In the late 70s/early 80s during the Australian film "renaissance", when historical dramas like 'Picnic At Hanging Rock' and 'Gallipoli' were all the rage, a producer named Antony Ginnane attempted to go against the tide and get some thrillers and horror movies made Down Under. He dreamed of being Australia's Roger Corman. Sadly it wasn't to be but hats off to him for helping movies like 'Patrick', 'Thirst' and 'Turkey Shoot' get to the big screen! 'Dead Kids' (a.k.a. 'Strange Behavior') is another underrated movie from this period that he co-produced. This time Ginnane and friends went to New Zealand instead of Australia, something to do with union hiccups I believe. The movie was actually filmed in Auckland, but set in the US with a mostly American cast, including Dan Shor ('Wise Blood'), Michael Murphy ('Manhattan'), Louise Fletcher ('One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest'), Marc McLure ('Superman'), and Dey Young ('Rock'n'Roll High School'). Also appearing were the British born Fiona Lewis ('The Fury') and Aussie character actor Arthur Dignam ('The Devil's Playground'), who plays the enigmatic Dr Le Sangel, a role originally intended for Klaus Kinski. As well as a great cast this movie is noteworthy because it was directed by Michael Laughlin, the producer of Monte Hellman's 70s road classic 'Two-Lane Blacktop', and co-written by Laughlin and Bill Condon, who went on the write and direct the excellent James Whale biopic 'Gods And Monsters'. There are two outstanding bits in 'Dead Kids' which anyone who watches it will never forget: the syringe-in-the-eyeball scene, and the party sequence with a bunch of kids dancing to the Lou Christie oldie "Lightning Strikes". Music buffs will also appreciate the score from Tangerine Dream, and Aussies will get a kick out of (briefly) hearing The Boys Next Door's post-punk classic "Shivers" on the soundtrack. 'Dead Kids' is one of the my favourite horror movies of the late 70s/early 80s, a golden age filled with some very inventive and original shockers e.g. 'Evil Dead', 'Phantasm', 'Dead & Buried', 'Basket Case', to name a few. Eli Roth's super-hyped 'Cabin Fever' claimed to be inspired by some of these movies but totally missed the point in my opinion. Forget Roth, go for the real thing like this, which is both more entertaining AND scarier.
