Australian/New Zealand movies: 1981

Things are slowly starting to pick up with the announcement of the 10BA tax rebate which meant that people could invest in Australian movies and get a 150% deduction on the amount they invested plus only pay tax on half of the income that the movie made. This had it's positives (more movies and jobs) and negatives (movies were shittier or just never released). We only see a small uptick in 1981.

This year is when both sleaze-masters John D. Lamond and Terry Bourke released their most sleaziest movies plus a contender for the sleaziest Australian movie of all, Centrespread, was also released. I guess we can call 1981 the sleaziest year for movies in Australia.

1981

Centrespread

One of the most baffling movies ever made in Australia. The best I can say is it's a softcore sci-fi drama where the main character is a photographer (Paul Trahair) who stays alive by completing the photographic shoots ordered by an unseen corporation. The shoots usually involve very naked women. One day he comes across a woman (Kylie Foster) in an antique shop on the poor side of town and he becomes obsessed with her and wants her to model in one of his shoots. Meanwhile he becomes more disillusioned with the status quo and begins to rebel against it. The best I can say is it has a couple of decent pop songs from Lisa Edwards that bookend the movie. Oh and the nudity...

The plot is unnecessary when there's dozens of naked women on display. Hard-to-know who's who in some of these scenes but at least they are diligently credited as per scene.

Thanks to the great Umbrella Bluray of Centrespread there are also some great extras about the movie including the documentary Behind The Centrespread where there's a whole bunch of further videos from behind-the-scenes including of Kylie Foster plus a bunch of actresses who just auditioned for the movie. You can find them here.

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

Kylie Foster in Centrespread

   
   
   

   

Carmen McCall in Centrespread

   
   
   
   
   

   

Helina Hamilton in Centrespread

   
   

Simone Boyce and Jullie Christy in Centrespread

   
   

 

Brenda Knowles in Centrespread

   
   
   

 

Dolly Brukmann and Judith Barker in Centrespread

   

 

Teresa Hamilton-Smith and Lyn Barron in Centrespread

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

Amber and Julie Sirs in Centrespread

   
   
   

 

Anne Jones, Sue Kem, Jackie Oakden and Sharon McCarthy in Centrespread

   
   
   
   

 

Sue Woods, Margaret Dupre, Lee Zard and Helen Herbertson in Centrespread

   
   
   

 

Sarah Collins in Centrespread

 

Pam Walker and Jane McIntosh in Centrespread

   

 

 

...Deadline...

One of those late 70s/early 80s paranoid about nuclear movies but this one is set in Australia and stars American actor Barry Newman (Vanishing Point, The Limey) as a crusading journalist uncovering a government conspiracy.

Trisha Noble in ...Deadline...

3741kb 13sec 704x536 (brief side-boob/arm and curtain covering breasts, 'nude' behind shower curtain)

 

 

Duet for Four

Romantic drama written by David Williamson about a middle-aged man (Mike Preston) who's unhappy in marriage with Barbara (Wendy Hughes), who's cheating on him. No problem as he's cheating on her (Clare Binney) while his ex (Diane Cilento) is on his back especially about her new lover. Then there's his daughter (Sigrid Thornton) who's a drug addict. And the Americans want to buy his company. It's all a tangled web and very adult.

Some brief nudity from Wendy Hughes and Clare Binney.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Duet For Four here. A preview is below.

Wendy Hughes in Duet for Four

   

 

Clare Binney in Duet for Four

   

 

 

Hoodwink

Muddled story, apparently based on a true story, about a robber (John Hargreaves) who's also great at escaping. In jail once more his latest plan to escape involves pretending to be blind but along the way he becomes involved with a pastor and his wife (Judy Davis) who change his life or does it?. If this story wasn't 'real' it would be too ridiculous to believe. Apparently it was a disaster to make and it shows.

Quite a bit of nudity from Wendy Hughes (again!) and Kim Deacon.

