IHdb

TOP 50 
AUSTRALIAN HORROR FILMS

Considered Ozploitation films, Australian horror films rose in popularity during the New Wave Movement in the Australian film industry, that lasted from the mid-70's to the late 80's; during which there was an increased support from the government to promote film production in Australia.

To achieve this, the government introduced the Division 10BA (1981) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936, which allowed investors a 150% tax concession on their investment at risk. The previous 10B (1978) applied to a wider selection of project categories, and offered a concession spread over two financial years once the project was generating income. These incentives caused a huge surge of private investment in films - mostly from high income investors looking for a tax shelter - and produced 100's off films over the decade. And while most were high budget fare, like Breaker Morant, The Lighthorsemen, and Crocodile Dundee, more and more investors looked to lower budget films to invest their money.

That meant a huge rise in the production of thriller and horror films that could be shot cheaply and cast international actors (mostly from Britain and the United States) to increase foreign sales. Contemporary Australian filmmakers have continued the tradition of Ozploitation horror films all the way to the present day.

And so, to celebrate this Australia Day, IHdb has compiled a list of the TOP 50 AUSTRALIAN HORROR FILMS covering films over the last 40 years and ranked them according to the aggregated score from Rotten Tomatoes, IMDb and Metacritic.

We hope you enjoy, and have a great Australia Day!

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50    Inn of the Damned (1975)

TRIVIA:  The original film script for this movie was originally planned to be an episode of a 12-part Australian Broadcasting Corporation horror series entitled 'Fright'. Night of Fear (1972), an earlier film by this film's director Terry Bourke, was meant to be the first episode of that series. Both films only became theatrical features after the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) rejected the TV series 'Fright' to which it was going to be a part of. In the case of Night of Fear (1972), principle photography on that film had already been completed, hence its running time of just under an hour. Inn of the Damned (1975) was filmed after the TV series had been canceled, and so when filmed, it was filmed at a feature length running time.

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49   Night of Fear (1972)

TRIVIA:  This movie's initial theatrical release in November 1972 in Australia was delayed because the film had been banned by the Australian Censorship Board. The film was not released until March 1973 where it was released uncut after appeal.

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48   Prey (2009)

TRIVIA:  The film had it's theatrical release on 9 May 2009 in Australia, and grossed just AUD$744 at the box office (one a single screen!).

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47   Road Train (2010)

TRIVIA:  Principal photography for this movie was originally going to be done during 2008 but due to a UK financier withdrawing due to the Global Financial Crisis, production of this movie was delayed a year until 2009 when refinancing had been completed. The movie has been re-titled Road Kill for its American release, because the North American public generally do not know what a "road train" is (FYI, it is a two to three trailer truck).

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46   Nightmares (1980)

TRIVIA:  John D. Lamond came up with the idea to set the story in a theater, and pitched the idea to investors before the script was even written. Shot over four weeks,four different theaters were needed to create one composite theatre in the movie.

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45   Uninhabited (2010)

TRIVIA:  Uninhabited was filmed on location on Masthead Island, Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia.

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44   Lady Stay Dead (1981)

TRIVIA:  One of the only English-language slasher films that was not released in America during the early 80s slasher craze. It wasn't released in America on VHS until 1986 by Video City Productions, and didn't have a theatrical release in it's native Australia! 

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43   Houseboat Horror (1989)

TRIVIA:  Houseboat Horror is often described by critics and audiences as one of the worst Australian films ever made, citing it as a "typical slasher film". It carries the promotion "See the film that can't get an Academy Award." The movie's ending is left open for a sequel which never eventuated.

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42   Fair Game (1986)

TRIVIA:  The movie was shot in South Australia with the assistance of the Australian Film Commission. Director Mario Andreacchio later said:

    Fair Game came out of a situation where we were wanting to make a movie that was a B-grade video suspense thriller. I wanted to treat it like comic book violence - it was always like a comic book study of violence. What amazed me and the thing I found quite disappointing was that it started to become a cult film in some parts of the world and people were taking it seriously. And that, for me, became a real turning point. I thought, if people are taking this seriously, then I don't think I can make this sort of material.

