Line #29 Film/TurkeyShoot


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/turkeyshoot_7786.jpg]]
2
3	->''"I am a deviant! The lowest form of life on Earth! The Re-education and Behaviour Modification Centre is my salvation!"''
4
5	Also known as ''Escape 2000'' (in the US) or ''Blood Camp Thatcher'' (in the UK), this CultClassic 1982 Australian [[ExploitationFilm 'ozploitation']] sci-fi action film was directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith, of ''Film/BMXBandits'', ''[[Film/DeadEndDriveIn Dead End Drive-in]]'', ''Film/TheManFromHongKong'' and ''Film/Leprechaun4InSpace'' fame.
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7	The plot of the film is fairly [[{{Troperrific}} archetypal]]: it's TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture in an unnamed fascist totalitarian state. For the [[AllCrimesAreEqual slightest perceived offenses]], "deviants" are sent to prison camps to be subjected to reformative torture. The new arrivals at Re-Ed Camp 47 are Chris Walters (Creator/OliviaHussey), a shopkeeper accused of helping a rebel; Rita Daniels (Lynda Stoner), a suspected sex worker; and Paul Anders (Creator/SteveRailsback), a political dissident who has escaped from several other camps. After suffering brutal treatment at the hands of Camp Master Charles Thatcher (Michael Craig) and his chief enforcer, Ritter (Roger Ward), the prisoners accept a deadly deal. They will be [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame human prey in a 'turkey shoot']] Thatcher has organised for Secretary Mallory (Noel Ferrier), and fellow [=VIPs=] Jennifer (Carmen Duncan) and Tito (Michael Petrovich). If they can evade the heavily-armed guests in the surrounding jungle until sundown, Chris, Rita and Paul will be set free, or so Thatcher claims...
8
9	The film is a [[NarmCharm charmingly cheesy,]] campy, over-the-top BMovie, that can be a lot of fun if you acknowledge it for what it is and [[MST3KMantra don't think too hard about it.]] Recommended for anyone interested in Australian cinema, or who enjoyed ''Film/MadMax''. Creator/QuentinTarantino has cited both the film and its director as among his favorites.
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11	Another film by the same name was made in 2014, but was more like ''Film/TheRunningMan'' and is only loosely inspired from the original. Internationally, it was titled ''Elimination Game''.
12	-----
13	!!This film provides examples of:
14	%%* TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture
15	* AbnormalAmmo: Jennifer's crossbow bolts, with explosive and pyrotechnic heads.
16	* AllCrimesAreEqual: People get sent to the reeducation camps for being political dissidents (naturally) but also protesting police beating up a suspect or just ''allegedly'' working as a prostitute.
17	* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Averted when Chris finds that Griff has got his hands on a rifle and tries to hook up with him. Griff refuses as he figures they're all dead anyway and plans on killing as many hunters as he can. Of course the hero runs into a burning canefield to save FinalGirl Chris, so it's not completely averted.
18	* AndTheAdventureContinues: The film ends without clear resolution of the plot, only the promise that revolution is led by people like those depicted, according to Creator/HGWells (who provides the ending quote) as the now-armed prisoners leave the area.
19	* AnimalEyes: Alph has eyes like a cat's.
20	* AnnoyingArrows: Averted with Jennifer's quarrels [[HumanPincushion as Griff finds out.]] She'd mentioned earlier that the arrowheads were designed to be very difficult to tear out.
21	* AssholeVictim: Apart from the bad guys there's prison trustee Dodge, who appears to think the hunt (at least in his case) is a ruse to release him for his loyalty. He [[RewardedAsATraitorDeserves discovers otherwise]].
22	* TheBaroness: Jennifer. Or as critic WebVideo/DiamandaHagan called her, the "crazy, aggressive, rapist, predatory, [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking crossbow-obsessed]] lady!"
23	* BeardOfEvil: Tito. Ritter naturally is a case of BaldOfEvil.
