Australian/New Zealand movies: 1985

Decided to go with the one update for 1985 as it's in that in between slot where there's probably too much for one update but not enough for two updates. My decision was helped by having already capped all bar 4 of the movies and there wasn't too much nudity to cap, so it was relatively easy to complete.

Some good nudity this year with Greta Scacchi and Wendy Hughes having nude scenes in a couple of movies each. There's was also a bit of nudity in the New Zealand releases this year although there's a couple of overseas actresses were doing the nudity. This includes American actress Simone Griffeth in a rare New Zealand erotic thriller Hot Target, which I've capped for the first time.

1985

Bliss

Satirical black comedy about work-obsessed Harry Joy (Barry Otto) who dies but when he is revived he makes a radical change to his lifestyle in the hope of saving his soul. He finds that everything in his life is toxic including his family and business and then he meets a spiritually aware sex worker Honey Barbara (Helen Jones) who helps him realise the error(s) of his ways. But this pisses off everyone in his life who is benefiting from his formerly bad ways so they put him in an asylum but he escapes and becomes one with nature. A very funny movie that may be a little dated now but looks sharply at how the pursuit of money doesn't bring about happiness and inner peace. Similar to the much later American Beauty but a fair bit more broader with it's humour.

A few nude scenes from Helen Jones plus fake prosthetic nudity from Gia Carides.

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

Helen Jones in Bliss

   
   
   
   
   

 

Gia Carides in Bliss

 

 

Bootleg

Following a similar path to Goodbye Paradise, another mystery set in Bjelke-Petersen era Queensland. This time a left-wing group has set off a bomb in Brisbane and redneck cop Lawker (Ray Meagher) has set his sights on anti-nuclear protester Dr. T.C. Brown (John Gregg). Meanwhile, a Sydney private investigator Joe Hart (John Flaus) gets a job looking for girl in Brisbane (hmm... sounds familiar) and ends up getting mixed up in the chaos as she might be involved in the bombing plot. There's also a bootleg recording that is much sort after. Confusing movie with a ridiculous amount of sub-plots that doesn't come close to capturing the kinetic energy that Goodbye Paradise has despite a pretty good performance from an underused Ray Meagher.

Some brief nudity from a pregnant Shelley Friend while she's in the bath.

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

Shelley Friend in Bootleg

   

 

 

The Boy Who Had Everything

60s set teen drama where John (Jason Connery, son of Sean) is a 'fresher' at an exclusive college but finds himself struggling through the hazing process made worse by the elders pressing hard on him for his non-compliance. This isn't helped by his mother (Diane Cilento, Connery's actual mother) deeply affected by alcoholism and struggling to find affection towards his girlfriend (Laura Williams). So John lashes out at everyone and only finds comfort in a string a flings with sex workers. Hard to get into this movie because John is such a mope who has everything but is still not satisfied. Just a repulsive character of little to no interest which sucks because he's the whole move.

Some brief looks at Caz Lederman's bottom in one scene.

You can find a synopsis with videos from The Boy Who Had Everything here. A preview is below.

Caz Lederman in The Boy Who Had Everything

   

 

 

Burke & Wills

Fairly uninteresting look at the failed expedition Robert O'Hara Burke (Jack Thompson) and William John Wills (British actor Nigel Havers) that took place in 1860-1861. It's hard to make an 18 month expedition look interesting even when it ended in such abject failure but one man survived so there's something little to hold onto I guess. Yawn...

Bizarrely there was a comedy version of the expedition called Wills & Burke that was released in the same year. No nudity in that but it does have a teenage Nicole Kidman playing the much older character Greta Scacchi plays in Burke & Wills. Also a painfully unfunny movie.

Some brief nudity from Greta Scacchi.

You can find a synopsis with a video from Burke & Wills here. A preview is below.

