Review of Dying Breed (2008) by Tamatai N — 15 Feb 2010

It's starting to feel as though every single Australian horror film follows the same formula; a bunch of naive city slickers, remote location in the Aussie wilderness (this time the dense forests of Tasmania), unfriendly locals who hate any one sporting cosmopolitan values and value tradition above all etc.

Jody Dwyer's debut film makes little to no attempt to tamper with this formula. Gifted with a moderately capable cast, it's a shame that the finished film was such an unimpressive affair. Moderately, however, is a term which is used very loosely since none of the main four actors fair well with their characters.

The best performance comes from Mirrah Foulkes, whose Irish doctoral student at times displays an almost Ahab-like obsession with finding the elusive tasmanian tiger - a zoological anomaly which has gradually consumed her whole life. Sadly, the same can not be said of either Nathan Philips or Leigh Whannell. Philip's Jack is so brash and unlikable that one can almost sympathise with the locals in their dislike of tourists. Whannell is less abrasive as Foulkes' borderline neurotic boyfriend Matt, but is no more successful in creating a sense of engagement with the audience. Whilst Saw has already proven that Whannell is adept at showing blind terror (and he does an admirable job in the final climatic scene here), it would seem that when not writing his own material Whannell is somewhat lost and he stuggles through much of the film like a dog that's broken its hind legs.

As far as the story itself goes, it's a mixed bag. Whilst it does offer a degree of historical content - almost non-existent in Australian horror - and serveral images of quite painful looking dentistry, the script is largely a by-the-numbers affair of aimless fumbling about in the dark, liberally spaced murders and eventually a reveal which feels somewhat underwhelming.

Underwhelming: a word which sums up Dying Breed quite effectively. Between the dispassionate performances of its main cast and the thin, lack lustre story there isn't really much to scream about here (in fact, expect to yawn or switch off for the first half of the film). Perhaps if you have a some free time and want a no brainer, Dying Breed may be a passible time-filler. Otherwise, save your time and movie on the far superior Wolf Creek.