Wolf Creek

April 26, 2006

Rated: NR Runtime: 95 min Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Wolf Creek is a hard movie to rate because on one hand, it is so sloooowwww you need a caffeine drip to stay awake for the first hour. But then the last 30 minutes ranks right up there with Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original that is) in the way the director gives you the feeling that this could really happen or in the case of Mick Taylor; Still be happening! Very tough to decide indeed!

The movie is essentially an Australian urban legend about a whacked out outbacker that traps, hunts and kills unsuspecting hikers and tourists stranded in the middle of nowhere at an old crater called Wolf Creek. Of course you will need to throw in a healthy amount of torture and taunting, but once you do you’ve got ya’self a right nasty bugga. You can tell by the basic plot that as a viewer it would be very easy to imagine how terrifying such a predicament really would be if you were in their shoes. This is the biggest strength of this movie, much like the Blair Witch Project years ago. The build up is only there to drag you into the story and once they have you, they can reveal the juicy finish. Wolf Creek is perfect if that is the kind of horror movie you enjoy… Of course there’s also the torture and rape that goes with it, which doesn’t work for me.

Long gone are the days that you have a huge body count and the slasher systematically plow’s through each victim one after the other until only one survives to kill the maniac. This latest batch of horror movies are going for something a bit more visceral and cruel, which I think is a bit over the top. Directors like Craig McLean and Eli Roth (Hostel) aren’t making movies you can walk out the theatre and say that was a pretty good movie, but that could never happen. No, they are creating killers and circumstances under the pretense that it is based on factual material dragging you the viewer right where they want you. I like the slasher genre, absolutely hate the Japo imports (see Grudge and Dark Water) but I am not a huge fan of the new torture movie craze. Slow plot’s that lead up to some poor chick getting skewered or burned until her eye pops out… No thanks!

The acting in this movie is OK and the story takes a couple of turns but overall it is too much bread not enough meat. Mick Taylor is more like Jeffrey Dahmer and John Wayne Gacy than Jason Voorhees or Leatherface, and if I wanted that kind of realism I’d watch Forensic Files on A&E. I prefer ignorant bliss and escapism!

Posted by J.C. Edwards | Filed Under 3 Stars, Cassandra Magrath, DVD, Horror, John Jarrett, Kestie Morrasi, NR, Nathan Phillips