19) Deadlock (1970) and 20) 20th Century Oz (1976)

19) Deadlock (1970) Dir: Roland Klick Not Yet Released Date Seen: January 14, 2012 Rating: 3.75/5

20) 20th Century Oz (1976) Dir: Chris Löfvén Date Released: September XX, 1977 Date Seen: January 14, 2012 Rating: 2.5/5

Great double feature, even if Oz kinda sucks. My review of the latter title can only be found in the print edition of the L Magazine for some reason. So I'm copy-and-pasting it below. The former review can be read at the L Magazine's site. Enjoy.

Sex is the thing in Oz, an, ahem, “modern” Australian rock musical version of The Wizard of Oz. Oz (aka: 20th Century Oz) was produced in 1976 and boy, does it show. To modernize Frank L. Baum’s story, writer/director Chris Löfvén made Dorothy (Joy Dunstan) a 16 year-old groupie whose vivid feature-length fantasy is not a result of a hurricane but rather an unfortunate tour van crash.

After the accident, Dorothy stumbles into a nearby town. She then learns that the van struck a local macho’s brother (he’s presumably the Wicked Witch of the West). Dorothy then becomes infatuated with “The Wizard” (Graham Masters), a cheap Bowie knockoff that struts about in a rainbow afro composed entirely of primary colors, a thong that looks a pair of lips and little else. And from there, we’re off to see, well, you know.

Since the film’s answers to the Wicked Witch only sporadically pops up in order to look menacing and then promptly disappear, Oz’s main source of drama is seeing who will screw Dorothy. Will it be the Wizard; Blondie the Surfie (The Road Warrior’s Bruce Spence), a slow-witted surfer; Greaseball the Mechanic (Michael Carman), a heartless repairman; or Killer the Bikie (Gary Waddell), a cowardly motorcyclist? In this libido-driven whatsit, the only person that doesn’t want to bang the girl in the ruby slippers is, naturally, Glin (Robin Ramsay), a fabulously gay man that owns a little boutique called “The Good Fairy.” If you’ve ever wanted a post-Judy Garland Oz film to do something, shall we say, different with its source material, then Oz is the movie for you!