A Dingo Ate My Movie!
Explore the captivating world of Australian cinema with our podcast, where we delve into cult classics and mainstream hits from the 1970s to today. Discover iconic Australian films' stories, artistry, and impact through our insights and fun discussions. Whether you’re a fan of groundbreaking genre-defining movies or beloved blockbusters, our episodes offer a deep dive into the films that have shaped Australian culture and captivated global audiences. Join us to uncover the creativity behind Australia’s most unforgettable movies and their contributions to the international film landscape.
A Dingo Ate My Movie!
Lights, Camera, Kylie – Exploring the Chaos of Cut
Think you’ve seen every ‘90s slasher? Think again. In this episode, I’m joined by Matt Fulton from the Champagne Comedy Podcast to revisit Cut (2000), Australia’s cult meta-horror that blends Hollywood stars, local flavour, and a killer with oversized garden shears.
We unpack the film’s highs and lows—from Kylie Minogue’s bloody cameo to the cursed movie-within-a-movie plot—and debate whether Cut is an underrated gem or just a curious footnote in Aussie cinema.
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Please note that this podcast often explores topics and uses language from past eras. This means that some of the discussions may include attitudes, expressions, and viewpoints that were common in those times but may not align with the standards and expectations of our society today. We'd like to ask for your understanding as we navigate these historical contexts, which are important to appreciate the era we're discussing fully.
Hi everyone. I just wanted to pop in with a bit of housekeeping before we kick off this episode. Just know that this episode was recorded very late last year I think it was almost the last day of the year and it's been quite some time, which has passed since I've had the chance to actually complete edit and get this podcast out. I've been on hiatus pretty much for the first half of this year almost and kind of getting back into it again. So I hope you understand the delay and thanks for any patience. Also, moving forward, I just wanted to let you know that the scope of the podcast will change a little bit over the coming months and going forward, mostly to occasionally, you know, talk about some more, I guess, commercial films and films that are interesting but not necessarily Ausploitation based. I think we'll still go back to Ausploitation films from time to time because I love watching those films. So we'll still do that. But we will start probably from next episode looking at some more popular Australian films and I hope you'll enjoy that as well.
Pete:If you have any comments, suggestions, please let me know and hope you enjoy this episode. Thank you, the Night Rider, that is his name, the Knight Rider. Remember him when you look at the night sky. Hey there, and welcome back to A Dingo Ate my Movie, the podcast where we dive into some of Australia's most memorable films, from timeless classics, cult favourites and today's hits. My name is Pete and I'm your host Today. I'm excited to have Matt Fulton from the Champagne Comedy Podcast with me as we explore the Australian slasher film Cut.
Film Trailer Narrator:It began as a class project. We have to do a graduation film, right. What better project than to finish that film, to resurrect an old film?
Film Trailer Narrator:from oblivion.
Film Trailer Narrator:That movie was a nightmare, so what you're saying is there's some sort of a curse on this film. Now they've made an unexpected discovery of a mysterious legend.
Film Trailer Narrator:Creepier than Friday the 13th.
Film Trailer Narrator:More blood and guts than Texas Chainsaw. More sex than deep throat.
Film Trailer Narrator:I'm sorry, I'm sorry you were dead. That should never. Who wants to make a mainstream slasher movie? See the light of day, don't go playing with nightmares.
Film Trailer Narrator:And action. Who are you? I never said this before, but I've always found you very attractive.
Pete:Hey
Pete:, matt, how are you doing mate? I am going good. How are you?
Matt:I'm good mate. Yeah, you dragged me into this one, didn't you? Yes, I did.
Pete:I did. It was a bit late notice and everything. It was like, oh, can we do this?
Matt:And yeah, luckily you came back and said sure, why not? Yeah, and I said sure, and then please let go of my arm, yes, All right.
Pete:So Cut is an Australian slasher film with kind of a fun meta twist. It follows a horror film called Hot-Blooded, which was shot down in the 80s when the director played by Kylie Minogue, was brutally murdered on set. Rumour has it that the film is cursed. Anyone who tries to finish the film meets a violent end. Decades later, ambitious film student Raffi, played by Jessica Napier, takes on the challenge convincing the original star, vanessa, played by Molly Ringwald, to reprise her role. But Vanessa's attitude and the curse make things far from easy. As filming begins, the cast and crew are picked off one by one by a masked killer wielding a giant pair of shears. Is it the curse? A crazed fan or something much stranger, with Molly Ringwald as a Hollywood star slumming it in Australia, kylie Minogue in a very brief and bloody cameo and a killer who seems to hate filmmaking? Cut is packed with campy fun, some over-the-top gore and a ton of 90s slasher energy. Interesting film, I thought.
Matt:Well, confession I have never seen this film before until now. So I heard about it, read about it like every little bit in peace, but had never actually sat down and watched it.
Pete:Oh, interesting, interesting yeah. What did you think?
Matt:Okay, you know, when things age like a bottle of fine wine.
Pete:Yes.
Matt:Well, let's just say it's like, because it's Australian, it aged like a bottle of Tooey's New.
Pete:So it didn't really hit with you.
