When a film has "The thrill is in the hunt" for its tagline it's pretty clear this will probably not be one to watch on lovely nights with your significant other. Now, if you do, please make sure you're in a secure, enclosed place with all the lights turned on and not out in the open where... things can come to get you. And preferably with a phone handy in case you need to dial 911.
WOLF CREEK has been panned by pretty much everyone and their mother and I think it's an unfair reaction. When have slasher movies meant to be seen like the next Doris Day comedy or a Julia Roberts vehicle? I may be wrong but I'm quite sure that with the revelation of the butcher in the plot the intention is to repulse -- to induce horror. Hence why this will be found in the "Horror" section and not under "Romantic Comedy".
I appreciate the fact that for a genre that has been so maligned with detestable productions, Greg McLean has created a movie that pays its respects well. Never for a moment, for the first half hour, can anyone say that they could predict what comes to pass because a good time is spent building the three characters and having them interact with each other. Neither speak in "movie talk" and the film has a documentary feel, which makes it more authentic. It does become more and more unsettling once they go farther away from the main roads and into uncharted territory, because like the threesome of THE BLAIR WITCH, the Big Bad Wolf is lying in wait... or possibly stalking them already.
Their car stalls, and their watches stop at the same time -- a plot element that is only there for inducing a little bit of creepiness, but is never alluded to. Of course, since they've been telling campfire stories about UFO's and are sitting at the edge of a crater, once strange lights appear they actually have come to believe that an alien is coming to abduct them, and herein lies the movie's sly joke. For the alien is none other than a jolly, good humored man named Mick Taylor (John Jarrat), who's come to help them.
And shortly later, the carnage begins. The events unfolding from here on will compensate from the lack of anything of relevance happening, but are too graphic in more ways than one. My only complaint is the fact that the two women who try to escape continually put themselves at risk, and can't seem to dodge their predicament. One in particular: Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath), actually does Something Really Stupid, which seems to be there only to let her (and us) in on the fact that Mick is a serial killer. Probably had this occurred earlier, it would have not seemed tacked-on, but it's one of few minuses in an erstwhile solid, very good horror movie that is sure to elevate Mick Taylor's character as one of the most memorable villains in film history. Oh, and don't believe the hype about the "based on true events" thing: watch it as it is, and not as a recount of a factual occurrence. It makes the experience even more stomach-turning.
WOLF CREEK has been panned by pretty much everyone and their mother and I think it's an unfair reaction. When have slasher movies meant to be seen like the next Doris Day comedy or a Julia Roberts vehicle? I may be wrong but I'm quite sure that with the revelation of the butcher in the plot the intention is to repulse -- to induce horror. Hence why this will be found in the "Horror" section and not under "Romantic Comedy".
I appreciate the fact that for a genre that has been so maligned with detestable productions, Greg McLean has created a movie that pays its respects well. Never for a moment, for the first half hour, can anyone say that they could predict what comes to pass because a good time is spent building the three characters and having them interact with each other. Neither speak in "movie talk" and the film has a documentary feel, which makes it more authentic. It does become more and more unsettling once they go farther away from the main roads and into uncharted territory, because like the threesome of THE BLAIR WITCH, the Big Bad Wolf is lying in wait... or possibly stalking them already.
Their car stalls, and their watches stop at the same time -- a plot element that is only there for inducing a little bit of creepiness, but is never alluded to. Of course, since they've been telling campfire stories about UFO's and are sitting at the edge of a crater, once strange lights appear they actually have come to believe that an alien is coming to abduct them, and herein lies the movie's sly joke. For the alien is none other than a jolly, good humored man named Mick Taylor (John Jarrat), who's come to help them.
And shortly later, the carnage begins. The events unfolding from here on will compensate from the lack of anything of relevance happening, but are too graphic in more ways than one. My only complaint is the fact that the two women who try to escape continually put themselves at risk, and can't seem to dodge their predicament. One in particular: Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath), actually does Something Really Stupid, which seems to be there only to let her (and us) in on the fact that Mick is a serial killer. Probably had this occurred earlier, it would have not seemed tacked-on, but it's one of few minuses in an erstwhile solid, very good horror movie that is sure to elevate Mick Taylor's character as one of the most memorable villains in film history. Oh, and don't believe the hype about the "based on true events" thing: watch it as it is, and not as a recount of a factual occurrence. It makes the experience even more stomach-turning.