 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1982 film Turkey Shoot and is this really horror? I mean it kind of is yes, but there are a lot of films kind of like this that just get thrown into that kind of Horror-ish realm and it's on shutter when I'm doing this review. So just know you can check it out there Now this is a Brian Trenchard Smith film and if you don't know about Brian Trenchard Smith He's actually cited as being Quentin Tarantino's favorite all-time director So if that doesn't get your interest or at least make you perk up a little bit to look into it I don't know what to tell you But he's done mainly a bunch of B movie stuff And I actually have his book that he put out not long ago that my wife graciously got me for my birthday Called Adventures in the B movie trade, which I hear is really well written He goes into detail about a lot of the films he's done. So I'm sure there's something in there about Turkey Shoot I will be reading that at some point, but it's apparently very funny as well So I've just been very interested to get into it now This was actually the second time I've watched Turkey Shoot the first experience with the film I think is always the best because you really aren't ready for the level that it kind of like ratchets up with the violence And especially the kills like the practical effects and how they pull the kills off because with the very first kill You just get this idea I'm just gonna be totally disappointed in this film because this kill looks so stupid And I think maybe the kill after that's kind of dumb too But then they just start like moving it up and it has this grand finish and that's why it's so much better Just see the first time still enjoyable on the second watching but the first definitely better So like I said, it's directed by Brian Trenchard Smith And he's done some other films such as Dead and Drive-In, which is in my stack of movies back here I need to watch it and we'll do a review on that Knight of the Demons 2, Leprechaun 3 and Leprechaun 4 in space That's just some that people will probably know him for he's done a ton of films though Written by John George who wrote scripts for The Final Terror and Don't Talk to Strangers and Neil D. Hicks who also worked on The Final Terror Don't Talk to Strangers, but additionally Dead Reckoning Haven't seen any of those. The film actually bombed in the United States and Australia, which is where it was filmed But apparently it did so well and actually set some records in the UK That it actually made up for a lot of the money that it lost in the US and in Australia, so Okay, and that's the thing about a lot of these films that it's so weird to see where they just bomb in one country and they go amazingly in another country and it just It just goes to show how important kind of international distribution really can be Because if you can't make your money here, you can potentially make it there But anyway, so the big name in this is Olivia Hussie Obviously best known by us porn nerds for her role in the original Black Christmas film, which is an amazing amazing slasher film I think it's considered the first slasher film But is an amazing film if you haven't seen the original Black Christmas, please Although I'm sure majority of you watching this have just saying so apparently she didn't have a great time with this film Apparently she was very on edge the whole time very anxious very afraid because filming in Australia She was kind of afraid of the creatures in Australia and how there are a bunch of You know poisonous things there and they were doing a lot of shooting as you can see in the film kind of out in nature Like jumping into rivers and going through the woods and going through this big cane field So you're not necessarily going to see what's right there You know stepping on a poison the snake or coming across a poison a spider or you know things like that So she was very on edge apparently for the entire film for that reason and it was a terrible Experience for her another one of the things is the nude scene for her in the shower like the communal shower at the reeducation camp she It was a body double obviously which usually you can really tell in films if it's a body double doing new nude scene because they cut The head off obviously if they're showing the head and the body it's obviously that person if they're cutting the head off It is most likely a body double So she really didn't want to do the nude scene so they got her a body double now apparently in some memoirs that she Wrote later on in life She actually Lamented that she should have just done the nude scene because she feels strongly that the body double they chose had not as Attractive a body as her so apparently she now looks back and says man I really wish I would have done that nude scene in turkey shoot because my body looked a lot better than what people were Thinking my body was watching that film. So just kind of an interesting thing. You don't really hear that all that often The nude scenes by the way that kind of like communal shower scene where is that there are a bunch of nude people in the shower that was actually filmed at a local communal hip Sorry local hippie commune In Australia and so yeah, none of those people. I don't think we're actually in the film other than just that scene Because of budget issues the shooting schedule for this film was moved from 44 days to 30 days Additionally, they ended up having to cut the first 15 pages of the script out And they cut out a helicopter chase scene that was originally in the film And I think that was about like seven hundred thousand dollars that ended up getting dropped Almost right before they're about to start filming because one of the investors apparently got cold feet pulled out last minute So they were like, uh, we have a lot less of a budget got to cut some stuff The opening montage of this actually gives you a really good idea about there being kind of authoritarian rule throughout the world Because they give you shots of all these different countries kind of giving you the idea of either it's maybe Individual authoritarian rule in all these places or it's one global authoritarian rule Which would make sense for what the camp the reeducation camp kind of feels like and the fact that it's on an island that you might find out much later but um I think they did a good job by throwing that by showing that kind of unrest in the streets that you know the world is Is going to hell basically and there's a there authoritarian rule and that sets it up for You just falling into this premise of this reeducation camp and just being like, okay I understand I get it, you know, they kind of go hand in hand Uh, the the reeducation camp is for behavior modification to make people conform through force It's something that you get up front pretty early. So you know that it's not going to be a very pleasant time Uh, and I