Wolf Creek
Also reviewed by:
Noah K.
Everybody knows Australians don't go and see Australian films.
Everybody also knows why: they largely suck ass. Sure there's the odd great drama in there, but usually they are so morose audiences never find that out. They are also justifiably cautious after too many lightweight Aussie comedies and dodgy Aussie films “exploring our cultural identity”, whatever the fuck that means. Why the hell has it taken so long to realise that audiences don't want to go see Australian films that are just about being Australian? Audiences want to see good genre films that just happen to be Australian. And that's what they get in Wolf Creek .
The pacing and set up of this film cannot be faulted. Instead of meeting a group of hot-but-terrible-actors teen virgins who are, say, counsellors at the Camp Wolf Creek retreat that we don't give a crap about except for wondering if we're gonna see some titty before the hot chicks get killed, here we are given adequate time to meet and get to know our main characters before they are plunged into peril. It helps that the performances are perfectly subtle from the young cast and their camaraderie seems true and believable, because believability is this film's strong point – something the camera work supports well.
The time we spend with the backpackers at the beach, and then in the outback, is so real it almost borders on mundane, except knowing it's a horror film binds everyone of these scenes with a foreboding tension all of its own. There's a great moment where they have an encounter with some real yobbo locals that hints at the dangers to come, but other than that we just see these likeable but normal characters have a great time driving across barren Australia looking for fun.
Then of course it all goes to shit. Jon Jarrett is excellent as the twisted Crocodile Dundee/Steve Irwin that plays their saviour one minute and tormentor the next. Thankfully, rather than a faceless silhouetted killer slashing his way through these youngsters, we get to spend some time sussing him out, as the characters converse uneasily with the bushman by campfire, before waking bound and gagged the next morning.
I understand the film plays on the Aussie ocker Crocodile Dundee stereotype but there are a few moments late in the film where the killer bounces between true menace and cartoon, often in the space of the same scene. Some of these moments threatened to derail the reality of the film – like how he starts appearing almost impossibly everywhere like he was Jason Voorhies or Michael Myers – but luckily there's only a few of them, and what happens after these moments brings the terror back immediately.
This isn't a “OHMYGODWHATWASTHAT!!!!” jump out of your seat in fear only to find it was just a cat jumping out of a cupboard accompanied by some really loud sudden music type scary film. This is a watch people get tortured and brutalised and feel afraid because it all looks so damn real type scary film.
Director Greg McLean's next film is apparently about a giant croc eating people. Now I've seen enough B-Grade monster flicks to know that that premise sounds completely hokey, but taking into account the croc attacks we constantly hear about from up north, and seeing what McLean has done to the once-frequent backpacker murders that took place in this country with Wolf Creek, I have a lot of faith the film could be the first genuinely scary “monster” flick since…well, Jaws .
Wolf Creek is a good film, but don't go into it believing all the hype. It has been heaped with almost more praise than it deserves simply because it is a good film in a field of turgid bland other Australian films, much like the way I believe Revenge Of The Sith only received any acclaim because by comparison to the other sucky prequels, it was actually okay.
Wolf Creek might not be the saviour of the Australian film industry, but hopefully, along with The Proposition , it's the start of something.