User reviews

I had two movies called "Fair Game" standing on my must-see list, so I watched them after each other in order not to lose track of one of them. The first one was an obscure Italian lethal-snake-on-the-loose thriller also known as "Mamba" and this one is Australia's belated (unless I missed something) response to the 'Revengeploitation" sub genre. Revenge thrillers were especially popular throughout the entire decade of the 70's, with highlights like "Last House on the Left", "I Spit on your Grave, "Fight for your Life", "House by the Lake" and "House on the Edge of the Park". These movies routinely handle about innocent women (preferably defenseless and fragile) getting harassed and viciously raped by a group of men (preferably perverted hicks and/or fugitive criminals) and then avenging themselves by taking justice into their own hands. The gritty atmosphere and gratuitous use of violence and sleaze in "Fair Game" is pretty much prototypic revenge thriller stuff, but it nevertheless also remains an authentic Aussie movie, meaning the assaulters are bored kangaroo poachers looking for new thrills and the 'victim' (Cassandra Delaney; the former Mrs. John Denver) is actually a very potent lady who fights back from the beginning and never really allows her opponents to get the upper hand. Jessica runs a wildlife reservation in the middle of the outback, so naturally there's a vicious conflict when she bumps into a trio of insensitive and macho poachers doing some illegal kangaroo hunting on her territories. This film feels refreshing and innovative because the script doesn't unfold like the majority of 70's revenge thrillers. The interactions between Jessica and the poachers start off like a testosterone-laden showdown, but then gradually escalate into a merciless battle with humiliation, rape and murder. There are several highly memorable and deliciously exploitative scenes in "Fair Game", most notably the one with Delaney – in her white undies - tied to the hood of a jeep whilst it races through the desert. Her acts of vengeance during the climax are quite impressive as well and I guarantee there's some impressive bloodshed to enjoy in "Fair Game". As often the case with Australian cult-productions ("Outback", "Wolf Creek", "Mad Max"…), the exterior filming location and wildlife images alone make the movie worth purchasing and this particular one also benefices from good music and stylish camera-work. The acting performances are more than satisfying and I'm pleased to notice the cast exclusively exists of native Australians. This isn't always the case, you know. Definitely recommended if you're a fan of the revenge movies.

A woman in charge of a wildlife sanctuary in Australia is terrorized on the road by two men in a beastly pickup truck and another man in a truck with a shark painted on the back doors. They continue to harass her, and she keeps asserting herself against them, even fighting back. They're intent on killing animals and having cruel fun.

Some who've watched the movie think that if she left them alone, they would have left her alone. I doubt it. At a minimum they would have gone on killing more animals, which she would have found intolerable. But I think they were as intent on tormenting her as killing kangaroos.

The woman is played by the beautiful Cassandra Delaney (the future Mrs. John Denver!), who sadly has not done many other movies. She spends the first part of the movie barely dressed in a long shirt and belt and nothing else, or a wrap and belt. Hot outfit for a hot environment.

Essentially follows a rape-revenge sort of plot, although it isn't clear if they rape her. As the video box indicates, they strap her to the hood of their pickup and drive her around. She's later dumped and she takes a shower, so a rape could be inferred, but it isn't integral.

A well-made film, well acted, though not especially deep.

This better-than-you'd-expect Aussie revenge thriller pits a young female wildlife refuge ranger against a trio of moronic imbeciles who terrorize her in a senseless cat-and-mouse game in the great outback. Some fairly effective scenes play out in this otherwise unexceptional and run-of-the-mill revenge yarn.

Good performances and interesting location filming highlight this, a take-it-or-leave-it indie film which could have benefited from more gratuitous nudity and violence...the final product,while not at all bad, seems rather lacking in the sleaze factors which fans of this type of film are generally looking for.

4.5/10...neither fish nor fowl, but definitely watchable.

Protagonists in revenge flicks are usually people who have been egregiously wronged. This is so that when they go medieval on everyone's butt, we're happy about it. My problem with this movie is that the protagonist--Jessica--is equally guilty. Therefore, when she gets what's coming to her, I don't feel bad about it, and when the antagonists get what's coming to them, I don't feel bad about it either. We're just watching a bunch of stupid people escalating things without knowing when to quit.

By the mid-point of the movie, there's only one person I feel bad for: Ted. Ted is Jessica's off-screen boyfriend who is attending a conference somewhere. He gets to come back to the wreckage left behind by his girlfriend's actions.

