Mu-Meson Archives Presents Shake Hands With Danger! - Film Review

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Jaimie (SBS Movie Show) and Aspasia (FBI Naked City) Leonarder are a husband and wife team who curate the Mu Meson Archives, a fascinating collection of music, film and literature. Together they have collected and digitised a series of educational safety films from the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s, many of which have only been seen in classrooms.

Most of these movies were designed to scare children into compliance, so many are over the top gore fests. They are often also unintentionally hilarious. For me the highlights would have to be as follows;

Shake Hands With Danger - a workplace health and safety film that comes with its own Johnny Cash style song: "Shake hands with danger, why I oughta know. I used to laugh at danger, now they call me three finger Joe..."

Hands Off - A warning to children about picking up unexploded artillery shells. The title is probably not supposed to be a pun, but it is.

Don't Let Him Die - A film about the importance of learning first aid. It contains the classic line "Don't waste time. You can always be sick later."

Hospitals Don't Burn Down - A health and safety video about a hospital that burns down. There must have been a big budget for the stunts in this one.

LSD - Presumably this is supposed to scare young people out of taking LSD but it's more awkward than frightening. As the hosts note, the moral seems to be not so much "don't do drugs" as "don't buy food when you're peaking".

All Women Have Periods - A surprisingly progressive educational film for children from 1979. It actually shows blood on a pad, something you didn't see on TV when I was growing up (though this wasn't on TV but for classroom use).

The hosts guide you through the selection of films with both informed opinions and snarky commentary, so it's like watching along with a sarcastic film nerd friend. You can find more of the hosts' work online at the Mu Meson Archives Patreon page.

Shake Hands With Danger has a total runtime of 90 minutes. It is available internationally online as part of the Sydney Underground Film Festival 2021 from September 9-26.


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