Matt:It did and didn't at the same time, because overall like it was great. But then I was trying to get lost into the atmosphere, the fantasy of it all, giving it a benefit of the doubt, because I love Aussie films, obviously, but when you're trying too hard, like it goes in and out of, out of. Okay, we're trying to do a horror flick, you know, inspired by scream, um, and then as they're going into it they've they end up taking the piss out of themselves, but then it gets a bit too much, especially when it comes to certain wording, when they're in one of the moments that they're doing that screening in the student theatre and then you can tell how Aussie it is. When it's like, oh, you're a fuckwit, it kind of like ruins the illusion.
Pete:Yeah, it's pretty fun that way. There's a few instances I think I'll put it as a note for later, but there's a few instances where someone just says, oh, fuck off, or something like that, and it kind of I don't know why. It made me laugh quite a bit.
Matt:It's a very ochre. It's like trying to do Scream. But an Australian version of Scream should have been yell.
Pete:Yeah, yeah, well, cut was released on the 23rd of February 2000 and was directed by Kimball Rendell from a script by Dave Warner. More about them later. It stars Molly Ringwald, jessica Napier, sarah Kantz we've got to be careful saying that name Frank Roberts, stephen Curry, who was in a few other movies, one we're going to talk about a bit later this year, and of course, kylie Minogue in a bit of a. I guess it's a cameo really, even though she's in the front and centre in a lot of the advertising.
Matt:Yeah, it's kind of that misleading type thing where I guess, when you look at the movies these days, you know the director, film director videos and say you know, for obvious circumstances with Bruce Willis where he's featured front and centre, but then he's only in the movies for five minutes.
Pete:Yeah, exactly yeah. So this film, at its heart, is like a meta slasher, I guess, and it sort of came out three years after the release of Wes Craven's Scream in 1996. The film is also a film within a film, as well as doling out all the horror tropes that everyone's come to love and hate, whether it's successful in its execution is something we definitely want to be talking about Now. If you want to watch Cut, I think it's available to stream on Brolly in Australia and I think it's available to stream on Broly in Australia, and at this time it's sadly out of print in physical media, as far as I know. I had a look on Umbrella's site and it's still listed on the site but it's showing as out of print. But it can also be rendered on Apple, google Play and YouTube as well. I think you've been watching it on Broly. I was lucky enough to have the Blu-ray.
Matt:Yeah, correct. I paired up my Broly app to my TV and watched it from there and had my dog sit next to me. I saw the photo. Yeah, that was legit, so I was watching that. And then after the first few minutes, she's like I'm over this. Yeah, but I pursued.
Pete:Before we get on to the film, I've got a few bits of facts and trivia and junk. So there's an acronym in this film on the film cans, and it says FARTs and it stands for Film, audiovisual, radio and Television School. Did you notice that?
Matt:I did not notice that. No, okay, but I am a the proper way of rewording that, which is obviously taking the piss out of Australian film, television and radio school. I am actually a former student of that school.
Pete:Well, it is actually a. They actually thought it through. It is actually a spoof anagram parody of AFTAs. Yeah.
Matt:The fact that I do remember attending class in the year 2005 and they were quite proud of Cut Right. I see the odd poster floating around. I was in the radio department. This is when the school was in North Wright, right Next to Macquarie Uni, and yeah, this is where they were really passionate about these things and yeah, I can see the parody of it. But it's like this is where we get the joke, but you keep losing your identity. Are you scary? Are you meant to?
Pete:be yeah.
Matt:They were trying too hard.
Pete:Again with the two is new yeah, also, as I mentioned before, kylie minogue basically has just a cameo in this film, even though she's in the advertising and her name's pretty pretty much up there. She apparently it was a plan to be a bigger part but she was having she had a lot of other commitments and so they kept her part small and you know, like a cameo. I had a look at her what she was doing around this time. So this movie was made around 1999, early 2000. Her seventh album, I think, called Light Years, was released in September 2000. So I'd say she was most likely in pre-production and possibly recording while they were filming this. So I would say that possibly is why why she's doesn't have a big part. There's actually a lot of musical connections in this film which we'll get to. But as an aside, that album contains spinning around on a night like this and kids, which are really big hits for her. And also this movie came out a couple of years after she did Street Fighter. I don't know why I explained that one.
Matt:I've got a copy of that too, and half of that was filmed in Queensland.
Pete:At Roadshow or whatever it is. Is it Village?
Matt:Yeah, on the Gold Coast. Of course that I only re-watched a couple of weeks ago, right right. And I noticed a few of the bays in the area of the Gold Coast.
Pete:Okay, you must have known you were going to be watching this film.
Matt:Oh yeah, I think it's just like a double dose of Kylie.
Pete:Yeah, it was Molly Ringwald's first, and only maybe, appearance in an Australian film. It was also her second horror movie, her first being Office Killer, which I've never seen in 1997. I get the funny feeling she might have taken this on because in the interviews I've seen she said she loves Australian film et cetera, et cetera. But I'm sure a free trip to Australia probably wasn't a bad thing either.
Matt:Yeah, and as you could see by the credits at the very beginning and so forth, who heavily financed this film being Michael Gudinski's side. Mushroom, yep, yeah, the mushroom pictures. Yeah, I think someone had greasy palms with that.
