''Welcome to Woop Woop'' is a 1997 Australian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by Stephan Elliott and starring Johnathon Schaech and

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ''The Time Machine'' (1960), ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), '' The Birds'' (1963), and ''In ...

. The film was based on the novel ''The Dead Heart'' by Douglas Kennedy. " Woop Woop" is an Australian colloquialism referring to a fictional location in the middle of nowhere.

Plot

Teddy ( Johnathon Schaech) is a

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

bird smuggler who goes to Australia to replace a flock of escaped birds after a deal goes awry. While there, he has a wild liaison with a quirky, sexually ravenous girl, Angie (

Susie Porter Susie Porter (born 1970 or 1971) is an Australian television, film and theatre actress. She made her debut in the 1996 film '' Idiot Box'', before rising to prominence in films including '' Paradise Road'' (1997), ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' (1997) ...

), who, after a brief courtship, knocks him unconscious and kidnaps him. When he awakes, he finds himself "married" to her - not legally - and stranded in Woop Woop, a desolate, dilapidated town hidden within a crater-like rock formation in

Aboriginal Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

territory. The residents are people who lived there at an

asbestos Asbestos () is a naturally occurring fibrous silicate mineral. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous crystals, each fibre being composed of many microscopic "fibrils" that can be released into the atmosphere b ...

mining

camp Camp may refer to: Outdoor accommodation and recreation * Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site * a temporary settlement for nomads * Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...

before the land was handed over to the Aboriginal peoples; following a tragedy in 1979, Woop Woop was abandoned and literally "erased" from the Australian map. Not content with the deal given to them by the mining company (from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

), they opted to return to their old lives in Woop Woop. At first, they repopulated themselves incestuously, which caused wide mental instability. A rule was then enacted ("Rule #3"), preventing residents from sleeping with their relatives. Since then, outsiders like Teddy have been occasionally kidnapped to keep Woop Woop populated. Their only export is dog food made from road-killed kangaroos. The town is run by Angie's father, Daddy-O (

), in an authoritarian manner, that he disguises as communal (he and the other town elders keep the best luxuries for themselves in secret while doling out only the usual canned pineapple and sub-par tobacco to the others). The only entertainment available to the residents is old Rodgers & Hammerstein films and soundtracks, the latter of which they play constantly. These are presumably leftover from the town's last official contact with the civilized world. After witnessing another kidnapping, 'Midget,' the local hairdresser, is shot dead by Daddy-O during an attempted escape. Teddy soon realizes he will be trapped in Woop Woop for life unless he finds a way out for himself. Initially, he repairs his VW van, which had been vandalized by the locals, only to have it vandalized again by Daddy-O. In addition, the

Australian Cattle Dog The Australian Cattle Dog (ACD), or simply Cattle Dog, is a breed of herding dog originally developed in Australia for droving cattle over long distances across rough terrain. This breed is a medium-sized, short-coated dog that occurs in two m ...

that he adopts is shot as part of 'Dog Day.' He befriends a couple of locals, including the scruffy, affable Duffy and Krystal, Angie's sister, who help him confront Daddy-O's iron-fisted reign and arrange an escape plan. Duffy, reprimanded by Daddy-O for breaking 'Rule #3,' nonetheless elects to stay in Woop Woop, while Teddy, Krystal, and Krystal's pet cockatoo escape.

Cast

* Johnathon Schaech as Teddy *

as Daddy-O *

as Angie * Dee Smart as Krystal *

Richard Moir Richard Moir (born 1950) is an Australian former actor and editor. He is known for many Australian film roles and in TV soap opera ''Prisoner'' (also known as ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'') as original character of electrician Eddie Cook and in chi ...

as Reggie * Maggie Kirkpatrick as Ginger * Barry Humphries as Blind Wally * Mark Wilson as Duffy * Paul Mercurio as Midget * Baden Jones as Leon * Rachel Griffiths as Sylvia *

Tina Louise Tina Louise ( Blacker; born February 11, 1934) is an American actress widely known for her role as movie star Ginger Grant in the CBS television situation comedy ''Gilligan's Island''. With the death of Dawn Wells in 2020, Louise became the las ...

as Bella

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released by Universal Music Group. # " Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" -

Cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate, ...

# "

There is Nothin' Like a Dame "There Is Nothing Like a Dame" (for 4 part male voices, 2 tenors and 2 basses) is one of the songs from the 1949 musical '' South Pacific''. The song was written by Richard Rodgers with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It is widely popular in the ...