For me, having Jessica go on offense early really undermines my investment in her fate and the movie as a whole, loosening the tension I might otherwise feel watching a movie like this.

Cassandra Delaney is stunning so I didn't regret watching her for 90 minutes. Can't say I believed the plot but the acting and direction were solid.

1-3 Don't waste your time 4-6 It's okay/good 7-9 Great 10 Outstanding.

This Australian "I Spit on Your Grave" clone lacks a lot in the common sense and believability departments. A woman living on a game preserve is tormented by three of the dumbest poachers on earth. Endless car chases eventually lead to a "Mrs. Rambo" type ending that throws believability out the window and over a cliff. Although the human hood ornament scene is something completely different, the other 95% of "Fair Game" is repetitive and downright tedious. In reality, the movie is nothing more than a showcase for Cassandra Delaney and some nice scenery, sacrificing plot, common sense, and character development. What you are left with is a female revenge flick that is totally forgettable except for one scene. - MERK

Noted elsewhere, the premise of this film isn't original. But, this film could have explored themes of violence in rural Australian culture. It doesn't. The director has little insight to provide, and what's presented here is probably all he had to say. Competently filmed, rarely well acted. Some remarkable landscapes, little else, unremarkable exploitation film. For genre fans only.

Weak plot but great showcase for Cassandra Delaney. Also interesting Outback scenery and action. I enjoyed the rural Australian scenery; that was interesting to me; the remoteness helped give some credibility to the lawless villains. The setting was different and remote, giving some credibility to the lawlessness of the villains. A lot of the action was unique and haunting. The plot grew more and more predictable but I didn't mind. The plot seemed designed to showcase Cassandra's charms and, I confess, she won me over! Unfortunately, Casasandra later married John Denver in real life and turned to music...meaning she was only in about 5 movies. Too bad. I would go to a movie just to see her.

Fair Game (1986) - Awesome 80's Australian Action-Thriller film. It's often referred to as a "rape and revenge" film like I Spit on Your Grave (1978), however, I think it has much more in common with films like The Most Dangerous Game (1932) and Surviving the Game (1994).

In this film, a very attractive game warden running a wildlife sanctuary in the Australian outback is caught in the crosshairs and pursued by local kangaroo poachers bored with hunting wildlife.

One thing that makes this film great is the main character, played compellingly by the sexy Cassandra Delaney, is no pushover or damsel in distress; she gives the hunters more than they bargained for from the minute she is confronted by them. As the film goes on, Delaney's vengeance against her tormentors grows increasingly violent as the hunted becomes the hunter.

The performances by Delaney, along with the trio of scumbags hunting her, are all well-suited for this type of film. The monster-truck-sized off-road vehicle - named 'The Beast' and driven by the hunters - becomes a character in its own right; managing to steal the entire picture in the film's most infamous and memorable scene, prominently featured in the marketing material.

Additionally, the photography is excellent, showcasing dynamic backlit shots of 'The Beast' pursuing Delaney through the outback at night in scenes visually reminiscent of Razorback (1984) and The Road Warrior (1981), Australian films the producers were surely influenced by.

Great film overall. 7.5/10.

Fair Game (1986)

* (out of 4)

Jessica (Cassandra Delaney) is a young woman who is working in a wildlife sanctuary in the Australian outback. She seems to have a terrific life until one day when she runs into some poachers. At first it seems the poachers are just having a little fun with her but before long it turns dark and forces Jessica to defend herself.

If you're familiar with films like THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT and I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE then you might eventually run into FAIR GAME, this Australian attempt to try and cash in on those genre pictures. I hadn't heard too much about this film but decided to give it a shot since I'm a fan of the "revenge" genre but sadly this film is pretty darn bad on many levels.

There are all sorts of problems with this movie but the biggest is the screenplay itself. It's clear that the filmmakers wanted to do a revenge picture but I just found this to be so poorly written that at times it became comical. I say that because the female character here constantly puts herself in more and more danger to the point where it turns deadly. In all honesty, I'd blame the female character here for allowing the events of the film to go where they do.

I'm not going to ruin anything in the picture but there were so many times where this character could have gotten away and moved on in life yet she kept going back for more. All of this got rather annoying as the picture went on but there are plenty of other problems including the male characters being deadly dull and boring. It also doesn't help that there's not an ounce of tension to be found and the entire film just has a very dull feel to it.

With that said, the look at the outback was wonderful and made for some terrific shots throughout the picture. I'd also argue that Delaney was quite good in her role and it's too bad that it wasn't better written. FAIR GAME has pretty much been forgotten ever since it came out and it's easy to see why.

Three kangaroo hunters terrorise an attractive woman, Jessica (Cassandra Delaney), who lives by herself on a wildlife reserve in the outback.

'80s Ozploitation flick Fair Game is like a rape/revenge movie, but without the rape. Some reviews suggest that a serious sexual assault is inferred, but that simply isn't good enough: if a character is going to systematically kill three men, then it needs to be clear that her victims are deserving of their fates. Fair Game fails to adequately establish this fact, and is all the weaker for it.

Sure, the guys are obnoxious sexist assholes, and are guilty of tormenting, abusing and humiliating the poor woman, but that alone is not enough to warrant multiple homicide. Jessica should have continued to pursue a legal course of action, but instead takes matters into her own hands: she antagonises the men by slapping an anti-hunting sticker on their truck, sneaks out at night to weld their guns together, steals their truck, and tries to trap them in an abandoned mine with a rock fall. Had she continued to complain to the authorities after the first couple of incidences, it's doubtful that matters would have escalated to such levels of extreme violence (sexual or otherwise).

Technically speaking, the film is a mixed bag: performances are strong and the cinematography is very stylish (the scenery looks great and the shots of the hunter's truck are very effective, the vehicle taking on a persona more menacing than the men themselves); however, the soundtrack is diabolical: none of the awful '80s music complements the action. The killings are quite tame for this kind of trash, with the impalement of one guy on an anvil (!?!) proving unintentionally funny.

Fair Game was shorn of almost a minute when released on video in the UK: all of the stuff where Jessica is stripped and bound to the hood of the hunter's vehicle like an ornament was removed. Since this is the most entertaining part of the film, that VHS release must have been particularly frustrating for British fans of Ozploitation.

4.5 out of 10, rounded up to 5 for IMDb.

N.B. Eagle-eyed viewers might spot a male predator far more despicable than any of Fair Game's villains lurking in an advert for paint in the background of the outback convenience store. Can you see what it is yet?

I remember wagging school to see this. I was sixteen. Well, I wasn't really wagging. I was going to town to buy some clothes. I just optioned to see this. I really wanted to see this flick, a kinda Mad Max in the outback. The plot is simple: animal conservationalist gets on the wrong side of these three larger than kangaroo, hunters, the most menacing of them, being the older one, Sunny, quite a tough one to figure out. A game of revenge begins, pitting the taunted against her taunters. They draw first blood, after nearly running her off the road, in some breathtaking action, which is well shot, you can tell the director had fun making this. Sunny defends his actions, by saying "We're only doing the farmers a favor". Him and his mates are surely not doing her a favor. They keep pushing her, stalking her, tormenting her, breaking into her farmhouse. Check out the nude snapshot Sunny takes of her while asleep. Yummy. She starts pushing back, like doing one hell of a welding job on their rifles which Sunny's mate, Sparks compliments it. The trademark scene is her being tied to the front of the pickup, actually known as The Beast, that flaunts these big horns that sit above the vehicles grill. Her breasts are open to view, on this uncomfortable ride. The locations on the beautiful Flinders Rangers, work to this film's benefit. Truly beautiful scenery, and Adelaide'n that I am, I have to take a ride up there one day. I must admit this is an addictive revenge flick. I don't know what the other kid in the cinema thought but I did enjoy it. But the film does run on two little. There's some great stuntwork and some intense scenes, where their taunting takes it's toll on this poor beautiful woman. The victims die in forgettable if pathetic ways. It's ending song isn't forgettable though. The film, does have a high animal count I must warn you. Fair Game is an action flick that certainly won't win any AFI'S, but this 85 Adelaide effort that was shot on mid thirty degree days, is entertaining junk. Incidentally, producer Harley Manners was so eager to do this, he sold his house in Torrens Park to finance the film, I guess, and when you have the beautiful Delaney in it's lead (who actually was going with songwriting great, John Denver), anything with her is worth watching. See how many films have this title. I'm pretty sure this one is it's first.

If someone would have killed my animals that i loved i would have totally reek havoc on them.

For her its just screaming, she had the chance to get back and those idiots many times yet she failed lots of times.... she also looked very weak and those 3 idiots could have finish her easy.

This movie is very overrated... at best.

