Starring:
John Jarratt as Mick Taylor
Cassandra Magrath as Liz Hunter
Kestie Morassi as Kristy Earl
Nathan Phillips as Ben Mitchell
Gordon Poole as Old Man
Guy O’Donnell as Car Salesman
Geoff Revell as Petrol Attendant
Special Features:
Commentary by director/writer Greg McLean, executive producer Matt Hearn and actors Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi
“Making of Wolf Creek” featurette
Deleted scene
Trailer
Other Info:
Widescreen (1.78:1)
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound
French Language
Spanish Subtitles
Running Time: 104 Minutes
Synopsis:
The following is from the DVD cover:
“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 90’s, 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 at Wolf Creek National Park, they find their car is dead. Help comes in the form of big, back-slapping bushman Mick (John Jarrat). Since Mick appears to be more Crocodile Dundee than Freddy Krueger, the trio trusts him which proves to be a grave mistake.”
This version of Wolf Creek is unrated, but the original was rated R for strong gruesome violence, and for language.
Mini-Review:
I didn’t really care for Wolf Creek. The first hour features nothing but our future victims partying and driving across the Australian Outback. It’s quite slow and boring. The second half features the women being stalked, tortured and killed in gruesome ways by Mick, the new Aussie addition to horror film psychos. The torture was so sadistic that it was a real turn off to me. Other than trying to be shocking, Wolf Creek doesn’t do anything new. There are your typical gruesome killings, stupid moves by the characters, and a depressing ending. (For once I’d like to see the victims in a horror film do something intelligent.) Other than the Aussie twist, it has nothing new to add to the horror genre.
That being said, John Jarrat does make an effective horror character. He’s able to switch from friendly Aussie to creepy killer at the drop of a hat. I was amazed at how the actor could turn off and on the creepiness. I also like the fact that he contrasted with Ben Mitchell as a new vs. old Australian male. I think he’d make an interesting character in a different story.
Wolf Creek is impressive as a low budget film. The outback setting looks beautiful, the sets are appropriately creepy, and the film looks very professionally done. Writer-director Greg McLean gets a lot of bang for his buck on the screen. But again, I’d like to see his talents used on something that comes across as more than a misogynist fantasy.
At first glance this DVD seems light on the bonus features, but when you dive into it you find there’s quite a bit here. The “Making of Wolf Creek” featurette is about 50 minutes long at it contains interviews with the cast and crew, McLean discussing the writing of the film, shooting in the outback, and more. There is a ton of behind the scenes footage and they discuss every aspect of the making of the movie. You even learn John Jarrat didn’t bathe for 6 weeks in order to prepare for the role of Mick (which I’m sure his castmates loved). You’ll also find a deleted scene, a trailer, and a by McLean, executive producer Matt Hearn and actors Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi.
