Wolf Creek (2005)

[dean]

Wolf Creek (2005, Greg Mclean)



Finally!  An Australian thriller that packs a punch!  This film is based on true events, but when watching, of course we must bear in mind the term ‘loosely based on.’  Characters and situations were inspired by true events and people, though of course this is fictional and the situation’s different to reality.

These events involve a man called Ivan Milat who killed a heap of backpackers out in the bush back in the day, in which he is obviously the inspiration for our antagonist, and the ‘Peter Falconio’ case in which a british backpacker went missing, allegedly murdered, and the police thought his girlfriend was the killer and held her until they realised she didn’t, and as such took a while to actually locate a suspect [who is undergoing trial right now by the by] and they have never found the boyfriend’s body as of yet.


Basically, the plot is two British female backpackers and their new Australian friend, who has got a crush on one of them, decide to go on a road trip from the west coast of Australia to the east coast.  This trip takes them to Wolf Creek, to a giant crater which they visit.  


Of course, this is out in the middle of nowhere: the harsh bush landscape, and of course, once they get back to their car from the hike to the crater, they then find their car will not start.  They are rescued by a kind man who tows them back to his place so he can fix their car and they can be on their way.  But of course, something goes south, and the rest, they say, is serial killer history.


Half of the film is actually taken up with the road trip: no horror in sight.  And whilst this may seem a bit boring this is actually of benefit for the film as it actually gives us characters which we care about and we learn a thing or two about them [unlike the usual slasher film which gives us characters as mere fodder for the killer.]  This is effective [some other films try and fail to create empathy for the victims, whereas I actually liked the characters in this film.]


Of course, the second half is incredibly tense, especially due to the fact that it has been so quiet in the first half.  After all, in knowing that this is a brutal film [well we usually know what sort of film we are going to watch don’t we?], we are deliberately being manipulated into feeling quite tense, wondering when exactly things will go bad.  And bad they go.  Our intrepid travellers are soon held hostage by their new sadistic friend, who it seems has been at this ‘killing tourists’ business a long time.


This is rated R18+ in Australia, which is the highest rating you can legally get [I don’t think we have a higher rating, including that for porn etc.] and as such we expect things to be quite brutal here.  I guess as a fan of crappy movies and, more often than not, quite violent movies, I didn’t think Wolf Creek’s violence was too bad, but there was certainly a lot of malice and quite deserves the R rating.


By far the best killer I’ve seen on screen is our bad guy Mick.  What is especially interesting about his casting, is the fact that the actor who plays Mick, John Jarrat, is a former television host of the popular tv series ‘Better Homes and Gardens,’ and used to be quite the popular ‘nice’ celebrity.  It’s great how people use their preconceived popular image and smash them to bits with a nice meaty role.  And he does a great job as well.


Two moments of horror above all else stand out for me in this film.  The first is called “Head on a stick,â€� a moment in the film which is quite terrible, and even more so when you know that Ivan Milat, the real life inspiration for Mick, actually used it on one [or more] of his victims.  The other is a long, evil look given by Mick to Ben, our male tourist, before the unwitting travellers realise what is going on, but us the audience know what that look is about and it is quite freaky.  Great acting, once again, by Jarret.


I’ve heard some people say that the violence is taken a bit too far, but I’m sure you’re all used to this sort of violence by now, and I think it’s quite appropriate given the film.  What was perhaps more terrible was Mick’s taunts and violent tendencies, not the violence itself, and also a bit of talk about rape which is quite nasty.


This movie also plays on stereotypical Australian filmic moments, with Mick declaring in one particularly nasty scene, ‘that’s not a knife, this is a knife,’ and the whole ‘let’s go backpacking around Australia’ idea which is so darn enticing.  Not too sure whether this film resonates more with me because of the fact that I would love to backpack around the country and it’s an Australian film, or whether it truly is nasty, and if any of you happen to see it please let me know if you think it’s less/more effective for people overseas.  I also wonder if it will be cut/edited for an overseas audience [something which obviously sometimes happens]


I highly recommend this film, even if it can be a bit stale and traditional in parts [no don’t look at the expositional video tapes, get the hell out of there!!] But overall the film travels really well, plays with your emotions, and for a movie that was mainly filmed in the dark, is lit quite well also.  But that’s more of a technical than an entertaining thing!  On top of this, the characters are great, and the situations are both terrible and well directed.  Like I said, it’s not perfect [no film is] so it’s few flaws are overshadowed by an overall decent and terrible film.


