Snapshot

Don't go into THE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN expecting a teen slasher (obviously); despite the fashion milieu, don't go into the film expecting an Australian THE EYES OF LAURA MARS. Originally titled SNAPSHOT, the film was the sixth feature produced by Anthony Ginnane, following the sexploitation duo FANTASM, the dramas SYMPHONY IN SUMMER and BLUE FIRE PLADY, and international horror hit PATRICK. It was also the second of a sextet classic Ozploitation pics including the aforementioned Richard Franklin film, the vampire pic THIRST, David Hemmings' THE SURVIVOR (based on the novel by James Herbert), the modern-day telekinetic Rasputin tale HARLEQUIN/DARK FORCES, the pseudo-slasher STRANGE BEHAVIOR/DEAD KIDS, and Brian Trenchard-Smith's futuristic ESCAPE 2000/BLOOD CAMP THATCHER. Director Simon Wincer's film is more of a drama about the price of fame with a subplot in which the heroine is not so much menaced as intermittently annoyed by a stalker (it ain't no THE FAN either). Angela spends more time fending off advances from dirty old men (and more subtle ones from Madeleine) and alienating her Bohemian loftmates. Despite being a piece of Ozploitation and having a script shot through with provocative elements, SNAPSHOT is rather tame with little bloodshed and sex. PATRICK didn't need much of that because - like director Richard Franklin's later ROAD GAMES - it's Hitchcockian borrowings were stimulating (so much so that Franklin was chosen to direct PSYCHO II), THIRST had an unpredictable paranoia-driven plot to keep things interesting, while the others had their share of nudity and bloodshed.