Over the last few weeks Cal and I worked our way through classic Kiwi kidult series, Under the Mountain. Consisting of eight 25-min episodes, on its ’81 broadcast this became one of the defining TV experiences for NZ kids. It is available now as the first release in a new line of TVNZ Classics DVDs.
Under The Mountain was a kids book written by NZ literary legend Maurice Gee. It concerns two twins, eleven years old, whose psychic potential is unlocked by a friendly alien and who join in a war against a family of degenerate, destructive monsters.
And these monsters are truly monstrous. Their appearance in episode one is chilling – a slow reveal as something barely seen out at sea, then a strange shape in the dark, and finally a terrifying full-body shot as they menace the twins. The costumes aren’t anything special but they’re lit and shot well enough to work – strange lumpy, slimy menaces straight out of Lovecraft. (In fact, it is easy to imagine Gee was paying homage to Lovecraft, with the shoggoth-like monsters and the sick, Innsmouth depravity of the strange Wilberforce family; not to mention the weird cosmic amorality of it all.)
Warning: It gets heavy. Not all the sympathetic characters survive. The eleven-year old twins have to grapple with failure and hopelessness as well as more prosaic threats; they argue about the morality of trying to kill the monsters. The whole thing is very deeply felt, and all the more impressive for it.
In fact, I’m surprised to see it marketed here in NZ as “children’s classic”. It is definitely for adults as well as kids, and apart from not talking down to anyone, its actually quite scary. There are some great jump moments, some bits of real suspense, and some unnerving body horror mixed in with the sheer b-movie joy of the monsters themselves. Add in the deeply creepy set design (clearly inspired by H.R.Giger’s work on Alien) and it’s no wonder this gave rise to so many nightmares in this country.
UtM was the first of NZ’s celebrated run of “kidult” dramas, followed by Children of the Dog Star, The Fireraiser, and others. (The genre reappears now and then, e.g. Mirror Mirror in the 90s and Maddigan’s Quest in the 00s.) For a while, there was a lot of pride in our kidult productions – they crossed over the young/old audience barrier and were internationally successful, perhaps our most successful televisual exports ever?
The supremacy of the “kidult” drama disappeared in the 90s with the coming of commercial television, and its a shame – all the more so considering how well UtM stands up today. The acting, sets, effects, and staging are all far better than I had any right to expect. Sure, it bears the marks of its era – the acting is often a bit stagey, the effects are dramatic but not exactly convincing, etc. – but overall it is a great piece of craftsmanship.
Its also obvious that a lot of money went into it – not just from the effects and giant, fascinating sets, but also the direction and camerawork. It was all shot on film, not on tape, with heaps of location shooting. There are little touches that surprised me – a shot that started looking at the kids on the beach, that then turned right around to follow them as they left the beach and finally craned high above their heads to track them as they went into a nearby house. For a shot that doesn’t have any particular significance, that’s a lot of trouble to go to – and its indicative of the care that went into the whole production.
The DVD has no extras, which is a real shame. Still, I’m just pleased its available. The picture quality is okay, nothing special but not poor – for some reason the clips on the TV ad are much fuzzier than the actual release. The episodes even have the cuts to and from commercial breaks left in, apparently there aren’t any clean copies of the episodes left in the archives! Its also a Region 0 release, which as all right-thinking people know, is the best region to be – it plays anywhere in the world.
Cal and I invested in Under the Mountain for the nostalgia value, but it deserves far more respect than that. It’s a genuine classic, in fact I’d go so far as to call it a triumph. I’m as surprised as anyone to be saying this, but here goes: my highest recommendation.
16 thoughts on “Under The Mountain (1981)”
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okay, one weird thing about it – the end-of-episode bits are hardly ever cliffhangers, not even remotely. Mostly they just sort of stop in mid-flow. Sometimes they end on weird non-sequiturs that aren’t explained until the next episode. And the odd thing is, with just the tiniest bit of juggling they could have had an awesome cliffhanger every episode – there were great moments that would have worked literally either side of every down-note episode ending. Very strange.
