbled, you ask? For the simple reason that working on this post has made me aware that I'm not nearly as familiar with Australian horror as I'd like to be. My purpose here is to write about my experience with horror cinema from the land down under--and it's clear that the output from that country/continent is not nearly as recognized in the States as it should be.
As Ms. Harker herself points out, Australia has had a burgeoning horror film industry for decades now, and yet it has not penetrated the U.S. market nearly as much--not even remotely as much--as that of other countries. The United Kingdom, France, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Spain, India, New Zealand... I'd estimate that they have all had their respective horror output better recognized here than Australia. They have the same language as us (more or less), so what's the issue here?
The Australian horror films I've encountered in my filmic travels are somewhat few, but they have all managed to make an impact on me.
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I caught it when it first came out (20 years ago, good Lord...) A tense little thriller in the grand Hitchcock fashion, it was also my first encounter with Nicole Kidman--back when she still had her original face, and before she had been anyone near Tom Cruise, either. For that matter, I believe it was also my introduction to Sam Neill and Billy Zane, two actors who would make major mainstream American waves some years later with Jurassic Park and Titanic, respectively.
Not that I even knew at the time that Dead Calm was an Australian film--I just knew it was a good movie. A great one, at that. Unfortunately, my next encounter with Australian horror would not be as positive.
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For such a classic horror flick, The Howling sure had some crappy sequels, and this one had to have been the worst (which is saying a lot). No offense to the Australians, but I'm thinking the reason this property came their way is that no one in Hollywood wanted to go anywhere near it.
In more recent years, it seems like Australia has made a tiny bit of headway in getting its horror to America, but definitely not enough for my liking. Nevertheless, despite other nations hogging all the international horror glory, a few interesting movies have made their way across the Pacific.
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At the time, it was one of many non-American productions that was catching my attention. The past few years have really seen me lean more toward the horror being put out by countries other than my native one. And so, I expected to see Australia as one of the big players on this field, along with Spain, France, Japan and Korea.
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That said, you'll forgive me if I end things on a negative note by talking about a film which was surprisingly absent from Ms. Harker's rundown. It's also one of the biggest horror movie disappointments for me in recent years.
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This was back in the heyday of the zombie movie explosion. Resident Evil, 28 Days Later, Shaun of the Dead, Land of the Dead. In particular, it might have been Shaun that ruined this flick for me. Because when I heard "zombie comedy", having just come off Shaun of the Dead, the bar had obviously been raised. And sadly, Undead fell way short.
The horror wasn't scary, the humor wasn't funny, and the whole affair felt like it should've been airing on the Sci-Fi Channel. In short, it certainly did nothing to advance the cause of the Australian horror film in America, I can tell you that. Although it did have zombie fish--got to give credit where it's due...
But the disappointment of Undead is neither here nor there. Good or bad, it got people talking, it created a buzz, which each of the recent Australian exports has managed to do. This is a good sign, I suppose, but there's a long way to go. I lament the fact that there are so many films mentioned by Ms. Harker that I haven't gotten to yet. I'm sure in today's internet age I don't have much of an excuse, but the fact remains that more needs to be done to popularize these films here in the U.S.
American distributors, take note! If you're looking for a new market to exploit thoroughly, look no further than Down Under.
9 comments:
Check out Black Water. It kind of got shadowed because it came out around the same time as Rogue, but it's a vastly superior film. I might go on a limb and call it the most intense croc-centric film I've ever seen.
Hmm, thanks. Will do!
Oh, and I'd also really recommend you check out Storm Warning, which is a ton of gory fun. One of the best 'city folk in the wrong countryside' to come out in recent years.
See I read this and I wanted to leave a highly intellectual comment, but all I can think of is "Ms. Harker, why are you such a fox?"
You say the nicest things Ms BJ-C!
How about we admit that you're BOTH foxes, and call it a day?
Rogue and Wolf Creek are awesome but ya, Undead was pretty lame. It did have a cool poster though...
Such a disappointment!
a little bit scary movie ;)
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