Turkey Shoot | |
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Theatrical release poster
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Directed by | Brian Trenchard-Smith |
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Music by | Brian May |
Cinematography | John R. McLean |
Edited by | Alan Lake |
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Distributed by | Roadshow (Australia) |
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Running time
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93 minutes |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | A$3.2 million |
Box office | A$321,000 (Australia) |
Turkey Shoot, also known as Escape 2000 and Blood Camp Thatcher, is a 1982 Australian dystopian exploitation-horror film directed by Brian Trenchard-Smith and starring Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey and Michael Craig. The cast is a mix of international actors, Australian soap opera actors and television personalities.
The film is notable for its extreme violence and sadistic prison sequences, and it features plot elements of The Most Dangerous Game, but rather than having human targets hunted for sport by a madman on his own island, the story features a concentration camp known as "The Establishment", which offers the opportunity to rich adventurers with legal immunity. AskMen labeled it "Easily the cheapest and nastiest piece of mainstream celluloid ever stitched together by our mad cinematic scientists". The film has spawned a 2014 remake.
In the totalitarian near future, "social deviants" are sent to prison camps for re-education and behaviour modification. The new arrivals at Camp 47 are Chris Walters (Olivia Hussey), a shopkeeper accused of helping a rebel; Rita Daniels (Lynda Stoner), a suspected prostitute; and Paul Anders (Steve Railsback), a 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 human prey in a "turkey shoot", which Thatcher has organised for Secretary Mallory (Noel Ferrier), and 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. As the "turkey shoot" progresses, the tables are turned, and the prisoners become the hunters, culminating in a free-for-all slaughter terminated by a government napalm airstrike.