Pete:They certainly did. Speaking of music, so the screenwriter for this, dave Warner. He wrote this script during Christmas break one year. He's also known for having written the song Suburban Boy. I don't know if you remember that song at all. No, it was a minor hit in 1978. I thought I had the single here somewhere and yesterday I had my box of singles out looking for it. I went through every single I couldn't find it. Took me ages, but anyway, uh. So Suburban Boy was a minor hit in 78. Uh reached 31 on the Australian charts, so not really high, but a lot of Aussies around that time know it. And his album Mugs Game was certified gold within a month of release in the same year.
Pete:On another musical note, kimball Rendell, the director, played guitar and sang with Sydney band XL Capris in 1978, and in 1981 was a very early member of Hoodoo Gurus and he left just prior to the band's first album, stone Age Romeos. He also worked as a music video director with clips for cold chisel, the angels who do gurus, dragon and boom crash opera if you've seen the cultures, or music video for flame trees and you've seen his works. He also worked with kylie minogue on a short film called hayride to hell. In 1995 if you have the umbrella blu-ray, the short film was actually included as extras on the discs. Actually not bad. Had a had a look at that the other day as well. He was also a second unit director on the matrix reloaded and matrix revolutions and in 2012 he directed the 3d disaster shark movie, bait 3d, which I'm sure we'll eventually get to on this podcast. I haven't seen that one. Have you seen that?
Matt:yeah.
Pete:No, I haven't. I love those movies. I'm a sucker for those sort of movies. On Rotten Tomatoes the critics rating for this movie is 20% and the audience rating is 26. I'm kind of surprised it's that low. I actually thought it would be a bit higher, because I know you did. But I kind of enjoyed it. But I'm a slasher movie and a horror aficionado so you know I'm getting used to enjoying crap.
Matt:No, but don't get me wrong, this was my first time watching it. I went in with sadly high expectations, which was a big fault, not a good idea, no, so and this is like years and years of like knowing about the movie I tend to ignore prestige, reviewers, critics, yep, and because, yeah, sometimes I just don't gel with their idea of it all. So I have a bit of an open mind, but this one I definitely will be revisiting on a regular basis because it is up there with pure cheese, and I'm talking bigger cheese. So, yeah, it's definitely one that I'll go back to down the track and, yeah, I wish I actually owned a physical version of it.
Pete:Yeah, you probably. I mean, I imagine, if you keep lurking around, you know, through stores and stuff like that, you'll eventually find one.
Matt:I'm a regular now every Saturday morning at my local op shop.
Pete:Yeah so much.
Matt:I walk in and there's one lady who volunteers there who just goes. Ah, you're back to the usual, are you? I'm like, hey, I'm donating here.
Pete:It'll turn up. It'll turn up. What's really interesting. On YouTube I found a review of this movie by David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz and he gave the movie a three, I think, out of five, and she gave the movie a three, I think, out of five, and she gave the movie a four out of five. Wow, she really enjoyed the movie. Now, caveat in the review on YouTube she does know the director, so I'm thinking that there's a little bit of you know. Hey, he's somebody I know. He's a friend of mine, I'll be, uh, I'll be nice to him, sort of thing. But she gave decent reasons for liking the movie, so it was quite interesting.
Matt:Yeah, there is something in it, as I've said, but there are moments where they lose the illusion.
Pete:If we look at this film, if we start looking at the similarities, I guess is probably the best way to start looking the the similarities between this movie and scream, which I'm pretty sure it was like a big influence in making this film, and actually I think this movie is somewhat more similar to scream 2. Right, have you got much history with the Scream movies?
Matt:I've seen 1 to 4. Okay, so, yeah, so I think this is sorry.
Pete:I was just going to say I think this is a little bit closer to Scream 2 in some ways.
Matt:Well, I think it's a combination of both. So, with the setup of the intro, the way that it's designed, it's more or less the what's your favourite scary movie type thing, or, you know, the Drew Barrymore intro type thing. It's more like what's your favourite pizza, your pineapple. So it's like, yeah, so it's. And then once that opening scene, which I'd say is a parody slash, homage to the Scream opening, because you know, in Australia we don't do Jiffy Pop on the stove. Yeah, we make two-minute noodles. And with that, that's when they switch it into that Scream 2 of.
Pete:Ah, it's a movie, yeah a movie within a movie, sort of thing.
Matt:Yeah.
Pete:Yeah, the other movie that it reminds me of a little bit, because it's a little bit different to other movies in the slasher genre, mainly by virtue of the killer being like some sort of supernatural entity that takes their power from the film itself, right? So the only other movie I can think of that is probably similar is another Wes Craven film called Shocker. Have you seen that?
Matt:No, but I am aware of it.
Pete:Yeah, it was in 1989. So there might be some others. But I'm just trying to think if there were others like this, in the sort of like the slasher genre. But it seems sorry, Shocker seems to be the closest I can think of.
Matt:Yeah, and every time I do think of yeah, and like every time I do think of other movies that have a similar trait to it, where it is attached to that physical film type thing. Yeah, they tend to be a bit more modern after cut, but every time I throw it back to it I think like there are moments in it where I do think it's paying a little homage to the style, the make-up, I guess, of Nightmare on Elm Street with Freddy Krueger. Oh yeah, We'll talk about that a bit later. On.