Greta Scacchi in Burke & Wills

   

 

 

the coca-cola kid

Wacky comedy where American corporate hot shot Becker (Eric Roberts) decides to come to Australia to get Coca-Cola sold in the one area locally where it isn't. Turns out it's a small town owned by eccentric millionaire T. George McDowell (Bill Kerr) who makes his own soft drink and is none-too-happy about competitors trying to muscle in. He makes Becker welcome by shooting at him. Becker heads back to Sydney to work out a plan to win McDowell over where he unexpectedly get involved in his clumsy secretary Terri's (Greta Scacchi) life including with her young daughter (Rebecca Smart) and persistent ex (Chris Haywood). OK movie that is full of humour that has a fairly Australian flavour and both leads work in their own way despite supposedly hating one another. The humour doesn't always work but at least it has it's funny moments.

A couple of decent nude scenes from Greta Scacchi, the second movie she had nudity in for the year.

You can find a synopsis with collages and HD videos from the coca-cola kid here. A preview is below.

Greta Scacchi in the coca-cola kid

   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Emoh Ruo

Comedy about a young couple Terri (Joy Smithers) and Des (Martin Sacks) who are sick of living in a caravan park and want to own their own home. They finally get the opportunity but it's a disaster from day one with the house being poorly built and it's a struggle to pay the mortgage so their marriage suffers. Feels like a relic now even with the struggle of home ownership still very much a thing. The comedy is pretty mild and predictable but it's not a bad movie.

Joy Smithers is nude in a couple of scenes while Di Smith joins her in a caravan park shower scene.

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

Joy Smithers in Emoh Ruo

   
   
   
   

 

Di Smith in Emoh Ruo

   
   
   

 

 

The Empty Beach

Sydney Harbour set noir thriller where a private detective (Bryan Brown) is hired by lonely widow Marion Singer (Belinda Giblin) to find her supposedly dead husband. Turns out before he 'died', John Singer pissed off so many underground types and when an investigative journalist (Nick Tate) looks into him, he has his throat slit while surfing while the private detective was watching. He knows who did and tries to hold off the police as he runs his own investigation. A mess of a movie filled with too many sub-plots that's saved from disaster by a great lead performance by Bryan Brown.

Both Simone Taylor and Peggy Wallach briefly show their breasts.

You can find a synopsis with collages and VHS videos from The Empty Beach here. A preview is below.

Simone Taylor in The Empty Beach

   
   

 

Peggy Wallach in The Empty Beach

   

 

 

Fortress

Surprisingly good survival thriller where a school teacher (Rachel Ward) in a remote town attempts to get her students to safety after her classroom is invaded by a group of creepily masked robbers on-the-run from the police. The robbers take the teacher and students to a cave but they deeply underestimate their local knowledge and they manage to escape. Another corker from writer Everett de Roche that's very tense and occasionally quite brutal.

Not really any nudity in the movie from Rachel Ward but a little side-boob and bum crack plus her bra becomes see-through when wet. Also some sexy stuff from Rebecca Rigg in her underwear.

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

Rachel Ward in Fortress

   
   
   

 

 

Fran

Kitchen sink drama about a mother-of-three Fran (Noni Hazlehurst) who loves her kids but would rather do anything but be with them. After her absent husband finds her at the pub while the kids are at home, he hits her and decides to leave for good. Fran then hooks up with Jeff (Alan Fletcher) and fobs her kids off to her meek friend and even goes on a holiday with Jeff. When Fran comes back from her month-long holiday, she finds that her kids are in state care and she desperately tries to get them back. OK movie about an irresponsible woman and as usual Hazlehurst is great but your opinion of the character of Fran will definitely affect whether you'll like the movie or not.

A couple of brief nude scenes from Noni Hazlehurst. She has far better nudity in Monkey Grip.

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

Noni Hazlehurst in Fran

   

 

 

Handle with Care

Paul Cox directed docu-drama about two women who take different paths in how they deal with their breast cancer diagnosis. Considering it was released in 1985, the information is incredibly dated.

Both Anna Maria Monticelli and Monica Maughan show their breasts during medical procedures.

You can find a synopsis with VHS videos from Handle With Care here. A preview is below.