I remember it fondly. Loved it then would like to see it again now. May just have to order it. Or get the whanau to bring it over.
I’ve never seen it (or read any of Gee’s work) but I’m confident that it’s better than Torchwood. 🙂
2t: I’ll bring one over for you man.
dr: Based on three episodes of Torchwood, yes, although – SPOLEIR WRANING – with less same-sex kissing!
I really loved watching this over Queen’s Birthday weekend. I loved Cousin Ricky the most, and the beach buggy thing he drove. And the way the boy twin’s shorts got shorter and shorter over the course of the series.
I am considering buying it for myself.
As you say, this series was a defining piece of television back in the day. When this screened, everybody was watching it, everybody got home in time to see it. It was the primary school equivalent of a watercooler show. Must get me a copy of this!
Also, apparently there are moves to do a new version, as a feature, I believe.
I picked up a copy of the book to read to Alex while we were back in NZ. Cost about $17 or something! What the hell is that? Can anybody in NZ afford to read any more?
Anyway, it got me all nostalgic for the Halfmen of O. Or more accurately, the radio adaptation of the Halfmen of O. Is that available at all?
There was a casting session at Debbie’s school last year for a film version. That would suggest that there might be something in the pipeline.
Apparently it was a glorious day for ginger kids, and more than one blondey tried to fake being ginger for the audition 🙂
The Halfmen of O! Now that brings back memories! That would be awesome as a TV series… did they ever do that?
J: the shorts are indeed a thing of shame and wonder! And Ricky was my favourite too. Poor old hypnotised Ricky…
AS: No-one reads, we all watch DVDs now. Haven’t seen the Halfmen radio available – wouldn’t even know where to start looking for that one.
M: Yeah, there’s definitely a film coming. What age kids were they auditioning? I live in fear that they’ll try and make them older…
JB: Never a TV series. I know that Sean and Helen wrote a film script once, don’t know whatever came of that…
Ah, Under The Mountain. Such a seminal TV show and novel for everyone of our generation, eh? I’d be really keen to watch it again.
I even vaguely remember writing fan fic based on it, too, back when I was eight or nine years old. And, whenever we’d holiday up to Auckland over the later years I’d always insist in going up on the volcanos or over to that lake on the North Shore and scare myself silly imagining the Wilberforce slug creatures crawling out of the dusk.
I head Maurice Gee talking about a film version of it on RNZ National last weekend, so it’s certainly on it’s way.
But, one little reality check, though. Much as we might be ashamed of it, New Zealand’s biggest televisual expot success was not those excellent kidult shows of the eighties.
No, it’s Popstars, I’m afraid. The format’s been sold to more than 50 countries as is, and that’s not including the even bigger Pop Idol variation…
Scott: OH NOES! Yes, you’re quiet right, the Popstars format is our biggest TV export.
Argh, the Wilberforces gave me the heebie-jeebies.
That WAS a great series. I’m not sure I want to watch it now though. It might spoil my memories.
Maurice Gee is excellent.
When Beau and I were on our honeymoon we listened to National Radio as we drove our way from place to place. They were playing the Half Men of O Radio series, a bit each day. Perhaps they have details on how to obtain a copy?
Ah yes, I loved this series. I remember sailing past the Wilberforces’ house on Lake Pupuke, and going to the old Pumphouse on a school trip when they had the costumes and monster effects on display.
It was kind of creepy walking around the old Pumphouse looking at the blobby Wilberforce monsters. 🙂
Reminds me of Children of the Dogstar too – when they did the whole thing again. (I almost dated one of the CotDS actors in later years… *chuckle* I really should look him up sometime… I think he’s still DJing… lol)
Ahhh – the memories of youth.
If nothing else it made our family trip to Auckland a few months after the first run on TV a lot more interesting for us kids……
I look forward to seeing it again.
Yeah Ricky, he gets mind wiped every five minutes poor guy, but he was such a sweetheart looking after his cousins all the time, when he was clearly so much cooler.