Australian/New Zealand movies: 1980

Sneaking in a quick update mid-week as there's not a lot of movies with nudity released in 1980 and I've already capped all bar one making my job easier. A real lull in 1980 for Australian movies as the money that was flowing from the mid-70s has dried up. Having said that there's some decent nudity in movies released this year so it's not all bad.

1980

The Chain Reaction

Paranoid nuclear threat thriller made by the pretty much the same cast and crew that made Mad Max (George Miller is one of the producers) including a cameo from Mel Gibson. A couple (Steve Bisley and Arna-Maria Winchester) go away for a weekend away to a remote cabin only to be interrupted by an injured doctor who stumbles on their cabin after escaping from the leaking nuclear plant nearby. They help him out but the bosses don't want any word of the leak getting out so they attempt to kill the three of them. Lots of car chases, Hugh Keays-Byrne plays a good guy for once and Frankie J. Holden plays a mechanic named 'Farts'. What's not to like?

A few decent nude scenes from Arna-Maria Winchester including the iconic nuclear shower scene where strangely you see more in the DVD version than the Bluray version.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from The Chain Reaction here. A preview is below.

Arna-Maria Winchester in The Chain Reaction

   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

The Club

Another adaptation of a David Williamson play, this time about the inner workings of the Collingwood Football Club during a tumultuous season with the main consternation being between the coach (Jack Thompson) and the president (Graham Kennedy). Pretty decent look at how Australian Rules is played and run including using actual players from the real club although it's fairly dated now. Thankfully the on-field footage is mostly real games with actor John Howard inserted into the footage although as an old Fitzroy fan I'm not happy seeing my side getting knocked off in the 'Grand Final' (actual semi-final from 1979 - Collingwood lost in a very famous Grand Final).

Very brief nudity from a stripper played by Toni-Gay Shaw. Funnily enough there was a player (and eventual club legend) called Tony Shaw who played for Collingwood at the time. No relation I'm guessing...

You can find a synopsis with videos from The Club here. A preview is below.

Toni-Gay Shaw in The Club

   

 

 

Death Games
aka Final Cut

Sordid erotic thriller where a wannabe reporter (Lou Brown) and his girlfriend (Jennifer Cluff) go to a sleazy record producer's (David Clendenning) house and attempt to get evidence of his terrible behaviour that could involve murder. But they both fall under his and his wife's (Narelle Johnson) spell. Very silly stuff with a plot that makes no sense but there's plenty of nudity from Jennifer Cluff and from various unknowns.

One of two movies made by the government funded Queensland Film Corporation (the other is Touch and Go), so it was an early attempt to actually make movies in Queensland as there had been very few before this.

And in good news Umbrella have announced that it is putting this movie (along with Crosstalk and Lady, Stay Dead) out on Bluray in June which is a nice and unexpected surprise as the movie had been pretty much forgotten and only available in VHS quality.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Death Games here. A preview is below.

Jennifer Cluff in Death Games

   
   
   
   
   

 

Narelle Johnson in Death Games

 

 

Various Unknowns in Death Games

   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Goodbye Pork Pie (NZ)

Rollicking car chase movie technically the debut feature from Geoff Murphy where Gerry (Kelly Johnson) hires a Mini Minor with stolen money and then gives John (Tony Barry) a ride but the police attempt to catch up with them as they race into oblivion. Meanwhile the whole country becomes fascinated with the pursuit. Very fun movie, more than it has any right to be and far more than the tepid 2017 remake.

Some brief nudity from Clare Oberman and Shirley Gruar.

You can find a synopsis with HD videos from Goodbye Pork Pie here. A preview is below.

Clare Oberman in Goodbye Pork Pie

   

 

Shirley Gruar in Goodbye Pork Pie

   

 

 

Hard Knocks

Innocuous bad girl goes straight drama where teenage Samantha (Tracy Mann) gets out of juvenile detention and tries to go 'straight' but finds it's harder than she thought. She gets involved in modelling but it turns out to get better gigs she has to sleep with the booker. Also the cops that put her in jail want to put her back in there. Minor movie that is helped greatly by a good lead performance by Tracy Mann and a 75 minute runtime.

There's a couple of scenes where Tracy Mann shows her breasts.

You can find a synopsis with collages videos from Hard Knocks here. A preview is below.

Tracy Mann in Hard Knocks

   
   

 

 

Harlequin

Thriller with an international cast about a man dressed as a 'harlequin' (Robert Powell) who befriends a cancer-afflicted senator's son and miraculously cures his cancer. The harlequin is welcomed into the family but the senator is skeptical about his motives and looks into him while the harlequin befriends his family. When the maid accuses the harlequin of rape, he is thrown in jail and bad things start to happen to the family and those close to them. Surprisingly good movie with some genuinely creepy and wild scenes when the harlequin performs his tricks.

A couple of nude scenes from Alyson Best who would have quite a few nude scenes in early 80s Australian movies.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from Harlequin here. A preview is below.