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

Wendy Hughes in Hoodwink

   
   
   

 

Kim Deacon in Hoodwink

   
   
   

 

 

The Killing of Angel Street

One of two movies made based on a the true story about the strong-handing of people living on a street in front of the Sydney harbour by ruthless developers (the other in next year's Heatwave). A woman (Elizabeth Alexander) returns from overseas to find her father is being kicked out of the only home he's known but he's not going without a fight even with neighbour's houses are being flattened around him. Then her father is found dead in mysterious circumstances and the woman decides to find out what is going on and what she finds puts her in hot water.

No nudity but a quick scene of Elizabeth Alexander in a bathing suit.

Elizabeth Alexander in The Killing of Angel Street

14130kb 53sec 700x404 (one piece bathing suit, nippy)

 

 

Lady, Stay Dead

Terry Bourke is back with this incredibly sleazy stalker thriller where a gardener (Chard Hayward) becomes obsessed with an actress (Deborah Coulls) who is spending time at her sister's house. After bumping off a neighbour, the gardener sets his sights on having sex with the actress only for her to reject him. So he rapes her and when she still rejects him, he drowns her in a fish tank. Then her sister (Louise Howitt) comes home and the gardener set his sights on her but she's not quite as easy-to-kill as her sister was. Not as bad as it could've been, probably helped by the gardener becoming incredibly inept and a surprisingly suspenseful ending.

A fair bit of nudity from Deborah Coulls plus a number of scenes in see-through dresses. Some brief nudity in the shower from Louise Howitt. I've also capped the fullscreen version of the movie which shows a little more in some scenes. Apparently a fullscreen version is going to be available on the upcoming Umbrella Bluray which could be interesting. There's also a scene where a bunch of very naked women who are being tortured.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD/fullscreen videos from Lady, Stay Dead here. A preview is below.

Deborah Coulls in Lady, Stay Dead

   
   
   
   

 

Louise Howitt in Lady, Stay Dead

   
   

 

Various Unknowns in Lady, Stay Dead

   
   

 

 

Mad Max 2
aka The Road Warrior

Superb follow-up to Mad Max, some say the best action movie ever made and it's hard to disagree (it's great but I kinda like the original slightly better). Also probably the most ripped off movie ever hell even Fury Road is basically a movie lengthy version of the final act of this movie.

Some brief nudity from Anne Jones (second movie of the year after Centrespread - see above) and Kathleen McKay.

You can find a synopsis with HD videos from Mad Max 2 here. A preview is below.

Anne Jones in Mad Max 2

 

Kathleen McKay in Mad Max 2

   

 

 

Pacific Banana

John D. Lamond was really churning them out at quicker than one-a-year, this time the ultra sleazy bawdy comedy Pacific Banana about an Alvin Purple-type pilot (umm..why not the guy who played Alvin Purple Graeme Blundell) who flies a cheap airliner to the Pacific Islands and attracts all the women but unlike Alvin, he can't get it up. The comedy is awful, the numerous ladies are sexy and the tropical locales also look great. Absolutely looks like they just made a movie at the closest tropical location they could afford to have a holiday.

Extensive nudity from Alyson Best (again!), Deborah Gray and Manuia Taie plus some brief nudity from Helen Hemingway playing the world's oldest school girl and British actress Luan Peters. There's also numerous women who also feature naked in the movie but I don't know their names although I'm pretty sure one of them is Angela Menzies-Wills, who is credited in the movie.

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

Alyson Best and Deborah Gray in Pacific Banana

   
   
   
   

 

Helen Hemingway in Pacific Banana

   
   

 

Luan Peters in Pacific Banana

   

 

Manuia Taie in Pacific Banana

   
   
   

 

Various Unknowns in Pacific Banana

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Puberty Blues

Classic 'girls can't surf' movie about two teenage girls (Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja) who hang around the surfers every day mainly to be with the boys but they also want to have a go at surfing and the boys won't let them. Very much a harsh look at girls coming-of-age in the incredibly sexist Sydney surf scene where all the boys want to do is fuck the girls. Expertly directed by Bruce Beresford and is well worth a look. Spawned an also very good TV series of the same name.