Matt:Yeah yeah, but yeah, there are just those moments or kind of like a voodoo doll-type attachment. I'm sure there's a Stephen King movie that's like that or where there is that whole destroy the item to kill off the spirit.
Pete:Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's one of those things like it's obviously a curse, right. Yeah, yeah it's interesting seeing Stephen Curry in this film. He plays one of those sort of funny characters you see in a lot of these sort of movies. Right, he's the funny guy. It's really funny seeing him in this and then seeing him in something like the Castle.
Matt:He's kind of like the Jamie Kennedy of the movie yeah, that's it, that's it, that's perfect, yeah. So he kind of adds that whole, don't take it too seriously. It's like, oh, you know, get over it, it's fine, it's just a movie or whatever, especially the part where they're filming outdoors late at night and then like he's having a piss and then that kind of is like he's making fun of it.
Pete:Man, that piss. That's a thick stream. Oh yeah, I'm like someone behind him with a hose or something.
Matt:Oh, yeah, and, but how he just carries on while he's being startled by oh, our scary guy which is Scarman, yeah, and gee, I wonder where they got that name from. But yeah, there are just moments Stephen Curry is one of them where he is the comic relief but also can do a serious line or two if need be.
Pete:Yeah, yeah, that's true, that's true.
Matt:I also felt like that his parts were a little bit improvised A little bit.
Pete:Yeah, I think there might have been a little bit of improvising across the board maybe I actually thought the performances were pretty good on the whole. I didn't think. I think I kind of think Molly Ringwald wasn't too bad, but I still do think she was maybe slumming it a little bit and just sort of getting a payday and a trip to Australia, maybe.
Matt:Yeah, I'd say it's more or less the going into the theater to preview the screening of hot blooded, where he, her character, as she's coming in and straight up, who's smoking in here. It's like thinking I'm going oh yeah, you really are acting like that. I guess that's the purpose of the character, but it was just too over the top or it was proper, but then because of the Ocker Aussie, it's like, oh, she'll be right, mate, type comparison.
Pete:Yeah, she does say there's a whole stack of like small interviews with a lot of the cast on the Blu-ray and she kind of says that she enjoyed playing a part that is nothing like her in real life, like I think she was also trying to say she's not a bad person.
Matt:Yeah, trying to slam it up and be a bit more over the top.
Pete:Yeah, absolutely yeah, I thought she was pretty good in all in all. Um, yeah, I thought she was pretty good in all in all. Um, I actually thought the like, uh, the character of is it raffi? Um, I kind of liked. She's the director, I kind of liked her. She's probably one of the only people in the movie that have a little bit of an arc and a little bit of like a. You know there's a she her relationship. It's spoiling everything, right? So it turns out that she's the daughter of hillary jacobs, of kylie minogue's character at the start. Did you pick that up right?
Matt:yeah, yeah, they mentioned that.
Pete:Yeah, and there's there's a couple of hints. There's a hit at the start where she's said can you hear a voice, can you hear a voice? And it's kind of like she's said can you hear a voice, Can you hear a voice? And it's kind of like she's excited that she's heard a voice, sort of thing. And yeah, it's not a bad arc and she's not a bad actor, right? I don't think there was any really bad performances except, oh, the guy, what's the actor's name? The guy in the screening room, the projectionist.
Matt:Oh, I know the real guy's name, yeah he's terry or more, that's it.
Pete:That's it. He's really good. I've seen him well.
Matt:He's in a lot of stuff yeah, so it just feels like godinski's just gone. Uh, oh well, I like the castle. Oh, you know, I'll get stephen carrey and uh terry or more, to come on. It's like, oh yeah, it's cut. The horror comedy movie that's also the spirit cousin of the castle.
Pete:But his character is pretty good. He was like this sleazy kind of projectionist kind of guy that had all these you know says a lot of stuff and very, very clichéd. You know, up in his projector room he's got all the girly posters and all this sort of stuff.
Matt:You know what would have been brilliant If they incorporated Bruce Spence as their projectionist straight out of Hercules Returns. That would have been the icing on the cake.
Pete:Bruce Spence would have been a good projectionist in this movie. Yeah, he would have been a good projectionist in this movie. Yeah, he would have worked really well.
Matt:Use his character in that. That would be very meta yeah.
Pete:But yeah, I thought it was good. I thought the dialogue, you know, as I mentioned before, was funny. I don't know why, but those couple of exclamations of I fuck off and that sort of stuff kind of made me giggle. Some of the jokes didn't land. Yeah, I didn't think. I thought one part I wanted to talk about was the effects. I actually think the effects are good in this and the some of the kills are quite good, especially like the detective gets pushed in the back by the killer and trips down the stairs and is impaled on the garden yeah, and scarf man had the courtesy of you know, turning on the tap to wash away the blood but also close her eyes and a mouth close her mouth.
Pete:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So that was good to drown. The beheading was done pretty well.
Matt:I thought that was quite good yeah, so that a lot of it, um, I guess for its budget, um, or just being a low, uh budget slasher film, it did pretty good and it has somewhat stood the test of time. When you, when you especially don't have any major cgi stuff CGI stuff back then and there are moments where, when they eventually explain by the original director of Hot-Blooded saying that Scarman is the spirit of the film, so it's like they're just trying to explain oh, this is why he's around. And then when it's on fire or just where there's other bits and pieces going on being shot or coming down jumping down from like a second story, yeah, but all the blue screen behind it and everything and I'm going, oh all, right, here we go. But then when Skyman's talking, it's very, very ochre.
