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Not Quite Hollywood (September 29/09)

Not Quite Hollywood is an audacious, in-your-face documentary detailing the glut of exploitation films that were produced in Australia during the '70s and early '80s, with a particular emphasis on the sexually adventurous and brutally horrific fare that essentially spawned the film industry down under.

Director Mark Hartley has infused Not Quite Hollywood with an over-the-top sensibility that certainly suits the subject matter, as the filmmaker peppers the proceedings with quick cuts, big explosions, and a relentless pace that ultimately becomes somewhat exhausting. There just reaches a point at which one can't help but feel that the whole thing is just too much, although - admittedly - one does walk away from the proceedings with a pretty in-depth understanding of the so-called "Ozploitation" subgenre.

Hartley offers up interviews with a whole host of talking heads, from the actors who worked on the films to the critics who reviewed them, yet there's little doubt that the scene-stealer here is Quentin Tarantino. The excitable auteur offers up his thoughts on a myriad of thoroughly obscure movies, and one subsequently can't help but walk away from Not Quite Hollywood wanting to actually sit down and watch some of these long forgotten efforts.

out of

About the DVD: Not Quite Hollywood arrives on DVD courtesy of Mongrel Media, and boasts an impressive anamorphically-enhanced transfer, along with a fairly substantial lot of bonus features. First up is a commentary track featuring director Mark Hartley and the Ozploitation Auteurs (Brian Trenchard-Smith, Antony I. Ginnane, John D. Lamond, David Hannay, Richard Brennan, Alan Finney, Vincent Monton, Grant Page, and Roger Ward). Next is an extensive selection of deleted and extended scenes, as well as a series of interviews (ie Quentin Tarantino interviews Brian Trenchard-Smith). The disc also includes funding pitches from Tarantino and Lamond, an image gallery, and the film's theatrical trailer. (Of course, this being a Mongrel title, English subtitles are frustratingly absent.)
© David Nusair