Badlogik Guest Review: Wolf Creek

A great big thanks to guest reviewer Steve from Badlogik for writing the following review!

If you've seen Texas Chainsaw Massacre, then throw in some Crocodile Dundee and you've pretty much already seen this film, but copying Texas Chainsaw is kinda what films like this do and if that's your thing, then Wolf Creek does it well.

Ten or so years ago, Australian News sources were selling out on stories of serial killers preying on hitchhikers and tourists. There were apparently two guys, and the list of their crimes is pretty sick. Their curriculum vitaes include the usual rape, murder, dismemberment and torture, so of course someone made a movie about it. The film is actually only very loosely based on those stories, but still manages to have its creepy moments.

The first 45 minutes or so go sorta slow. It begins as the characters buy a car, get drunk, be drunk, be drunk some more, and then go to the beach and run around like fools. One of the girls runs out to the ocean in naught but her panties and then magically runs back with shorts on. After ignoring the continuity break, the journey begins... and... uh... begins some more... Greg McLean apparently felt the need to really drive home how long their drive to Wolf Creek really was by having the actors sing really bad songs and drive a lot.

Once they near their destination, the story picks up. They meet some outback locals acting all scummy and weird as they fill up their tank, but manage to avoid conflict. They eventually make it to Wolf Creek, which is apparently some large crater in the middle of Australia. Its actually pretty cool, but if I know stupid, its driving across a continent to go to some giant hole in the ground for three hours only to drive back home. Luckily for the viewer, the protagonists are unable to make that long boring Mad Libs song-filled journey, as their newly purchased car performs exactly like every other car in every other horror movie that has a car; that is to say, it doesn't start for some mysterious unexplained reason. Then comes the requisite waiting around in the dark only to be saved by some random country guy.

If there's one thing I learned from movies, country folk are not to be trusted. They will kill you and/or do naughty things with your body at the first opportunity. Having never seen a movie, the three characters are overjoyed to find that some creepy looking Crocodile Dundee wannabe shows up and decides to tow them to some junkyard in the middle of the desert. That is the only place they can find the one amazing piece of car that will magically restore their vehicle to working state of course, and never would this fine fellow in dirty dungarees and bad teeth rape, murder, dismember, or torture them. So the plot thickens.

While it may seem I already have, I don't want to ruin all the details for you. Plus, the rest of the film gets... icky, and I'd rather not describe it. If you are not the type to watch slasher films like the great TCM, then you'll want to avoid Wolf Creek. Freaky imagery and scary music played on aluminum siding fill the rest of the flick. Even so, there are some stand-out moments--while guns are not the favored weapon of psycho killers, the rifle scene is shocking and powerful. If your stomach can handle the icky stuff, and scary movies are your thing, watch Wolf Creek.