Something Cult, Foreign-Language or Indie #217: Bedevil (1993).

Bedevil is an anthology film with three stories of indigenous Australian life in the Outback. First, Mr. Chuck tells the tale of a young Aboriginal boy haunted by the spirit of an American soldier who drowned in the nearby swamp. Several incidents from the boy's childhood are recounted through the soldier's perspective and that of a white woman descended from settlers of the local area. Second, in Choo Choo Choo Choo, Ruby (writer-director Tracey Moffatt) and her family endure terror from ghost trains running on a track beside their house; after witnessing a fatal tragedy involving them as a child; she returns many years later to face them again. Finally in Lovin' the Spin I'm In, Torres Strait Islander matriarch Imelda heads to north Queensland to stop her fleeing son Bebe and his love Minnie from marrying after their intention to marry meets with her opposition, tragedy strikes, but the couple's rebelliousness lingers.

This was the first Australian feature film by an indigenous female director and it was screened in the Un Certain Regard category at the 1993 Cannes Film Festival. Those are both commendable and significant achievements, and Moffatt's intentions here to challenge indigenous stereotypes in recent Australian society are very important, but honestly I considered large chunks of this movie, especially visually, to be laughably dated. Lovin' the Spin I'm In was fully enjoyable but Mr. Chuck and Choo Choo Choo Choo have visual effects that look like they were literally painted on in post-production, so much so that I found them jarring to the point where I completely forgot about everything else including the narratives.  The relentlessly pounding score also enhanced this, but in fairness to that there are no didgeroos in it (I'm assuming that choice was made in keeping with Moffatt's afore-mentioned intentions to counter stereotypes).

The cast, which also includes Aussie cinema stalwarts Jack Charles and Lex Marinos, all try their best, and again its cultural achievements shouldn't be ignored or devalued, but its technical aspects have not aged well one bit. Therefore, Bedevil did not bedevil me.