Blu-Ray Review: Dead Kids

By Brad Henderson

All film fans should explore movies made during the “Ozploitation” era of Australian low budget filmmaking. Just about every film that came out during this time is fantastic. Many people have probably seen these films and are just unaware of the term Ozploitation or what movies fit this description.

The term Ozploitation was coined after the R rating was introduced in Australia in 1971. I’m not sure if people thought such films were just being created to make money or to push limits like other “ploitation” films but that wasn’t the case. Even to this day there are Ozploitation films released and they still carry out the feel, look, brutality, and the hilariousness.

There is something about these films in particular that stands out from the rest. Most of them are absolutely beautiful. Everything is shot and framed perfectly. Films like Razorback, Wolf Creek, Road Games, Dark Age, and others are just spectacular. The action flicks are action packed and the horror films are suspenseful and don’t follow the normal formula that other countries’ horror films do. Of course, we have great and wonderful films elsewhere but Ozploitation is something special and sadly, nearly forgotten about.

Severin Films has recently released three Ozploitation films: Patrick, Thirst, and a favorite of mine, Dead Kids a.k.a. Strange Behavior. Dead Kids has always been a favorite because it is unlike the slashers of that era. It’s wacky but it is also a straight up beautiful film. It’s quite pretty for a horror film and has some fantastic, memorable moments. The scene when the kids are dancing to Lou Christie’s “Lighting Strikes” is one of the best parts in the film and the choreography is just outstanding. It’s weird to speak of choreography during a horror film that isn’t about dancing at all, and it’s a segment that was probably intended as filler, but it works so damn well.

Dead Kids doesn’t rely on crazy or super gory kills; it mostly wants them to look fantastic within the frame and that is exactly how they look. Everything in this film is superb, down to the editing and every last bit of dialogue. You can tell the filmmakers wanted to make a legitimately good film and not just some popcorn horror flick that would be dismissed by critics and be thrown into the same category of some of the other Ozploitation films.

Severin’s transfer and production of this Blu-Ray is pretty good; it’s the best Dead Kids has looked and sounded for a long time. The only thing about the transfer that stuck out to me was a light shade of brown that permeates the film. I’m a pretty big fan of Dead Kids and have watched each release on every format, and I don’t remember it being there on the VHS and the DVDs that have been released. The brown haze doesn’t stick out; it is just something I noticed.

The Blu sounds great: crisp and clean. The special features are OK but nothing to write home about. There is a new commentary from the director that sounds rough. I’m not sure how it was recorded but it is at least tolerable. It does have the isolated score from Tangerine Dream, which is a highlight of this Blu-Ray for sure and makes it worth the money.

All in all, I’m super happy with this Blu-Ray release of Dead Kids. I hope it finds its way in front of new and old fans again and that Ozploitation can resurface.

Dead Kids was released on Blu-Ray by Severin Films on March 11.