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Sunday, November 25, 2018

WAKE IN FRIGHT (aka OUTBACK) (1971)

Coarse, powerful & revolting, a nearly lost cult film from Australia, this early work from remarkably inconsistent Canadian director Ted Kotcheff becomes a blistering exposé of Outback mores (macho male variety) and custom (sociably alcoholic & violent). Plus a kangaroo roundup/massacre . . . a real one. Nearly pretty Gary Bond is the small town one-room teacher, off on holiday to a slightly bigger town where the difference between threat & friendship is papered over, actually cemented, thru all-night drinking sessions, forced camaraderie, gambling dens & ‘roo hunts. A likely sexual partner, the sister of a new ‘mate,’ leads to literal revulsion. But then, with all the homo-erotic male bonding (and probable overnight molestation), why bother. So into the hellish hole of iniquity and thru the heart of darkness & degradation, washed down with just one more pint forced on you from Aussie stalwarts Chips Rafferty (in his last film) and Jack Thompson (in his first). Or from disgraced ‘doc,’ Donald Pleasence who offers just about anything . . . as long as you don’t mind the stink. The restored print from DraftHouse Films has a yellowish cast that blisters the eyeball. So does the tale.

DOUBLE-BILL: Retitled OUTBACK for a Stateside release that barely happened, the taste for landscape-oriented Aussie drama taken up that year by Nicolas Roeg’s memorable solo directing debut WALKABOUT.

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