Umbrella releases Fair Game (1986)!

[The Great Owl]

Jessica, played by Cassandra Delaney, runs a wildlife sanctuary in the Australia Outback, and is unsettled when she discovers that three hunters are illegally killing kangaroos on her territory. She is later harassed and antagonized by the hunters when she travels into town to alert the authorities. Afterwards, the men follow her home and victimize her in a series of sadistic games. Fortunately, Jessica is smarter, faster, and more adept in the wilderness than the men. The hunters quickly become the hunted, and, during a climactic showdown, they learn the hard way what happens when they mess with a woman.

The 1986 Australian survival thriller, Fair Game, thankfully eschews the sleazy exploitation aesthetics of American movies of the era for the most part, and the more disturbing aspects of the story are implied rather than shown, although the hunters are clearly portrayed as redneck “good old boys” who cross the line with their quest for mean-spirited fun. The end result immerses the viewer in some occasionally cartoonish, but brilliantly intense action sequences reminiscent of the Mad Max films. Vehicles drive off of cliffs, an obnoxiously huge truck plows through a house, a character meets a violent death by way of electric shock, a stuntman jumps from one vehicle to another during a chaotic car chase, and our female protagonist uses multiple well-engineered booby traps to turn the tables on her tormentors.

This film benefits greatly from the isolation factor of the unforgiving setting. During one highly suspenseful scene, Jessica evades the hunters by hiding beneath a rocky ledge. While the men stand above her and search the area with their gun scopes, a snake crawls over Jessica as she struggles to remain silent. Since this is Australia, where there is a strong probability that a snakebite will leave you badly dead, this sequence provides quite a few white-knuckle moments.

Fair Game will not make you a better person or change your worldview, but, when it comes to explosively fast-paced Outback action goodness, one could do a lot worse.

This Umbrella Entertainment Blu-ray sports an impressive video presentation befitting of this film's rugged charm. The audio shines as well, and brings out the best in the sound effects and gunshots.

The interview with the beautiful Cassandra Delaney is a joy to watch, especially because she looks back fondly on the film.

I'm currently enjoying the commentary track with director Mario Andreacchio and writer Rob George.

Sadly, I cannot get the rest of the extras to work on my region A Sony Blu-ray player, although the movie, the main interview, and the commentary work just fine. I'd like to watch the director's short films, but I'll have to wait until I can get them working on my player or on another player.