Harlequin is a rather curious mix of political and fantasy-fed thriller. The early 1980s Australian film concerns a faith healer, Robert Powell, who seemingly cures leukaemia in the son of an up-and-coming politician, played by David Hemmings. The picture offers an intriguingly engaging mix of family drama, mystery, and thriller genres- with light touches of fantasy and horror. From Powerhouse – either as a UHD or Blu-Ray- is a new release of the film featuring a 4k scan, one new extra, and a host of archive extras.

Harlequin( aka Dark Forces, The Minister's Magician) is from the year 1980. It was directed by Sydney-born director Simon Wincer. Between the early 70’s and early 2010s, he has an impressive fifty-four director credits to his name- taking in twenty features, and thirty-four TV credits. His features go from racing horse bio/ period drama Phar Lap (1983),  AI family drama/ thriller D.A.R.Y.L. ( 1985), superhero meets Raiders Of The Lost Ark-like adventure The Phantom ( 1996), and comedy adventure sequel Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles(2001).

The film opens with a politician been lost swimming in the sea and a group of people looking for him.  We then quickly shift to the birthday party of Alex Rast(Mark Spain) the very poorly/ hairless ten-year-old son of up-and-coming political Nick( Hemmings), and glamorous socialite Sandra(Carmen Duncan).  The boy is wheelchair-bound, and a magician/ clown has been brought in for his garden party.

After the party is finished- Alex is brushing his teeth and getting ready for bed- when his mouth is full of blood, and he is put to bed clearly very unwell. Suddenly a curly-haired and a black painted nail man appears at the boy's bedroom window pushing himself into the room- this is Gregory Wolfe (Powell). He grabs the boy's shoulders, and fairly soon he’s up and standing on his own.

As the days pass the boy's hair grows back, he’s walking normally, and seemingly is making a full recovery. Meanwhile, Gregory manages to worm their way into the family home- the boy and mother are most pleased, but Nick less so- and he starts investigating his son’s so-called healer.

Powell is wonderful as Gregory Wolfe- portraying a great sense of mystery, as well as switching his behaviour between caring, cryptic, and at points quite dangerous/ unpredictable. Hemmings is good as the focused-on-his career politician, and Duncan comes across as believable as a wife in a loveless marriage.

As the film goes on it shifts through family drama and mystery, though to more political thriller mixed with fantasy elements- and throughout you are constantly pondering both the motives of the faith healer & the boy's father.

The only thing that slightly lets it down/ dates it- are the visual effects, the 4k scan makes most of the film look well balanced/ clean, but when the superimposed/ overlayed effects appear- you can really see what they are, though these are largely fairly brief, and can be forgiven. All told Harlequin is an original and engaging blend of genres- where drama, thrills, and fantasy flow evenly/ well together.

As touched on earlier the release features a 4k scan of the film- this looks very bold and well balanced throughout- the only issue was mentioned earlier regarding re-the effects.  On the extras side, we get a good selection of things- though all but one thing is archive-bound.  So the one new thing here is More Than Magic (15.34): an appreciation of the film/ interview with Oz film historian Stephen Morgan.  He starts by talking about how the film was at odds with the more formal/ respected side of Australian cinema.  He talks about how the film was inspired by Rasputin’s influence over the Russian court. We find out the original script was entitled The Minsters Magician- with a more catholic focus, though this of course this was stripped out for the film.  He talks about how the makers wanted the film to be set in a nowhere/ movie land- and this is enhanced even more by the mix of British, US, and Oz actors. He chats about the film being shot in Perth- which was/ is quite unusual. We find out the film played around the world, but was most popular in Argentina. And much more- so a well-worth a play featurette.

On the archive side, we have the following: a 2004 audio commentary with director Simon Wincer and producer Antony I Ginnane. ‘Not Quite Hollywood’ Interviews ( 52 mins) from 2008 an extensive selection of outtakes from Mark Hartley’s acclaimed documentary on Australian cinema, featuring Wincer, Ginnane, screenwriter Everett De Roche, and actor Gus Mercurio.  Interview with David Hemmings and Robert Powell ( 6 mins) from the year 1980 British actors in conversation with broadcaster Anne Wills. Interview with Everett De Roche ( 6 mins)  from 2007 the prolific writer discusses his career with Shannon Marinko and Lee Zachariah. Interview with Simon Wincer ( 76 mins) 1979  interview with Harlequin director where he talks with filmmaker Rod Bishop and Peter Beilby, co-creator of Cinema Papers.  A 1979 audio Interview with Associate Producer Jane Scott (52 mins). A 1979 audio Interview with Production Designer Bernard Hides ( 35 mins) ]. Destruction from Down Under (16 mins) from 2018  writer Kim Newman revisits the Australian genre film boom of the 1970s and 1980s.

Otherwise, we have an isolated score, Australian theatrical trailers, US Dark Forces theatrical trailer, an Image gallery: promotional and publicity materials, and script galleries: dialogue continuity and screenplay.

The finished release comes with an eighty-page book with a new essay by Julian Upton, exclusive extracts from producer Antony I Ginnane’s unpublished memoirs, an archival interview with Ginnane, and film credits.

Harlequin certainly is a very distinctive film with it’s blending of sub-genres, and I most certainly say if you are looking for something original/ one-off from with in the thriller genre- it’s a film you need to see. This Powerhouse release takes in a bold and bright print, and a  good selection of extras too.