Wow, I seem to have gone on about this film more than I meant to!  

8/10

The Trailer
IMDB Listing

[Mr_Vindictive]

Wolf Creek is a film that I've had my eye on for a while now.  I've read that it's an amazing film, and one of the better horror films in recent memory.

If I'm not mistaken, Lions Gate bought the film here in the states and it is currently in limited release.  Can't wait for the DVD.

[dean]

From what I've read it will be released, if it hasn't already, in the States either this month or next month.  People were so excited that it got picked up so quickly, and it's reputation is certainly well deserved, even if you watch it and hate it.  

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's an amazing film: it does have it's flaws like any other, but what it does do is  seperate itself, for the most part, from your average serial killer movie, and provides some scenes of utter distaste for the antagonist, and absolute pity for the victims, very different change from me laughing my arse off when some careless teen gets slashed in Scream, for example.  And for a film made for $2 Mill, it looks great, and has some great performances.

And yes, it's one of the better thrillers/horror films that I've also seen in recent memory.

[BeyondTheGrave]

I might check this out in the theater. It does come out in Dec. here to the U.S,

-------------------------------------------------
Most of all I hate dancing then work, exercise, people,stupid people

[Scott]

I'm sure the outback has some remote places. The image looks creepy like TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE or something. The harsh landscape is probably a plus also.

With the illustrious names of Dean, Skaboi, and Rich Andrini looking out for WOLF CREEK I'll have to throw my hat in for this one.

[dean]

Well I wouldn't go so far as to say I'm illustrious, but it is a very decent thriller which I really liked, and set in a fairly remote part of the country.  

I mean, I've driven with my family through the 'red centre' of Australia, and there are times when you'd get excited, after driving for hours, to see another car on the road.  It's always a worry when you can count more dead kangaroos on the road getting eaten by eagles, than you can count people you see on the drive.  Well worth it, but after seeing Wolf Creek the whole idea is that much more creepy...

[Ash]

I finally got around to watching this recently.
It wasn't bad....but it wasn't really good either.
It was somewhere in between.

Wolf Creek and Hostel came out on DVD at roughly the same time.
(I think Wolf Creek came out a week or two later)
I must admit that I liked Wolf Creek more than Hostel.

With Hostel, I couldn't have given a damn about the characters.
They were all typical egocentric arrogant American twentysomethings (except for the Icelandic guy & he was worse); I was somewhat glad to see them go.
And Hostel's ending was WAAAY over the top.
When I'm watching a movie and saying out loud, "YEAH RIGHT!!!"  It's a bad sign.  I did that a few times while watching Hostel, especially toward the end.

Wolf Creek doesn't even come remotely close to having an ending like Hostel.
I do agree with Dean in that I did care somewhat for the characters...
Well, I cared for the two women...not the guy. (to me, he was just like the guys in Hostel)

I've stated here on this board before that I'm totally desensitized to most movie violence.
I can watch s**t that would make most of my friends puke and not even think twice about it.
Watching Wolf Creek and seeing a woman being made into a "head on a stick" didn't phase me the slightest little bit.  
I felt nothing.

But...
There is one scene in Wolf Creek that will remain with me for quite a while to come.
It was burned into my memory the instant I saw it and I will never forget it.

SLIGHT SPOILERS BELOW

We watch from about 40-50 feet away (off the side of the road) as a helpless and dazed woman crawls out of a wrecked car trying to get away and is then mercilessly shot in the back by a man with a high powered rifle. (he is silhouetted on the left side of the screen, she is on the far right)
She falls face first into the shoulder of the road...her life ended in an instant.  


