Turkey Shoot
Turkey Shoot (1981) Rewatch? ✅
After a few days of rewatching all the decent Leprechaun films (that’s the first through to the fifth), fancied myself some more Trenchard-Smith and having rewatched Dead End Drive In only too recently, to Turkey Shoot we go.
Of all the “…and they hunted human beings” films, it’s at the classier end of the scale (not that you’d have known on release given the almighty amount of pearl clutching and tutting over it) and mainly piss funny. It’s the bluntest of satires, full on fuck subtlety, we’re going all in stuff. In case you needed it flagging, it’s a “very fascism=bad, kids” film and then some.
Somewhere in a near future, people are sent to concentration camps due to them being considered deviants, the camp is (of course) staffed by a group of malicious, nasty fuckers who abuse the prisoners and enjoy themselves doing it into the bargain. Every now and then, a bunch of prisoners are chosen to be the quarry in a live hunt and that’s pretty much the film right there. The film follows the escapades of the hunting and the hunted, leading up to a completely over the top silly turning of the tables ending and some incredibly brief, but fun, gory moments.
It is so clearly taking the piss, I really do wonder how anyone watching it could have mistaken it for doing anything else. However, this is humanity we’re talking about here and it does take all sorts a fair bit. Personally, I thought the half-beast hairy cannibal guy was a bit of a giveaway that this is aiming for, and succeeding in, pisstakery but hey ho.
I’m not even going to consider watching the remake through fear of it missing the point but I’m always up for the occasional watch of the original and once again, had a right giggle sitting down to it again.