Skip to main content

Deathcheaters (1976)

 


After revisiting Stunt Rock, I was inspired to rewatch director Brian Trenchard-Smith and actor-stuntman Grant Page’s previous collaboration, Deathcheaters (1976). Page and John Hargreaves portray Rodney and Steve, two Vietnam War veterans who befriend each other in combat and on discharge become stuntmen in the entertainment industry. Recognizing their very particular set of skills, they are approached by intelligence bureaucrat Mr. Culpepper (an elegantly and humorously aloof Noel Ferrier) to infiltrate and obtain secret documents from an island fortress.     

Stunt Rock was a hangout movie punctuated by stunts and suspect musical numbers. Although more of a traditional actioner, Deathcheaters has some of the same hangout vibe, and I found myself charmed by the dinkiness and humour of its oddly drawn espionage world and the onscreen bromance—decades before it became popular parlance—between Page and Hargreaves. My admiration for Hargreaves is well-documented, and though this isn’t among his very best performances, it’s significantly better than his other overture towards action stardom, Sky Pirates, and leans into the same traits as some of his best work, i.e. the inner-city larrikin, fairly charming, kind of smarmy (see also Hoodwink, Don’s Party, Long Weekend). Hargreaves also throws himself gamely into some of the action scenes, though due to an injury Page does much of the heavy lifting stunt-wise, especially in the finale. Margaret Gerard, who played Page’s romantic interest in Stunt Rock (and married Trenchard-Smith offscreen), is Hargreaves' partner here and is mannered but charming, faring well enough within the film’s creaky gender tropes.

I was taken aback to learn that Deathcheaters was filmed as a TV pilot, only to pivot to theatrical release. On further reflection, it makes sense: the abovementioned hangout vibe evokes the comfort food cop and caper television of the 1970s and 80s, as does the witty repartee between leads and recurring gags involving Rodney’s dog Bismarck; a cast of broadly sketched supporting players are introduced over the film, ready for prime time; and Rodney and Steve’s hardline no-killing policy makes for gentler viewing than other Trenchard-Smith films, especially the nihilistic Turkey Shoot. The big finale also betrays its television roots, invested with less weight and import than films of similar ink. But for a project executed for television pilot-dom, the scale of Deathcheaters is mostly impressive and feels cinematic. Its action scenes are cleanly shot by John Seale in his debut, with the film's impressive stunt driving sequences predating Mad Max by three years and Seale’s own work on Mad Max: Fury Road by 39 years.

Ben

 

Popular posts from this blog

John Hargreaves double feature: Hoodwink (1981) and Sky Pirates (1986)

Published 2017 on Down Under Flix Discounting the film  Blackfellas , in which he plays a minor role as a racist policeman, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to cover any John Hargreaves films on Down Under Flix. A six time AFI Award nominee (including for  Hoodwink ) and triple winner, Hargreaves is one of the best leading men to emerge from the Australian New Wave, and I have particular regard for his work in  Don’s Party,   Long Weekend , and  The Odd Angry Shot . Hargreaves was a natural performer: gifted and charismatic, but not unnecessarily flashy; handsome, but not movie star handsome, and slightly crumpled like a creased jacket. He was a quintessential Australian everyman ala Jack Thompson and Bryan Brown, though he’s less familiar to young filmgoers today, partly due to his untimely passing in 1996 at age 50. This article looks at one of Hargreaves’ best films… and one of his other films… 
Read more

Macbeth (2006)

Published 2016 on Down Under Flix Director : Geoffrey Wright Stars : Sam Worthington, Victoria Hill, Gary Sweet, Lachy Hulme It’s fascinating that in the short space of ten years, two Australian filmmakers have adapted William Shakespeare’s  Macbeth . While the Bard’s play is an all-timer, and has been adapted in the past by master directors like Orson Welles, Akira Kurosawa, and Roman Polanski, film adaptations haven’t exactly been abundant. So the fact that two Australians would choose to steer it to the screen less than a decade apart is a weird anomaly, though not inexplicable. One could conjecture at length about the 400+ year old “Scottish” play’s relevance to contemporary Australian identity, the timelessness of its depiction of ambition, greed, conspiracy, regicide, guilt, and hubris… but really, it’s just a terrific, badass piece of source material. I really wanted to like Justin Kurzel’s 2015 adaptation of  Macbeth  starring Michael ...
Read more

Dead Heart (1996)

Published 2016 on Down Under Flix Director:  Nick Parsons Stars:  Bryan Brown, Ernie Dingo, Aaron Pedersen, Angie Milliken I first watched  Dead Heart  back in 2000, as part of a course at university. In recent days I’ve been thinking back on all the other Australian films I studied at university (in a degree comprising various screen and literature courses, including one specifically on Australian cinema, there were quite a few) and pondering where those films have landed, culturally speaking, in subsequent years.  Wake in Fright , which we watched on a scratchy, dog-eared print, has enjoyed a critical and cultural resurgence in recent years and is soon to be  adapted for television by the director of  Red Dog . Other films, such as  A Sunday Too Far Away  and  Two Hands , have sort of plateaued, remaining constant in their standing. And others like  Dead Heart , then only a few years ...
Read more