Review of Wolf Creek (2005) by Eva S — 16 Jan 2009
Based on a combination of horrific true stories, Wolf Creek is an intense, nerve-shredding film. It starts slowly, with writer/ director Greg McLean taking the time to develop the characters and the surroundings; 3 youngsters (2 Brits and an Aussie) travelling the Australian outback on the trip of a lifetime.
They go to visit Wolf Creek, the site of a meteor crash, and while there their car breaks down. Luckily, an eccentric but seemingly kind native in a big truck crosses their path, and tows them to the nearest town.
From here, it's 45 minutes of unrelenting, edge of the seat, hands over the eyes horror, as the man turns out to be a mental killer (played to eerie perfection by John Jarratt) and tortures the backpackers in progressively worse and shocking ways.
Jarratt and the other actors do a great job with these scenes, sucking you completely and having you hang on every action, every word, every creepy little sound (the sound of the knife to the spine will stay with me for a while.
) McLean clearly knows his horror, and shows an incredible skill for suspense-building with Wolf Creek, which is only his first film, marking him out as a talent to watch out for in the future. His next films about a giant crocodile.
Wicked.
This review of Wolf Creek (2005) was written by Eva S on 16 Jan 2009.
Wolf Creek has generally received mixed reviews.
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