Pete:I've got a note about that. So, like, one of my criticisms of this film is that the killer Scarman, once he takes the mask off and everything, should never have opened his mouth to speak, because they try so hard to make him like an Aussie Freddy Krueger, yeah and he ends up sounding like some guy you run into down the pub an outback pub or something yes, like that, like you know, and that line doesn't make sense.
Pete:The whole line about, uh, I might have missed something, uh, but the whole bit about you know, I'm just a family man who's come here with my family or something like that. I remember it's stupid. I didn't make any sense of that and I just found that every time he opened his mouth there was no impact in what he said, because of his accent, I guess, and maybe the actor, I don't know, he didn't really sell it.
Matt:It was more or less like dialing it in, but it would have been more impactful if, say Scarman would go aye, you fucked cunt.
Pete:Yeah, something like that right Right. Something like that.
Matt:But they could have distorted his voice a bit more or make it more deep and impactful, but it doesn't sound like that. They re-recorded it ADR style or anything where you know out of screen where they've got the production or the EQ on it. It sounded like really raw on set. Yeah, it wasn't too intimidating.
Pete:No, it was just like you were talking to your mate in the pub yeah, yeah. But it would have been great if he'd sort of said I've got you now cunt, or something like that. Yeah, that would have been funnier. The other thing about this film, I guess, is that I know there's stakes in this movie, but there's no, doesn't seem to be, any real suspense in this movie. I didn't feel like there was much suspense in this film. You know, like that really came through. I just feel like the suspense wasn't really there. The music was good, but I don't feel like there was a lot of suspense. It didn't feel scary. You know it was still a slasher film, yeah, but it didn't have, I don't know, a lot of the stuff you would expect yeah, it was a bit tough.
Matt:You know, especially, um, when kylie's character is being killed off within the first 10 minutes. And then you know when she's being threatened by scar man and saying if you do anything or you get too close or whatever, you know I'm going to scream and he's going how will you scream if you don't have a tongue? So snip, snip with the weapon, which is a bizarre weapon too. It's like a huge shears or whatever, with like a circular, like a loop type thing. It's just like a combo of two or three tools in one where it's like oh, you can't get that down at Bunnings, can you?
Pete:No, I don't think so.
Matt:No, imagine if that's what they should have done. Well, I guess Bunnings didn't really exist back in when that movie came out, so they would have had to do some integration with bbc hardware might attend hardware house and go where you can actually click. You know it'll be. There'll be an awesome tool to attack your garden with, because it's guaranteed to kill humans and also the weeds in your garden.
Matt:The tool was quite interesting because it was it was a combination of like a long pair of shears and like a I can't remember the tools call but there's like a tool for cutting thick branches and stuff like that but that circular part, the half a circle in it, and yeah, anyway, they could show that that's part of it is when uh scar man reaches out to stab someone or slash and just to say, oh, it's like an arm cut or an abdomen cut, it's like, oh, so that's the only part it's good for for that just slightly out of reach attack. But hey, I'm going to cut you.
Pete:Yeah, yeah, it's good. It's good Trying to think of more stuff to talk about with this film.
Matt:I was going to say that tongue that was shown. Oh, kylie's good, it's good. Trying to think of more stuff to talk about with this film. I was going to say that tongue that was shown.
Pete:Oh, Kylie's tongue.
Matt:Kylie's tongue had a long future ahead in a Toohey's Extra Dry commercial.
Pete:I remember that ad.
Matt:You know that bush me.
Pete:Yeah, that's right. Yeah, that was a great ad. They should bring that one back. That was good.
Matt:Jessica Napier who plays the daughter. She was fantastic, so she took this role very seriously. It was just all the murders and the cast being killed off one by one, the fact that when they revealed that, it's like a piss-weak excuse, oh, scarman only exists because he's the combination of all the evil spirits behind the making of Hot-Blooded and you go all right, this is no Amityville horror-type thing where it's being possessed. So if it's just Hot-Blooded imagine listening to Hot-Blooded by a foreigner so it's got a. I hate to know the making of that song. If there was any horrible negativity in the studio In the studio yeah.
Matt:Yeah exactly.
Pete:I actually think they got the title all wrong. This title shouldn't have been cut. There's twice or three times he uses the term now you die and I'm like that would have been a much better title for the movie. I suppose cut works, but maybe now you die and I'm like that would have been a much better title for the movie. I suppose Cut works, but maybe Now you Die would have been better than Hot-Blooded.
Matt:Yeah, because.
Pete:Hot-Blooded's a pretty shit title for a horror movie.
Matt:Exactly, but then again it is a parody.
Pete:It is a parody.
Matt:Yeah, and I just love the cheesy 90s font of the Hot-Blooded stuff that you see on dirt-cheap DVD covers. Yeah, and also.
Pete:Yeah, that font was terrible.
Matt:Yeah, but Molly Ringwald, the American star which just dialed in from the obviously she needed the money had a holiday, as you mentioned made an appearance on Good News Week to help promote.
Pete:I saw that. I saw that when I was having coffee this morning. I watched that. Thank you for sending that through.
