L'esprit du mal

This film is easily some of BMX Bandits star John Ley's best work. His part as the detective trying to catch the astral travelling killer is played with the skill of an acting genius. The plot is thin, to say the least, but you can't go past a low quality Australian movie like this. The slender plot is sure to provide a few laughs (it's not supposed to be a comedy!), as are those ridiculous black eyes...

An invisible force is killing prominent women in Sydney, leaving them sans their eyes. David is a twitchy musician who has visions of the victims whenever he's asleep, usually right before they're attacked. Wondering why he's seeing this, David attempts to warn several women of the danger as well as find out who or what is behind the killings.

From cult director Brian Trenchard-Smith, this film is a complete and utter blast. The story isn't always the most coherent, but the film is fun from beginning to end. The lead is quite the dope too, never missing an opportunity to make himself look like the #1 suspect. He even gets involved in some bedtime cat fu. Anyway, the first kill scene is pretty out there, and I liked the use of lighting at the TV reporter's house... reminiscent of Argento's Inferno.

I wouldn't say this is a good film, but as far as entertainment goes, it delivers in spades.

Here's another one from those score of dreadful Oz horror's, courtesy of the CBS Fox, video collection, and this one's pretty bad. Hembrow in not the best of leads (this is his only lead movie) plays a young music composer, who is suddenly having really bad premonitions. Victims, mostly female are being elevated to great heights by an unknown psychic force, and their eyes removed. He starts going crazy, and is seen as a cuck (nutter) by authorities, and others, where soon, things get more serious for him. This is so stupid, especially in the end, with a unimpressive after ending, or twist, which would even make less sense. The film has loads of dreadful dialogue, and some real ridiculous moments of overacting, that has to be seen to be believed, not just on Hembrow's part. The classy middle aged American woman, who's killed early in the peace, was unbelievably bad (watch the part, where she's screaming in the backyard of her Sydney villa at night, just before her demise). A "WTF" or Are you fu..ing kidding me" moment. Like the other terrible CBS FOX '87/'88 Oz horrors here, a lot of dots in the story don't add up. We can be thankful for one thing here- John Ley (aka: Dodge, I'd recognize that voice anywhere) as a young oversexed detective. He's the only redeeming thing in this piece of s..t. Even some of the responding dialogue, and it's pretty bad ("Shoot to wound", a little Turkey Shoot joke line of familiarity, attached too) doesn't even fit, as if suddenly the actor horribly improvised. And with this, comes laughs, trust me, (oh, the other enjoyable quality in this film). This one, out of that sh..ty video collection, is the most unforgettable film. Simply dreadful, need I say more. What? Was the writer having an outer body experience, when he wrote it?

Probably the last thing the world needed in 1989 was another misogynistic slasher with a supernatural twist. Luckily, this one is directed by Aussie veteran and workaholic Brian Trenchard-Smith! His name doesn't necessarily guarantee good cinema, but at least you can rest assured it'll be entertaining, action-packed, gory and unhinged! Everyone who saw "Blood Camp Thatcher", "Dead-End Drive In", or "Night of the Demons II" knows what I'm talking about.

Stylish, prominent women are brutally getting murdered in Sydney, but it's clear from the very first kill the culprit isn't human. Weirdo David Gaze is somehow linked to the murders, because he witnesses the crimes when his mind leaves his body whilst sleeping. It's a paranormal concept called astral projection, ... or something. David is also clumsy and unsubtle enough to draw all suspicion towards him, because he knows half of the victims and stalks the other half.

Not a whole lot in "Out of the Body" makes any sense, to be honest. The overall plot is far too insane to take seriously, and the supernatural elements constantly undercut the tension. The kills are excellent, though, notably the nasty first murder in a back alley, and the grisly murder of the TV anchorwoman in her own house.

You know, I didn't get paid for sitting through this garbage, so there must be something wrong with me; what kind of a masochist would watch a film like "Out of the Body" for free? A man "has visions of murders". The cops "don't believe him" and "think he committed the murders". He is "possessed by an evil spirit". A tired, senseless script, combined with the strangely amateurish work of an experienced horror director (Brian Trenchard-Smith) and a completely unengaging lead, produce a pathetic time-waster. Not to mention the heavy Australian accents or the poor audio, which make much of the dialogue hard to understand. (*)