Movies: Michael Hurst

Three bad girls - a down-and-out stripper, a drug-running killer, and a corporate powerbroker - arrive at a remote desert hideaway to extort and steal $200 million in diamonds from a ruthless underworld kingpin....

A high school teenager wakes up in a time of Amazons and Gods....

A Kafkaesque docudrama of an actual case involving a Christchurch small businessman and the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department. Most people can relate to running up against a bureaucrat (especially the tax man), who knows he can cause you trouble ...

In this mockumentary, Kevin Smith plays himself covering the story of a New Zealand town after the discovery that a local shellfish, the geoduck (pronounced "gooey duck") has the properties of Viagra....

Katherine Mansfield’s The Garden Party is modernised in this contemplative short, following teenage Laura as she hosts a party up the road from a mourning family....

A young solo mother loves her son and his needs are formost, but she still has room in her heart for her very broken brother, even as her fundamentalist mother rejects her. But when the brother is responsible for a woman's broken neck, during his bur...

Dane ‘Marbles’ Marbeck can see ghosts, thanks to a homemade drug: his late father’s neurological medication mixed with marijuana. Officer Jayson Tagg, a wannabe super-cop on the trail of a serial killer, ends up murdered. So when Marbles’ mum plans...

American tattoo artist Jake Sawyer wanders the world, exploring and exploiting ethnic themes in his tattoo designs. At a tattoo expo in Singapore, he gets his first glimpse at the exotic world of traditional Samoan tattoo (tatau), and, in a thoughtle...

Billy (Cliff Curtis) is trying to organize the biggest celebration the town of Waimatua has even seen - the 75th Jubilee of their school. In doing this, feckless Billy is trying to redeem himself in the eyes of his family, especially his frustrated ...

A big-city director working in advertising discovers a better life in small-town New Zealand....

In a violent, post-pandemic world, a peace-loving man is forced on a desperate journey to find life-saving drugs for his wife - but to get them he must first help an ornery old man defend his cabin against all-comers....

Three orphaned boys - O'Malley, Rossi and Moir - become blood brothers. When they grow up, they plot revenge on the crooks who got away with shooting O'Malley's father. The crooks are doing very nicely importing heroin and laundering money. The bo...

Big brother is watching you out of the dark. He might be in your room, he might be in your head, he might be your friend - but do never expect him to be friendly....

It’s every adult’s worst nightmare: moving back in with their parents. Having done just that, a down-and-out husband and his pregnant wife quickly realize that his folks don’t want them around, triggering a raucous power struggle that goes off the ra...

In The Bar, a who's who of the 1990s Kiwi acting community play punters at an Auckland bar. Director Dorthe Scheffmann (Vermilion) made the short film at infamous Ponsonby pub SPQR, which she co-owned. A handheld camera weaves in and around the space...

Len Lye (1901-1980) was a pioneer of experimental animation, and also of kinetic sculpture. This short film dramatically presents 18 minutes inside the head of the artist as a teenager. The opening scenes are set in New Zealand in the year 1917, on t...

Days after Auckland's mayor wins re-election, a blogger reveals an affair between Len Brown and Bevan Chuang. When everyone expects the 'Other Woman' to stay silent, Bevan tells the media her story....

When villagers begin disappearing it is discovered that they had fallen through a crack in the earth which goes straight to Hades. Hercules once again comes to the rescue and faces one of his most difficult challenges, and must prove himself as a man...

A scientist in New Zealand has a secret lab where experiments are performed on humans. When he is assassinated, opposing forces rush to his hideaway to suppress or expose his secrets....

Hercules and Iolaus take time out from Iolaus' wedding preparations, to help a distant village under attack from "monsters". When they reach their destination, they find the monsters are in fact Amazonian women who are controlled by Hera. "Hercules a...