Matt:That's okay. But she just knew that, hey, I'm going to be here, I'm friends with Michael Gudinski and let's just do a thing. And you could just tell that she knew that it was going to be bad. But when there's scenes such as when she's driving the car in the cemetery and the whole one part trying to get the car to roll forward and then she keeps bunny hopping and goes oh, the steering wheel's on the wrong side, whatever, but the fact that her character was brought back to continue to finish the film, she has aged gracefully, because when you got someone who is like that 10-year gap between 10, 12, was it 10 or 12 years later after the original 10?
Pete:years, I think.
Pete:Yeah, so she looks exactly the same as she did 10 years beforehand although I think they tried to make her look a lot younger and my wife picked up may picked up that the scenes with her at the start of the movie, when she's playing the young girl, they're kind of very fuzzy and and kind of like, oh, it's a good way of kind of hiding that she's not as as young as she's supposed to be in the movie. You know, yeah, we've seen this a lot. As an aside, we've been working our way through SVU, you know that American show, the New York one. It's really interesting because obviously you can't have children playing a lot of these older parts and there's people in the movie that are supposed to be 17 or 18 years old, that are obviously about 25 or 26.
Matt:it's a bit like all those horror movies right, where they're supposed to be teenagers but they're all in their mid-20s I give them credit for one of the murders of uh, one of the um cast members um, when they're in the shed and there's the threat of the axe, the wood splitter.
Pete:Oh yeah, that was good.
Matt:Yeah, so eventually you just see the gory death off your off screen, but you just see a big splatter of blood against the window. Yeah, okay, cool, that's good.
Pete:Yeah, I like that because I'm thinking okay, that effect's probably too hard for them to do and also might not have got past the centres right. So I think that's one of those classic scenes where your brain fills in all the gaps much better than the film could.
Matt:Yeah, Just seeing the splatter of blood, yeah, but what about in the kitchen, though, where the girl's going? Oh no, please don't. You know, running around the kitchen bench type thing, trying to attack each other with the cast iron pan. Oh yeah, yeah, you know, scar man cuts her on the arm like a deep cut but still manages to throw her arm around without it falling off, and then gets cornered trying to open up the door but can't escape. But so, out of being freaked, freaked out, screaming her head off, and from the other side of the kitchen he throws his giant stabby tool and, you know, gets her right in the. Yeah, just, it was a hatchet it was a hatchet right and yeah, and just impales, oh oh sorry.
Matt:Yeah, the hatchet, yeah, but it's like you had that time to dodge, you know. You just decide to stand there and scream and there's a high chance that he's not going to hit his mark or you might get hit by the handle. But it's like, if you know, you do that natural flinch, it's like, oh shit, and then swing your body to the side or whatever, but that's a horror movie trope. So yeah, so I'm now pointing out all the major flaws. It's all. It's always good in hindsight it is.
Pete:I just don't know how she managed to get impaled on the door with her feet, leaving the ground with a hatchet. There's no way that hatchet could have got through her whole body and then hit the door strongly enough that she could stay impaled.
Matt:I'm sure that hatchet was from Demtil. Yeah, probably. Wait, there's more steak knives than a hatchet.
Pete:But it is a good look. I mean, I always had the same sort of thought, as much as I love the scene in. You've seen Halloween right, the original Halloween when Michael Myers impales I think the actor's name or the character's name is Bob on the wall in the kitchen with a knife and I'm like, no, I don't know if that knife would really hold his body up, but anyway, whatever, it looks cool.
Matt:Go all Mythbusters on it and get a butcher's appraisal on it. It's like, yeah, I don't think that's quite right. Yeah, and then also the director of the original, hot-blooded when he gets impaled, you know, through the neck, but he's still alive a bit later on, as Jessica Napier's burning all the film On the two police officers it's perfect to protect and you're shooting the first police officer you know waste all the rounds in the body. It's like go for the head, go for the legs, do the Ned Kelly and leg him out. But no, it's just like ha-ha, I'm about to die.
Pete:He just stood there and laughed at it. Yeah, it's like, oh yeah. But on the guy, I don't think he was the director, he was like the he was now. He was their lecturer or something at uni at the film school. Yeah, and I think previously he was Vanessa Molly Ringwald's character uh, assistant on the first film yeah but he gets the spear through the neck and then, then he actually pulls it out. Oh yeah, so wow.
Pete:So I asked my wife, who's a nurse is this possible? Right now she may not know, but she was like, well, if it didn't hit any major arteries or it didn't hit anything major in there, it's quite possible you could pull it out and not bleed to death, right?
Matt:Yeah, I can see that because that's the straightaway. I thought of that. I actually put my hand to my neck going, you just pulled it out and your arteries there's a few arteries in there, yeah, and there have been stories where people have been attacked or whatever, or had their injuries impaled on their neck and then managed to survive.
Pete:Yeah, yeah.
Matt:Because it's missed every major artery. So that's impressive, the fact that he's pulled it out, thrown it against Scarman. Then he still has the energy and maintenance to keep throwing the films into the fire, because the only way Scarman can be destroyed is destroy the film and man. That stuff takes so long to burn.
Pete:Takes so long to burn. I'm thinking she's throwing it in the car that the guy was in as well.
