Matthew Sunderland Movies
Actor Matthew Sunderland specialized in burly, slightly menacing onscreen characters, typically in films produced in his native New Zealand. High-profile parts included that of Gustov the Strongman in Florian Habicht's surrealistic Brothers Grimm cinematization, Woodenhead (2003), and (as Sunderland's first major lead and his premier international crossover success) gun nut-turned-mass murderer David Gray in Robert Sarkies' visceral crime drama Out of the Blue (2006). ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
A Kiwi commando comes face-to-face with a diabolical evil after following a woman's screams into a massive German bunker just hours before D-Day in this supernatural shocker from New Zealand. Pulled off course by powerful currents, Captain Ben Grogan and Sergeant Joseph Tane eventually manage to reach the Channel Islands, and embark on a clandestine mission to take out some heavy German artillery. Their explosives in place, the soldiers are caught off guard by a petrified German soldier beating a hasty retreat, and hear the desperate cries of a woman locked somewhere deep in the fortress. Determined to rescue the woman from a cruel fate at the hands of her Nazi captors, Captain Grogan races inside and stumbles into the aftermath of a grisly massacre. The only survivors are a secretive Nazi officer and a woman of otherworldly beauty. Now, on the eve of a defining battle, one New Zealand soldier will find out that evil really does walk the earth, and that it possesses power beyond human comprehension. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Matthew Sunderland, Craig Hall, (more)
- 2008
A man whose life has finally hit bottom tries to crawl back up to respectability, but few believe he can carry the weight in this drama from New Zealand. Gary Cradle (Gareth Reeves) is a loser in his late twenties who still lives with his father, can't hold a job and spends his days in a haze of marijuana and amphetamines. Gary's lack of self-esteem is fueled by his family's distrust of him and the fact his friends are just as unreliable as he is. When Denis (Matthew Sunderland), Gary's drug dealer (who also happens to be his ex-brother in law) refuses to extend him credit, he decides to raise some cash by robbing his next door neighbor, Mrs. Esckleson (Darien Takle); the heist goes horribly wrong, and Gary rapes the woman in the midst of the confusion. In the aftermath of the crime, Gary is shocked by his own actions and makes a decision to change his life. Gary gives up drugs, gets a job at a hamburger stand, and tries to mentor his nephew, whose mother makes a living as a prostitute. However, Gary's family is wary of his attempts to turn over a new leaf, and his friends aren't sure what to make of his new dedication to a clean life. A Song of Good was an official selection at the 2008 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Starring:
- Gareth Reeves, Ian Mune, (more)
Out of the Blue, New Zealand writer-director Robert Sarkies' long-awaited follow-up to his 1999 feature debut, Scarfies, recreates the events that led up to and surrounded David Gray's November 13, 1990 mass murder of 13 locals in the town of Aramoana, New Zealand. Sarkies, however, approaches the material not as exploitation nor as an action picture, but -- like Terrence Malick in his 1973 true crime picture Badlands -- as an understated and detached drama. Sarkies uses a contemplative and reflective approach and a small-town pace and resists gratuitousness, intersecting several tales of casualties and survivors and downplaying the brutal violence. One story involves the contentious relationship between fiftysomething Jim (Timothy Bartlett) and his mother (Lois Lawn); another has a mom, Julia Anne (Tandi Wright) informing her daughter Rewa (Jacinta Wawatai) and her beau's children that they plan to share a house; and in a third, eccentric gun nut David Gray (Matthew Sunderland) cracks and guns down Julia's boyfriend, Gerry (Simon Ferry), in cold blood. These only represent the first three threads in a complex narrative tapestry; the story ultimately gives way to tense hours as the locals, realizing that a predator is on the loose and will kill anyone he can find, barricade their homes and cower in fear. Cinematographer Greig Fraser gives the picture a chilly, wintry aesthetic, rich with whites and blues. The film co-stars Karl Urban; Graeme Tetley co-authored the script with Sarkies. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Karl Urban, Matthew Sunderland, (more)
- 2003
New Zealander Gregory King writes and directs the painfully realistic drama Christmas, starring mostly nonprofessional actors. Shot with digital video, the film follows a lower-middle-class working family during the few weeks before Christmas. When he runs out of money, oldest son Keri (David Hornblow) comes home to Whangerei, NZ, for the holidays. He woefully celebrates the season with his overworked mother Loma (Darien Takle) and retired father Brian (Tony Waerea). He also reunites with his troubled siblings: neurotic Megan (Helen Pearse Otene), who has two kids and a loser boyfriend; stoner Richard (Czahn Armstrong), who has a secret obsession with gay porn; and withdrawn Donna (Kate Sullivan), who happens to be pregnant. Christmas was shown in the video competition at the 2003 Locarno Film Festival. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, Rovi
- Starring:
- David Hornblow, Helen Pearse Otene, (more)
For anyone who ever wondered just what was really going on in the minds of the Brothers Grimm as they penned their fantastic and phantasmagorical tales, New Zealand filmmaker Florian Habicht offers a highly stylized take on some of the most imaginative tales ever penned. Every good fairy tale is pregnant with perversion and rife with ominous subtext. In the land of Woodenhead, however, conventional fairy-tale logic is turned on its head as the human subtleties that often help children relate to these strange stories are forced into the rearview mirror by the overwhelming power of humankind's most twisted instincts. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Nicholas Butler, Theresa Peters, (more)
- 1996
Ramina (Josephine Davison), the future bride of King Bereaus (Joel Tobeck), is abducted by the warrior Tarlus (Marton Csokas) on the eve of her wedding. Knowing full well that Tarlus is not a villain by nature, Hercules (Kevin Sorbo) nonetheless promises Bereaus that he will bring Ramina back. Though the love-smitten girl refuses to leave Tarlus' side, Hercules is determined to fulfill his promise -- until he learns the whole truth behind the impending marriage. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst, (more)
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