" - Reel Big Fish # "Timebomb" -

Chumbawamba Chumbawamba () were a British rock band formed in 1982 and disbanded in 2012. They are best known for their 1997 single "Tubthumping", which was nominated for Best British Single at the 1998 Brit Awards. Other singles include "Amnesia", " Enou ...

# " I Can't Say No" -

Poe Edgar Allan Poe (; Edgar Poe; January 19, 1809 – October 7, 1849) was an American writer, poet, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. He is widel ...

# "Welcome to Your Life (Woop, Woop)" - Boy George # " I Got You Babe" - Merril Bainbridge and

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

# "

Bali Ha'i "Bali Ha'i", also spelled "Bali Hai", is a show tune from the 1949 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical '' South Pacific''. The name refers to a mystical island, visible on the horizon but not reachable, and was originally inspired by the sight of Amba ...

" - Moodswings and

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

# "Dog's Life" - eels # " You'll Never Walk Alone" -

Robin S. Robin Stone (born April 27, 1962) is an American singer and songwriter, who scored success in the 1990s with such house music singles as " Show Me Love" (which was her debut single) and " Luv 4 Luv". She has had three number ones on the ''Bi ...

# "

Climb Every Mountain "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" is a show tune from the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical ''The Sound of Music.'' It is sung at the close of the first act by the Mother Abbess. It is themed as an inspirational piece, to encourage people to take every s ...

" -

Peggy Wood Mary Margaret Wood (February 9, 1892 – March 18, 1978) was an American actress of stage, film, and television. She is best remembered for her performance as the title character in the CBS television series ''Mama'' (1949–1957), for which sh ...

and Junior Vasquez

Release

Critical reception

''Welcome to Woop Woop'' has an overall approval rating of 29% on Rotten Tomatoes. Elliot's earlier film release, '' The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert'' had been a Cannes hit in 1994. The uncompleted ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' was screened "out of competition" at the

1997 Cannes Film Festival The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997 in film, 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to ''Taste of Cherry, Ta'm e guilass'' by Abbas Kiarostami and ''The Eel (film), Unagi'' by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistre ...

an experience Elliott described as "excruciating". Australian film critic Michael Adams later included ''Welcome to Woop Woop'' on his list of the worst ever Australian films, along with '' Phantom Gold'', ''

The Glenrowan Affair ''The Glenrowan Affair'' is a 1951 movie about Ned Kelly from director Rupert Kathner. It was Kathner's final film and stars VFL star Bob Chitty as Kelly. It is considered one of the worst films ever made in Australia. Plot Artist Rupert Kath ...

'', ''

Houseboat Horror ''Houseboat Horror'' is a 1989 Australian slasher film that was shot on video, and then released to video in 1989. It is often described by critics and audiences as one of the worst Australian films ever made. Plot A film crew composed of med ...

'', ''

The Pirate Movie ''The Pirate Movie'' is a 1982 Australian musical romantic comedy film directed by Ken Annakin, and starring Christopher Atkins and Kristy McNichol. Loosely based on Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera ''The Pirates of Penzance'', the origin ...

'', '' Les Patterson Saves the World'' and ''

Pandemonium Pandæmonium, Pandemonium or Pandamonium may refer to: Literature * Pandæmonium (''Paradise Lost''), capital of Hell in John Milton's epic poem ''Paradise Lost'' * ''Pandaemonium'' (history book), a book by Humphrey Jennings, published posthum ...

''. It has become a cult classic in the years following its release, notably loved by

RuPaul RuPaul Andre Charles (born November 17, 1960; stylized as RuPaul) is an American drag queen, television personality, actor, musician, and model. Best known for producing, hosting, and judging the reality competition series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' ...

Box office

''Welcome to Woop Woop'' grossed $489,725 at the box office in Australia.''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
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References

External links

* * * *
Welcome to Woop Woop at the National Film and Sound Archive''Welcome to Woop Woop''
at Oz Movies * {{DEFAULTSORT:Welcome To Woop Woop 1997 films Australian adventure comedy films 1997 independent films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Stephan Elliott 1990s adventure comedy films Films based on American novels Films set in the Northern Territory Films set in New York City Films shot in the Northern Territory Films shot in Oregon Australian independent films The Samuel Goldwyn Company films Films scored by Guy Gross 1997 comedy films