PEDESTRIAN.TV has teamed up with Brollie to celebrate Aussie cinema.
Have you felt a little lost since Halloween? Itching for a little jump scare? Desperate to piss your pants?
Well, boy, can we help you out. A new and completely free Aussie streaming service just dropped. It’s called Brollie and is the baby of Aussie indie film distributor Umbrella Entertainment, so that means access to heaps of local gems. And if there is one thing Aussie cinema nails, it’s a horror flick.
Of course, there are stacks of iconic movies made Down Under, but there is something about local horror that just hits so hard. Maybe it’s the familiarity of the locations or the actor who sounds like old mate down the street, but safe to say, they know how to inflict fear.
So, here’s a bunch that scare the shit out of me, if you also love that.
Cut
Kylie Minogue didn’t just act her heart out in Neighbours, she slayed it in this slasher, too. The flick follows a cast and crew working on a horror movie called Hot Blooded, when a masked killer murders the director. Then, every time the incomplete movie gets screened, someone dies. Years later, a bunch of students try to finish the movie but start disappearing one by one. It also stars Molly Ringwald – huge!
Next of Kin
Apparently, Quentin Tarantino loves this one despite the lack of feet scenes. Huge. Anyhoo, it’s a psychological horror following a gal named Linda (Jacki Kerin) who inherits a mansion in the country that is now a retirement home. As Linda reads her mother’s old diaries, some of the weird stuff that happened in them starts happening to her IRL. We’re talking about hearing voices and lights turning on by themselves. It’s kind of like The Shining or The Conjuring, so enjoy the ensuing nightmares, folks!
Razorback
Look, when you hear the plot for this 1984 flick, it sounds more funny than scary — but you better believe it gets tense. It’s kind of like Jaws but instead of water, it’s the Aussie outback, and instead of a shark it’s a whopping wild pig. The boar is enormous. Must be watched to be believed.
The Tunnel
This one is particularly spine-chilling for Sydneysiders like me. This one is about a film crew too, (don’t go into film, I guess?) that goes into the abandoned train tunnels underneath Sydney’s CBD after learning about a government cover-up. Obviously, when they get down there, all hell breaks loose and it feels ALL TOO real as you watch it unfold from the doco crew’s camera. You literally have to remind yourself it’s fake. Good luck.
Road Games
Back in 1981, Jaimee Lee Curtis played a backpacking hitchhiker chased by a killer in this Aussie road trip horror. Slay! Literally! The movie follows Pat (Stacey Keach) a truck driver transporting a load of pigs from Melbourne to Perth who becomes obsessed with tracking this murderer. On a less scary note, Pat has a pet dingo for peak Aussie vibes and I hope the rest of the world assumed we all had ’em as pets in the 80s.
Body Melt
This sci-fi horror follows a peaceful little suburb where residents are unknowingly being used as test subjects for a drug. Unfortunately for the folks in Pebbles Court, the drug in question causes bodies to decompose quickly. We’re talking super gooey and gory scenes with melting skin and slow deaths. Yikes. It’s a star-studded cast but the highlight has gotta be Ian Smith. If that name doesn’t ring a bell, the face sure will — Ian played sweet old Harold on Neighbours for a mammoth 28 years. And turns out, the king has range, playing a mad scientist in this fever dream of a flick.
You can watch all these horrors (and more local Aussie films) for free on Brollie now.
Image: Cut/The Tunnel