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[tab title="Movie Review"]
Angela, a young hairdresser, is about to make a life-altering decision. She’ll spend the rest of forever paying for it, too. Tired and pissed off at her snooty boss, she is enticed away from the daily grind of her day-to-day struggle when a friend suggests she turn to modeling. Fast money and sometimes easy. It is a blue sky that greets her on her first gig. A warm sea, too. And a chance to be more revealing than ever before. Such things, previously, she could only dream about. Snapshot is the ugly side of what happens when dreams come true.
Released in the US as The Day After Halloween and One More Minute, Snapshot is an Oxploitation thriller through and through. We get skin, blood, and a rather suspicious stalking that is expected, projected, and rather clever in its dénouement. Credit must be given to director Simon Wincer (D.A.R.Y.L., Quigley Down Under) and director of photography Vince Monton. They work to create a potboiler of pressure as Angela faces a creepy ex-boyfriend, a bitch of a best friend (who secretly lusts after her), a bunch of womanizing married types, and her own mother. All because of one successful skin baring photo-shoot.
And the billboards are mad with it. We are, too. The tension that follows in the wake of Angela’s sudden fame churns away at our innards. Which makes this low rent thriller, from Patrick producer Antony Ginnane (Australia’s version of Roger Corman), a serious contender for cult flick find of the year.
Truly, the photo – a simple one taken upon the Melbourne Beach – is an awesome moment of striking innocence. Actress Sigrid Thornton (as Angela) stands in open water. She removes her top, tosses it over her shoulder. Nervous. The lone subject of the camera’s lens, she freezes at first. Aware that she’s being watched, she cycles through all the expected emotions. But, in one second, it all disappears, and the photographer captures the shot –THAT shot – and, yeah, the world explodes around her.
The fame isn’t immediate. Her mother’s wrath is, though. She is kicked out of the house and her needy ex-boyfriend, Daryl (Vincent Gil), is right there to sweep her off her feet and into his chilling Mr. Whippy van of crusty ice cream cones and sparkles. You see, Daryl is an ice cream man and his truck – which follows Angela wherever she goes – is just about the creepiest thing in cinematic horror to not be wearing a mask. He’s stalking her. She knows it. We SEE it. Yet, her mother is all about Daryl. And this makes for an interesting series of conflicts.
Snapshot has a bizarrely elevated climax that spirals in several different directions. It ultimately lands on one, but our suspicions are so stimulated that it’s difficult to determine if Angela, who we are sympathetic to (even if the movie suggests otherwise), is safe. And this makes Snapshot an unsettling AND effective experience in low-budget thrills, spills, and kills.
Vinegar Syndrome, a leader is underground exploitation cult films like this one, celebrates Snapshot with an extremely photogenic blu-ray release that has been newly scanned and restored in 2k from the original 35mm camera negative.
Simply put, the angle in this Snapshot does not disappoint.
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[tab title="Details"]
MPAA Rating: R.
Runtime: 92 mins
Director: Simon Wincer
Writer: Everett De Roche, Chris de Roche
Cast: Chantal Contouri, Robert Bruning, Sigrid Thornton
Genre: Horror | thriller
Tagline: It started with a glamour shot ... and ended in murder.
Memorable Movie Quote: "So did I. But I was banging like a bunny before I was out of my first training bra."
Theatrical Distributor: Group 1 International Distribution Organization Ltd.
Official Site:
Release Date: October, 1980
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: August 29, 2017
Synopsis: Angela (Sigrid Thornton) is a young hair-dresser having a hard time making ends meet. Looking for a fast way to earn some extra money, she accepts a job working as a model. Soon, however, she gets the feeling that someone is watching her; following her...stalking her. Is it her deranged ice cream truck driving ex boyfriend? A psychotic admirer? Or someone more sinister... As Angela delves further into her new and sordid lifestyle, she finds herself growing closer and closer to the deadly truth.
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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]
Blu-ray Details:
The first 1,000 copies sold through VinegarSyndrome.com will include a double-thick limited edition slipcover designed by Speed Blur. If you see this message and you order the release, you’ll get the limited slipcover.
Home Video Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome
Available on Blu-ray - August 29, 2017
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English SDH
Audio: English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set
Region Encoding: Region A, B
Newly scanned and restored in 2k from the original 35mm camera negative, Vinegar Syndrome’s handling of this Oxploitation flick is to be commended. Snapshot bursts with vivid colors and a whole new energy. It’s hard to see how this film was not a hit in its home. The film might have been issued before, but it looks its greatest with this release. The wardrobe items on the actors are crisp. Shadows are defined. The modeling house in the story is also more vibrant – and so are the city locations – than remembered. This AVC encoded image (with a rich 2.35:1 aspect ratio) presentation is another win for Vinegar Syndrome. The crisp 1.0 DTS-HD MA mix serves the dialogue and score – with several funky pop songs – well.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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With lots of information about the filming of the movie, director Simon Wincer, producer Antony Ginnane, actress Sigrid Thornton, and cinematographer Vincent Morton step up to the microphone to record a successful commentary.
Special Features:
Vinegar Syndrome provides a new interview with Ginnane, who talks about how this Snapshot was taken and what it meant for him at the time. He might be a bit flat in the interview, but he is full of information. We also get a lengthier DVD cut of the movie. A collection of interviews culled from a documentary about b-movies is rounded up for this release. We also get a look at the making of the movie and a couple of T.V. Spots.
- Interview (28 min)
- Australian Cut of Snapshot (100 min)
- Not Quite Hollywood Excerpts (36 min)
- Behind the Scenes and Promotional Stills (4 min)
- Two T.V. Spots
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