Turkey Shoot (1982)

Director: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig

More info: IMDB

Tagline: Hunting is the national sport...and people are the prey!

Plot: In the near future, after an unspecified holocaust, survivors are herded into prison camps. There, they are hunted for sport by the leaders of the camp. Paul, one of the newest prisoners, is determined not to go down as quietly as the others.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Fuck, yeah!

#48 on my on-going quest to watch every film from the amazing documentary, NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2008)

This flick is off the hook. It's the very definition of an exploitation movie. It's got a simple story (basically it's a variation on The Most Dangerous Game), a bit of nudity, gore, great kills, fun characters and lots of action. What's more, it's Australian!


TURKEY SHOOT is the second film of Trenchard-Smith's I've seen, the other being THE MAN FROM HONG KONG (1975), and he's made a few others that I just HAVE to see. He's one of the biggest names in Ozploitation and if you only see one of his films, it needs to be this one. It's got 'fun' written all over it.


I've never cared for Steve Railsback. There's something about his accent that's just strange. I see he's from Texas but it doesn't sound like any Texas accent I've heard and I saw an episode of DALLAS once when I was kid so I should know. He's perfectly OK here and he fits right in. The cast does a great job and there are a few familiar faces for anyone who's seen Australian genre films like MAD MAX and THE ROAD WARRIOR.


One of the many fun spots (actually this is kind of brutal but still cool) is where the head guard beats the shit out of a female prisoner to make an example out of her. It's pretty harsh but it's the kind of thing you won't find in a major Hollywood film which makes it all the more welcome.


So you've got this futuristic prison camp of sorts run by a guy named Charles Thatcher (Craig). He's invited three wealthy game hunters to hunt prisoners. The four of them, each with distinct personalities, weapons and hunting styles, choose a prisoner who are guaranteed their freedom if they reach a certain checkpoint alive. One by one they are released and the hunt is on.


From this point on it's batshit crazy fun time. It starts about halfway through its 93 minutes and stays on that rollercoaster for the duration. It's a real gas. Naturally some of the prisoners are killed while Railsback is doing his best to stay alive and kill the hunters and, if that's not enough action for you, there's a big raid on the prison camp with lots of guns a-blazing and explosions to close out the film!


This flick is a love letter to the action exploitation genre. Everyone in front of and behind the camera is clearly giving their all and it shows in spades. I would love to see this at an actual drive-in with a ton of friends. That would be a night to remember. Damn, I need to buy/build my own theater.