Angel

Name: Rick S.

Status: Projectionist

Year of Birth: 1987

Zodiac: Cancer

Chinese Zodiac: Rabbit

Blood Type: O+

About: I'm a young film-lover and aspiring filmmaker whose into just about every genre of film in some way, but I have always had leaning towards Asian cinema and genre films. I am particularly into Australian exploitation titles because they remind me of a time when Australia had a film industry that it could truly be proud of (that being said, I am very supportive of Australian cinema in general - even the art films that get made at the expense of genre films).

Likes: Watching films, Writing, Reading, Drawing

My Top 10 Ozploitation Picks:

1. Turkey Shoot: Turkey Shoot is the most notorious and, in my opinion, glorious Australian exploitation film to come of the cycle. It is violent, has great special effects and draws on a rich understanding of exploitation film formulas and trademarks.

2. The Man From Hong Kong: Brian Trenchard-Smith's first real film as a director is perhaps the only real example of a "chop-socky" film in Australian film history. Which is surprising given that its a film which I think can roll with the best examples of kung fu cinema.

3. Felicity: Whilst Tim Burstall's Alvin Purple is the most well-known sexploitation film made in Australia (mainly due to historical reasons), I think that John D. Lamond's Felicity is definitely the best. It's a film that manages to be naive and innocent, and at the same time exploitative.

4. Long Weekend: The kind of suspense and terror that this film generates is no small feat. The fact that the audience really isn't even sure if nature is striking back at destructive greedy people or not is its greatest strength. There's a dark tone to the film that is maintained through possum attacks and bird swoops.

5. Patrick: Richard Franklin, a huge Hitchcock fan, is described as Australia's Hitchcock. To me though, he is Australia's Brian De Palma. Both directors were clearly inspired by Hitchcock, but brought that inspiration into an updated seventies environment. Well-shot and well-directed, Patrick is very competent thriller.

6. Stone: The one and only Australian biker cult classic. A film with enduring influence and appeal. Sandy Harbutt's desire to make the most realistic of biker films really makes this one stand out.

7. Mad Max: Probably the most famous Australian film ever made. The film that inspired Italy's post-apocalyptic films, influenced a generation of filmmakers the world over and spawned an even more successful sequel.

8. Road Games: Richard Franklin's "rear window in a truck" is undeniably stylish and truly special. The script by Everett De Roche is brimming with great dialogue and Franklin's Hitchcockian directing makes this a tight thriller.

9. Alvin Purple: Alvin Purple is one that deserves to be called "the film that started it all". Tim Burstall's funny and sexy film is like a who's who of female Australian television personalities, all getting naked. But the standout of this film is Graeme Blundell's performance as the everyman that girls just can't resist.

10. BMX Bandits: If you grew up in Australia during the eighties or nineties and do not like BMX Bandits, then you have no heart. The one thing that stood out about BMX Bandits was a young Nicole Kidman, but that's not all that it had. In a classic exploitation fashion, Brian Trenchard-Smith saw that BMX bikes were popular with kids and so were two-way radios and then went about fashioning a film around these two toys.