William Zappa Movies

Directed by Brett Leonard, Man-Thing is based on a comic book series of the same name from Marvel Comics. When one of real-estate tycoon F.A. Schist's crewmen is killed while developing a drilling station, it's the local Seminole Indian tribe who are blamed, though they know that the real culprit is the Man-Thing, a vengeful Spirit inhabiting the body of fallen radical shaman, Ted Sallis. The monster resembles a towering mound of algae and plant life, with powers that can command plant life to take out the infringing human greed on its Louisiana swampland (with Australia sitting in for the Southern Bayou). Man-Thing features performances from Rawiri Paratene, Alex O'Lachlan, Rachel Taylor, Jack Thompson, and William Zappa. Long-delayed, the film bounced from home video to theatrical then over to cable as Lionsgate and Marvel debated the format that it'd be most successful. Eventually the film premiered on the Sci Fi Channel, and featured little resemblance to the comic character beside its use of names and basic creature design. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

A female detective discovers the dark side of the world of contemporary literature in this unusual thriller from Australia. Mickey (Abbie Cornish) is a brash young female poet who is gaining a potent reputation for her powerful verse about love and sex. When she suddenly disappears, private detective Jill Fitzpatrick (Susie Porter) is hired to help find her. Jill doesn't know much about poetry, so she starts her investigation by tracking down Mickey's teacher and mentor, Diana (Kelly McGillis), to learn more about Mickey and the circles in which she traveled. Jill is a lesbian, and quickly finds herself strongly attracted to Diana; though Diana is married to Nick (Marton Csokas), she finds herself equally infatuated with Jill, and the two are soon having an affair. When Mickey is found murdered, her parents ask Jill to step up the investigation, and Jill digs deeper into the facts of Mickey's life -- learning the young woman was willing to sleep with nearly anyone who could advance her career. She also discovers that the two older male poets with whom Mickey had become involved are not at all eager to answer questions about her disappearance. The Monkey's Mask is based on a mystery novel written in verse form by Dorothy Porter; the novel became an international bestseller and the biggest-selling book of poetry published in Australia since World War II . ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

This thoughtful Australian sci-fi film was shot on location on a spectacular dry salt lake at Woomera, where the Australian military used to test its rockets. The story is set in an environmentally ravaged, desolate future. For the first time in 40 years the warring New Territories and the Federal Republics have reached a tentative peace thanks to the secret machinations of the Central Union, a powerful group comprised of industrialists from both sides. As part of the deal, Central Union is allowed to monopolize all communications. Anne, the pregnant wife of New Territories army training officer Leo Megaw, works for CU as one of their leading security coders. To prove her prowess, she one day decides to prove to her skeptical boss that she can crack his supposedly uncrackable security code. In so doing she learns that an outer security zone has suffered a terrible accident resulting deadly contamination. Not long after her discovery, Anne "accidentally" dies under suspicious circumstances. Leo is devastated and nearly succeeds in killing himself. Eventually, he masters his grief enough to allow his pal Seton, a CU worker, to send him to isolated Zone 39 to man a lonely outpost to guard the border. He is ordered to shoot anyone moving into the zone and to carefully monitor the activities of the Federal Republics guard Pagett. It is an unpleasant duty and Leo's predecessor killed himself. People do wander into the zone, and all of them are "classified," and contaminated by something. When not on duty, Leo takes small comfort in a drug that allows him to converse with his wife. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

Produced with the help of the Sundance Institute, Alison Maclean's first feature, Crush, is a clever, gynocentric neo-noir. Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden (Pollock) stars as Lane, the film's conflicted femme fatale. The film opens with Lane speeding along a winding road. She's driving her best friend and lover, Christina (Donogh Rees), a literary critic, to meet with an author, Colin (William Zappa), at his home in the New Zealand countryside. In the midst of a snarky conversation, Lane is momentarily distracted and drives her car off the road. The car flips over, and Christina is badly injured, while Lane walks away with barely a scratch. She goes to Colin's house, where she meets Angela (Caitlin Bossley), his shy, tomboyish teenage daughter. Lane doesn't immediately identify herself, and Angela -- thinking that Lane is actually Christina -- takes her for a walk. The charmingly aggressive Lane begins flirting with the impressionable girl, and it's clear that Angela is smitten with the brash American woman. Later, Colin arrives home, and he agrees to let Lane stay in their home for a few days. Before long, Lane has seduced him. Angela is jealous and begins going to the hospital to visit Christina, who is recovering from a severe head injury. As she recovers, regaining control of her movements and the ability to speak, Angela tells her again and again that one horrible person is to blame for her condition -- Lane. But Angela is not prepared for the harrowing results when she brings Christina home for a visit. Crush is an amusingly twisted thriller from down under, rooted in well-drawn characters, along the same lines as Jocelyn Moorehouse's wickedly clever Proof. Maclean demonstrates great skill with actors and with complex material, which is also evident in her second feature, Jesus' Son. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi

Ann Turner wrote and directed this genuinely creepy amalgam of Father Knows Best and Death Wish. Celia Carmichael (Rebecca Smart) is a lonely nine-year-old girl growing up in the Melbourne suburbs in the late 1950s, who is the victim of several traumas with horrific results. She first finds her grandmother's dead body. Then she has nightmares from a book read to her at school. For a spell, her troubles are abated when a new family moves in next door with three children for Celia to play with. But her parents forbid her to play with the children because the parents are members of the Communist Party. It all comes to a head when, because of a national plague of rabbits, the Victoria State government orders a turning over of all domestic rabbits. When her uncle confiscates her beloved pet rabbit and discovers that it has died in the Melbourne Zoo, Celia explodes in violent revenge. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Director George Miller's follow-up to his own 1979 hit Mad Max is proof that not all sequels are inferior to their originals. If anything, this brutal sci-fi action film is even more intense and exciting than its predecessor, although the state of its post-apocalyptic world has only become worse. Several years after the deaths of his wife and child, Max (Mel Gibson) has become an alienated nomad, wandering an Australian outback that has fallen into tribal warfare conducted from scattered armed camps. After a road battle with psychotic villain Wez (Vernon Wells), Max meets up with the odd Gyro Captain (Bruce Spence), who takes him to the camp of a sympathetic group led by Pappagallo (Mike Preston). As Pappagallo's people are camped at a refinery, Max plans to take their oil -- more precious than gold in this world -- but eventually joins them to fight a band of marauders led by the evil Humungus (Kjell Nilsson). The stunning climax features a heart-pounding chase scene involving an oil tanker-truck and a frenzied rush for the coast, with Humungus and his forces in hot pursuit. Nilsson is a scary villain, with huge muscles and a sinister pre-Jason hockey mask, but the stunt work is the key here, and it is more flamboyantly dynamic than ever, edited at breakneck pace and staged with manic fury by Miller and stunt coordinator Max Aspin. Savage and kinetic, Mad Max 2 is a must-see for action buffs. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi