A low-fi clip from Stunt Rock, at least the musical part of the film.
Runtime:
86 minutes
Directed
by: Brian Trenchard-Smith
Starring:
Grant Page, Monique van Der Van, Margaret Gerard, and the band
Sorcery
From:
Intertamar
For
the afternoon of my 32nd birthday (damn am I old) I
figured I should talk about what I watched last night; it's an
infamous film that did not do much when released but since then has
become a cult classic, and was featured in the great documentary on
Aussie film known as Not Quite Hollywood. I mentioned Grant Page
before when talking about The Man From Hong Kong, as he has a great
fight scene with star Jimmy Wang Yu. In real life he is a stuntman
(yes, he's still in the field) and this documentary/mockumentary/rock
'n roll extravaganza is like a big love letter to him. Let me
explain.
The
plot may be best described as “threadbare”. Stuntman Grant Page
plays himself as he goes to Los Angeles to work on a fictitious TV
show known as Undercover Girl, starring real-life Dutch star van Der
Van. He is also a (fake) cousin to a member of the real-life band
Sorcery, and what an act they are. They play 70's hard rock but they
have an elaborate stage show involving Merlin (!) battling a demon
(!!) using such things as fire, magic tricks, and other theatrics. He
is chronicled by a fake reporter (Gerard), which allows us to see
footage of him from the past as she does a story about him. Got it?
This
movie is not one you should watch for the cogent plot or the quality
acting on display, as this has neither. Rather, you should check it
out to have a good time if you enjoy such things as stunts,
explosions, hard rock, goofy theatrics, or a mix of all of those.
This is what the film is all about. I have heard this was filmed very
quickly and it does show.
However, it doesn't really matter as if you
fall into the target market, you should enjoy it. It also gives a lot
of praise to stuntmen, a field that most people ignore or just don't
think about. Sad to say even the Oscars are that way and don't seem
to really care about people who do stunts. Sure, they just gave an
honorary Oscar to Hal Needham for his years of work in the field but
other than that... anyhow, besides this movie being like the foundation to the Church of Grant Page, there is also footage of people doing stunts from silent movies and even some clips from the original Gone in 60 Seconds.
By now you've already probably decided whether or not this slice of Ozploitation is for you. There is likely nothing else I can add that will change your opinion for better or for worse. I'll be back Monday afternoon.
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