John-Michael Howson

As Australian cinema broke through to international audiences in the 1970s through respected art house films like Peter Weir's "Picnic At Hanging Rock," a new underground of low-budget exploitation filmmakers were turning out considerably less highbrow fare. Documentary filmmaker Mark Hartley explores this unbridled era of sex and violence, complete with clips from some of the scene's most outrageous flicks and interviews with the renegade filmmakers themselves.

Open details →

Bert's Family Feud was the third Australian version of the game show Family Feud. The series was produced by Grundy Television in conjunction with FremantleMedia. It was broadcast on the Nine Network and hosted by Bert Newton. The show intended to feature celebrities and their families as contestants. A principal motivation for establishing the show was that the Nine Network had the highest-rating Australian television news service for many years, but has seen its viewing audience abandon the network in favour of the Seven Network's Seven News and Today Tonight. This is not only due to Seven's increasing ratings for its news programming, but also due to their highly successful game show Deal or No Deal which airs in the 5:30pm timeslot, leading into the news. Leading up to the program's February 2006 launch there was speculation that the network may delay the program until mid-year and instead show reruns of Friends in the 5:30pm timeslot. Network executives are hoping that Friends reruns will reignite the timeslot and allow Bert's Family Feud to premiere to a solid audience. It debuted 13 February 2006. It was cancelled in 2007 due to low ratings. The final episode was taped on 23 May 2007 in the GTV studios in Melbourne and aired on 1 June 2007. 274 episodes were recorded, with the Castricum family being the final contestants, winning $85,000 in total. After the demise, 'the best-of' episodes continued to air on Mondays to fulfil the show's commercial obligations.

Open details →

Rove, formerly Rove Live, was an Australian television variety show which premiered on the Nine Network on 22 September 1999, before moving to Network Ten which aired the program from 2000 until November, 2009. The show was hosted by comedian Rove McManus, and featured an ensemble cast, who presented various segments throughout the course of the show. The show won the Logie Award for "Most Popular Light Entertainment Program" five times.

Open details →

A rowdy rock group are accompanied by a film crew to desolate Lake Infinity to produce a music video. One night the musicians visit the local pub while the various members of the film crew satisfy their carnal desires with one another aboard the luxurious houseboat they are all staying in. They are so busy they fail to notice that a rampaging lunatic has snuck aboard the boat, and one by one the various characters are brutally slaughtered in a variety of grisly ways.

Open details →

In the beginning the Devil made a bet with God. The Devil backed Eve, God backed Adam. What would have happened to love and sex if Adam hadn't taken the bite?

Open details →

A little girl named Cathy tries to keep her mother from making out with a man while driving one day, and she inadvertently causes her mother's death in the car crash. 16 years later, Cathy has changed her name to Helen and has become a psychotic actress. Things are going fine until horrible things starts to happened with the cast of her new play.

Open details →

Felicity studies at a remote Roman Catholic boarding school in Australia. Consumed by curiosity about sex and heavily indulging in popular erotic novels as well as a lesbian affair with her friend Jenny, she yearns for a real-world experience.

Open details →

A tongue-in-cheek sex education documentary covering a different subject for each letter of the alphabet, e.g. A is for Anatomy, B is for Babies, etc.

Open details →

Alvin Purple, a man who can't hold down a job because of his voracious sexual appetite, impersonates a dead American Gangster.

Open details →

Stoppit and Tidyup is a British children's animated cartoon series originally broadcast by the BBC in 1987.

Open details →

The Trap Door is a claymation-style animated television series, originally shown in the United Kingdom in 1984. The plot revolves around both the daily lives and the misadventures of a group of monsters living in a castle. Although the emphasis was on humour and the show was marketed as a children's programme but also for family entertainment, the show drew much from the genres of horror and dark fantasy. The show has since become a cult favourite and remains one of the most widely recognised kids' shows of the 1980s. Digital children's channel Pop started rerunning the show in 2010.

Open details →

A drama about a group of people stranded at an old wartime guesthouse during a flood. One guest announces that he has the power to "decreate" people and is asked to demonstrate. From an original story by Harry Farjeon.

Open details →