Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Director: Mark Hartley

Starring: Tons of Aussies...and Quentin Tarantino's ginormous forehead!

More Info: IMDB

Tagline: Finally an Aussie film packed full of boobs, pubes, tubes ... and a bit of kung fu.

Plot: The story of "Ozploitation" movies - a time when Australian cinema showed an explosion of sex, violence, horror and action. Includes anecdotes, lessons in maverick film making and a genuine love of Australian movies. It moves through Aussie genre cinema of the 70s and early 80s - claiming it's an unjustly forgotten cinematic era.

My Rating: 9/10

Would I watch it again? 3 times and counting...


My love for exploitation knows no boundary and a documentary on exploitation trumps just about anything else out there. NQH delivers a fascinating story of Australia's film industry boom from 1969 to the early 80s and covers a tremendous amount of films, nearly all of which look incredibly appetizing.


It starts off with their first wave of films and how the industry kicked off with comedies filled with sex and gross-out humor, covering censorship and nudity. This section is fun but it's only the beginning and a great set-up for what comes next.


The middle third is titled, "Comatose Killers and Outback Chillers", with insight on lots of unique horror films and thrillers. Lots of fun.




The final third, "High Octane Disasters and Kung Fu Masters" is the real meat & potatoes of the doc that is guaranteed to tickle your short & curlys. TONS of explosions and absolutely jaw-dropping stunts.




This is one of the best docs I've seen on films and easily the best on genre cinema. There are interviews with directors, actors, screenwriters, critics (who continue to bash these films more than 30 years after first reviewing them) and their seemingly biggest fan, Quentin Tarantino. While I really dig his movies and I can appreciate his enthusiasm, Tarantino can be one of the most annoying mongoloids in the industry. Fortunately his love of Australian genre films comes across as nothing but unabashed adoration from a genuine fan. He's more restrained than usual or maybe the director pulled a masterful editing job.





While I find the first third fun, it's the final two thirds that are a real treat to watch. The entire film is hysterical and it's really akin to a great roller coaster ride. There's never a dull moment and even if this type of cinema is not your bag, you will have the uncanny urge to want to see many of these films they discuss. For me, I wanna see every last one of 'em. I first saw this doc a year or so ago and it's got me jazzed enough to do just that, for better or worse. So far, in my stack of 200 or so DVDs sitting here waiting for me to write about, there are a bunch that were watchedas a result of this film and I'm a better human being for it...really. If you see just one Australian exploitation film it needs to be the balls-out, insanely fun TURKEY SHOOT (1982)!

Here's a complete list of films covered in NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD (from the wikipedia page):

Foreign/Negative Portrayal of Australia

01) REVIEW - TRAILER - Age of Consent (1969)
02) REVIEW - TRAILER - Ned Kelly (1970)
03) REVIEW - TRAILER - Wake in Fright (1971)
04) REVIEW - TRAILER - Walkabout (1971)

Sex/Crude Humor
05) REVIEW - TRAILER - The Naked Bunyip (1970)
06) REVIEW - TRAILER - Stork (1971)
07) REVIEW - TRAILER - The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (1972)
08) REVIEW - TRAILER - Barry McKenzie Holds His Own (1974)
09) REVIEW - TRAILER - Number 96 (TV) (1972-1977)
10) REVIEW - TRAILER - Alvin Purple (1973)
11) REVIEW - TRAILER - Alvin Rides Again (1974)
12) REVIEW - TRAILER - Eliza Fraser (1976)
13) REVIEW - TRAILER - Australia After Dark (1975)
14) REVIEW - TRAILER - The ABC of Love and Sex Australia Style (1978)
15) REVIEW - TRAILER - Felicity (1978)
16) REVIEW - TRAILER - The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1974)
17) REVIEW - TRAILER - Hoodwink (1981)
18) REVIEW - TRAILER - Centrespread (1981)
19) REVIEW - TRAILER - Fantasm (1976)
20) REVIEW - TRAILER - Fantasm Comes Again (1977)
21) REVIEW - TRAILER - Pacific Banana (1980)

Scary/Buckets of Blood
22) REVIEW - TRAILER - Inn of the Damned (1974)
23) REVIEW - TRAILER - Night of Fear (1972)
24) REVIEW - TRAILER - Lady Stay Dead (1982)
25) REVIEW - TRAILER - Brothers (1982)
26) REVIEW - TRAILER - Patrick (1976)
27) REVIEW - TRAILER - Long Weekend (1978)
28) REVIEW - TRAILER - Snapshot (aka Day After Halloween) (1979)
29) REVIEW - TRAILER - Thirst (1979)
30) REVIEW - TRAILER - Harlequin (1980)
31) REVIEW - TRAILER - The Survivor (1980)
32) REVIEW - TRAILER - Roadgames (1981)
33) REVIEW - TRAILER - Nightmares (1980)
34) REVIEW - TRAILER - Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)
35) REVIEW - TRAILER - Razorback (1984)
36) REVIEW - TRAILER - Dark Age (1985)
37) REVIEW - TRAILER - Next of Kin (1981)
38) REVIEW - TRAILER - Blood Moon (1990)

Hard Core Action
39) REVIEW - TRAILER - Stone (1974)
40) REVIEW - TRAILER - Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
41) REVIEW - TRAILER - The Man from Hong Kong (1975)
42) REVIEW - TRAILER - Death Cheaters (1976)
43) REVIEW - TRAILER - Stunt Rock (1978)
44) REVIEW - TRAILER - Mad Max (1979)
45) REVIEW - TRAILER - Chain Reaction (1979)
46) REVIEW - TRAILER - Midnight Spares (1982)
47) REVIEW - TRAILER - Race for the Yankee Zephyr (1981)
48) REVIEW - TRAILER - Turkey Shoot (1981)
49) REVIEW - TRAILER - BMX Bandits (1983)
50) REVIEW - TRAILER - Fair Game (1985)
51) REVIEW - TRAILER - Sky Pirates (1986)
52) REVIEW - TRAILER - The Return of Captain Invincible (1982)
53) REVIEW - TRAILER - Dead End Drive-In (1985)

The Current Wave
54) REVIEW - TRAILER - Wolf Creek (2004)
55) REVIEW - TRAILER - Undead (2003)
56) REVIEW - TRAILER - Storm Warning (2007)
57) REVIEW - TRAILER - Rogue (2007)