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41   Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)

TRIVIA:  This film is considered a stand-alone film in the Howling series. Despite director Philippe Mora also directed Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf, he had been unhappy with the story and the fact the producers added some extra shots after he left (such as additional shots of breasts) and wanted to make a third movie himself to make amends and raised the money himself with co-producer Charles Waterstreet.

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40   Dead Sleep (1992)

TRIVIA:  The first of two horror/thriller movies Linda Blair made in Australia, the other being Fatal Bond (1991).

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39   Crawlspace (2012)

TRIVIA:  In an interview with Dread Central, Dix cited John Carpenter, Ridley Scott, and JJ Abrams as inspirations. Production took place at Docklands Studios Melbourne over twenty-three days, and post-production took six months.

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38   Charlie's Farm (2014)

TRIVIA:  The titular character Charlie, is played by horror icon Kane Hodder.

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37   Snapshot (1979)

TRIVIA:  This movie was re-titled as The Day After Halloween for the film's American release in the USA to cash-in on the box-office success of John Carpenter's Halloween (although the film has nothing to do with Halloween, which isn't even celebrated in Australia!). The film has also been released as One More Minute.

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36   Alison's Birthday (1979)

TRIVIA:  Actress Joanne Samuel's second feature film credit after playing Jessie, Max Rockatansky's doomed wife, in the cult action film Mad Max (1979).

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35   Undead (2003)

TRIVIA:  The film was entirely funded by the directors, siblings Michael and Peter Spierig, and their family and friends. There were two months of rehearsals before filming began, with most scenes being shot in only one or two takes due to the budget. The Spierig Brothers rendered most of the special effects on their home computers, taking nine months for post production.

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34   Body Melt (1993)

TRIVIA:  Influenced by "splatstick" Peter Jackson films like Bad Taste and Braindead, among the numerous make-up effects were; liquefying flesh, elongated tongues, exploding stomachs, exploding penises, imploding heads, monstrous births, tentacles growing out of the face, living mucus, sentient placentas, and other gruesome mutations.

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33   Storm Warning (2007)

TRIVIA:  The film pays homage to numerous other films including, but not limited to Spider Baby, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Deliverance, The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left, Straw Dogs and Wrong Turn. 

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32   Needle (2010)

TRIVIA:  Although the film contains incredibly gory scenes (including one unlucky characters gruesome dismemberment!), Needle is structured as a murder mystery, with six distinct clues pointing to one of ten suspects; the trailer is intentionally misleading.

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31   Dark Age (1987)

TRIVIA:  This film was not released in its country of origin, Australia, for over 14 years (it was finally released in October 2011). This is apparently due to Avco Embassy owning the Australian distribution rights but they went bust just prior to the films release. 

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30   Scare Campaign (2016)

TRIVIA:  Andrew L. Urban at UrbanCinefile.com gave a positive review, writing "Propelled by an ever-inventive screenplay, Scare Campaign revels in surprising us while scaring us. To its credit, we don't see the twists coming, and the Russian Doll-type structure gives the film a rich texture." 

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29   Thirst (1979)

TRIVIA:  Actor David Hemmings once said of this film during filming: "This crew is the best I've worked with in five years. What is happening out here in Australia is very exciting and I plan to become involved...I thought the script for 'Thirst ' was very commercial and had the potential for international success". 

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28   Bloodmoon (1990)

TRIVIA:  When this film was released theatrically in Australia, it included a William Castle-like "Fright Break", a short intermission which gave audiences a chance to walk a yellow line to the cinema's exit if the film was too frightening for them, giving those who took the so-called "Chicken Walk" to the exits their money back. The "Fright Break" sequence is included on the Australian video release. 

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27   The Wicked (1987)

TRIVIA:  Originally screened as part of a series of tele-movies called "Tomorrow's News", the movie was released as Outback Vampires in the US.

