Editor Reviews:

Description:
Welcome to Wolf Creek, where the suspense of The Blair Witch Project meets the horror of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Inspired by Australia’s "Backpacker Killer" who murdered seven backpackers in the ‘90s, Wolf Creek won wide acclaim from critics, filmmakers and audience members alike at the Sundance Film Festival. Three unsuspecting hikers take off for a drive across Australia. When the trio returns from a four-hour hike to Wolf Creek National Park, they find their car is dead. Help comes in the form of big, back-slapping bushman Mick (John Jarratt). Since Mick appears to be more Crocodile Dundee than Freddy Krueger, the trio trusts him…which proves to be a grave mistake. Quentin Tarantino said, "Jarratt delivers a performance that’s destined to go down as one of the greatest film heavies of the last 25 years. "Not since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre has terror felt so real." Ken Fox, TV Guide

Amazon.com:
Wolf Creek, written and directed by Greg McClean, is the Blair Witch Project of the Australian outback. Capitalizing on the human fear of becoming lost in the wilderness, in this case a desert crater called Wolf Creek National Park, this graphic horror film exploits the handheld camera to capture the grotesque actions of Mick Taylor (John Janatt), a sadistic serial killer. When a hip twenty-something guy, Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips), and two hippie-ish girls, Cassandra (Liz Hunter) and Kristy (Kestie Morassi), take a road trip and their car breaks down, they have no choice but to accept help from Mick, an eccentric rural Aussie, who, like a spider, tows them into his nightmarish lair. Mick hunts kangaroos and hates tourists, translating his fetish for knives, shotguns, and other torture devices into a need to kill humans as if they're vermin infesting his majestic landscape. Ample blood and gore leave the viewer feeling nearly as sick as the girls who are forced to watch each other die. Like Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs, Mick Taylor is a savvy, calculating killer, despicable but psychologically fascinating. --Trinie Dalton

Rating : - Australia Chainsaw Massacre
When traveling through Australia, two British chicks (sheilas), Liz and Christy, meet a moronic Aussie bloke named Ben. The three decide to take a trip to Wolf(e) Creek National Park, a remote meteorite crater in the Australian wilderness. Prior to their long trip Ben decides to get their wheels: a beat up, red wagon monstrosity costing $1500 quid. Brilliant - buy a used rust-bucket for a trek into the barren, remote outback. Ben eats soup with a fork. After their arrival at Wolf(e) Creek, with the subsequent hike being over, their P.O.S. car doesn't start. Of course it doesn't. Luckily, they meet a friendly bushman named Mick (John Jarrat).

Mick seems friendly enough, in a pedophiliac, overweight, clichéd Crocodile Dundee sort of way, sporting a harsh Australian accent, a filthy akubra, and gloriously huge mutton chops. He attempts to fix their beater, and then eventually tows it to his secluded camp: an abandoned mine site. With complete trust the three travelers, completely unaware of their surroundings, without a reliable mode of transportation, and having only known their friendly mechanic for a few hours, decide to relax and go to sleep. No worries.

It turns out they were drugged, and Mick's time in the wilderness has made him go troppo and lonely; the roos only provide so much love. Liz wakes up bound and gagged in a closet, her friends nowhere in site but experiencing presumably similar predicaments. Let the Aussie version of hillbilly torture porn begin!

For the most part it's a typical horror movie throughout, a cross between Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Hills Have Eyes. There were a few moments when the victims did something smart, making me think, "Good onya!" Unfortunately for them, however, they revert to retarded, and the carnage begins anew. (The ridiculously bad decisions are the main negative aspect of the movie)

The filming and scenery are very beautiful at times, reminding everyone what a beautiful country Australia is, with stunning wide-angle looks at the Wolfe Creek Crater, and spectacular, multi-colored sunsets. Conversely, there are scenes with almost indie tones to them, with possible retro-horror tribute to 70s horror flicks' close-ups. The acting is pretty much average for the tearful trio, with a few good screams. Mick, however, is abso-bloodly-lutely brilliant. One moment he's sadistically cheery, and the next eerily creepy. He's a gleeful madman, laughing and taunting his prey like a child charring an ant with a magnifying glass.

With a tense buildup and an evil haze throughout, it's better than most of the garbage Hollywood steals from Japan and passes off as horror nowadays. It's definitely worthy a horror fan's viewing, and probably a good bet for casual fans.

(This review brought to you with random Aussie slang.)