Lake Mungo (2008)

In 2005 a 16 year old girl from Ararat, a small town in Australia, drowns in a dam while out swimming. An investigation is launched and a verdict of accidental death reached. As her disconsolate family try to move on, strange supernatural happenings take place in their home. And they become convinced that their dead daughter is back from the dead. And with secrets. Who? What? Why? forms the crux of the story.


A psychological slow burner from the outback land of Australia which has habit of producing some sensational horror stuff every now and then, this too was widely acclaimed which led me to see it. And with a nice enough rating of 6.1 on IMDb I was expecting a slow decent into hell scary ride. But to my disappointment it turned out to be a generic ghost movie with repeated close up shots of the back from the dead girl. Shot in a fake  documentary or mockumentary style, it has video footage from different sources assembled to form a story of a girl who may or may not be as innocent as she seemed.


While the story and treatment are way different from the Paranormal series a couple of shots have been inspired by it most definitely. The idea of adding cameras to the house which capture the dead girl ALICE PALMER played by Talia Zucker does work in adding some scares. Also most actors are unknown so we feel as if everything that's happening has happened in real life. Kudos to David Pledger and Rosie Traynor who play the father and mother to Alice respectively.


For me this doesn't work. The story is sparse and so even 87 minutes feels a stretch. I realize so many couldn't be wrong about a certain movie but I think for a slow burner this doesn't have enough of a payback. While I don't hate slow burners payback is a vital component of any movie. If audience invests so much into it then raising of stakes is a must. But this doesn't happen here. While its all good to show how a family grieves but when you advertise something as a horror movie it should scare you. If it doesn't have enough meaningful scares then there's a problem. And for me the expectation of a nice last 10-15 minutes after investing energy into a movie dragging through needless twists and turns was a problem. It remains mostly static.


The writing is straightforward and static. Camera work is steady enough and when not showing us close ups of the dead girl ghost it captures some very nice view of the outback. Its that one place on earth where you want to live even if a person like that nasty WOLF CREEK guy could be your neighbour. The movie is just 87 minutes long and when that feels like just a little bit too much you realize something somewhere is wrong. The direction by Joel Anderson is pretty nice and that's what keeps this from going completely off track. All in all a foundation on which a skyscraper could have been built. But this two storey is disappointing and not for me. And for many who like it, cheers!


HighTension Meter: 5/10

Review : Wolf Creek 2 (2013)

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.

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. 

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.

  

   

Review: The Tunnel (2011)

As scary as it sounds!!

Its 2007. New South Wales government stops its water recycling project and homeless are reported missing from the underground tunnels. A journalist in need of a story, Natasha  feels something amiss and goes down and under to find out the reason behind the missing homeless and the government cover up and soon it amply becomes clear that the reason is far too scary and dangerous to be disclosed and they may never make it.............


Damn its scary. Australian horror is an underrated beast and this shows how that beast has grown over the years. Couple of nice flicks like Wolf Creek and Primal made me aware of the situation and this makes me confident that Aussies would be a frontier in Horror soon. Their beautiful natural resources could become the perfect murder haunt. And the filmmakers exploit it and make us dread the lush greenery and in this the underground Catacombs which houses a World War air raid shelter and also the water project which has been stopped suddenly. Endless rows of claustrophobia inducing tunnels which I last witnessed in the mindblowing Grave Encounters just f*ck with your head. You'll be as agonized as the leads and will be praying that they find the exit soon. Cos the longer they stay there the longer you are tense and have a high heartbeat rate. Its crazy and scary as hell. Found footage has been criticized but what that genre can do when done right is just amazing. It takes you in and tears you apart. As apart as the leads. Wow. You may be a horror king/queen and seen many such movies before but this will creep you up. Turn off the lights and turn on The Tunnel. You are in for a very scary ride.........


Directed by Carlo Ledesma who has helmed three shorts before this. Its been done pretty well. The lights and dark. The monster silhouette. The shit scary location and brilliant use of found footage sub genre and its tropes like mysterious voices recorded on the audio equipments and the disappearance of their equipments. Its been done eerily well. Though Blair Witch and Rec have shown us the best sides of the genre this too has a couple of novel moments which you'll appreciate if you aren't busy being scared by it. And the monster too though isnt seen clearly and there's not much i got about what it is and why, is creepy. The writing is also damn nice with enough backstory to keep us engaged till they enter the tunnel. And when after facing a lot of difficulty they DO enter the ride starts. And it is a breathless ride which you will want to end soon. The survivor interviews interspersed with the action in the tunnel may take away a little thrill from the movie for some. Though it didn't affect the scare quotient for me. So all in all a damn nice effort from the aussies that gives us a spine tingling chiller.

I am telling you, your galfriend would get us killed!!

A movie can't be scary if the actors don't gel and do well. And if i was scared by it there's no denying the fact that the actors have punched above their weight and pulled off an amazing act which makes it so believable and in turn turns this into a much more dread induced ride. They have a great chemistry and it feels as if real journalists have been imported from the BBC. Found footage needs such acting prowess to pull off "its real" trope. And these fine actors nail it. Bel Delia(Natasha) plays the desperate journalist in need of a story. Andy Rodoreda(Peter) is the producer, Steve Davis(Steve) is the cameraman and Luke Arnold(Tangles) is the sound department. All four gel really well and its hard not to believe they are a TV crew not actors. So with the increase in the believability factor the creep and dread factor hits hard and we see how good acting can take a movie to heights which it didn't imagine it could reach. A small found footage horror from a relatively low key Australia film industry with not known actors making waves internationally. That's a great team work. There are a couple of creepy cameos too that may shake you as the movie slows down a bit during the hour mark. So the cast is unimaginably good.

Blood blood everywhere.....

  

 Now on to the technical department which has the writers Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey turn editors. True mark of a gritty indie movie. They work pretty well and give the movie a good pace. Though as i said it slows down a bit in the middle. Horror needs to be as long as its meant to be. Cos if the story doesn't support it no need hitting the 90+ mark. The effects and the little gore that it has, has been done well. The monster is scary and the cinematographer lights up and darkens out all the right time to create horror which may make you breathless with a high chance of a heart attack. Another example of good team work.


HighTension Verdict: Found footage has more bad specimens than good. But considering the positive reviews to VHS2, Grave Encounters, Rec and the Paranormal Activity series it remains a genre which can shock you if done well. And this one may not be the best but it remains a masterclass. Watch out for the opening scene. It creeps you out and sets the mood. Though a couple of novel ideas may backfire, it still is a damn scary chiller. Beneath the scenic city of Sydney horror will rise. A must for your horror collection...... Though its free to download from BitTorrent and also is on Youtube.


HighTension Meter: 8.5/10

BEST Quote: 

"The light runs out"

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