Wolf Creek (2 Disc Edition) [DVD]

 

 

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Wow! Believe the hype. This film will have you cowering behind a cushion or under a blanket. The plot builds up at a slow pace and cleverly lulls the viewer into a false sense of calm. Then the action comes and shock after shock follows. My heart was pounding all the way through this film and I found myself screaming for the characters to survive. At points I didn't want to watch anymore but at the same time couldn't tear my eyes away. This is a fabulous film but not for the faint-hearted.

I found this film very scary. Touched a nerve somewhere for me. Why does no one make sure the villain is dead when they have a chance!!
The scenery was just right - desolate, eerily quiet, miles from anywhere. The actors had believeable characters and the "head on a stick" part was awesome.
Not a film to watch on your own late at night. I had to watch a whole episode of the Vicar of Dibley afterwards just to get to sleep.

I was living in Sydney at the time of the famed backpacker killings. As the bodies were discovered in the Belangalo Forest south of Sydney, and the biggest murder investigation in Australia's history got under way, the news reports of the way the victims were tortured and murdered were absolutely shocking and profoundly disturbing. The reported perpetrator Ivan Milat was arrested, and ultimately convicted, and he is now serving a life sentence.

Now almost fourteen years later we have a movie that purports to be loosely based on those murders, and whether it should have been made at all is up to the reviewer to decide. Personally I think it's in bad taste, and is disrespectful, not only to the seven victims, but also to the victims' families. Aussie writer/director Greg McLean skewers the original real-life story, setting Woolf Creek in the wilds of the Western Australian desert where three unsuspecting backpackers come across a staggeringly evil Australian boogieman.

Liz (Cassandra Magrath), Kristy (Kestie Morassi) and Ben (Nathan Phillips) leave the tranquil coast of Broome Western Australia a beat-up jalopy after a pointless tequila and Smirnoff Ice binge and head inland, their goal being the Wolf Creek Crater, a giant, circular scar in the earth's crust, the resting place for an ancient meteorite. Their car conks out and their watches stop working when at the same moment help arrives in the form of friendly backwoods giant Mick Taylor (John Jarratt).

It's dark and cold and despite some ominous signs, they allow him to tow the car back to his place, an abandoned mining camp, where he starts to work on the repairs. But is Mick all that he seems? As they sit around the campfire, drinking some of his special rainwater, he jokes about murdering tourists and gutting livestock. Next thing we know, Liz wakes up bound and gagged in a room that makes a dungeon look appealing, and is separated from her friends.

The rest of the film is a sadistic cat and mouse game in which Mick seeks and destroys his prey in the most vicious and gory fashion, with McLean seriously stretching the limitations of what is acceptable cinematic entertainment. Yes, the film is suspenseful and it's stylishly done, but it's also somewhat nasty and mean-spirited. There are some gorgeous shots of Australia's northern deserts with McLean manipulating nature so that it starts out as a positive force and then turning ominous with rain cloud formations. Francois Tetaz's creepy score also heightens the atmosphere.

Judgments aside, the real reason to see Woolf Creek is John Jarrett's over-the-top performance as the evil Mick. The actor has obviously aged a bit since the height of his fame in the mid-1970's, but he's lost nothing of his earthy sex appeal. With his icy stare, scratchy beard and cackling laugh, this is a monster without an ounce of human compassion that has made it his life's work to murder unsuspecting tourists.

Whatever quasi-social commentary McLean throws in about the nature of pure evil and the need to track down these people, who can get away with almost anything in the isolation of Australia's outback, nothing can escape the fact that Woolf Creek is a chilling and disturbing film that tries to recount one of the darker periods in Australian criminal history. Mike Leonard April 06.

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4.0 out of 5 stars good film :)
Takes a while to get going and whilst its definately the 'scariest film of the year', it was still an entertaining film which would appeal to horror fans and film lovers alike!

Published 19 days ago by mark

5.0 out of 5 stars bleedingfilms.com review of 'Wolf Creek'
My god, this is a terrifying story. My top 10 films will have to increase to a top 20. This is definitely in my top 5 of all time. Read more

Published 1 month ago by bleedingfilms.com

3.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good original story
Enjoyed the film but the lead female character did some stupid cliché horror movie mistakes that were so dumb that it brought me out of the tense scene and left me annoyed... Read more

Published 3 months ago by R. Nielsen

2.0 out of 5 stars wolf bleak!
Start's promising enough but then goes to the same formula

Hardly any gore I know it's phschological etc but this film is ultimately a let down and sadly becomes... Read more

Published 3 months ago by zombie head banger

5.0 out of 5 stars Very good :-)
I really like this film - have watched it a few times now.

What starts off as an adventure for 3 friends, ends in a living hell. Read more

Published 3 months ago by Clancy

4.0 out of 5 stars Wolf Creek video
The DVD arrived in good time - but this DVD is certainly not for the faint hearted because it is gruesome and is based on a true story.

Published 4 months ago by Effie A. Macleod

1.0 out of 5 stars Pointless, tasteless sadism - avoid.
Subjected to this at the house of some friends; I would now give almost anything to forget it. From the cretinous bad taste of the allusions to the Peter Falconio murder, to the... Read more

Published 4 months ago by Bonwet Cran

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST SEE BUT ONLY AFTER YOU LEAVE THE NT!
We have been living in the Northern Terrrtory for a year. I am so glad that I hadn't seen this movie before we travelled through the National Parks. Read more

Published 4 months ago by Mrs. A. J. Coates

1.0 out of 5 stars disturbing
Nope, sorry, no way. This film is a snuff movie. Bad taste, shock horror. Want to watch someone being raped and brutally tortured? this is the film for you.

Published 4 months ago by E. Wardle

1.0 out of 5 stars Disturbing, Distressing, Offensive
I've never before felt inclined to write a review on Amazon - but I was so horrified by this film I wanted to make my views public. Read more

Published 6 months ago by W. Harvey

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