like how the guy at the camp can't stop cracking his whip when they first get there the initial three people Paul chris and I forget the blond's name She lives pretty long a lot longer than I actually assumed she was going to end up living But uh, she's the one who gets it in the end with all the stabs of the arrow from The female rich person who's on the turkey shoot Um, which I wish they would have had that on camera because they did a lot of other good stuff So I don't know But anyway So the guy when they first get there who just keeps cracking is the whip It's just like we have this bull whip. We really want to use it as much as possible in this film So he just keeps like cracking the whip. It got a little annoying in my opinion The guys playing chess and drinking while talking about competition Sets up the theme of the rich and powerful playing with the lives of other people. This is actually something that's really Ben I don't want to say played to death but played a lot in film because I think it always works really The rich versus everyone else basically and this sets it up really well with that intro of the guys, you know Sipping on their, you know bourbon or cognac or scotch or whatever they're sipping on While they're playing this large game of chess and then talking about competition And then checking the monitors with these prisoners and talking about the upcoming turkey shoot and who they're gonna pick basically to Go out and hunt So, uh, it sets it up very well They are clearly the villains because nobody likes the rich especially not when they act like that And it's pretty timeless actually to have them as the villains because There's always rich people and they're always doing bad things They set up the idea that paul is a formidable opponent Uh to the establishment because he's escaped from a bunch of reeducation camps before That's kind of a bit of dialogue that gets said in the beginning when he's uh welcomed by Welcomed by thatcher the guy who runs the reeducation camp He kind of makes comment about how he's slipped his way out of other reeducation camps So it gives you this idea that he's supposed to be this badass That if and when he gets out that he's gonna be a formidable opponent and they'll have the opportunity To fight back basically Which is what happens So ridder the very large guard in this film Uh almost punching the woman that's kind of like his big introduction to the film like Doing psychological terror to the woman. I guess is what he's doing Where she's standing there like trying to recite things and he's like almost punching her I just think that's a really funny scene Until it gets to the point where he's just like slapping the crap out of her and picking her up and throwing her down And then it just gets to be like, oh, wow, this is that Escalated very fast But it gives you the idea of how brutal how terrible this camp is not sure they really needed to go there But you know, it was the 80s They were doing that The cage with the weight that you have to hold up is an interesting Torture device that they show in this and I think it goes to show, you know, kind of that next level as well of not only how uh, how um brutal things are there, but also how Uh, inventive these people are and because they're getting inventive at coming up with things like this It shows a level of enjoyment in causing the pain and torment of these people there that obviously it's not actually For re-educating people, you know, modifying their behavior. It's really for just being sadistic and Doing terrible things to people because that's what's getting these people off basically I like the character of dodge in this, you know, the guy with the red hair and like His eyes are gigantic because of his glasses glasses. Um, he's pretty nuts as a character You feel like you kind of never really know what he's going to do because he's obviously Uninged with the way that he acts I love the moment of them, you know, kind of gutting fish and he just like eats some of the guts right out of the fish I think that's a particularly funny moment, but I just love his character They try to push chris and paul together romantically a little bit in the beginning It seemed like and that seemed really forced So i'm actually glad that they didn't seem to really stick with that as much as the film progresses It feels like they kind of backed away from it But for a little bit there, it seemed like they were kind of trying to push them together And it just didn't feel right. It didn't feel natural. It was dumb. So i'm glad it kind of didn't really go there in the end During the gasoline ball game They make sure to show the satisfaction on the faces of the rich people who are watching The one where the guy who had escaped and then was brought back had those balls of gasoline and they Eventually light them on fire Yeah, they make a very big point of the rich people the people in power They're showing their satisfaction with what's going on just again kind of showing the level of how sadistic They are and how much enjoyment they get out of these horrible things What's with the wolf man? It's a very left field thing. I think his name was alf is what he was called by the one hunt turkey shoot hunter guy um Just like a hairy dude with fangs Like a man beast basically He reminded me of the island of dr. Moreau basically like I feel like he was just like plucked out of that piece of Literature and thrown into this but it's it's a very left field thing. It's weird But that's part of the charm of this film like there's some left field weird stuff, but it's fun The score is crazy 80 synth and I really dig it I love that type of score for this time period and it goes there and it goes Beyond in my opinion, but I like it Alf ripping off dodge's toe and eating it Funny, I love that moment. I think that's one of the funniest scenes in my opinion Where they were kind of like, oh, we're gonna break his ankle. We're gonna do this We're gonna do that and he's and then he just like Tears his toe off and eats it and I'm just like, of course, of course, Alf would do that He's crazy Checkoffs exploding arrow crossbow. We saw it now. We got to see it in action Yes, that's one of the things like there are a bunch of things in this film that they show it Initially as like a tease and then you're like, yes, this will come in later It's a whole check offs gun type thing like the exploding arrow crossbow the kind of like Front end load is that no, it's not front and the like bulldozer thing that the other guy has You know, these things are teased Alf himself actually is like a creature like he's basically teased So he's got to get used as well Um, so yeah, they set it up and then they deliver on it basically Dodge's death is awful And once that happens, you think it's all going to be disappointing But that makes a surprise of the other kills so much better. So part of me thinks that they