Alyson Best in Harlequin

   
   

 

 

...maybe this Time

Romantic drama about an unlucky in love woman Fran (Judy Morris) who is in a fruitless relationship with a university lecturer (Mike Preston) and also with a married political manipulator (Bill Hunter). After both relationships blow up, she goes back to live with annoying mother for a while and gets into a relationship with an old friend (Ken Shorter) who's a bit of weenie. So will she ever find love? Dated and frustrating movie about a woman who's just never satisfied with what she has and seems like she'll never find the love she desperately wants and honestly, I don't really care whether she does or not.

Some brief flashes of nudity from Judy Morris in a few scenes including showing her bottom as she walks naked into the sea plus Jude Kuring shows her breasts as she threatens to start a threesome with her husband and his lover.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from ...maybe this Time here. A preview is below.

Judy Morris in ...maybe this Time

   
   
 

 

Jude Kuring in ...maybe this Time

   
   

 

 

Nightmares
aka Stage Fright

John D. Lamond strikes again, this time with a terrible slasher movie set in movie theatre with a killer that has a serious aversion to sex which wouldn't be so bad if everyone wasn't doing it. American actress Jenny Neumann plays a skittish actress cast alongside hopeless soap opera heart-throb (Gary Sweet) in a play doomed to failure even without the murders. It's incredibly obvious who the killer is from the beginning and Lamond has no idea how to make a horror movie but strangely there's some good kills and a loony sense of humour that almost makes it work.

Plenty of nudity in the movie including in two rather sleazy murder scenes.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from Nightmares here. A preview is below.

Sue Jones in Nightmares

   
   
   
   

 

Rossana Zuanetti in Nightmares

   
   
   

 

Angela Menzies-Wills in Nightmares

   

 

 

Touch and Go

All-women heist comedy where long-time friends children's entertainer Eva (Wendy Hughes), woman of luxury Fiona (Chantal Contouri) and locksmith Millie (Carmen Duncan) commit a few robberies for a little extra money for themselves and a school run by a friend. But when it's announced on the radio that they stole $60,000 but they only got $12,000 it looks like those they robbed got more than they did by ripping off their insurance company. So the girls decide to go big and set their sights on a new casino in Surfers Paradise and recruit some woman with specialised skills to help. They pull off the robbery perfectly but it's getting away with it that becomes the problem. Fun light comedy that never sets it's heights high and all the women are well-skilled and all the men in their lives are dopes. The final act gets a bit silly when the women turn from heist specialists to bumbling idiots when they try to get their hands on the money. But it's a not a bad little movie.

Second of the Queensland Film Corporation movies for the year after Death Games/Final Cut.

Very brief breasts from Wendy Hughes as she changes (literally frames) plus a few sexy scenes along the way.

Wendy Hughes in Touch and Go

      

2119kb 6sec 720x556 (one piece bathing suit, skirt)

34515kb 2min 05sec 720x556 (Wendy, Carmen Duncan and Jeanie Drynan in one piece bathing suits, Christine Amor in bikini, lengthy)

6746kb 30sec 720x556 (Wendy shows brief breasts/side-boob, Carmen in singlet top and panties, Liddy Clark in bra and panties, Jeanie Drynan in bra and panties)

 

Chantal Contouri in Touch and Go

13486kb 48sec 720x556 (bikini top)

8733kb 30sec 720x556 (bikini)

 

Barbara Stephens in Touch and Go

6163kb 24sec 720x556 (one piece bathing suit)

 

 

A Woman of Good Character (NZ)

50 minute drama from David Blyth (Angel Mine) about an Englishwoman (Sarah Peirse) who comes to New Zealand to take a job as a housekeeper but finds that her employer is a massive arsehole and treats her like crap. She finds solace in a local weirdo (Bruno Lawrence) while the family she works for starts dying off because living on the land is hard going. Nothing but misery.

Some brief nudity from Sarah Peirse as she washes herself in a stream.

You can find a synopsis with HD videos from A Woman of Good Character here. A preview is below.

Sarah Peirse in A Woman of Good Character

   

 

Quite a few movies with no nudity from 1980 including Boer War courtroom drama 'Breaker' Morant, the first Tasmanian movie about an Indigenous woman helping a lost little girl Manganinnie, violent prison drama Stir, international actor led movies The Earthling and The Survivor, heist drama Blood Money, political thriller Against the Grain and a bunch of kids movies including Fatty Finn, Cornflakes for Tea, Mystery Island, Dead Man's Float and animated movie Grendel Grendel Grendel. There was also no nudity in New Zealand movies Beyond Reasonable Doubt (a decent courtroom docudrama), Lincoln County Incident and Nutcase while it is unknown whether there's anything to cap in Squeeze.

Should get the next update out on Sunday, there or thereabouts.

 

Tags: Wendy Hughes, Chantal Contouri, Carmen Duncan, Christine Amor, Jeanie Drynan, Barbara Stephens