Anna Maria Monticelli in Handle with Care

   
   

 

Monica Maughan in Handle with Care

   

 

 

Hot Target (NZ)
aka Restless, Running Hot

Rare New Zealand erotic thriller, so much so it stars two American actors. American Christine (Simone Griffeth) is a long way from home in a loveless marriage with businessman Clive (Bryan Marshall) when she comes across a mysterious American man Greg (Steve Marachuk, who never acted again after this... oof!) and she falls him then he tells her he's squatting in someone else house which disgusts her but she can't keep away from him. Oh he's actually a thief and this culminates in him breaking into Christine's house as she and her family are sleeping and then he wakes her, they fuck but get found out by Clive and in the struggle, Clive hits his head and dies. Now they have to get away with the accidental murder. Typically silly erotic thriller with this movie not helped by a rather preposterous plot, particularly how they get away with it. There's also a sex scene during a cricket game which may be the most ridiculous thing I've seen in a while, surprised they didn't use some suggestive terminology to make it more bawdy.

A number of decent nude scenes from Simone Griffeth including full frontal nudity.

Simone Griffeth in Hot Target

    

36918kb 2min 20sec 852x480 (brief full frontal nudity but mostly breasts, plenty of cleavage in nightie, in shower, sex scene and masturbating, lengthy)

67941kb 4min 45sec 852x480 (full frontal and rear nudity, sex scene, extremely lengthy)

24011kb 1min 17sec 852x480 (breasts, panties)

18061kb 1min 03sec 852x480 (side-boob/implied nudity)

 

 

An Indecent Obsession

Another Colleen McCullough adaptation, this is a sordid melodrama about a nun Honour Langtree (Wendy Hughes) who's left in charge of the mental patients at the end of World War II. When a new patient Michael Wilson (Gary Sweet) arrives, the power balance at the camp shift after it was dominated by Luce Daggett (Richard Moir). Then Honour falls for Wilson and this causes ructions in the camp particularly with those who also had a thing for Honour. Typically silly melodrama that is dominated by Wendy Hughes, who is well cast but everyone having a thing for the 'hot nun' becomes a bit tiresome before the end.

A nude role for Wendy Hughes, her first of two for the year.

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

Wendy Hughes in An Indecent Obsession

   
   
   

 

 

Leave All Fair (NZ)

New Zealand movie made in France about John Middleton-Murry (Sir John Gielgud) who comes back to France to put the finishing touches on a book about his former wife, prominent New Zealand writer Katherine Mansfield (Jane Birkin), 33 years after she died. John is put up by the publisher Andre (Féodor Atkine) and meets his companion Marie Taylor (also Jane Birkin), a New Zealand woman who reminds John very much of Katherine. John and Marie get to know one another and become friendly but she reads the final correspondence between Katherine and John and begins to believe that their love was not as strong as John has said and that he is not following her final wishes about how she wants her writings published. Dry stuff, really only of interest to people who are interested to know more about Katherine Mansfield's life, otherwise it's mostly introspective and fairly boring.

The movie is rated PG so it's a nice surprise that there's some brief nudity from Jane Birkin who shows her breasts while in the bath then some brief pubic hair as she gets out of the bath.

Jane Birkin in Leave All Fair

   
   

24348kb 38sec 1904x1032 (plenty of cleavage in long shirt)

30258kb 54sec 1904x1032 (brief flashes of bush and breasts/side-boob, panties, in bath)

23084kb 28sec 1904x1032 (plenty of cleavage in singlet top, panties)

 

 

Mr. Wrong (NZ)
aka Dark of the Night

Surprisingly effective ghost horror thriller about Meg (Heather Bolton) who has moved to the city for work and buys a Jaguar so she can drive home for the weekend. On her way home, she stops off for a sleep and is awoken by a woman's scream, which scares her and she drives on home. On her way back to the city, she sees a woman in rain and gives her a lift but then she is joined by a man (David Letch) who she reluctantly also gives a lift too. The woman disappears and the man becomes creepy so she gets rid of him. She then finds that the Jag starts playing up and she decides to get rid of it but it doesn't want to leave. Meg then finds out that the car was previously owned by a murder victim and that the man is now following her. But is the car trying to kill her or help her? Not a bad little movie co-written by Geoff Murphy (see The Quiet Earth below) and the directorial debut of Gaylene Preston, probably better known for her women-led dramas. Look out for a very brief blink-and-you'll-miss role from Rebecca Gibney as a secretary.

No real nudity in the movie but there's some brief side-boob from Heather as she changes and puts on some clothes.