This mid-eighties thriller is a skimpy, but surely entertaining and crazy Australian b-grade exploitation attempt at the revenge sub-genre. A young woman takes on some restless kangaroo poachers who go onto make her life hell, when she confronts them about killing animals on her wildlife sanctuary. It's a lot better than you're led to believe. A cat (well there's three of them) and mouse game evolves, as they simply go tit for tat (no one is desperate to back down) in humiliating, terrorising and finally gaining sweet vengeance. The savage violence isn't particularly extreme, as it has a comic book tone to it, but it's mean-spirited and gustily dished-up. From the get-go you can tell it's going to be thrilling, exciting and blistering as it gets straight in to it and never adjusts otherwise. The suspense holds up and the adrenaline kick gets the heart-pounding in many knuckle-busting sequences (the memorable trophy truck ride). Andrew Lesnie sharply photographs the colourfully rugged Australian landscape and wildlife, but it's the moody nightlife cinematography that adds the atmospheric dynamics. Cassandra Delaney (who looks lovely and spends the quite bit time in the flesh) brings a genuine grittiness and sympathetic side to a strong, capable character. The boneheaded, cruel poachers are eccentrically portrayed by Peter Ford, David Sandford and Gary Who. From this inclusion, the gigantic killer pig feature 'Razorback (1984)' comes to mind. Dominating a lot the scenes would be that of Ashley Irwin's uncanny live-wire and throbbing music score. Sometimes uncalled for, but always palatable. Director Mario Andreacchio makes good of the psychical set-pieces and locations. While writer Rob George's material is fundamental, he still strikes up a dependable script that never resorts to camping it up. An agreeable revenge item.

A very interesting movie indeed! Cassandra Delaney is beautiful, and I'm surprised she did so few movies. She plays Jessica, a woman in the outback fighting for the rights of animals, especially Kangaroos, but 3 vicious guys decide to show her HOW a wild animal is treated, and have fun with her, and drives her around the dusty trails of the desert-like terrain of her own property like a hunting prize. The scene is explicit and worth an eye full as Jessica tries to escapes being tied to the truck while they strip her down and prepare to have some fun, with no help in sight. Somebody needs to tell Jessica that going 3-on-1 with some crazy guys in the outback isn't going to end well! The plot is lacking but the, "scenery" is worth the price of admission!

Revenge flick beautyfully filmed in the outback, Australia, we got sand, kangaroos, poachers in big trucks, some shooting but mostly the girl and the poachers use the environment to harass each other, setting traps, running after with the truck and so on.

Unlike some movies they don't set out to kill from the start, to me this makes it more believable; but ..oh yeah, soon enough things turn real bad indeed - with many memorable scenes underway.

As others have mentioned, this film is maybe a little one dimensional, the protagonist is fine acting vise, and we have some nice stunt work from some of the others but that's all you get, dont look for a hidden meaning or anything - this is a fight to the death in and around a remote farm in the outback desert!

Australia's answer to "I Spit on Your Grave"? Maybe, except this is actually a much better (and more watchable) film. A woman who owns an isolated vast wildlife reservation realizes that her Roos and other animals are being illegally hunted by some local hooligans. When she tries to set the perps (one of whom thinks he's Crocodile Dundee) straight, they start messing around with her. After a few days, things get out of hand and she finds herself their new prey on her own property. Dubbed an action/thriller by most, I was expecting this to be a cheesy laugh-fest. The only thing about it that resembles an 80s action/thriller is the often light-hearted score (which morphs into more appropriate horror music at times.) Otherwise, this is filled with tension and a humane heroine that you want to root for. This follows the typical rape/revenge formula of the 70s, but it isn't as difficult to watch. A totally fun flick that's one of Australia's better horror offerings.

...And topless, too! But not naked. Those are two very different things.

But she is very pretty, this Cassandra Delany. Her Australian accent and spunky attitude (along with a penchant for getting naked) makes this a very good video to buy & watch over & over. Not just another pretty face--John Denver's baby.

Not into pretty girls? Well, check out the exotic fauna--cockutoos, lizards, and kangaroos.

None of the above? Well, lots of handsome, rugged bad boys are available; they terrorize poor, helpless Cassandra to no end. Just good old boys having fun, that's all...they may be rough boys, but never meaning no harm. Just play along with 'em, let them tie you to their truck so they can drive around all day until you pass out. So what if they rip off your clothes? You were going to throw out that raggedy old thing anyways. Right?????? Right......