24	* BeastMan: Former circus freak Alph is a hairy, beastial man whom Tito uses as an attack dog. He even has eyes that look like a cat's, and acts in a very animalistic way, so while ostensibly just having a genetic condition his appearance and manner put Alph firmly in this category.
25	* BlindWithoutEm: Ritter removes Dodge's glasses before making him run. He should have known then and there he was being set up to be killed.
26	* BottomlessMagazines: Griff with his [=L2A1=] rifle in the shootout with Thatcher. In fairness the actor is shown fiddling with the magazine pretending he's about to insert a new one, so he was clearly aware of this trope.
27	* BuryYourGays: Thatcher announces that while (non-reproductive) sex is allowed among the prisoners, same-sex relations are forbidden and punishable by death. Jennifer, who's implied to be a lesbian, is also killed near the end.
28	* CarFu: Those red buggys are used to kill people and later [[spoiler:to help break out the prisoners.]]
29	* CelebrityParadox: The 2014 film has the original playing in a hotel room at one point. Carmen Duncan and Roger Ward had roles in both films, as completely different characters.
30	* ChewingTheScenery: Roger Ward as [[TheBrute Ritter]].
31	* ClearMyName: Rick in the 2014 film was framed for murder and hunted on a [[ImmoralRealityShow TV program]]. He has to exonerate himself as he outruns numerous assassins.
32	* CondemnedContestant: In the 2014 film the plot is about a TV show (''Turkey Shoot'', of course) with convicted murderers hunted for sport, with a pardon if they win (none ever has).
33	* CoolCar: Averted. Attaching machine guns, bulldozer blades or a big-ass fan to a bright red all-terrain buggy does not make it look any less ridiculous.
34	* DeadlyGame:
35	** Football played with large jugs of gasoline. Which are [[ManOnFire chained to a prisoner]].
36	** The 2014 film has the entire story revolve around one, with convicted murderers hunted for sport on a [[ImmoralRealityShow TV show]].
37	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: The [[PhallicWeapon entire conversation]] about Jennifer's SniperPistol. Not to mention Thatcher's long red buggy, according to critic WebVideo/DiamandaHagan.
38	* EunuchsAreEvil: All the camp guards must be castrated to hold the position, Anders says. They're all sadists or at least working for a brutal regime (the job kind of entails this). However, it's possible he's lying.
39	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Apparently, as psychotically brutal as the regime is, with re-education camps in which torture, castration and rape is the norm and prisoners die often [[MakeAnExampleOfThem to teach the rest to bend the knee]], nobody has escalated yet to [[FinalSolution the complete annihilation of all dissidents]] -- although Secretary Mallory seems extremely pleased when Ritter suggests the idea, so it's a good thing [[LaserGuidedKarma he dies]] before things got worse.
40	* EvilLaugh: More of an evil snigger actually -- Red and Dodge.
41	* FanDisservice: Cutting away from IHaveYouNowMyPretty LesYay to other scenes, then returning to Lynda Stoner's naked, blood-splattered, quarrel-impaled corpse. Even for an ExploitationFilm (perhaps [[GirlOnGirlIsHot especially for an exploitation film]]) that's pretty shocking.
42	* FanserviceExtra: A number of the prisoners are shown nude in the showers (both male and female).
43	* FinalGirl: It's no surprise that innocent Chris survives while the promiscuous Rita is killed.
44	* FinalSolution: Ritter's proposed solution for deviants would be not even attempting to "reeducate" anyone, but just kill them all. Mallory even approvingly calls this "the ultimate solution".
45	* FrameUp: The 2014 film has Rick Tyler, a Navy SEAL who was framed for murdering woman and children, then [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunted by assassins]] on a [[ImmoralRealityShow TV program]].
46	* FriendOrFoe: [[spoiler:The guards attack just in time to get blown up by their own air force, leaving the prisoners free to escape into the jungle.]]
47	* GasolineDousing: The guards force a prisoner into playing a cruel version of football with gasoline jugs. When he loses, he's burned alive.