Plenty of bikini action but the only nudity in the movie is from an unknown woman walking without a bikini top on the beach.

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

Unknown in Puberty Blues

 

 

Race for the Yankee Zephyr (Aus/NZ)
aka Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr

Producer Antony I. Ginnane pissed off the Australian actors union so much he went to New Zealand to make movies. This and Strange Behaviour/Dead Kids were made in New Zealand with a number of international actors and released in 1981. Basically an adventure story about a pilot (Ken Wahl) and hunter (Donald Pleasence) who find a long lost war-plane called the 'Yankee Zephyr'. They find out quickly that everyone wants it because it supposedly has $50 million in gold on it. Directed by actor David Hemmings who was very busy in this side of the world during this time (he directed the previous year's The Survivor and is very good in the docudrama Beyond Reasonable Doubt).

No nudity in the movie but there is a video of Lesley Ann Warren in a wet singlet at the following link.

 

 

Roadgames
aka Road Games

Hitchcockian-thriller from Hitchcock scholar Richard Franklin where a truck driver (Stacy Keach) travelling from Melbourne to Perth picks up a hitchhiker (Jamie Lee Curtis) and finds that a serial killer is following him and he attempts to capture him before he kills the both of them. Surprisingly good suspense for a movie that could've easily failed.

Sort of nudity from Angelica La Bozzetta as she plays a guitar in her hotel room before being killed.

You can find a synopsis with a HD video from Roadgames here. A preview is below.

Angelica La Bozzetta in Roadgames

   

 

 

Smash Palace (NZ)

Effective domestic thriller from director Roger Donaldson about a man (Bruno Lawrence) who's tumultuous relationship with his wife (Australian actress Anna Maria Monticelli) ends but he wants to be with his daughter so he kidnaps her and goes into hiding. Lawrence is fantastic here playing a mix of friendly and nasty and the movie is very well made. New Zealand films really had that despairing domestic relationship mood down pat (see also the horrifying Bad Blood from the same year).

Anna Maria Monticelli shows her breasts and bottom in two scenes including a rape scene.

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

Anna Maria Monticelli in Smash Palace

   
   
   

 

 

Winter of Our Dreams

Drama about a prostitute (Judy Davis) who becomes connected to a book shop owner (Bryan Brown) after the suicide of a mutual acquaintance. The book shop owner investigates the death and comes across the prostitute and tries to get to the bottom of why his ex-girlfriend killed herself even setting her up in his house where he lives in an open relationship with his wife (Cathy Downes). They find the dead woman's diary which helps the prostitute try to turn her life around but then she starts making the same mistakes as the dead woman. Interesting drama from John Duigan, very adult and dark with two great performances from Judy Davis and Bryan Brown.

Some nudity from Judy Davis and Cathy Downes in a number of scenes. Also a couple of women are sunbathing topless by a river.

You can find a synopsis with collages and videos from Winter of Our Dreams here. A preview is below.

Judy Davis in Winter of Our Dreams

   
   
   

 

 

Cathy Downes in Winter of Our Dreams

   
   

 

Unknowns in Winter of Our Dreams

 

A few movies didn't have anything to cap including the Australian ANZAC classic Gallipoli, another Mel Gibson war movie Attack Force Z, the poor romantic comedy The Best of Friends, two Indigenous docudramas Two Laws: A Film in Four Parts and Wrong Side of the Road and a bunch of kid/family movies including Doctors & Nurses, Mystery at Castle House, Run Rebecca, Run!, Save the Lady and one of those animated Dot movies Around the World with Dot. Also the New Zealand co-production Dead Kids/Strange Behaviour and the harrowing true story Bad Blood. It is unknown whether there's anything to cap in the New Zealand movie Pictures but considering it's PG rated I have my doubts.

Things start to pick up from here to the point where 1982 might have to done over 2 updates.

 

Tags: Trisha Noble, Elizabeth Alexander