Year: 2008
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Rated: R
SRP: $ 26.98
Studio(s): Magnolia Pictures
Release Date: October 6, 2009

Film/Feature: A+
Cult Filmmaker Quentin Tarantino is quoted in the film,

“Nobody shoots a car, the way Aussies do. They manage to shoot cars with this fetishistic lens that makes you want to jerk off!”

Attention: Genre Film Fans, never has there been a bigger collection of jaw-dropping stunts, outrageous gore, and gratuitous tit shots in one sitting than in Not Quite Hollywood. You may be found sitting with your mouth gaping open, because there are that many “Holy Shit!” moments. Like the films celebrated, this documentary isn’t a boring sedative, it’s an exciting romp through cinema’s wildest step child, Australian genre films. It’s fast-paced, filled with unbelievable clips like Nicole Kidman as a BMX biker (wait, what?), and eye-gaping interviews with legendary actor/stuntman Grant Page, or seeing Aussie director John D. Lamond talking casually on a couch, while at a strip club. 80 different interview subjects of Australian, American and British directors, actors, screenwriters, producers and critics including Quentin Tarantino, Stacy Keach, John Seale, George Lazenby, George Miller, Barry Humphries, Roger Ward, Dennis Hopper, Jamie Lee Curtis, Brian Trenchard-Smith and dozens more, tell-all in this history lesson of Australian genre B-movies.

It all started in the late 60′s to early 70′s, the ultimate revolution occurred in Australian culture. Feminism, sexual liberation, moratoriums on wars, you name it, the Aussies were into it, and no one wanted to be controlled or be governed. On a filmmaking front, the only films that were being made down under were nature films to promote tourism as if Australians were obsessed with koala bears and kangaroos. But in 1971 Australia’s censorship regime flipped house and with the introduction of the R-rating set off an explosion of a new age of genre films.

Ozploitation can be broken into three categories, and Not Quite Hollywood is broken into these three segments which progress chronologically. The first of these is the sexual comedy which was more or less born from the country’s sexual revolution, and the celebration of one’s skin. In The Naked Bunyip (1970), a Dr. Kinsey-type character goes around piqued and tries to chart different sexual fantasies which was a cheap way to get naked people on camera. Filmmakers such as Tim Burstall (1927-2004) who directed Stork (1971), Alvin Purple (1973), and Eliza Frazer (1976) thrived on the bawdiness and erotic comedies and still, other Australian filmmakers struggled with trying to create films to make portray Australians in a way that they wanted outsider’s perception to be. Call it an identity crisis, call it perversion at its finest, call it what you will, Australia had a booming epicenter of interesting filmmakers whether their own country’s elite liked them or not, the public spoke with their wallets.

In phase two of the film, “Comatose Killers and Outback Chillers,” the focus shifts to the horror genre where films like Inn of the Damned, and Night of Fear jump started the industry with a gory arrival. Others came like Patrick (1976), a psychological thriller where a man in a coma controlled people with telekinetic powers. Long Weekend (1978), featured a repulsive couple who were always at each other’s throat, but are attacked by Mother Nature when they go on a camping trip, because they posed as this cancer-like force of destruction. Writer Everett De Roche, then came up with Road Games (1981), which he describes as a Rear Window set in a truck; starring Stacy Keach and Jamie Lee Curtis and began a resentment by the Australian board because of American actors who were brought in to drive up ticket sales.

In the film’s final act, the action film, one staple that seemed to make its way in was the desert marauder, or bullies in the outback looking for trouble and someone to pick on, or worse things unimaginable. The one that trail blazed this new path was the biker-culture film, Stone (1974), which was hard to determine what was real and what was made up because of that particular filmmakers quest for authenticity. Other gems from this era were Mad Dog Morgan (1976), which featured a near-insane Dennis Hopper and The Man from Hong Kong (1975), which should have been called, the Man with the Bloated Ego because it starred the well-known difficult personality, Jimmy Wang Yu. But there was not a bigger success story than Mad Max (1979) launching the career of Mel Gibson and began a sub-genre of post-apocalyptic films like Turkey Shoot (1981) and Midnight Spares (1982).