48	* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: {{Inverted}}. Thatcher tells the prisoners the administration accepts prisoners having sex, but not getting pregnant. Any prisoner who does will undergo a forced abortion, then be sterilized. In the man's case, they are castrated.
49	* {{Gorn}}: People get run over, burnt alive, chopped by machete and bulldozer blade, impaled by arrows, and in one notable case ripped apart by machine gun bullets.
50	* GroinAttack:
51	** All of the guards must be castrated to hold the position, Anders claims.
52	** Male prisoners getting female prisoners pregnant are castrated as punishment.
53	** Red forces himself on Chris in the shower; she pretends to respond favorably, reaching into Red's pants [[spoiler:then suddenly yanking up the zip. Not only this, but Red is later kicked in the crotch by Griff, and finally impaled between the legs by a jungle BoobyTrap. Mallory also cops a dart in the groin moments before he burns to death in the cane field.]]
54	* GunStripping: Jennifer assembles her SniperPistol blindfolded.
55	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: [[spoiler:Mallory is shot with his own tranquilizer gun, leaving him unable to flee the burning canefield his GiantMook set alight. Ritter has his hands cut off by his own machete. Jennifer gets her explosive-head quarrel in the neck.]]
56	* HowWeGotHere: Chris and Anders in the VanInBlack taking them to Camp 47, showing how they got arrested.
57	* HuntingTheMostDangerousGame: In the original film, bored government bigwigs hunt down political prisoners. The 2014 version turns it into a [[ImmoralRealityShow TV show]] where convicted killers are hunted instead.
58	* IHaveYouNowMyPretty
59	-->'''Red:''' "And now my little flower, I'm going to taste your honey!"
60	* IKnowYouKnowIKnow: Thatcher telling Anders about the hunt; it's obvious that Anders knows it's a set-up, and that [[StepfordSmiler Thatcher realizes this]].
61	* ImAHumanitarian: Alph rips off and then eats one of Dodge's toes.
62	* ImmoralRealityShow: The 2014 film changes the plot to be this, convicted murderers are legally hunted for entertainment with millions watching.
63	* InNameOnly: The remake in 2014 basically shared the name (not even that with international releases, where it's titled ''Elimation Game'') and concept of people being hunted for sport, and that's it.
64	* JungleJapes: Ritter does the "hacking insignificant branches in your path with a machete" and "avoid great swinging BoobyTrap" clichés.
65	* KarmicDeath: The two men who threaten Chris with rape both fall victim to {{groin attack}}s.
66	* MakeAnExampleOfThem: A scene which impressed even Creator/QuentinTarantino is [[TheBrute Ritter]] (played by [[GiantMook 6ft, 3"]] Roger Ward) shadowboxing and then beating to death a tiny female inmate, picked at random as a 'lesson' to the NewMeat.
67	* NaiveNewcomer: Chris enters the camp without a clue what's going or why she's there. She's quickly clued in by the brutal administration and dissident Anders. The audience learns of their workings through this.
68	* OhCrap: Thatcher when he discovers Secretary Mallory has been killed.
69	* OminousMultipleScreens: Used for spying on prisoners and entertaining guests.
70	-->'''Tito:''' ''(after watching an inmate being burnt alive)'' "Better than network television."
71	* PenalColony: Re-Ed Camp 47 [[spoiler:turns out to be on an island, so there's no escape.]]
72	* PoliceBrutality: In the opening scene, a pair of police officers chase a running man into Chris' shop, then start kicking him after he falls down. Her protesting it makes them suspect that she's his accomplice and she thus gets sent off to a reeducation camp.
73	* ProductPlacement: The two vehicles used by the hunting party to move around are visibly labeled in some close-up shots as being made by the Austrak company.
74	* PrisonRiot: Near the end, Anders breaks into the camp on a buggy, leading his fellow prisoners in a revolt after they arm themselves.
75	* PunishmentBox: Anders is put in a cage out in the sun where he's forced to hold up a heavy weight.
76	* RapeAsDrama: So much so that WebVideo/DiamandaHagan invented a DrinkingGame -- every time a character threatens, indicates or suggests they're going to rape someone, take a shot.
