James Elliott Movies
- 1982
This is a low-budget horror movie about a psychopathic gardener with a penchant for killing off young women, undoubtedly due to some twisted psycho-sexual malfunction that leads him to rape his first victim before drowning her in a fish tank. His second female victim is dispatched when she catches sight of him carrying off corpse #1. Victim #3 is targeted -- she is the sister of #1 -- but she manages to escape into a beach house as a temporary defense of sorts. Meanwhile, two security police spot the demonic psycho trying to smash into the house, and when they go to capture him, one is killed and the other battles the psycho in a swimming pool. Just when the end seems near, however, the crazed killer rises again -- the menace, it seems, has not been laid to rest. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Chard Hayward, Louise Howitt, (more)
- 1978
- R
In order to raise the money for his "breakthrough" film Breaker Morant, Australian director Bruce Beresford dashed off the guaranteed audience pleaser Money Movers. Terence Donovan masterminds a bank-vault heist that will potentially net his gang 20 million Australian dollars. The scheme predictably goes sour, but this conclusion is reached via a most unexpected fashion. Ed Devereaux, best known to American audiences for his leading-man gig on the TV series Skippy, the Bush Kangaroo, is second billed as "Dick Martin" (no, not the American TV-comic Dick Martin). Money Movers was based on a novel by Devon Minchin. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Terence Donovan, Ed Devereaux, (more)
- 1978
In this fact-based drama, when Stephen Walls (Nathan Dawes), a four-year old, goes missing in the outback near his home in rural Australia, the population of the entire town (and several nearby towns) turns out to search for him. Unfortunately, they raise such a ruckus that they scare the little tyke, and he hides himself even more thoroughly. For four days, the townsfolk search for him, and during that time, the lad not only avoids capture, but begins to thoroughly enjoy his dangerous game of hide-and-seek. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
Mel Gibson made his feature-film debut in this low-budget Australian teen drama that chronicles the exploits of a quartet of boys who leave Sydney and head out for a weekend of surfing and adventure. Unfortunately the fun takes a serious turn when they find themselves involved in a murder. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1974
A popular Australian soap opera provides the basis of this melodrama. No. 96 is the name of an apartment building. In each flat there is a story, these stories, like neighbors, are soon intertwined into a tangled skein emotion, intrigue, betrayal, and lust. Fortunately everything is all straightened out at the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Ned Kelly (Mick Jagger) is the legendary outlaw of the Australian outback sought by authorities for stealing horses. At age 20, Ned has already served a three-year prison term at hard labor. When Ned's mother (Clarissa Kaye) is arrested and jailed on a bogus murder charge, Ned offers to surrender in exchange for his mother's freedom. When the authorities refuse, the Kelly brothers go on a robbing rampage. Cornered by the law in a saloon, Ned's brothers commit suicide rather than be taken alive. Shel Silverstein wrote the music performed by Waylon Jennings, Jagger and Glen Tomasetti. Australian folk songs are also included in this story taken from a popular 19th-century ballad. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Allan, Claire Balmford, (more)
- 1943
This unique wartime propaganda drama is a film within a film; one of those films is Russian-director Sergei Eisenstein's silent masterpiece Potemkin. The other film provides a loose framework for the other and represents a Russian freedom fighter's attempts to inspire his dispirited, flagging troops by telling an exciting tale of his stint on the great Russian vessel during the revolution. As he tells his story, Eisenstein's film, with the addition of dubbed dialog and sound effects is shown. The enthralled troops find the freedom fighter's tale such an inspiration that they resume their plans to free their home village from the Nazis with renewed vigor. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Henry Hull, Aline MacMahon, (more)
