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TURKEY SHOOT

An Aussie exploitation riff on THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME, TURKEY SHOOT is one seriously deranged film, sloppy and disconnected completely from any recognizable form of reality. That would be the kiss of death for many films, but here it works. Not only does it's slip-shod execution give it a kind of immediacy missing from most of the slicker films of it's ilk, it creates a feeling of intense madness, that delirious feeling that you're watching something unravel from the narrative down. It almost collapses completely into utter insanity at several points only to regain it's footing each time, like a drunk stumbling through the streets, mad out of his mind on the strongest liquor in the shop, teetering on collapse as he approaches his destination.

This is a dystopian film, one set in a country where the "deviants" - people who are social outcasts, freedom-fighting rebels, or out-and-out criminals - are rounded up and placed in re-education camps. They are to be molded into perfect citizens, dog-like obedients with little in the way of self-interest. Into one of these camps comes three new prisoners, Paul, Chris, and Rita. Rita is a street walker and Chris is mistakingly arrested by the police as a resistance sympathizer. Paul is a whole other kind of character. He's the irrepressible spirit of freedom, a man who has escaped from these re-education camps before. The three are quickly put through the paces - which include watching a young woman beaten within an inch of her life and a cruel execution of an escapee - and settle into their tough day-to-day life of forced labor and constant surveillance.

Unfortunately, not only is this life tough, but it's also rather dull. Especially for those in charge. As a result, the men in charge have taken to hosting sporadic hunting games. The camp warden - the not so subtly named Charles Thatcher - and three of his bourgeoisie friends each choose a target to hunt. Not surprisingly, our three heroes are chosen as prey. Also tossed into the mix are two longtime camp members, a strange geek named Dodge and a rabble-rouser named Griff. The five detainees are sent out into the wilderness, given a few hours to make some distance, and then the hunt begins. With no weapons or supplies, our five heroes have to survive a full 24 hours. If they survive, they will be granted their freedom.

Watching TURKEY SHOOT, I was reminded of Kubrick's FULL METAL JACKET. Not because of the content, but because of the way the film is split into two distinct pieces. The first piece details the arrival and life of the detainees at the re-education camp. The second details the hunt. Much like FULL METAL JACKET, the two pieces don't quite work together as well as they should. The first piece of both films is infinitely more interesting while the latter portions feel a bit rushed and perfunctory. In both films - and I realize this comparison is superficial at best - the characterization is done mostly in the first half of the film. The last half is given over to the more action-driven material. In both films, the last half is where the film begins to falter. The final half of FULL METAL JACKET is standard war stuff. The last half of TURKEY SHOOT won't surprise anyone either.

This feeling of watching two disparate films tied together is the only area I can really fault director Brian Trenchard-Smith and his writers on. The action set-pieces are intense and amusing, but the whole film feels a bit watered down once it moves onto the hunt. It simply cannot keep up the level of emotional involvement. The film would have been better served by shaving ten minutes off either end. That would have given Trenchard-Smith more time to balance the two elements of action and character development a bit better and would have probably produced a better, more consistent whole.

In any case, TURKEY SHOOT must be declared a winner. Trenchard-Smith is known for creating some strange pieces of outre cinema - I'm particularly fond of both DEAD-END DRIVE IN and DAY OF THE ASSASSIN - and TURKEY SHOOT definitely fills that bill. It has more than it's fair share of lunacy - the best example being the weird, half-man, half-wolf creature that one of the hunters enlists as a hunting companion - and a good bit of extreme violence, two ingredients that helped ensure it's viability as a cult classic. You've seen this story before. Trust me, you have. But I don't think you've ever seen it quite like this.

Highly recommended.