Two German tourist on a trip to the beautiful Australian Outback cross paths with a pig hunting psychotic killer and it starts a game of cat and mouse which has lots of blood, lots of action and lots of questions............ Does the Outback legend has an end?
Up a notch. Yeah. Australian horror goes up a notch. What started as an end to end "tourists in peril " movie has turned into a little bigger and faster of the same kind thing with more action. Acting has turned up a notch. Direction and writing too have improved. Everything looks nice except in the middle where the movie slows down a little. And the much maligned Q&A scene between the predator and prey isn't as bad. Its a good little thing that creates suspense and shows how much trouble the prisoner really is in. This movie crisscrosses through the Outback landscape as the Villain chases his prey hacking everyone who comes in his path. So the fun's in the chase literally. Our villain is very Wrong Turnesque driving a pick up truck and cutting humans into pieces. But this movie is much much more than that. A villain so sweet talking and hospitable that we could have never guessed his favourite hobby. And that in turn proves the blurb on the poster. So in short Wolf Creek has been given a little more financial and creative power and this maybe one of the best horror legends if the sequel continue to flourish well. Though shock value of tourists being cut has long gone. Hostel and Wolf Creek were kind of pioneers. Wolf Creek 3 would have to have something more to shock people.
Directed and co written by Greg Mclean whose last film Rogue was well received. And 7 years later after the success of that movie we finally see Wolf Creek 2. And naturally this time he has more funding. He has gradually built up from nice to good to better through his 3 movies. And whatever most say Wolf Creek 2 is his best. His direction has improved a lot. A fantastic truck wreck sequence which is preceded by an amazing chase scene is testimony to this. Action seems to be as much his forte as brutal bloody horror. He doesn't create a horror villain but an Outback legend who rides in the sunset looking for his prey. The thrill he creates as we move from one tourist to another travelling through the countryside and the absolute brutal violence which is done with mirth by our villain is tantalizing. From the first scene to the last which will not win the best shock ending award anytime soon,it remains pacy. Except the aforementioned Q&A which may not be to everyone's taste. Some anti tourist and anti England , or pommies as our Villain calls them, words are spoken and fingers of the British tourist cut. Plus some nice gory scenes of humans being cut and faces being blown off with a shotgun makes this an even more enjoyable ride. Greg does some amazing work and has established himself in the brutal horror landscape. His next would be closely followed.
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| Yeah mate i am coming for ya!! |
Tourists in peril isn't a new thing. So to stay relevant you have to be more and more creative. And then you have to go find some actors who can inject a unique energy into some tired characters. And its here that Wolf Creek 2 scores and mainly cos of its villain no less. The tourists characters are good. But not much screen time given as is expected. The 2nd lead Ryan Corr (Paul) who unfortunately becomes entangled in the violent chain of events excels thoroughly. The set piece characters are pretty nice too. And they do act before becoming swift prey to the man animal that is John Jarratt(Mick Taylor). He infuses his character with a raw energy and viciousness that can make anyone tremble. But ironically he is the most sweet talking character you find on that terrain. That sudden shifts from happily drinking and offering help to chopping fingers and cutting heads is fantastic and shocking. John has firmly entrenched his name in the horror villains legend list. He definitely is an Outback legend. And definitely definitely the reason Wolf Creek will be a successful franchisee.
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| Time for a Pom Finger Corn soup!!! |
All the other technical aspects have a taken a leap in quality too. The cinematography is brilliant. Beautiful and spooky outback is captured brilliantly. The editing is great for most part. Though it could have gone a little faster in the middle. But that's a very minor quip. The effects and gore and action department have all done a great job. Not much to crib about.
HighTension Verdict: Torture porn was at its peak between 2005-07 as Hostel,Saw and Wolf Creek did amazing business. But not now. So get ready for a brutal horror with traces of torture porn but infact a chase movie resembling No Country For Old Men in some sequences. John Jarratt has acted brilliantly and is sure to terrorize you. And just for that please catch this one and look out for the beautiful truck wreck sequence which includes some grisly shots of Kangaroos getting crushed under John's truck tyres. More old than new but enough to make you happy. Go for it.
HighTension Meter: 8/10
BEST Quote:
Mick Taylor: In this world, there's people like me, there's people like you. People like me eat people like you.
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