Review of Dying Breed (2008) by Kate M — 10 Jul 2009

As a fan of Leigh Whannell, I happenned accross Dying Breed, an Australian film essentially about a group of four aquaintances who go searching for signs of the extinct thylacine in Western Tasmania. One of the characters has an extra motive as her sister disappeared and was subsequently found drowned after searching for the thylacine in the exact same location, over 8 years previously.

The plot listed above is actually quite good, except that added to the plot are a cannibalistic ex-convict from more than 100 years before, a town of inbreds and a whole load of bad horror movie cliches. As a lover of the horror genre, I was easily able to predict the dying order of the protagonists within the first two minutes of the movie. Really, one of the many flaws of Dying Breed is that it's just so damn predictable. First of all, they trust the inbred sadistic Tasmanian locals (every good Australian knows never to trust a Tasmanian). Next there is a creepy little girl who is the rape-child of the said drowned sister. They always split up, even after its aparent they're in a horror movie and the deaths easily follow the stereotypes of horror movie death order. First the silly girl dies, then her dumb but funny boyfriend, then the kind naive but eventually disillusioned boyfriend of the main protagonist. All characters are stereotyped and two-dimensional.

Also, the plotline is really thin and unrealistic. To make this a better film, dramatic changes would have to be made. The cannibalistic "Pie Man" would be out and perhaps the locals just needed new people to breed with. Done before many a time, but definitely better than how the movie turned out. Instead of opting for genuine scares, director Jody Dwyer has chosen the cheap, easy alternative, gore. Indeed Dying Breed is very gory, with several graphic depictions of cannibalism, murder and human flesh and organs. Quite frankly, these movies bore me, there is no interest and the novelty of watching people get there throats and lips torn off by The Pie Mans teeth soon wears off. There is no reason, no motivation, half baked characters and just a lot of grotesque imagery.

Instead of watching this, rent The Descent instead. Or if you want Australian horror, rent Wolf Creek. Dying Breed is a lame, overly grotesque and formulaic film. A waste of time.