Review of Wolf Creek 2 (2013) by James D — 10 May 2014

Wolf Creek 2 is certainly not a film recommendable to anyone and everyone, but I found myself enjoying it. I can't say whether its a good slasher film or not as I don't watch many showcases of the depraved, abhorrent acts one can be perform upon his fellow man. As a standalone film its worth a watch, if only for the unintentionally hilarious sequence that out of nowhere hurls kangaroo corpses at the screen.

The films strong point is certainly its first act. Wolf Creek 2 begins with subtlety and atmosphere (about as much subtlety and atmosphere as you can find in a film whose main objective is to unsettlingly tear its cast limb from limb) which grips the audience effectively, and the scares are surprisingly genuine. The film achieves a level of intensity through the underlying malevolence that is portrayed by Mick Taylor. Unfortunately, his relationships with the other characters are limited to "G'Day" before he tries to outright murder them, which leaves the character more cartoonishly psychopathic rather than sinister. Despite this, Mick Taylor is certainly still a strong performance.

Once the film reaches the aforementioned marsupial bloodbath, the subtlety tends to fall apart, giving way to depraved lunacy, a move which doesn't outright ruin the movie, instead sending it on a different path, which breaks the immersion with the entire premise. This is the films weakest aspect, as the jarring inconsistencies in tone between dark atmosphere and grotesque exaggerated torture sequences leaves the film slightly unfocused. Thankfully, the third act appropriately returns to the atmospheric tone, although not entirely, which instilled decent enough chills, and also genuine empathy at times, which surprised me.

All in all this is a mixed bag of a movie. It has good parts, and great parts, but also parts which just utterly demolish the audiences suspension of disbelief. I would recommend it to those who enjoy slasher/horror films, if only for the relatively unique setting and genuine atmosphere that differentiates it from others in its genre.