Matt:Yeah, exactly, exactly so, and yeah, it's just, it's funny. Yeah, it just, I guess, is where all the rest of the money they go. Oh, we better just use up all the budget and went into a face melt of Scarman. So looking like a gone from a Freddy Krueier down to a street type look of a melting candle of the guy in robocop that gets. Oh, yeah, yeah exactly that's right I think they're going all right.
Pete:We've got to juice up the horror a little bit, yeah I thought it was all right, though I think there was a bit of there was a bit of optical trickery in there and a bit of other stuff, but I thought it was all right. I thought it kind of worked a bit. It would have been better if, when he was on top of the director, her character, if he dripped more on her, it would have been more gross.
Matt:Oh yeah, and gets like permanently scarred or whatever.
Pete:Yeah, it would have been a bit more, it would have been a bit better that way, but you know, it was fine, it was totally fine.
Matt:Yeah exactly.
Pete:And then, talking about the end of the film, we've got this little epilogue at the end where you know you get these stories that come up on the screen about how Vanessa's, you know, recovered from this and this guy's recovered from this, and they go and visit Vanessa she's only in hospital and you think it's a happy ending. And then they have this tagged-on ending where it has to be in America, because it's like all these buildings and there's snow everywhere. So it's obvious, they make it so obvious that you're not in Australia anymore. And they've got another print of this film from God knows where and that's how the film ends. They're showing the film and just as the film starts, the woman that's presenting it sits down and Scarman appears behind her and we get like a freeze frame ending.
Matt:Yeah, but they emphasise oh, it is definitely the only copy left.
Pete:Yeah, but then there's another one. Yeah, piracy Must have been piracy.
Matt:Yeah, have you ever bought or rented a film?
Pete:it wasn't quite didn't seem quite right. This film didn't seem quite right, yeah, so yeah that's what they should have done with those.
Matt:Uh, the warnings, that's like at least scar man on you. That's what they should have done. Starman would have been more intimidating if they had Steve Britton do the voice.
Pete:You wouldn't steal a can of film.
Matt:Yeah.
Pete:The other thing. I thought the music was okay. In this there's obviously a lot of rock like heavy rock music, and I'm assuming that all the music on this were all Mushroom artists at the time.
Matt:Straight out of Liberation music. Yes.
Pete:Yeah, absolutely and obviously at the start. We've got a Crowded House song right at the beginning of the movie and I think they were Mushroom artists, am I right?
Matt:Oh, Split Ends, Split Ends not Crowded House.
Pete:Split Ends, split Ends. I forgot how.
Matt:Split Ends, sorry. And then there's a Groove Terminator song. Here comes another one.
Pete:Yeah, so they're all, obviously, you know, mushroom artists.
Matt:But I do like the way that they wrapped up in the closing credits where suddenly the mood changes to Apollo 440 can't stop the rock. I'm going oh, there's a throwback. I'm going, yeah, that doesn't really suit the style, yeah, yeah. Yeah, that doesn't really suit the style, but yeah, yeah, yeah, any. Uh.
Matt:Final thoughts on the film pure cheese and uh, first time watching it I actually gave it one and a half stars on my letterboxd, but I will revisit if I want a good laugh. So it is a um, it's a nice entry into those cheesy, osploitation-esque type Like it's proud, right next to them. So kind of like oh, what's the movie? The one that made me laugh was Turkey Shoot, so I'd say it'll be right next to that whole the budget of the animatronics and the violence, the gore, the graphics of an 80s film in a 90s story. But trying to I was trying to wrap it up to the noughties type thing. But yeah, I'll watch it again just for a good old laugh or something not to take seriously, maybe if I have a few drinks with it too.
Pete:That might help yeah.
Matt:Yeah.
Pete:For me it's a bit of an underrated slasher. I think it had an interesting story. Oh, hang on, he's going to say something else I do apologise for that clap.
Matt:That's all right, I just realised it's on par with Houseboat Horror.
Pete:Oh, there you go it's on par with houseboat horror. Oh, there you go, there's the link. Yeah, there's the link.
Matt:Houseboat horror is a little bit worse, yeah, but I'd say that it's like a 90s houseboat horror when it comes to the ghoul now.
Pete:If they just could have got gavin wood in there. Oh, he had the connections he could have been.
Matt:He could have been the projectionist yeah, oh, you'll watch this movie, you'll bar bar up You'll bar up. Anyway, Sorry everyone if every time I come onto this podcast and I always drop a Gavin Wood reference.
Pete:So yeah. So, as I was saying, it's a bit of an underrated slasher for me. It's got an interesting story characters. You know I'm watching for the duration of the film. Kills are done well, molly Ringwald rises a little above phoning it in. Um, it could be a bit more suspenseful and have a few more scares, but overall it's a pretty competent slasher that most fans of the genre will enjoy. So I gave it three directors tongues out of five. Oh nice, yeah. So it's funny because when I I had seen this obviously before and logged on Letterboxd before and I had it at two and a half and when I watched it again I was like no, this is a three for me.
Matt:I'd say, once I get more comfortable with the film I'll probably bump it up to maybe a two star or two and a half, but for right now one and a half, until I loosen up a bit about it.
