Turkey Shoot (1982)

Ah the 80s, the time of the video nasties. But to see a film like this come out from Australia, the country which is now very pro-censorship. But to see an "Oz-ploitation" (Yes, it actually does say that, you can see it in the top left corner) film is still weird. But here we are, 'Turkey Shoot'...also known as 'Blood Camp Thatcher'...also know as 'Escape 2000' despite coming out eighteen years before the year 2000.

In a futuristic Australian dystopia (I guess that's where the 2000 comes from), Chris (Olivia Hussey), a shopkeeper accused of being a rebel, Rita (Lynda Stoner), a suspected prostitute, and Paul (Steve Railsback), a guy who has escaped similar other camps, are taken to Camp 47, a reeducation camp run by Camp Master Thatcher (Michael Craig) and his chief enforcer Ritter (Roger Ward). After receiving some brutal treatment at their hands, they are given a chance at escape, all they have to do is survive until sundown in the surrounding area along with two other prisoners, Griff (Bill Young) and Dodge (John Ley), while they're hunted by Thatcher, Ritter, and their rich friends.

In all honesty, I didn't really understand the film. It seemed to be portraying a message, but I have no idea what that message is. The introduction of the film is a bunch of video footage portraying riots. Okay. What are they rioting about? What's the cause? The film never really explains this. Well, it does by saying that the country is basically a fascist state, but it doesn't really explain why. You know how films like 'The Full Monty' tells us about how it's set during the economic crisis of the 80s? Or how 'Night of the Living Dead' commented on humanity's ability to co-operate, domestic racism, Cold War politics, and the society at the time? Or even how 'Dr Strangelove' was all about satirising the Cold War?

I had to look up this film on Wikipedia in order to find that it was satirising the Ronald Reagan Era concerning corporate fascism. I suppose we see that with the rich people hunting their prisoners for sport, but even that's almost forgotten about.

But then again, after seeing the cover (See...where I normally put the movie covers) you'd think this is more about the gore and nudity to try and attract people to it's message. I was kind of disappointed with it, especially for a film from the video nasty era. There's surprisingly little blood and nudity in this. Not that there isn't blood and nudity in this, there is, but when you go into a film with the cover saying "Oz-ploitation", covered in blood red, you expect a little more.

Then again it doesn't help when the actress playing the suspected sex worker refused to do full nudity scenes (You're playing a prostitute, what did you expect?), and the actress playing lead Chris was reported to have had a miserable time on set, apparently she was scared of the Australian bush. Although Stoner refusing to do nudity scenes, resulting in her compromising to do a shot of her back (And even then she says she regrets doing that) resulted in one scene feeling secluded and incomplete. So much so that there are posts on IMDB asking if there are uncut versions with more footage to the scene.

But this film has a weird way of not really seeming like an exploitation flick, but more like a prisoner-of-war film, up until it gets to the hunt (Called the 'turkey shoot', hence the film's title. Didn't know Australia was famous for it's turkey's) where it starts to feel more like a cheap 'Running Man' rip-off then an actual fight for survival flick.

The acting is surprisingly pleasant. Hussey plays the frightened girl taken from her preferred environment and placed into one of the darkest places on Earth remarkably well...then again that might be because she was genuinely frightened of the place. Despite her reluctance to do nude scenes I thought Stoner did a great job with her character, as did Craig and Ward with their heartless cold camp leaders. Cameron Duncan also shone as huntress Jennifer, probably even more cold and calculating as Thatcher; she tries to kill steal!

In all honesty, this film hasn't dated well. The acting is pretty much the only thing to have survived intact, everything else just doesn't feel right. Then again, maybe that was the aim, to crawl under your skin and make you squirm. Although that didn't actually happen with me. Okay, looking back the characters are pretty good, not memorable but pretty good, except for Paul; I basically forgot about him while writing this. The effects are pretty cheap, I mean, the original 'Friday the 13th' came out two years before this and had better effects. I just feel this film hasn't stood well against the test of time.