''Summer City'' (also known as ''Coast of Terror'') is a 1977 Australian

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

thriller film Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by the filmmaker in this genre ...

, filmed in

Newcastle, Australia Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area ...

. The film also features

Mel Gibson Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson (born January 3, 1956) is an American actor, film director, and producer. He is best known for his action hero roles, particularly his breakout role as Max Rockatansky in the first three films of the post-apocaly ...

in his debut role.

Plot

In the early 1960s, Sandy, Boo, Scollop and Robbie drive to the beaches north of

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

for a surfing weekend. The boys are planning to give Sandy a memorable 'one last fling' before his impending marriage. Tension flares between university-educated Sandy and

ocker The term "ocker" is used both as a noun and adjective for an Australian who speaks and acts in a rough and uncultivated manner, using Strine, a broad Australian accent. Definition Richard Neville defined ockerism as being "about conviviality: c ...

Boo when Sandy decides not to join in the fun. At a local dance, Boo seduces Caroline, the teenage daughter of a caravan park owner who discovers what has happened and comes looking for Boo with a gun.

Cast

as Scollop *

John Jarratt John Jarratt is an Australian television film actor, producer and director and TV presenter who rose to fame through his work in the Australian New Wave. He has appeared in a number of film roles including '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ' ...

as Sandy *Phil Avalon as Robbie *

Steve Bisley Steve Bisley (born 26 December 1951) is an Australian writer, film and television actor. He is best known for his roles in the films ''Mad Max'' and ''The Great Gatsby''. On TV, some of his better-known roles include Detective Sergeant Jack Chr ...

as Boo * James Elliott as Caroline's father *Debbie Forman as Caroline *

Abigail Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...

as the woman in pub *

Ward "Pally" Austin Ward Austin Gargan, who worked as Ward "Pally" Austin (19351998) was an Australian radio DJ in the 1960s and 1970s. He was known for his unpredictable but popular stints at various stations. Austin was a dedicated music fan of American artists ...

as himself *Judith Woodroffe as the waitress *Carl Rorke as Giuseppe *Ross Bailey as Nail *Hank Tick as Caveman *Bruce Cole as the man in car *Vicki Hekimian as Donna *Karen Williams as Gloria *Gary Tidd as Rocker in milk bar *Len Purdie as rocker in milk bar

Production

The script was autobiographical, Avalon having been a passionate surfer for most of this life and grown up in Newcastle. He also served in the army for several years (although not in Vietnam). He says he offered the script to

Brian Trenchard-Smith Brian Medwin Trenchard-Smith (born 1946) is an English-Australian filmmaker and author, known for his idiosyncratic and satirical low-budget genre films. His filmography covers action, science fiction, martial arts, dystopian fiction, comedy, w ...

as director, but Trenchard-Smith suggested Avalon direct it himself because he knew the subject matter so well. Avalon eventually gave the job to Chris Fraser, a young director who had another project Avalon was going to produce. The film was shot on 16mm and blown up to 35 mm. Shooting began in October 1976 and took place near Sydney and Newcastle, especially in the town of

Catherine Hill Bay Catherine Hill Bay is a coastal bay and village on the southern peninsula forming Lake Macquarie, south of the Pacific Ocean entrance channel at Swansea in New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the City of Lake Macquarie local government ...

. Avalon invested $25,000 of his own money. He had another investor provide $25,000 plus twelve friends who put in $8,000.

Release

The film proved popular and had a long run. It led to a sequel '' Breaking Loose'' (1988).

References

External links

*
Summer City at the National Film and Sound Archive''Summer City''
at Oz Movies
''Summer City''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Australian thriller drama films 1977 films 1970s thriller drama films Australian surfing films 1977 drama films Films set in the 1960s Films set in Sydney Films shot in New South Wales 1970s English-language films 1970s Australian films {{1970s-thriller-film-stub