Snapshot (1979)

Director:

Simon Wincer

Writers:

Everett De Roche (written by)
Chris de Roche (written by)

Release Date:

October 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

They Thought It Was Over But The Real Horror Began... The Day After Halloween.

Plot:

Angela is a young hairdresser thrown out of home by her puritantical mother after too many nights out...

Plot Keywords:

Hairdresser | Murder | Jealousy | Car Crash | Beach

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Chantal Contouri	...	Madeline
Robert Bruning	...	Elmer
Sigrid Thornton	...	Angela
Hugh Keays-Byrne	...	Linsey
Denise Drysdale	...	Lily
Vincent Gil	...	Daryl
Jon Sidney	...	Mr. Pluckett
Jacqui Gordon	...	Becky
Julia Blake	...	Mrs. Bailey
Peter Stratford	...	Roger
Christine Amor	...	Paula
Lulu Pinkus	...	Wendy
Stewart Faichney	...	Peter
Chris Milne	...	Book Marker
Bob Brown	...	Captain Rock

Also Known As:

Day After Halloween
One More Minute (USA)
The Day Before Halloween (USA)
The Night After Halloween (USA) (video title)

Runtime:

92 min | 101 min (DVD)

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:16 (re-rating) | Argentina:X (original rating) | Australia:M | UK:18 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

The film was marketed in the United States as "The Day After Halloween" to capitalize on the success of Halloween (1978), even though this film had nothing to do with that series and doesn't even feature Halloween as a theme.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Soundtrack:

Angela

Good twists

First of all, let me say that I bought this movie with the title on the box reading "The Night after Halloween". When the opening credits came on, it said, "The Day after Halloween". And when I was done with the movie, I realized that it spans over what seems to be a month and involves nothing about Halloween, October or anything remotely connected to the holiday. Why not just stick with the appropriate title "Snapshot"? whatever...

This film is probably not for people who are bored easily. If you like interesting characters and thinking about what is going on, then you will probably like this. It is not an average horror movie with dumb, horny teens, lots of gore and funny killings. More like a thriller that gets you thinking. But not too hard.

It is an Australian film about a naive and sheltered female hairdresser whose sassy, sexy and strong lady friend convinces to leave her hairdressing career to be a model. This wholesome young woman has just broken up with her boyfriend who drives an ice cream truck called "Mr. Whippy". He is devastated by the break up and stalks her all around the city in his ice cream truck. She does her first photo shoot on a whim for a cologne ad in a magazine topless on a freezing cold beach and suddenly becomes this hot model that everyone wants. She ends up running into some slimy, sleazy characters and because her personality is so immature, she jumps to hasty conclusions and gets pushed around a lot.

The ending has some neat twists that I won't spoil for you. The thing I liked about this movie was that the viewers learn about the boyfriend character mostly by listening to the girl talk about him to other people. When we actually see him, he never seems as bad as she makes him out to be. I like how the movie leads us through the main character's irrational ideas and we are meant to believe that she is thinking correctly.

There are some odd camera movements in this film that are kind of exciting. There is also a comedy "musician" who pops up in two night club scenes. He is really awful and laughable with all his makeup and dumb hijinks.

The soundtrack is interesting, too, because it has one song near the beginning that is actually singing about the main character, "Angela" and how she is not making the right decisions. But no other songs are about the movie. The beginning sequence seems to give away the ending when you watch it, but when the end actually comes, you realize you would have had no idea what actually happened without watching the whole movie.

All in all, not a movie for the easily bored or people who don't like doing character analysis. If you want a late night movie that won't freak you out but is thrilling and somewhat suspenseful, get this one. It is also quite original. 6/10