Mark Gerber Movies
A couple looking for their dream home discover they've moved into a nightmare instead in this psychological thriller. Peter (John Adam) and Julie (Rebecca Gibney) are a husband and wife who've done well in business and are looking to buy a new home. They find a cozy place in an excellent neighborhood which is going for a very reasonable price because the house needs to major renovation on the inside. Peter and Julie are briefly taken aback when the learn about the history of the house -- the elderly woman who last lived there died in the house and her husband vanished under mysterious circumstances -- but they decide to take the place anyway. However, while stripping the walls for new paint and paper, they discover a strange and troubling stain on one wall, in the shape of a man trying to crawl up to the ceiling for safety. Even more alarming, Peter's personality begins to shift, and Rebecca wonders if the spirits of the previous tenants have claimed control of the body of her husband. 13 Gantry Row was originally produced for Australian television; Mark Wareham's excellent camera work received an award from the Australian Cinematographers Society in 1999. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Adam, Mark Gerber, (more)
Sex, religion, and morality are the key ingredients in this Australian comedy set in the 1930s. Rev. Anthony Campion (Hugh Grant) is a liberal, forward-thinking Anglican priest who is sent on an unusual assignment. Norman Lindsay (Sam Neill) is a popular and highly controversial artist whose paintings often feature voluptuous nude women; his latest major exhibition is to feature a work called The Crucified Venus, which depicts a naked female impaled on a cross. Outraged, the Anglican Bishop of Sydney wants Campion to visit Lindsay and persuade him to remove the work from his show. Rev. Campion and his wife, Estella (Tara Fitzgerald), travel to Lindsay's Blue Mountain estate, where the artist is hard at work with a bevy of lovely nude models in tow, including Sheela (Elle MacPherson), Giddy (Portia de Rossi), and Pru (Kate Fischer). The Reverend is quietly appalled by the open sensuality of Lindsay's household, and Estella is mortified; they're even more upset when Lindsay calmly but firmly refuses to remove The Crucified Venus from his show. However, the longer the Campions stay with Lindsay in hopes of changing his mind, the more they find themselves drawn into the sensuous pleasures of his world. Sirens was based on an actual incident and Norman Lindsay was a real artist of the period (his life was depicted in the film Age of Consent, in which he was played by James Mason). But audiences were probably less interested in art and cultural history than in the opportunity to see supermodel Elle MacPherson appear undraped; she also gives a fine and charming comic performance, as do Hugh Grant and Tara Fitzgerald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, (more)
