Described as `Mad Max meets the China Syndrome', the 1980 Australian filmThe Chain Reaction is an often overlooked entry in the highly venerated Ozploitation Genre. A nuclear disaster themed thrill ride into early 80s Australiana and industrial paranoia. Sitting alongside Night Of Fear (1972) and Turkey Shoot (1982) in the outlandish canon of Australian B-cinema from the 1970s and 80s The Chain Reaction includes its fair share of gratuitous nudity, rocker attitude and souped up vehicular carnage, but also carries a skilled visual style and strong environmental message that sets it apart from its less cerebral counterparts. Composed by unsung composer Andrew Thomas Wilson, the soundtrack is a forgotten piece of 1980s electronic film scoring. A clash between driving electropop and the ominous dirge of John Carpenter's The Thing and The Fog soundtracks. Layers of icy modular Synth and proto techno rhythms serve as the backdrop to the explosive biological-apocalyptic meltdown.
