Wolf Creek

My obsession with the Australian film industry's portrayal of the Australian outback contiues... This film looks at South Australia - Wolf Creek:

Jesus, Mary and Joseph. There is not much else to say. Ever seen a film that makes you never want to leave your house again? This film was a true sucker punch. The accents, the people, the landscape all serving to draw the audience in... and then, yeah. This afternoon I went to see Wolf Creek and left impressed at the recent developments in the Australian film industry. This was a thriller that lived up to its name, a psychotic film that played on vastness of the Australian outback as its weapon of choice, simultaneously depicting it as endless freedom and an infinite prison. The theme of escapism, and the opportunities offered by the landscape, ran through the film but as two different concepts: the first, escaping on a holiday and the second... escaping from our friend on the right. The scenery that so captured the heart during The Proposition was cruelly flipped back on the audience allowing human cruelty and insanity to co-exist with kangaroos and silent ranges.


There were no laughs when this movie finished. One review I read suggested that all horror films be reviewed under the light of Wolf Creek. In my heart of hearts I agree. The plot was novel, relentless, never falling back on clichés and above all: avoided cultural stereotyping. The ability to depict Australia in all its uniqueness is my benchmark for Australian films, my litmus test for quality. The Proposition, The Tracker and Wolf Creek all managed to surpass expectations by playing up the landscape and creating engaging characters. The interesting thing about all these movies is that they could work just as well as stage plays, intense character studies. I think this is where the Australian landscape/thriller gains its strength: juxtaposing a small collective of characters against the vast Australian bushland-outback. The idea that nothing else will intervene in the story creates a sense of hopelessness and forces the audience to pay greater attention to minute details being delivered by the characters themselves. The landscape forces the writers to create strong personalities.

One of the more twisted things about this film is that John Jarratt used to be one of my childhood favourites as a presenter on 'Playschool'. Imagine your childhood hero, someone responsible for the education our nations preschoolers apprearing as a decidly sick serial killer a la Ivan Milat.