Heather Bolton in Mr. Wrong

12027kb 1min 55sec 1280x692 (brief flashes of side-boob, in towel, plenty of cleavage in petticoat, lengthy)

 

 

The Naked Country

Melodrama about landowners Lance (John Stanton) and Mary (Rebecca Gilling) who's land encroaches on a local Indigenous claim. Lance tries to make peace with the tribe but then chief agitator Mundaru (Tommy Lewis) is denied the hand of Menyan (Neela Dey) in marriage and he takes it out on Lance, killing his prize bull and then in the commotion, he kills local cop (John Jarratt) and Lance barely gets out alive. Meanwhile, Mary has a fling with top cop (Ivar Kants) who's tasked with finding Lance. When the movie focuses on the tension between Lance and Mundaru the movie is at it's best but it desperately wants to make Mary a major part of the movie and her entire role is pure soap opera. Also not helped by director Tim Burstall putting his Indian-Australian wife Neela Dey in the main female Indigenous role.

There's a bit of native nudity from Neela Day throughout the movie.

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

Neela Day in The Naked Country

   
   
   
   
   

 

 

The Quiet Earth (NZ)

Last man on Earth sci-fi drama where Zac (Bruno Lawrence) wakes up and is the only person in New Zealand. Then after a while he finds Joanne (Alison Routledge) and they hit it off for a while until Api (Pete Smith) comes along and asserts himself into their world. Turns out Zac is a prominent scientist and the project he was working on caused the incident so he tries to work out what happened and how to solve it. Excellent movie more focused on why it happened than having a malevolent force to fight against which makes it a far more interesting movie than the usual last man on Earth thrillers.

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

Alison Routledge in The Quiet Earth

   
   
   

 

 

Rebel

Drama set during World War II at a club where female singers and dancers entertain resting American troops. Rebel (Matt Dillon) develops a crush on the lead singer of the troupe Kathy (Debra Byrne) but she's married although her husband is at war. That doesn't deter Rebel as he continues to pursue her and she finally gives into his charms. Then his ship is leaving but he decides he would rather stay with Kathy so he goes AWOL. She hides him but the military police have a thorough investigation to get Rebel. Standard romance movie made better by some very good musical performances.

A couple of nude scenes from Debra Byrne showing her breasts and also her bottom briefly.

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

Debra Byrne in Rebel

   
   

 

 

Remember Me

Stalker thriller telemovie starring Wendy Hughes and Richard Moir both of An Indecent Obsession. Jenny (Wendy Hughes) has a healthy marriage to Geoff (Robert Grubb) and things are going well in her life until her ex-husband Howard (Richard Moir) comes back into her life after 9 years in a mental institution. Jenny doesn't want him back but agrees to meet him and from their the seeds are sown and he continues to infiltrate her life until they begin an affair. But then she rejects him and we find out why he was in a mental institution. Better-than-average telemovie helped by two solid performances from Hughes and Moir.

Again, Wendy Hughes shows her breasts in a couple of scenes.

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

Wendy Hughes in Remember Me

   
   
   

 

 

Robbery

Heist thriller telemovie where a bunch of commandos are cut off by the army after they kill the wrong man. Then their leader (John Sherrin) gets a tip about a room where bookies gather after a day of racing with their takings so he gets his fellow commandos to join him on robbing them. The robbery goes swimmingly perplexing police and local crime gangs but then a disgruntled member of the gang blabs to a sex worker and he is tortured and killed but does not rat out his friends. The commandos want revenge which brings them out to the open. Meanwhile a female police officer (Regina Gaigalas) is brought in to help the investigation of the robbery using unorthodox methods. Surprisingly effective thriller that works best when the focus is on the ruthless commandos and has a decent ending. Better than it has any right to be.

Regina Gaigalas briefly shows her breasts while putting on a shirt. She has far better nudity in the nutty horror comedy Body Melt.

