Fortress (1985)

An Australian school teacher and her students are kidnapped. She and the children fight for their lives and try to escape from their captors.

Director:

Arch Nicholson

Writers:

Everett De Roche (screenplay), Gabrielle Lord (from the novel by)

Stars:

Sean Garlick, Rachel Ward, Elaine Cusick

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sean Garlick	...	Sid
Rachel Ward	...	Sally Jones
Elaine Cusick	...	Mrs. O'Brien
Laurie Moran	...	Mr. O'Brien
Marc Aden Gray	...	Tommy (as Marc Gray)
Ray Chubb	...	Publican
Bradley Meehan	...	Richard
Rebecca Rigg	...	Narelle
Beth Buchanan	...	Leanne
Asher Keddie	...	Sue
Anna Crawford	...	Sarah
Richard Terrill	...	Toby
Vernon Wells	...	Dabby Duck
Peter Hehir	...	Father Christmas
David Bradshaw	...	Pussy Cat

Storyline

"Fortress" explores a shocking concept which shows how easily a borderline between a victim and an attacker can be crossed. The children and the teacher, calm and peaceful by nature, when driven beyond their limits by the kidnappers, eventually respond with a cruelty and fury extending that of their oppressors.

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Plot Keywords:

teacher | school | human hunting a human | teenage girl | corpse with eyes open | 

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Taglines:

One teacher and nine students. Stalked by terror, Fortress is their lesson in survival.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Certificate:

TV-MA

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 November 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Fortaleza

Filming Locations:

Bairnsdale, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crawford Productions, HBO Premiere Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

85 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

According to the "Australian Motion Picture Yearbook 1981/82", during this film's development, Robert Stigwood's production company R and R Films and director Bruce Beresford were originally slated as being on board for the movie. This however, would change.

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Goofs

During the shots of the youngest girl (Sarah) underwater, she is shown with the markings on her face that she puts in place later in the movie as war paint.

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Quotes

Leanne: Hey, that's like us; WE'VE got a trophy, too.

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Connections

References Gilligan's Island (1964)

User Reviews

The mystery movie revealed!

I am so happy that Google exists, because after 15 YEARS of fruitless searching (including on IMDb, sorry!) I've found this movie again. Images like the swim through the underground cavern and the older couple (?) being horrified by the rabbit masked man have haunted me to the point I thought I had imagined the whole thing. The fairly low-fi quality of the film makes it all the scarier, classic HBO 80's fodder. The fact that I watched it as a pre-teen made the fight for survival of the woman and the children all the more real. The setting of the Outback made their situation seem really perilous, for if there is so much open, empty space around you, it seems you have fewer places to hide (and I think may have sparked my latent fear of kidnapping and lack of hiding places). Excellent (as it stuck in my mind all these years, I guess it had to!)