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26   Bait (2012)

TRIVIA:  Despite only earning approximately $775,000 in its home country of Australia, Bait was a sizable success overseas, making over $20 million China alone. It also made $2 Million in Italy. As a result of its international success, Arclight Films announced plans for a sequel called Deep Water; about a plane en route from China to Australia crashing in the Pacific Ocean. However, production was suspended in March 2014 due to "uncomfortable similarities" to the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

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25   Harlequin (1980)

TRIVIA:  The Rast mansion seen in this movie was actually the home of Western Australian millionaire entrepreneur Alan Bond. The house was mainly only used for exteriors. Most interiors of the home were filmed at a Perth studio though one room in the mansion was used for interiors due to its panoramic seascape lookout.  The sequence where Alex Rast (Mark Spain) is seen being dangled off the side of a cliff by Gregory Wolfe (Robert Powell) did not use trick photography or deceiving camera angles. Spain was hung over the side of a cliff-face but was wearing a safety-harness which was not visible to the audience as it was attached through the underneath of Powell's white cloak. 

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24   Patrick (1978)

TRIVIA:  The film had an unauthorized sequel entitled Patrick Vive Ancora (released in English as Patrick Still Lives) and a remake in 2013, starring Sharni Vinson and Jackson Gallagher as Patrick.

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23   Dying Breed (2008)

TRIVIA:  During the first seconds of the end credits just 1 or 2 frames show what Pieman's Pie really is made of!

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22   Razorback (1984)

TRIVIA:  Russell Mulcahy originally considered Jeff Bridges for the role of Carl, but producer Hal McElroy thought he had too little international appeal! 

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21   Turkey Shoot (1982)

TRIVIA:  Olivia Hussey, apparently a shy girl on set, almost accidentally cut off Roger Ward's hands in one scene. When the director yelled cut, she took the order the wrong way during the scene and Ward just pulled his hands out of the way in the nick of time. 

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20   Wolf Creek (2005)

TRIVIA:  John Jarratt is a method actor and spent weeks living in the Australian desert preparing for the role of Mick Taylor. In addition he also avoided bathing before shooting so he would have a much more rugged appearance. Furthermore, the idea for Mick to have a creepy laugh was Jarratt's own (he says it took him four months to get it just right), and he also created a detailed biography for the character (although he wouldn't reveal the details to anyone). 

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19   Rogue (2007)

TRIVIA:  In the scene where Sam Worthington fell out of the boat, the shoot was delayed as there were reports of a five metre long crocodile being spotted in the area. After several hours of Worthington being terrified to enter the water and ruining the takes, Greg McLean decided to jump into the water and have a swim to convince him to do it properly. It was only after the scene was shot that they found out the crocodile had been relocated several weeks earlier.

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18   Innocent Prey (1988)

TRIVIA:  The film was shot in Sydney under the title of Voyeur.

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17   Roadgames (1981)

TRIVIA:  Jamie Lee Curtis said she felt a certain amount of hostility and prejudice while on set, being one of the two "token Americans". One of the crew members even approached her and asked, "What is it like putting Australians out of work?"

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16   Next of Kin (1982)

TRIVIA:  The famous final scene was serendipity for the film. The camera was supposed to track into the back of the truck, which would then depart. After panning around to look back at the diner, it was going to explode. However, the special effects man activated the explosion too soon, while the camera was still panning, reflecting it onto a highway sign. At the release, many of the audience members commented that not showing the explosion fully was the strongest part of the scene.

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15   Daybreakers (2009)

TRIVIA:  The Spierig brothers wanted the vampires in the film to have a classical aesthetic to them while feeling like a more contemporary interpretation. After experimenting with complex makeup designs, they decided that a more minimalistic approach to makeup had a more powerful effect.

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14   Strange Behavior (1981)

TRIVIA:  The mask that the killer wears in the film is of wrestler/B-actor Tor Johnson.

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13   Primal (2010)

TRIVIA:  Josh Reed made the 12,000 year time-lapse sequence at the beginning of the film by individually photoshopping almost 300 frames. If you go through frame by frame you can see Josh buried to his neck in one frame towards the end, and his daughter, Ch'aska, peeking out from behind a tree in another frame. 

