by Philip Ellwood, Tuesday 27th September 2005
Surely by now you‘ve heard of this little-known Australian horror allegedly based on true events. The film follows three backpackers on a journey to see a mysterious crater at Wolf Creek. After exploring the landmark the backpackers return to their car to find they cannot start it. Lucky for them a driver stops to give them a hand and help them on their way...
‘Wolf Creek‘ is not an easy ride. As a hardened horror fan I found myself turning away from the screen on several occasions. The first half of the film keeps you guessing and refuses to give into the usual horror cliche of offing characters in the first 20 minutes. Instead the film builds up at a suitably unsettling pace, gains your trust and then turns everything on its head.
As a modern day horror movie ‘Wolf Creek‘ is on another level. So many awful cliched horror movies are released into the market it is refreshing to experience one that is both original, inventive and actually scary. The scenes of murder and torture are very real and incredibly difficult to watch. The viewer actually cares about the characters (none of which are the typical horror airheads) and is kept on the edge of the seat hoping that the characters can get away from the sadistic maniac that is pursuing them.
Whilst ‘Wolf Creek‘ is not easy to watch it is a good example of how a good horror movie can be made. It owes a lot to classics such as ‘Last House On The Left‘ and ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre‘. The cast are all relative unknowns but do a more than adequate job. If you aren‘t too squeamish and you want a good edge-of-your-seat scare then ‘Wolf Creek‘ is to be highly recommended.
Cast
John Jarratt
Cassandra Magrath
Kestie Morassi
Nathan Phillips
Certificate: 18
Distributor: Dimension Films
Director: Greg McLean
UK Release Date: Friday 16th September 2005
Celebrities Worldwide Rating: 9 out of 10
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
