Monday, April 13, 2015

STUNT ROCK 1978


"DEATH WISH AT 120 DECIBELS !!"



     The recipient of one of the most superbly edited & adrenaline pumping trailers in the history of film (which can be seen here) this massively entertaining combination of car chases, explosions, death defying stunt work, & magic along with 70's theatrical metal music all worked into the plot (complete with an onstage battling wizard & devil) has been slowly gaining a cult following over the years as a result of the trailer showing up on various compilations. Held together by the barest thread of a plot (which in large part helps it), STUNT ROCK was described by director Brian Trenchard-Smith (THE MAN FROM HONG KONG & THE SIEGE OF FIREBASE GLORIA) as a homage to 1970's stuntmen and its basic premise can probably be looked at as simply an attempted star making vehicle for famed Australian stuntman Grant Page (MAD MAX). Frustratingly hard to see through the years (I remember it showing up occasionally at midnight shows), it was issued by Code Red on DVD a few years back.




     Because of a rushed production schedule and producer meddling, Trenchard- Smith was dismissive of it through the years and refereed to it as the "the worst film I ever made". However, in recent times he's turned around quite a bit on it with all these aspects playing out in the extras on the DVD special features. Looking back at it today, it's a movie viewing experience that  you can't help but enjoy and is a fascinating (albeit heavily fictionalized) portrait of pre CGI movie making
   Playing himself, Page travels to Los Angeles to help out on the stunt work for a fictional American TV series titled Undercover Girl (which because of a producers insistence stars Dutch actress Monique van de Ven - again playing herself) and along the way hooks up with Lois, a reporter (played by Trenchard-Smith's wife Margaret Gerard) and soon a romance develops. Page also meets up with his "cousin" Curtis Hyde who is a member of the theatrical rock group Sorcery. Hyde pays the part of the "Prince of Darkness" who does battle with "King of the Wizards" (played by Paul Haynes) during Sorcery's stage show (portions of which are integrated into the plot). Becoming friends with the band, Page agrees to help them out by staging some stunts onstage featuring himself as Sorcery is getting ready to do "three nights at the Fourm" (!).




    The film's plot line basically has Page relating stories of his past stunts to reporter Lois (shown as flashbacks from his previous movies), along with his working on the TV show and doing things such escaping from a hospital after an injury by climbing down the hospital's outside wall, chin-ups on the Hollywood sign and repelling across two buildings in order to talk to Lois - all interspersed with the periodic concert & rehearsal footage of Sorcery. Some of the flashback footage Trenchard-Smith had used earlier in his previous stunt filled opus DEATH CHEATERS from 1976, along with some of the truly wince inducing crash footage lifted from H.B. Halicki's car chase classic GONE IN 60 SECONDS from 1974. Among some of the highlights are Page's blazing high fall in MAD DOG MORGAN that resulted in him suffering burns over a majority of his body (but returning to work in a matter of days) and some truly spectacular automobile and high fall stunts.



     Many bands were considered and approached with Van Halen reputedly being in the running for a time and Foreigner being the final choice until touring commitments prompted them to dropout. Faced with fast looming start date Trenchard-Smith signed Sorcery after a week long search (and later described them as "the type of band you'd find if you had only a week"). Although their stage show does have low budget Dungeon & Dragons type cheesiness about it, their theatrical show does add to the WTF atmosphere of the film and most likely helps with films cult reputation.
     As a leading man Page's acting chops are a bit flat, but he does have an undeniable charisma about him and as he's not required to do a whole lot other then just play himself (along with most of the cast) plus his performance does fit in with the premise of the movie perfectly. Page was the go to stunt guy for Australian cinema starting in mid 70's (his resume reads like a checklist of Ozploiatation cinema) and he continues to serve as a stunt coordinator up the the present day. His work on MAD MAX, including the car blasting through a trailer and the climatic motorcycle pileups are still awe inspiring to this day.
   The plot does a drag a bit whenever the characters actually have to interact, as its best when it's just left to the stunt and/or concert footage and is an almost perfect example of "not letting the plot to get in way of the story"









9 comments:

  1. I flirted with buying this one, Dick, and never did. I noticed Bill had some additional copies in his store (likely gone by now!) during one of the "blink and you'll miss it" moments when it's open. Fantastic write up, though.

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    1. Thanks Brian. I waffled on this one for awhile as Bill wants $35.00 for it whenever it periodically shows up in his store (I got one off ebay awhile back for about $20.00). The extras are almost better then the movie !

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  2. Another one I'm a big fan of. Certainly a strange film, but the tacked-together feel of it helps quite a bit, somehow. Grant Page is great (as a stunt man, not necessarily as an actor!) and I love his work in Mad Max. Interesting to see that Van Halen was considered for the band... Sorcery are OK, but I think a stronger act might have elevated the piece (though as you say, the bands theatrics probably helped with the cult nature of the film). The Code Red DVD goes for a hefty chunk of change these days. My DVD is an Australian release, which features the documentary 'Stunt Men' by BTS, which I really should watch.

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    1. Hi JP,

      I thought about getting the Australian DVD for awhile, but then luckily snagged a good deal on a Code Red version from Ebay. Your right the homemade feel of the film does help it and I too have become a fan of it. The past year or so, I've really been getting into the Australian stuff.

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  3. I was lucky to catch this one on the DVR showing on TCM's Underground late Friday night spot - what an incredible time capsule it is. I wrote up Grant Page over at the blog a couple of years ago - amazing man. I'd like to get a DVD for the video vault, but will have to wait for a super sale or lucky catch on Ebay as $35 is too steep for one movie. Excellent post Dick!

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    1. Thanks Craig. I just watched Ebay and found one with a low starting bid and ended paying about $19.00 for it. People ask insane prices for that Code Red stuff. I'm going to look up that Grant Page post on your blog.

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    2. I'll make it easy!

      http://craiglgooh.blogspot.com/2013/04/a-z-challenge-2013-p-is-for-grant-page.html

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  4. You know, that's what I love about this blog. I consider myself to have a vast knowledge of B and exploitation films, but dang, you always manage to enlighten me to films I had never even heard of. And this film sounds kind of awesome.

    And good to see you posting again! If only I could follow suit.

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    1. Hi Rob,

      Thanks buddy - good to hear from you. I had to take a bit of time off, but hopefully I'll be posting fairly regularly now. Your right, this one is pretty awesome.

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