I was thinking "yeah, sure. Another 'based on true events' bullshit movie" and I am now here to eat my words.
It might be tagged with 'inspired by real events' and you may reasonably ask; "how do they know that?". And perhaps they don't know at all, but as you watch this movie, you will completely forget that tag, because this flick is going to swallow you, and chew you up.
For a good hour this is 'just' a road trip drama. You get to know Liz and Kirsty, two British tourists down under, and Ben, the happy Aussie the two girls team up with for their road trip. And they get to know each other while the open road stretches before them. Some will feel the movie drags out and others will watch as the little drama unfolds, as it is well told and deliciously realistic. But even if you are part of the first group just hang in there, because this movie gets vicious, and thats mainly thanks to the long build up. When characters are made real and likable, its all the more gripping when they go through hell.
The acting is perfect in this flick and that is fortunate indeed, because just one bad performance could have ruined it. Kirsty and Liz are obvious friends and looks out for each other, and Ben is the fun loving Aussie, but still respects the girls hes riding with. These 'kids' genuinely likes each other, and the small slow-moving romance between Ben and Liz makes an air of innocence surround it all.
Then their car breaks down....
And in come the outback weirdo Mick Taylor. To return to my expectations "yeah, sure...". If the first half of the movie hadn't punctured my expectation of this being another mainstream hack like Wrong Turn and TCM remake, Mick Taylor would surely do it. In the aforementioned slashers, you could be quite sure who would die, and who'd just get their t-shirts ripped, but in this one you don't want any harm to come to any of the three. But Mick makes sure there comes plenty to all of them. He is a first grade sadistic psycho and he displays it with such a gleeful joy that you just can't help but believing it. Suddenly the movie turned from road trip drama to borderline exploitation horror. There's a whole change of tone when he comes on screen. In fact from the moment his headlights come on screen. Its dark, it rains, the kids don't know where they are being taken and so on. Suddenly that wide open road that stretched before them seems like a confining obstacle that keeps them in place. The horror that unfolds here must be seen.
Its one of the best back roads horror movies since TCM so get watching it. But don't expect your average slasher. In fact; don't expect average at all, because this flick works so well on every level.
It might be tagged with 'inspired by real events' and you may reasonably ask; "how do they know that?". And perhaps they don't know at all, but as you watch this movie, you will completely forget that tag, because this flick is going to swallow you, and chew you up.
For a good hour this is 'just' a road trip drama. You get to know Liz and Kirsty, two British tourists down under, and Ben, the happy Aussie the two girls team up with for their road trip. And they get to know each other while the open road stretches before them. Some will feel the movie drags out and others will watch as the little drama unfolds, as it is well told and deliciously realistic. But even if you are part of the first group just hang in there, because this movie gets vicious, and thats mainly thanks to the long build up. When characters are made real and likable, its all the more gripping when they go through hell.
The acting is perfect in this flick and that is fortunate indeed, because just one bad performance could have ruined it. Kirsty and Liz are obvious friends and looks out for each other, and Ben is the fun loving Aussie, but still respects the girls hes riding with. These 'kids' genuinely likes each other, and the small slow-moving romance between Ben and Liz makes an air of innocence surround it all.
Then their car breaks down....
And in come the outback weirdo Mick Taylor. To return to my expectations "yeah, sure...". If the first half of the movie hadn't punctured my expectation of this being another mainstream hack like Wrong Turn and TCM remake, Mick Taylor would surely do it. In the aforementioned slashers, you could be quite sure who would die, and who'd just get their t-shirts ripped, but in this one you don't want any harm to come to any of the three. But Mick makes sure there comes plenty to all of them. He is a first grade sadistic psycho and he displays it with such a gleeful joy that you just can't help but believing it. Suddenly the movie turned from road trip drama to borderline exploitation horror. There's a whole change of tone when he comes on screen. In fact from the moment his headlights come on screen. Its dark, it rains, the kids don't know where they are being taken and so on. Suddenly that wide open road that stretched before them seems like a confining obstacle that keeps them in place. The horror that unfolds here must be seen.
Its one of the best back roads horror movies since TCM so get watching it. But don't expect your average slasher. In fact; don't expect average at all, because this flick works so well on every level.