Snapshot

Snapshot (1979)

** (out of 4)

Angela (Sigrid Thornton) is a rather timid 19-year-old who lives in fear of her mother. Her model friend talks her into taking a job where she will be shot by a famous photographer. The job requires nudity, which Angela is talked into but soon afterwards her mother kicks her out of the house. Angela soon finds herself living with friends and all is going well until she begins getting stalked.

This Ozploitation movie also goes under the titles ONE MORE MINUTE, THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN and THE NIGHT AFTER HALLOWEEN. The "Halloween" titles were an obvious attempt to try and cash in on John Carpenter's HALLOWEEN and it's those titles that probably gave this film its cult following. With that said, you're best to just forget all about that because this film isn't a slasher and it barely contains any horror elements.

So, what is SNAPSHOT? Well, it's basically a drama and a sometimes dark one at that. The film is really a character study of this young lady as we see her go from this weak child to somewhat of a stronger adult. She makes a few bad mistakes, finds herself on her own and she must fight to get everything back and oh yeah, there's the stalker aspect that turns up around the hour mark. Is this a good movie? I would say no but there are at least some interesting things that make it worth watching.

For starters, the performance by Thornton is one that I really enjoyed and for the most part I thought the supporting players were good as well. The film does a nice job with this woman's story but the director just never brings any real drama or tension to the film. You're basically mildly entertained by what you're watching but at the same time you're not really connected to any of it. The stalker stuff pretty much comes out of nowhere and it really doesn't pay off as one would hope.

SNAPSHOT is an interesting film and a mildly entertaining one but that's pretty much as far as the praise will go.

"Snapshot" is one of those odd and different kind of films that show a side of the world that is uncommon, and within this film that is the world of a young fashion model. During this showcase of a different world the film blends well as a comedy and drama spoof. This is the type of movie you view late night on TCM's underground in which I did. Anyway overall for a late 70's independent low budget film it wasn't bad as it entertained.

Set in an international country I believe Australia it involves Angie a young girl who's unhappy she works as a local hairdresser. Yet upon meeting a fashion model Angie is convinced she will give the fashion world a try. And against her mother's wishes she moves out and gets ready to travel the world. Soon Angie sees snapshots of sunny sand beaches, all night dance parties, topless shots and also plenty of alcohol and drugs.

Also the downside of the job is the struggle with weight and depression most alarming is the many perverts and creeps she will encounter. As the mystery and suspense arrives in this film when a strange and mysterious stalker arrives. Overall pretty good B film to watch one late night to pass the time, a pretty good take on the highs and lows of the fashion model world.

I imagine that the Americans and Canadians who went to see this Australian movie in theaters in the 70s felt ripped off. For starters, it was retitled "The Day Before Halloween", yet it has NOTHING to do with the John Carpenter movie of 1978. The only similarity it has is with some of the piano music, which sort of sounds like Carpenter's score at times. But even if the movie had been released over here under its original name, viewers would have felt ripped off. For large chunks of the movie, absolutely NOTHING of consequence happens. All that you'll get out of the movie is that the modelling business can be a cold and cutthroat experience, something I think that any viewer would know already. The trivia section for this movie says that the script was written in ten days. It shows.

First of all, let me say that I bought this movie with the title on the box reading "The Night after Halloween". When the opening credits came on, it said, "The Day after Halloween". And when I was done with the movie, I realized that it spans over what seems to be a month and involves nothing about Halloween, October or anything remotely connected to the holiday. Why not just stick with the appropriate title "Snapshot"? whatever...

This film is probably not for people who are bored easily. If you like interesting characters and thinking about what is going on, then you will probably like this. It is not an average horror movie with dumb, horny teens, lots of gore and funny killings. More like a thriller that gets you thinking. But not too hard.

It is an Australian film about a naive and sheltered female hairdresser whose sassy, sexy and strong lady friend convinces to leave her hairdressing career to be a model. This wholesome young woman has just broken up with her boyfriend who drives an ice cream truck called "Mr. Whippy". He is devastated by the break up and stalks her all around the city in his ice cream truck. She does her first photo shoot on a whim for a cologne ad in a magazine topless on a freezing cold beach and suddenly becomes this hot model that everyone wants. She ends up running into some slimy, sleazy characters and because her personality is so immature, she jumps to hasty conclusions and gets pushed around a lot.

The ending has some neat twists that I won't spoil for you. The thing I liked about this movie was that the viewers learn about the boyfriend character mostly by listening to the girl talk about him to other people. When we actually see him, he never seems as bad as she makes him out to be. I like how the movie leads us through the main character's irrational ideas and we are meant to believe that she is thinking correctly.

There are some odd camera movements in this film that are kind of exciting. There is also a comedy "musician" who pops up in two night club scenes. He is really awful and laughable with all his makeup and dumb hijinks.

The soundtrack is interesting, too, because it has one song near the beginning that is actually singing about the main character, "Angela" and how she is not making the right decisions. But no other songs are about the movie. The beginning sequence seems to give away the ending when you watch it, but when the end actually comes, you realize you would have had no idea what actually happened without watching the whole movie.

All in all, not a movie for the easily bored or people who don't like doing character analysis. If you want a late night movie that won't freak you out but is thrilling and somewhat suspenseful, get this one. It is also quite original. 6/10

I agree with the posters who liked Snap Shot, and I appreciate some of the things they pointed out. In fact, it might deserve more than six stars, but I'd have to see it again sometime and decide more if comparisons to some of the depth of Mulholland Dr. hold water.

I chanced upon it on TCM cable channel, not knowing anything much in advance. It's not a horror or slasher flick, and it's neither terrifying (well, maybe the little sister...) nor exactly campy/fun. And bad pan-and-scan movement got distracting toward the end of the movie. That seemed strange because the image didn't fill the TV screen anyway, yet clearly there was still a bunch of frame missing.

Call it a bracing slice-of-(weird)-life coming-of-age melodrama with horror aspects. Don't expect a great film and don't expect an exciting film, but you'll find an interesting film with truly odd characters and touches and a sort of jauntily grim look at one young woman's options.

A reviewer mentioned that Thornton, the actress playing the central character, is like a cross between Elizabeth McGovern and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I didn't consciously notice that while watching, but seeing it pointed out, it's quite right. And JJL is one of my favorite actresses.