77	-->"I guarantee by the film's end you'll be blind."
78	* RegretEatingMe: Dodge after Alph bites off his little toe and eats it.
79	-->"I hope you fucking choke you oaf!"
80	* SentryGun: Twin remotely-controlled 20-calibre guns are in the towers (actually they're [[AKA47 7.62mm MG3's]]). The one time they're used they prove [[AwesomeButImpractical completely incapable]] of destroying a [[ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy slow, red-painted unarmored buggy]] and its blatantly-exposed occupants.
81	* ShowerScene: There's one with equal-opportunity {{fanservice}} as the inmates have a co-ed shower.
82	* StockFootage: Used quite effectively for the opening credits [[spoiler:and the bombing raid at the end.]]
83	* TestedOnHumans: Mallory tests his tranquilizer dart gun on a passing prisoner.
84	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: There's a mass prison break-out and you can't get the Camp Master on the phone? [[spoiler:Send in the [[DeathFromAbove Royal Australian Air Force]] to kill them all ([[WeHaveReserves guards included]]) with a [[KillItWithFire napalm strike]]!]]
85	* TitleDrop:
86	** In the original film, Mallory uses the term "turkey shoot" in one scene as a DeadlyEuphemism for Thatcher's invitation to [[HuntingTheMostDangerousGame hunt and kill inmates]]. Apparently, even in a totalitarian regime like theirs there's some things that they want to keep a secret about what they are doing in re-education camps.
87	** In the 2014 remake, the ImmoralRealityShow is named "Turkey Shoot", leading to it being dropped a lot.
88	* VasquezAlwaysDies: Rita Daniels, who is more open to doing anything to survive (including sleeping around the camp) is raped and murdered by Jennifer, while Chris (who remains a NeutralFemale for most of the film to the point that Anders has to yell at her to shoot when he tells her to man a machine gun at the climax) survives.
89	* VillainBall: Lampshaded by Diamanda Hagan.
90	-->'''Hagan:''' "Ritter goes off to start a fire and smoke out Chris and, it's a good plan -- I'm sure it'll fuck up somehow."
91	-->''(Mallory walks into the canefield that's about to be burned, instead of waiting for Chris to be flushed out)''
92	-->'''Hagan:''' "Oh, that was fast. Fuck-up achieved."
93	* WeaponizedCar: Tito's Austrak RT-45 buggy has a machine gun on top and a razor-sharp bulldozer blade on the front. They both see use (the bulldozer blade [[spoiler:severs BeastMan Alph in half]] and the machine gun kills a lot of guards in the climactic assault on the camp).
94	* WhereTheHellIsSpringfield: The film features of mix of Australian, British, and American actors, and the opening credits feature riot footage from settings as varied as Japan and Italy. This was likely a deliberate choice by the filmmakers to appeal to the broadest audience possible.
95	* WhipOfDominance: Red wields a whip and a has a preference to use it to [[PunctuatedForEmphasis punctuate a lot of his sentences]].
96	* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Justified because Thatcher wants to break Anders' will first. And when he first catches Anders in his sights early in the hunt he doesn't fire [[NoChallengeEqualsNoSatisfaction because it would be too easy]]. After all, the whole point of HuntingTheMostDangerousGame is to get a thrill out of doing it.
97	* WouldHitAGirl: Ritter beats a female prisoner to death slowly in his early {{establishing character moment}} simply as an example to the newcomers. None of the other villains show any compunctions about harm to women either.
98	* WrongfullyAccused: Chris is arrested when the police chase a man into her shop and start beating him. When she protests, they say he must have been seeking shelter there (why else would she defend him?) and haul Chris off for 'questioning'.
99	* YourHeadAsplode:
100	** Thatcher stands up in the middle of the climactic prison escape, letting Anders get a clean head shot with an MG-42. The burst makes Thatcher's head explode.
101	** In the 2014 film, the Libyan dictator's head is absolutely ''destroyed'' by the rifle bullet which hits him.

Context Film / TurkeyShoot