Not Quite Hollywood takes a good glance into frontier filmmaking at its wildest, where feminism was being pioneered and taken down on the screen at the same time, the drive-in culture was on the rise, and innovative and creative films were being done on shoestring budgets. Safety precautions in stunts were almost never taken, and filmmakers would go to the horse track to try and win money to finance their films; it was as if this tight knit industry collectively gave a middle finger to their critics. Hysterically, the doc frequently cuts to Aussie film critics Bob Ellis and Phillip Adams who are never afraid to spew a barrage of disgusted words towards these films again. Kudos goes to Mark Hartley for putting forth the effort to bring a wider attention and hopefully a broader appreciation for the Australian genre films. He’s opened up a whole new vault of genre films to Ozploitation novices like myself to track down and enjoy.

Video: B
Not Quite Hollywood is preserved on DVD with a standard definition480p encoded transfer in its original 1.78:1 aspect ratio. Now these are grind house films so the picture quality bounces back and forth from modern-produced interview pieces to moderately preserved clips, to really bad looking negatives of these rare films. I’m going to default to the filmmakers that what they were able to find for the film was the very best they could find. Grain is ever present and some clips have sever damage and artifacting, while others barely have a visible image, but for the most part, clips are very clear, color is strong but muddied down, and there is a toothy grit in many of the clips but all of the interviews are pleasant to watch even if they don’t look as refined, and for this film, that fits the mold.

Audio: B+
The Audio on the other hand is consistently good and comes to you via 5.1 English Dolby Digital audio track. Dialogue is clear, coming from the center, with an active soundstage that utilizes the rear channels of your home theater frequently with sound effects like splintering glass from the various movie clips, head banging music, and joyful explosions that make their way to your subwoofer. Other audio selections include: English 2.0 and subtitles are available in Spanish, sadly because I think those with untrained ears may have trouble hearing through some of the accents.

A Scene from Turkey Shoot

Extras:A

There are no subtitles for any of the extras which is a letdown for anyone who wants to try and track this stuff down.

Audio Commentary by Director Mark Hartley and the Ozploitation Auters is a free-for-all commentary track that includes Brian Trenchard-Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, John D. Lamond, David Hannay, Richard Brennan, Alan Finney, Vincent Monton, Grant Page and Roger Ward. This is a great supplement to hear a very honest recount of what making films in Australia was like in the 1970′s and 1980s, and even today. What’s difficult is that some of the participants are doing adding their parts via phone so with that many contributors, who’s talking to who gets a little lost. Still the stories these filmmakers want to share are both entertaining and fascinating like what the filmmakers of Mad Max’s first impressions of Mel Gibson were.

Deleted and Extended Scenes SD (Approx. 60 minutes) There’s almost an extra hour of cutting room material. 21 total scenes are available to peruse one-by-one or see all at once. Most of them are deleted scenes with four being extended scenes.

Quentin Tarantino Interviews Brian Trenchard-Smith SD (13:00) QT and Trenchard-Smith (who made The Man From Hong Kong (1975), Stunt Rock (1978), Turkey Shoot (1982) Hospitals Don’t Burn Down (1978) talk films not for exploitation neophytes. Tarantino does reveal that he plans to release Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair after “once everything dies down and Miramax disentangles themselves from Disney and have their new company, we’ll release the whole thing together.” These two guys talk about tweaking their films for the MPAA and dealing with shady production companies.

Audio Interview with Director Richard Franklin SD (22:47) an audio clip of an interview with the late Franklin in front of a live audience, who was the director of such Australian gems as Patrick (1978), Fantasm (1876), Psycho II (1983) and Eroticon (1971). Franklin fields questions and shares his experiences in trying to make films in that renaissance period of Ozploitation era.

Image Gallery SD (5:03) is a groovy photo montage set to some funky music.

Funding Pitches from Quentin Tarantino and John D. Lamond SD (1:24) Tarantino and Lamond make a pleas and endorsements to those who may be interested in distributing the film. Thank the stars for Magnolia Pictures.

Original Theatrical Trailer SD (2:13) The excellent trailer that was enough to sell me on seeing the film is here.

Magnolia Trailers for Ong Bak 2, The Canyon, World’s Greatest Dad and HD Net (7:07)

Overall Shock Value: A+
If we’re talking about shock value, Not Quite Hollywood is right up there with the best films I’ve seen all year long. I’ve probably seen it nearly five times and I see something new with every viewing. The Aussies were so outrageous in their filmmaking that you’d think I was making this up, if you haven’t seen it yourself. Not Quite Hollywood is an educational acid trip down wild and risk-taking genre films that I think only the most devoted fans of genre films will be open to. If you’re looking for a film that will act like a fist and punch out your teeth, drop a grenade in your mouth and pull the pin, Not Quite Hollywood is there, winding up for the knockout blow, all you have to do is pick it up to seal the deal. Buy this, please.