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12   The Reef (2010)

TRIVIA:  The sharks in this film were real and all the footage of the sharks was filmed at Port Lincoln, South Australia. 

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11   Black Water (2007)

TRIVIA:  The crocodile was real and practical effects were used. Director Andrew Traucki used the same approach when filming his follow up, The Reef (2010) - both films were also based on true events.

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10   Wyrmwood (2014)

TRIVIA:  The film took 4 years to complete as they only worked weekends. During filming, a serious accident occurred that nearly caused the death of Bianca Bradey's stunt double, she undershot her jump from the back of the lab truck onto the bonnet of the zombie truck and was nearly run over, fortunately she was unharmed. 

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09   Long Weekend (1978)

TRIVIA:  The decision to have rainy weather in the early driving scenes was an effort to hide the fact that the interior scenes in Peter's jeep were filmed inside a darkened garage. During the shooting grips would run past carrying flashlights to make it appear like they were lights from passing cars.

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08   Van Diemen's Land (2009)

TRIVIA:  Based on the story of Alexander Pearce, Australia's most notorious convict, who, in 1822, escaped from Macquarie Harbour with seven fellow convicts. When the escapees realized they were lost in the harsh Australian bush (and not knowing how to hunt or fish) the group turned to cannibalism to survive.

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07   Dead Calm (1989)

TRIVIA:  The film originally ended with Rae bashing Hughie's head in with the spear gun and throwing him into the ocean on the inflatable mattress to float into the distance, before turning the boat around and saving John from his makeshift raft. The last shot of the movie was Rae hugging John and telling him she loved him and that she hadn't given up hope, giving her character closure from her hopeless outlook at the film's bleak opening. Audiences, however, weren't satisfied with Hughie's ambiguous fate (although the implication was that Rae had killed him with the blows to the head), and the ending was re-shot at the behest of studio heads, who were afraid audiences would spread bad word-of-mouth. 

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06   100 Bloody Acres (2012)

TRIVIA:  Producer Julie Ryan met the Cairnes brothers at the Australian Film Commission's IndiVision Lab in 2008, and her company Cyan Films, became attached to the project just prior to the Cairnes brothers winning the Horror-Thriller category for scriptwriting at the 2010 Slamdance Writing Competition.

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05   The Last Wave (1977)

TRIVIA:  The city of Adelaide doubled for the city of Sydney a lot in this movie. During production, Sydney experienced harsh weather conditions with constant heavy rain. Such weather, ironically, had to be recreated in Adelaide, which was sunny and pleasant during filming. 

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04   Lake Mungo (2008)

TRIVIA:  Director Joel Anderson was finding it difficult to acquire funding for another script he had written - which required a much larger budget - and after discussions with what would be future collaborators on Lake Mungo, the decision was made to write something that could be filmed on a low budget.

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03   The Loved Ones (2009)

TRIVIA:  Under the instructions of director Sean Byrne, Robin McLeavy prepared for the role of Lola by researching the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, as well as watching Misery (1990), Natural Born Killers (1994) and the works of Quentin Tarantino. 

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02   The Babadook (2014)

TRIVIA:  The movie had a campaign where you could buy a copy of 'The Babadook Popup Book' for $80.00. The first 2000 copies are numbered and signed by the director, Jennifer Kent. The book contains pop-up pictures as well as additional pages not seen in the movie. (The campaign was only open for a limited amount of time and is no longer available). 

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01   The Tunnel (2011)

TRIVIA:  The film was funded using a crowd-funded financing model, as part of the 135k Project, where the film's writer-producers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey sold individual digital frames of the film for A$1, to try and raise the film's A$135,000 target budget. However this method only managed to raise approximately A$36,000, so the filmmakers exerted a certain "creativity" to complete the film with this limited budget. The Tunnel is the first Australian film to be distributed and promoted legally through the BitTorrent internet downloading platform, a release strategy which could potentially expose the film to tens of millions of people, for free.