London Film Festival was great, as was Kevin Smith chatting away at the Indigo 02
London Film Festival was great, as was Kevin Smith chatting away at the Indigo 02
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Australia, land of dreams, beach parties, barbecues and back packers. A country where 30,000 people go missing every year (or so this film tells us), fortunately 90% of them turn up or are found within a month. That still leaves 3,000 people who vanish, never to be seen again, or possibly are found after one month? The Australian outback is an unforgiving place and it is possible some of these missing people just got lost there and were never found again, but then it is just as possible that what happened to them is just a little bit more down to who they met rather than where they were.
Wolf Creek tells the story of what happened to some of those missing people and is based, take note of that word, on a true story.
We open in Broome, a pleasant looking coastal town where two British girls, Chris & Lizzy, are nearing the end of their Australian holiday. Along with Ben, a good-looking Australian guy they have met, they are about to drive across the country to Sydney to fly home, or in Ben's case to visit a girl there. Along the way they want to visit Wolf Creek, the site of a massive meteor hitting the earth
sometime in the distant past.
Their journey is a typical one, girls and boy bonding, music playing, fun and laughs at campsites. All the kind of thing you'd expect from a group of twenty somethings on holiday. The beginning of the film plays this up a lot, letting us get to know the characters in an almost documentary type style, to like them and feel as if we know them. This is very skilfully done both script wise and directing/editing wise, even more so as it lulls you away from the impending disaster we know is going to strike them, after all this is a horror film!
When they finally reach Wolf Creek the tone of the film changes, we know the terror we are waiting for is nearly upon us, any moment now it is going to hit them but how and where from is what keeps us in suspense. When it hits we can see it coming and the suspense turns to tension as we sit on the edge of our seats
From this point on Wolf Creek becomes a taut, psychological horror, piling on the shocks and terror as we are drawn into the nightmare these travellers found themselves caught up in. What happened to these three travellers? You don't think I am going to tell you that do you? Go and see it and find out for yourselves!
Wolf Creek is a horror film from the old school, much like Shallow Ground, it relies on story and keeping your adrenaline soaring through you to scare you. It makes you use your imagination as much as what it shows to give you those visceral thrills we want from a scary movie, instead of just throwing in a gory death every 10 minutes or so or over loading us with special effects. It keeps you hoping, sometimes when you think there is no hope, that there may be a way for the backpackers to get out of their predicament. This is where the early scenes really show the skill that the director Greg McLean has, in that short period he not only introduced and set up the film but made us get involved in the three main characters. When it gets to this stage of the film they are not insignificant nobodies who are going to be lined up for the kill (see House of Wax for the last example of that kind of writing).
Apart from the script and the terrific performances leading us into the horror to come there is the excellent use of music. As someone who takes very little notice of music it takes a lot for me to notice background music, this time though the use of some very eerie music throughout, especially when they are driving at one stage really does add to the building expectations within you.
The whole look of the film is very bleached and sun blasted, giving an added realism to the proceedings. You can feel the heat in the air, raining the colour from the surroundings and the leaving the scenery as dull and muted. This lack of colour and the seemingly never-ending barren landscapes makes everything all the more foreboding and desolate.
This is the kind of horror I like, though it does get a bit gruesome and horrific as the story progresses it never goes too far, like I said relying on you to fill in the blanks. It never slips into a slasher type movie, and maybe its all the better due to that.
The only thing I have against this film is the True Story tag, is it? I have my doubts about the validity of that claim, though I guess it gets away with it because it says based on a true story. Why do I doubt it? That is something I cannot reveal in a review and if you see it you'll know why.
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
This was one of the better horror flicks to come out in the past two years, along with THE DESCENT. John Jarrett gave an awesome performance as the psychotic bushman...Terrific review!!! Chris :)
x_staz_x 07.05.2006 20:24
I was very dissappointed with this film. I only started getting into it near the end, i thought the starting dragged. I agree about the true story tag, i have my doubts too. Staz x
coyoteugly 07.03.2006 15:10
exceptional review. must see this now it does sound great. lou xx
One of the scariest films in years, Wolf Creek is an unforgettable, shocking and ... more
completely visceral experience from first-time director Greg McLean.Three backpackers head into the beautiful and isolated Australian outback in a dilapidated car. After s...
How can you be found when no one knows you're missing? Three friends on a road trip in ... more
the remote Australian Outback are plunged into danger when they accept help from a seemingly friendly local... Greg McLean's truly terrifying thriller is based in...
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Advantages: The story is believable. Acting is natural. Great photography Disadvantages: Perhaps too much time spent on build-up Some horror clichés.but not overdone
RippedoffPete 30.03.2008 (21.07.2008)
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Review of Wolf Creek (DVD)
![Wolf Creek (2 Disc Edition) [DVD] [2005]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78504601.jpg "Wolf Creek (2 Disc Edition) [DVD] [2005]")
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