Trial Run (1984 film)

Trial Run is a 1984 New Zealand film directed by Melanie Read starring Annie Whittle.[1] The film is a feminist revision of the thriller genre.[2][3][4]

Trial Run
Directed byMelanie Read
Screenplay byMelanie Read
Produced byDon Reynolds
StarringAnnie Whittle
CinematographyAllen Guilford
Edited byFinola Dwyer
Production
companies
Double Feature Investments
Cinema and Television Productions
Release date
1984
Running time
90 minutes
CountryNew Zealand

Plot summary

Rosemary Edmonds, a photographer and runner, must temporarily leave her husband and two children when she moves into a remote coastal cottage to carry out an assignment to photograph a colony of rare penguins. It soon becomes apparent that she is being stalked in the cottage by an unknown tormentor. In a twist ending, the "stalker" is revealed to be Rosemary's own teenage son.[5]

Cast
  • Annie Whittle as Rosemary Edmonds
  • Judith Gibson as Frances Hunt
  • Christopher Broun as James Edmonds
  • Philippa Mayne as Anne Edmonds
  • Stephen Tozer as Michael Edmonds
  • Martyn Sanderson as Alan West
  • Lee Grant as Mrs Jones
  • Frances Edmond as Police Constable Miller
  • Teresa Woodham as publisher
  • Allison Roe as Allison
  • Karen Sims as reporter
  • Maggie Eyre as Miss Walsh
  • Margaret Blay as ghost

Production

Trial Run was the first New Zealand feature film to be written and directed by a woman,[lower-alpha 1] and had a largely female cast and crew.[2][6] Marathon runner Allison Roe and reporter Karen Sims appear briefly as themselves in a television interview seen early in the film.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews. In New Zealand, The Press described it as "enjoyable and satisfying in its small way",[7] while Rip It Up felt the film suffered from a "rather sketchy script".[8] In the UK, critic F. Maurice Speed called it a "fascinating and cleverly worked thriller";[9] Leslie Halliwell and John Elliot found the film generated some suspense but criticised its surprise ending as weak;[10][11] while Time Out and The Guardian found the final revelation of the culprit's motives to be "preposterous" and "verging on the incomprehensible".[12][13]

Several film historians have compared Trial Run to Gaylene Preston's Mr. Wrong (1985), another New Zealand thriller with feminist themes.[14][5][2][15]

Notes
  1. Some sources give priority to Yvonne Mackay's The Silent One (1984), although Mackay's role was as director, not screenwriter.

References
  1. Martin, Helen; Edwards, Sam (1997). New Zealand film, 1912-1996. Auckland ; Melbourne ; Oxford :Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-558336-1. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  2. Schneider, Steven Jay; Williams, Tony (2005). Horror International. Wayne State University Press. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-8143-3101-9.
  3. Jocelyn Robson Girls' Own Stories: Australian and New Zealand Women's Films 1997 ... and we are not given the images of vicious bloody attack or of unrestrained violence against the female body. Our 'victim' is a strong woman who despite intimidation, violence and threats survives a life-endangering situation and stands firm and physically undamaged finally to confront her tormentor. There is therefore a deliberate mismatch between certain aspects of the Hollywood psychological thriller and the film Trial Run. In making the strong woman both victim and protagonist, ...
  4. Jonathan Dennis, Jan Bieringa - Film in Aotearoa New Zealand 1992 Read's feature film Trial Run (1984), a feminist revision of the thriller genre, included vivid and somewhat enigmatic dream scenes.
  5. Babington, Bruce (2007). A History of the New Zealand Fiction Feature Film. Manchester University Press. pp. 172–174. ISBN 9780719075421.
  6. "Trial Run". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  7. "'Trial Run' a good trial run". The Press. Christchurch, New Zealand. 19 November 1984. p. 6 – via PapersPast.
  8. Dart, William (1 December 1984). "Film: Trial Run". Rip It Up. p. 36 – via PapersPast.
  9. Speed, F. Maurice (1986). Film Review 1986-7. London: Columbus Books. pp. 113–114. ISBN 9780862872991.
  10. Halliwell, Leslie (1989). Halliwell's Film Guide (7th ed.). Grafton. p. 1050. ISBN 978-0-246-13449-3.
  11. Elliot, John (1993). Elliot's Guide to Films on Video. Boxtree. p. 864. ISBN 978-1-85283-405-0.
  12. Pym, John, ed. (2011). Time Out Film Guide (19th ed.). Time Out Guides Ltd. p. 1110. ISBN 978-1-84670-208-2.
  13. Pulleine, Tim (25 July 1985). "Off-screen Romance". The Guardian. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Reid, Nicholas (1987). A Decade of New Zealand Film. John Mcindoe Ltd. ISBN 9780868680873.
  15. Cairns, Barbara (2007). "Working in Close-Up". In Conrich, Ian; Murray, Stuart (eds.). New Zealand Filmmakers. Wayne State University Press. p. 203. ISBN 9780814330173.
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