Review of Dying Breed (2008) by David C — 16 Nov 2008

It might be overly generous branding Dying Breed with a four star rating but its hard not to be excited over an Australian horror film that delivers the goods- and does a thorough job of it. Dying Breed explores the possibility that the Tasmanian tiger may still be at large and the penal colonial history of the state, with focus on one of its escapees, Alexander 'Pie Man' Pearce and his cannibalistic predilections.

Four friends, the male leads played amiably by Leigh Whannell and Nathan Phillips as the squeamish Matt and bigoted Jack respectively. Their girlfriends, played by relative unknowns, are suffice enough to make us care for their safety as they are all thrown into a plight in the Tasmanian wilderness when their ambitious expedition to find and capture a Tasmanian tiger takes a turn for the worse when they are acquainted with (and eventually preyed upon by) descendants of the sadistic Pie Man.

The photography is excellent, the Tasmanian terrain becomes a chracter within itself and makes for a terrific setting. All the characters are directed well, including the creepy locals who, like their great-great grandfather before them, keep the family going by processing people to use as filling for their pies.

The film begins with the last ever footage of the Tasmanian tiger and then cuts to an exciting re-enactment of Pearce's final moments before he is captured, but it proves he didn't go own without a fight, and we are shown this in bloody fashion.

The film echoes other horror flicks, but holds its own, as both a horror and survival film. Despite its merits, Dying Breed never succeeds in truly frightening. The action scenes are done with nuance, there are more than a few cross-bow headshots and concealed "man- traps".