Pete:I also think a lot of these films, like it's always, if you're a bit of a fan of the genre, you kind of enjoy them a little bit more and you kind of, if you're a horror fan, like I am, in general, you're a little bit more what's the word not accepting, I suppose a little bit more accepting of sort of stuff that's not done so well and pretty much you know, if you watch a lot of horror, you watch a lot of shit and you know to get to the good stuff you've got to watch a lot of shit, and some of the stuff that looks like it's a lot of shit is actually quite good. So you know it's worth a watch.
Matt:You know what I just realised? The most disappointing thing when we're talking about the music, right while Kylie Minogue was in it for 10 minutes and was the main point of the movie, there's not one Kylie Minogue song in.
Pete:Which is interesting because, like she's a mushroom artist or she was at the time anyway- yeah, exactly.
Matt:So I guess it's like one or the other have me for 10 minutes or have a song, or license a song?
Pete:Was she even in it for 10 minutes?
Matt:really, yeah, I'm clutching at straws there.
Pete:I think she's like in maybe three minutes, four minutes. Yeah, like not much, but anyway she has a go.
Matt:Yeah, good on her.
Pete:Good on her, she did it for Gudinski. Yeah, exactly, anyway, so that's cut, matt. Firstly, what are you up to, and with both your podcast and your website?
Matt:Well, first of all, podcast Champagne Comedy podcast talk about anything Working Dog related, reviewing their projects and stuff. When you're listening to this, we're recording it on the final day of 2024, but we will. The Champagne Comedy Podcast is returning for 2025 and we start reviewing Season 3 of Frontline. So that starts in February 2025. And if you're listening to this way after that time, then we have reviewed Frontline Season 3 and probably more stuff, and also my Geek Culture. It's just mygeekculturecomau. I've got to make sure I plug that properly. It's just random content of trying to be of Australian content. Really Recently, I documented a trip to the US, did you?
Pete:really.
Matt:So it was quite fun bumping into an Aussie as well who loves his Aussie films there. So I ran into him in Las Vegas and, yeah, he was from Melbourne, I can't remember his name. So yeah, and a few other podcasters as well, which I plugged Dingo, ate my Movie as well. So apparently I'm good friends with Steve Irwin and Paul Hogan.
Pete:Oh, really, that's what all Americans think about Australians. So yeah, I'm good friends with Steve Irwin and Paul Hogan. Oh, really, that's what all Americans think about Australians.
Matt:So yeah, I'm doing that, but this year or the new year with my Geek Culture, I'm trying to. I'm planning to recap some not podcast form but in written form some stuff with some Australian comedy TV shows which are really popular. I won't mention the names, but if you go to the website, bookmark it, you'll start seeing articles popping up eventually.
Pete:Good stuff. Well, thank you so much for your time, matt. It's great to have you back on again Now. I know we're working on a bit of a project for the future and hopefully we'll get that happening fairly soon. It was going to be today's episode until I forgot that we had discussed we had discussed doing it as like a joint venture kind of thing that we are working on that. Let's release it separately, but I forgot about it too.
Matt:I just you will do this, and then it's like yeah then I'm like, oh yeah, that's right, yeah, yeah, so it's usually that we're keen on doing it.
Pete:We'll get it done. We need to get it done, so, so we need to do it, because I was going to put I wanted to put it out this year, so we'll have to do it this year.
Matt:So uh, it's a hint, pete will eventually uh feature on my podcast for a particular thing so that's, there's a, there's a hint.
Pete:Yes, yeah, telling you dream it yeah anyway. So thanks so much for coming on and look forward to having you again in the future. Might I'll try and find a better movie besides the one we're going to do together. I'll think of a try and find a better movie.
Matt:It wasn't a bad movie, it was so bad, it was good Well it's good, but then now, the more that I talk about it, the more I'm really starting to appreciate it a bit more, and I'll lie if I say I'll try to watch it tonight.
Pete:No.
Matt:Well, maybe if I start watching it at about 11.30 tonight, New Year's Eve, and then continue watching it until the new year, then I've watched the movie over two years. You could say that.
Pete:Yeah, or you could do one of those weird things where you try and time it.
Matt:that Kylie Minogue's character gets murdered on the stroke of midnight or something. Oh, perfect yeah.
Pete:Yeah, excellent. Thank you so much, matt, for coming on. Thank you very much, peter, and when we return we'll talk about what's coming up next.
Matt:And now preview time.
Pete:When it comes to entertainment, you can't beat a good film, so let's take a look at what's coming your way. In our next episode, I'm joined again by Tab and we'll be talking about 1994's comedy-drama Muriel's Wedding. You're terrible, muriel, really looking forward to that one. Thanks for listening to this episode of A Dingo Ate, my Movie. If you enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to rate and review the show on Apple Podcasts. It really helps more people find us. You can also find more episodes and info over at dingo movie pod dot com. We're also on socials Blue Sky, facebook and Instagram under Dingo movie podcom. We're also on socials blue sky Facebook and Instagram under dingo movie pod. Are you interested to hear the music from the films we talk about? Check out our playlists on Spotify and Apple music. Just search a dingo at my movie and if you'd like to support the show, you can buy me a coffee over a. Buy me a coffeecom. Dingo movie pod. Thanks again and I'll see you next episode. Cut, cut, cut, cut it cut.
