Our exploration of lost Australian genre films continues in OZPLOITATION RARITIES VOL. 2, featuring our NEW restorations of DESOLATION ANGELS (aka Fair Game), CODA and THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR.
These three unearthed tales of women facing off against vicious killers feature some of the most bold and bonkers filmmaking from Down Under with electrified ghosts, twin panel vans from hell, and a symphonic spree-killer in a mask.
DESOLATION ANGELS
Three spunky teenage girls decide to ditch their parents and private school for a long weekend getaway in Portsea. But, on the way to the seaside resort town they encounter two menacing black panel vans – and their bid for a harmless adventure turns into a chilling white line pursuit that climaxes at the schoolgirls’ remote beach house.Thrown into this nightmare is Pamela, a stunning blonde who has defrauded her employee out of $20,000. On the run and lying low, she joins the girls in a terrifying battle for survival as the terror, suspense and body count rises. Released in the U.S. under the far more generic title FAIR GAME, DESOLATION ANGELS boasts bitumen-burning chases, a harrowing game of cat-and-mouse and star turns from Kerry Mack (Hostage) and the alluring Karen West (1980 Playmate of the Year) – accompanied by classic tracks from COLD CHISEL. Never before available in Australia - and considered the rarest of Ozploitation gems - DESOLATION ANGELS is presented in a new 2K transfer approved by the film’s cinematographer Ellery Ryan (Death in Brunswick, Grievous Bodily Harm).
CODA
The brutal murder of a university’s most promising music student sends panic and fear through the stuffy halls of academia. Neighbour and fellow student, Kate Martin (Penny Cook), finds herself caught up in the hunt for the masked killer as one-by-one the people around her start dying in bizarre and horrific ways. Who could this insatiable maniac be? Is it the jilted ex-husband who always happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time? Is it the new arrival next door with the heavy, locked steamer trunk? Or is it the music professor whose claims of abstinence mask a deep-rooted, psycho-sexual desire for her most promising students of either sex? Heavily influenced by Hitchcock and John Carpenter’s Halloween, CODA marks the feature debut of prolific filmmaker Craig Lahiff (Heaven’s Burning) and boasts a talented cast of Ozploitation regulars including Penny Cook (The Dreaming), Arna-Maria Winchester (The Chain Reaction) and Liddy Clark (Kitty and the Bagman). After having only received a limited VHS release in Australia before fading into well-thought-of obscurity, CODA is finally presented in a new 2K transfer approved by the film’s cinematographer David Foreman
THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR
From famed Ozploitation producers David Hannay (Stone) and Tom Broadbridge (BMX Bandits) comes this chilling tale of supernatural vengeance. A dark and terrible secret lurks on the thirteenth floor of a plush city office block, where a mysterious curse had brought disaster to anyone who rents it. Years earlier, an innocent seven year old girl, Heather Thompson (Lisa Hensley), watched on as her gangster father ordered the brutal electrocution of a small boy. And today, fate has drawn her back to the possessed building. Heather discovers that a deadly life force has manifested itself in the electrical system – and is about to unleash a terrifying new power hell bent on revenge… somewhere on the thirteenth floor. Boasting a series of gruesome set-pieces and early big screen appearances from Miranda Otto and Lisa Hensley, THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR finally makes its hi-def premiere with a new 2K transfer approved by the film’s writer/director Chris Roache.
Director: Chris Roache, Craig Lahiff, Christopher Fitchett
Extras:
DESOLATION ANGELS (1982)
- NEW! Audio commentary from director Chris Fitchett and cinematographer Ellery Ryan
- NEW! THE CAR AS VILLAIN IN AUSTRALIAN CINEMA – a visual essay from screenwriter and author Stephen Vagg
- Aussie Car Movie trailer reel
- AFI trailer
CODA (1987)
- NEW! Audio commentary with production designer Anni Browning, assistant director Gus Howard and actress Liddy Clark
- NEW! Interview with cinematographer David Foreman
- NEW! Interview with Liddy Clark
- The Craig Lahiff trailer and short film collection
- The VHS experience
- Original trailer
THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR (1988)
- NEW! Audio commentary from writer/director Chris Roache
- NEW! Interview with actress Lisa Hensley
- NEW! WOMEN IN PERIL – a visual essay from author and TV historian Andrew Mercado
- The VHS experience
- Original theatrical trailer