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

Regina Gaigalas in Robbery

 

 

Should I Be Good? (NZ)

Thriller that takes place after the murder of notorious drug kingpin 'Mr. Asia' Marty Johnstone. The cops think Nat Goodman (Harry Lyon) killed him but can't pin it on him so they get put him in jail on a minor drug charge. Nat is now out of prison and his friends are happy to see him. He even tries to get his singing career up and running again while helping his drug-addicted sex worker ex Anne-Marie (Spring Rees) by getting money from a drug deal to pay off her keeper. Nat also hooks up with another friend, current affairs host Vicki Strassbourg (Joanne Mildenhall) who's interested in his story as it runs parallel with a story she's investigating. Interesting thriller that takes a while to get going then becomes plot heavy in the last half-an-hour as the intrigue intensifies. Also a number of musical performances in the movie with the cast heavy with local musical identities.

Both Joanne Mildenhall and Spring Rees have nude scenes in the movie.

You can find a synopsis with videos from Should I Be Good here. A preview is below.

Joanne Mildenhall in Should I Be Good?

   
   

 

Spring Rees in Should I Be Good?

   
   
   

 

 

Time's Raging

ABC telemovie that's another movie where Judy Morris plays a thirty something woman desperate to find love and this time have a baby. Almost feels like a follow-on from ...Maybe Next Time. Lauren (Judy Morris) is pushing forty and wants a baby but her husband Cam (Michael Aitkens) is highly reluctant to be involved. They fight and end up splitting up. So Lauren seeks solace in the 10 years younger David (Lewis Fitz-Gerald) who is happy to be with her but she feels he's too young for any serious involvement, Then Cam comes back into her life and seems to have been turned around on the idea of a kid. Pretty typical stuff, I mean the movie is remarkably similar to the aforementioned ...Maybe Next Time.

A couple of scenes where Judy Morris briefly shows her breasts.

Judy Morris in Time's Raging

   
   

13720kb 2min 10sec 580x420 (breast/side-boob/arm covering breasts, 'nude' under covers, lengthy)

 

 

Unfinished Business

Drama where Geoff (John Clayton) bumps into Maureen (Michele Fawdon) in the street, a woman he had a brief relationship with 15 years previously. They chat and then one thing leads to another and they sleep together. Turns out Maureen is married and she rings the next day with a proposal. She wants Geoff to get her pregnant while her husband is out-of-town. He feels used but agrees and sets up a week away at a remote cabin without her husband knowing and there's no strings attached. Well, in theory there's no strings attached. Another boring Bob Ellis written/directed adult drama where all people do is talk about their relationship the whole time. Thankfully it's only 75 minutes long.

Quite a bit of nudity from Michelle Fawdon in a few scenes.

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

Michelle Fawdon in Unfinished Business

   
   
   
   
   
   

 

 

Wrong World

Drama about a disillusioned doctor David (Richard Moir) who becomes morphine addicted and is taken to a rehab clinic by a friend. There he meets Mary (Joey Kennedy) who has no intention of staying so they make a break for it. They get set up in a place by a friend of Mary's but she goes missing in the night and David goes looking for her, finally finding her having overdosed. But instead of going back to the clinic, he takes Mary to her sister's farm and they bond along the way. That's pretty much it, not much plot in the movie just a movie about the journey which is pretty boring and neither character is all that interesting.

There's no nudity in Wrong World but you can find a synopsis with some videos here.

 

As always there's a bunch of movies with nothing to cap in them including Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome, the Jacki Weaver starring The Perfectionist, the Vietnam veteran drama A Street to Die, a romantic drama set over two time periods Niel Lynne aka Best Enemies, the comedy version of the Burke & Wills expedition Wills & Burke, a drama about the media in the wake of the 1983 election Traps and a bunch of kids movies I Live With Me Dad, I Own the Racecourse and another Dot animated movie Dot and Keeto. I wasn't able to get a copy of I Can't Get Started.

There was also a few New Zealand movies with nothing to cap including the juvenile detention drama Kingpin, the chase action thriller Shaker Run and a drama starring Jodie Foster and John Lithgow about a very odd murder Mesmerized aka Shocked. There's also the movie Sylvia which I haven't been able to get a copy of but there's a link available to it on Nitroflare which I don't have access to so if someone can make it available that would be great.

Sylvia link: https://nitroflare.com/view/E60DDCEAB745BDC/Sylvia_1985.rarefilm.net.avi

It looks like 1986 may be over two updates. I haven't finished viewing quite a few movies so I won't make that decision until mid-week.