That to me is more disturbing than any sadistic torture scene.
That scene really f**ked with my head and I don't know why.
Maybe it was because of its simplicity...the guy just pulled a trigger.  It took almost no effort.
I physically recoiled when I saw it...


Out of all the characters,I seemed to care about that girl the most...I wanted to see her escape but she didn't.
Her quick and extremely brutal death shocked me.

So yes, Wolf Creek does have at least one truly disturbing scene.
Can I recommend it?
Sure...but only if you've seen everything else out there and want a decent horror flick to watch before bed.



(yes, I'm an edit whore...I love to edit the s**t outta my posts!)

[dean]

Glad to see that you watched it Ash!  Like you I can generally watch a film and not be too shocked by what goes on [for instance, for all it's 'gore and violence' Hostel didn't really phase me] but like I'm sure I said earlier; the fact that it's a more realistic approach and that it's locally made gave Wolf Creek that all important 'that's freaky' bonus for me.


ahem...spoilers...



Also that disturbing scene you mentioned Ash, was great, just because of that whole comparison to him shooting the girl like he would a kangaroo, which is what he did for work.  



ahem... end spoilers...


Like you said, it's the simplicity that works well in that scene, and for me, it works great for the whole movie.  Sure it's not perfect [it's a hard genre to be perfect in anyways] but it's always nice to have an antagonist who is actually charasmatic and creepy as hell instead of some faceless guy in a mask.  

Plus despite the fact that I did enjoy Hostel, it makes for a good comparison in style since, in a few ways, they are quite similar.  Hostel really did have that 'yeah right' factor, but it was fun because of that.  Whilst Wolf Creek does have it's moments [stop looking at the camera you silly girl!!!] it doesn't push the limits on what the audience would believe, and it's nice to see people acting sane for once in a film [the guy's reaction to his situation is priceless when you think about what usually happens in this sort of film]

[Mr_Vindictive]

I saw the film a few days ago myself, but haven't had much time to post about it.

Overall, I wasn't really impressed.  I had read that Wolf Creek took a realistic view on horror, yet it seemed like any other slasher to me.  John Jarratt did steal the film for me though, as he oozed charm from the first time we meet him.

Spoilers Below:

I had quite a few problems with the film, the first being the chick in the garage.  She has the keys to the cars but rather than get out of there in one, she decides to dick around and check out the video cameras that Mick had taken from other victims.  I couldn't suspend my disbelief enough for that one.

The other thing that bothered me was that Ben survived.  It just didn't fit the film, in my opinion.  He disappears, and we think he's dead until the last 2-3 minutes of the film.  I'd have been much happier if all three had died.

End Spoilers.


It wasn't a bad film, just not one that I'll watch again.

[Neville]

I'm not an expert on the genre, as I tend to avoid gore, but to me "Wolf Creek" and "Hostel" are opposites. "Wolf Creek" is a slasher, true, but does things right. Everything is filmed in a realistic light, story takes its time to unravel, you more or less care about the characters (it helps that they are portrayed so naturally: they could well be anybody's friends or family) and violence is not there to satisfy the gore aficionados, but to be genuinely disturbing. Nothing stroke me as being gratitous or exploitative.

I keep reading people's comments on this kind of movies saying they are wicked, that they feed and fuel our primal instincts, that they desensitivize people. Nonsense. It's the rest of movies that do so, by showing violence lightly (when not in a positive way), by not showing the real impact of death, its real tragedy. Normally, in a movie somebody dies or is killed, and in a couple of scenes all the consequences are gone, just washed away.

"Hostel", on the other hand, could be easily accused of all that things critics often attach to movies that disturb them. It stages torture / mutilation / death scenes (which are quite mediocre, I have to say) for pure entertainning. There are no characters, no story, no nothing. Instead Eli Roth de-humanizes everybody as much as he cans (that the characters are either dummies or disgusting is not a mere chance) so when the killing time arrives we, as spectators, have no ethical problems in enjoying their deaths.

Not only it is a crappy movie (there are thousands to choose from), it's downright inmoral, and those who know me in this board know me well enough to understand I'm not using that words lightly.