intentionally made dodge's death really stupid Because they planned on Gradually ramping things up with the other deaths until they get to the really awesome deaths at the very end So I think they were going for that kind of surprise wow factor as things kept building And I like that especially for like I said my first viewing of the film The spiked log trap is unexpected and a really cool moment And that's the moment that you know Paul legitimately has a chance Like I said, it was teased that he had gotten out before now with the log trap thing You see that he has survival skills and that he's very Crafty and innovative and he can rig things up like that So he's obviously got more than a little bit of a chance more of a chance than anyone else who was out there Alf getting cut in half is funny and the practical effects actually look good When they cut back and they show just like the bottom half of his body kind of drop down Really cool good gore to that one Love that scene. Uh, that's where it starts to get good with the kills I was just like that's the that's the first one that really surprised me. I was like, oh, okay And then you got more and more and I felt like they kept one upping themselves They definitely cover a lot of ground during turkey shoot as far as like actually adventuring across a lot of land and water And I think that's cool. I like that aspect of it. It makes it seem more adventurous It makes you feel like the film's really going places Legitimately covering a lot of ground and it's fun Um, it's just supposed to be a big reveal when Chris and Paul find out they're on an island That's a big that's supposed to be a big moment It doesn't really feel like a big moment because I think that most people watching the film would just kind of assume that um They're not going to make it anywhere really anyway like With the very beginning intro like you get the idea like I was saying that it's authoritarian rules So like even if they were to actually get away, how long could they be outside of one of these re-education camps? I mean Paul himself has proven to be a very formidable opponent Yet he's been caught many many times because how else would he he have broken out of all these other re-education camps? so how far are they actually going to get so The island reveal is supposed to be this like oh no moment But it's really not because they set enough up for people to just assume that things aren't going to go well Even if they get away The hand chop is wonderful Especially with the touch of the twitching finger holding the gun that nice little touch is just that twitching finger Well, it's severed and the fact that they show both the hands severed from the body I really like that now apparently when they were shooting that scene uh, the uh trenchord smith had actually yelled cut at one point and uh, Olivia hussy apparently Construed what he meant and she thought he meant cut isn't like swing and she actually almost cut Uh, the actor's hand off the guy who plays ridder apparently. That's what I read. I don't know. That's what I've heard so wow Because it was a real Machete and you can tell that if you're watching the automated gun turrets That they have at the re-education camp those things suck. They have horrible aim They have the aim of the kill bots in chopping mall literally They they shoot so many bullets every single one of them miss until The nameless characters come out and then some of them get hit with it but it's uh The other thing is like they totally miss paul and chris when they're in that vehicle Every single shot even though they're shooting a lot And they're going slow like that's the thing like these turrets are the worst turrets ever and I don't don't understand Why they're there if they're that bad with aim because like I said paul and chris were moving very slowly Maybe they weren't calibrated properly. I don't know The exploding arrow stabbing with the head uh head blowing up is pretty great I love that scene obviously when chris Uh gives that woman a taste of her own medicine and rams it into her face and boom exploding head That's another one of those great kills really enjoy that one The chaos at the end is shot and directed pretty well actually keeps you very engaged And that's what I was talking about. It's like this big grandiose finish It feels awesome and just get you hyped up It gets you excited like the scale of this kind of fighting that's going on back and forth Is it feels grand and it works really well. I feel And the best part of the film when thatcher's head gets blown up by the high caliber machine gun Bullets that paul is shooting Wow, I mean I did not see that coming especially practical effects to that degree even though there were some other good ones in it But that was the piece de resistance Awesome awesome way to kind of end things with that film really love it And they really went big Like I said, they really went big in the end and I think it makes The slowness in the beginning kind of all worth it at that point Because I feel like they spent a little bit too much time just kind of like hanging out at the reeducation camp not a ton You know not too too much but a little bit too much so But overall it was a good time Uh, this film is basically a take on the 1924 short story the most dangerous game by richard connell Which actually has been used many times Uh with other, you know other pieces of literature movies You name it, uh tons and tons of stuff So it's just kind of their own take the writer's own take on the most dangerous game Which is just basically about hunting people Yeah Freedom is obedience obedience is work work is life That's what i'm going to leave it with because that is the quote of this reeducation camp Which is set a few times so it kind of like really gets ingrained in your head Which I assume is what they're doing with the prisoners there So I just found that to be a good quote for a very dystopian situation So anyway out of five stars with half stars in play for this film Um, I'm gonna give it three and a half stars. I was between three and three and a half But I'm bumping it up to three and a half because of how It ratchets things up with the kills and the practical effects in the end And then how it just has that grand finish. I really enjoy this film. I think it's very underrated I think a lot of people don't even know about it So do your part and tell your friends to watch turkey shoot because it's been on shutter for a while And it's still on shutter at least when i'm putting this review up So yeah, but I would love to hear your opinions on turkey shoot. Go ahead and put it in the comments Let's talk about it And do me a quick favor hit the subscribe button if you have not already It really helps to motivate me to keep doing these reviews because you know sometimes it feels like Oh man, I'm doing another one. 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