Fortress (1986)
Starring: Sean Garlick, Rachel Ward
Rachel Ward plays a teacher who teaches at a very small school in the Australian outbacks. One day, she and her eight students are kidnapped and taken hostage by four criminals in santa claus masks. They are all taken to a cave to be held hostage. The men block off the entrance with a boulder and leave the students and their teacher.
While being held hostage, she and the students build an oil lamp from some salad dressing from one of the students’ lunches and go exploring the cave for a way out. They find a body of water with a light coming from somewhere. The teacher swims to the light and discovers an exit from the cave. All the students swim out of the cave.
While searching for help, they come across an old couple’s home. But when they enter, they find the criminals are there and have already killed the old couple. The teacher and students are taken hostage again. But this time, they manage to con the criminals, knock one of them out, and escape. From there, they devise hand-made weapons from natural things (rock, sticks, etc) and then there is a show-down between the students and the criminals. At the end before the movie is finished again the students get back to the class. The way its closed is cool… teacher is shown teaching in the same class and the camera slowly moves into the background. This is where you find a large quantity of glass jars filled with organs (eeeeeks…. I know sounds really bad but it is not that bad too). They are the organs of the kidnappers, The students killed them during the fight. Overall it’s a good movie to watch. Some real good action and adventure and the scenario make you feel that you are a part of it. Though the effects are not all that great (its not flashy) but it has that natural feel throughout… in short a must watch if u like good old adventure…
Cheers,
Joe