Apocalypse Oz is a 2006 short fantasy film. It is based on the novel by L. Frank Baum

L. Frank Baum

Lyman Frank Baum was an American author of children's books, best known for writing The Wonderful Wizard of Oz...

. The film is a hybrid between the two classic films Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...

and The Wizard of Oz

The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)

The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...

, and uses only dialogue from these films.

Plot

Dorothy Willard, an Amerasian

Amerasian

In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....

 product of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

, is tired of living with her abusive foster parents in Kansas

Kansas

Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

. Dorothy decides that "there's no horror like home" and accepts a dream mission that takes her deep into the desert to hunt down and "terminate with extreme prejudice" an insane, renegade US Army colonel - codenamed 'The Wizard'.

Cast

• M.C. Gainey as Kurtz, "The Wizard"
• Alexandra Gizela as Dorothy Willard
• Billy Briggs
  Billy Briggs
  Billy Worth Briggs III is an American independent musician and songwriter residing in McKinney, Texas. He has written numeroussongs.-Career:...
  
   as Hunk, a stoner hitchhiker and version of The Scarecrow
• Brian Poth
  Brian Poth
  Brian Poth is an American actor. He got his start as a dancer on the show Kids Incorporated having to commute to Los Angeles every week. After his contract was up, he moved to LA to get a screen writing and film production degree from Loyola Marymount University. After graduating in 1997, he...
  
   as Doorman
• Kevin Glikman as Kilgore, a cop and a version of the Wicked Witch
• Tammy Garrett as Giang
• Amy Lyndon as Em
• Don Paul
  Don Paul
  Don Paul may refer to:*Don Paul , former linebacker for the Los Angeles Rams*Don Paul , former cornerback for the Chicago Cardinals and the Cleveland Browns...
  
   as Henry

Reception

The film has received positive reviews. Film Threat

Film Threat

Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...

's review said “Apocalypse Oz” had the ability to ruin it from the very beginning but Telford’s direction, convincing performances and an original concept make this worth watching."

External Links

• Film Threat Review
• Film School Rejects Review with the Film