Fortress

"For one teacher and nine children, the lesson of the day is kill or be killed."

1985 1h 28m EN

👍

6.9

SOLID

★6.9TMDB · 101

DramaHorrorThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

After being kidnapped by four masked men, a teacher and her students rebel by plotting against the criminals.

“For one teacher and nine children, the lesson of the day is kill or be killed.”

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Cast

Rachel Ward
Sally Jones
Sean Garlick
Sid
Elaine Cusick
Mrs. O'Brien
Laurie Moran
Mr. O'Brien
Marc Aden Gray
Tommy
Ray Chubb
Publican
Bradley Meehan
Richard
Rebecca Rigg
Narelle

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Arch Nicholson
Writers: Everett De Roche
Languages: English
Countries: Australia

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

88 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

41 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Arch Nicholson, shot by David Connell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Danny Beckermann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph Strait shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Rachel Ward and Sean Garlick and Elaine Cusick carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "For one teacher and nine children, the lesson of the day is kill or be killed.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0091069 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Arch Nicholson directs. David Connell behind the camera. Danny Beckermann scores. Ralph Strait cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Australia. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

188 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
241 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Directed by Arch Nicholson, shot by David Connell. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Danny Beckermann. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Ralph Strait shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Rachel Ward and Sean Garlick and Elaine Cusick carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "For one teacher and nine children, the lesson of the day is kill or be killed.".
8IMDB entry: tt0091069 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 12 themes, including "australia", "based on novel or book", "underground", "kidnapping".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Connell
Original score: Danny Beckermann
Editing: Ralph Strait
Production design: Philip Warner
Runtime: 88 min · 1h 28m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
IMDB: Fortress (1985)

Also by

Arch Nicholson

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Community reviews

What people are saying

drystyx2023-04-02
★ 9/10
One might view this as the polar opposite of "Lord of the Flies", although both give very credible depictions of kids in dire circumstances. The difference here is that there is a teacher with the kids to guide them. Also, there is no plane crash. Instead, the kids are kidnapped from a very remote school in a very remote place in Australia. There are a lot of very interesting aspects to this film. First of all, the protagonists of a beautiful female teacher and her students in a place so remote that all the grades and ages are combined in one tiny class, so we get older kids and younger kids. Then there are the antagonists, the four kidnappers. They wear masks. One, Father Christmas, is super dangerous. Another, the mouse, is also quite dangerous. The other two have their own problems. "Kitty cat" appears to be someone who might today be on a "sexual predator" list, and the duck is the most reluctant of the group. Instead of "spoiling" the stroy, I'll leave it at this to let you go through the adventure, and there are lot of adventures that the protagonists go through. The reason I say it is the polar opposite of "Flies" is that instead of behaving horrible to each other, they work together to try to survive against the maniac who torments them.

Production companies