El cazador

Necks don't come redder than they do in the Australian outback, and if you find yourself stranded and in need of assistance from one of the local yokels, for god sake, don't go cracking jokes about Crocodile Dundee, otherwise 'Uncle Mikey' might take offence.

Reportedly shot for $1.4 on Hi-Def, this new psycho killer pic from down under has been purchased by Miramax for a cool $8 million, and world domination awaits.

If you found the brutal violence of HAUTE TENSION hard to stomach, then stay clear of WOLF CREEK which makes the latter Gallic splatter fest look positively anaemic. It even gives Tobe Hooper's Texas CHAINSAW MASSACRE a run for it's money. Just replace the sea of OPEN WATER with the dry arid desert of Nic Roeg's WALKABOUT, then switch the shark for a MR BLONDE/CROCODILE DUNDEE combo and you've got the best bloody horror movie in decades.

This movie is what others try to be, its not overly graphic with gore but it lets the story build up and the actors to execute what horror is and should be.

It doesn't feel cheap or low budget, but very VERY well done, from the directing to special effects(blood,gore) to the post production and audio. Which is where the movie won me over the audio is amazing,from the actors voice overs to the soundtrack that sends chills down your spine.

Now the acting is truly topnotch as everything is very realistic and that is what makes horror movies scary is that they can happen, none of what happens in Wolf Creek is out of this realm. And I guess the whole "based on true events" thing is played out(even if its true or not)it helps towards the realism of the film. Also as far as shock factor goes it won't make you throw up or have nightmares but it will make you think before taking something from a stranger.

The way horror movies are going and have been for this past decade is that everything needs to be more shocking and I know this was made in 2005 but that was the birth of this new shock genre which gave way to films like A Serbian Film, Martyrs, Ichi, and Hostel. But Wolf Creek gets back to basics and shows that CGI and gore aren't required to make a scary film.

When one thinks of horror films, one generally does not associate Australia with horror. Sure, they have had a few, but most genre fans think of England, Italy, and, of late, Japan. This film, made on a minuscule budget, is effectively creepy, imaginatively convincing, and just plain terrifying to many degrees. It is not a complete film by any stretch, but when one looks at the small budget used and the effective use of the Australian outback as a setting for horror, Wolf Creek makes the grade as being a quality horror film. We have all seen variations of the story before: a group of people, out on vacation, are tricked, captured, and tortured by a crazy man living in the middle of nowhere under his own code of ethics and what he believes is right and wrong. There really are a lot of similarities with this and movies like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, and countless other films, but all of those films have not used setting so effectively and created one of the films more modern truly despicable villains. Mick Taylor, the stereotypical Aussie in American minds, is a terrifying parody of outward Aussie charm with a perverse, psychotic, twisted inward mental persona capable of some of the most disgusting acts. Actor John Jarratt does a good job playing such a vile man - he made my skin crawl every time he was on screen in the second half of the picture. Wolf Creek moves at a fast pace - perhaps too fast at times, but we are able to invest some interest and care about the victims. I appreciate the ending and final scene, but I really wanted a more satisfying ending for closure. The film uses, what it says are true accounts, as the basis for the story and couches the film with such pieces of information at the beginning and end with missing people in Australia every year. This documentary device was also used in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre originally as well. So for me, Wolf Creek is effective in creating true, genuine horror although in many regards the film is very derivative. The change of locale to the vast, desolate Australian outback was wonderfully used. The tension throughout the film is like a roller-coaster ride. The acting is pretty good overall. The film has many distasteful images and will stay in your mind days after having viewed the film. That, to me, is a powerful horror film in some respect.

Wolf Creek is a fine example of a rare breed nowadays: a horror film that pulls no punches and makes no apologies for frightening and unnerving the audience.

Three young people are hiking in the Australian Outback when they're unlucky enough to meet Mick Taylor (played brilliantly by John Jarratt), one of the most twisted psychopaths to grace the big screen in years. Mick is a guy who did some hunting at one time, is pretty good with a rifle, and is a survivalist with some possible military training... we're not really sure of much else. All we know is that at some point he took up hunting people for his own amusement and found out he was quite good at it.

What makes this film frightening is how realistic and plausible the story is. Mick seems like a demon that could actually exist in the real world. He's not a super-genius serial killer always toying with the cops. He doesn't kill to fulfill some grandiose plan or message. He doesn't kill his victims in elaborate, unlikely scenarios or games. Rather, he's a pure sadist who just seems to enjoy watching pain, suffering and death. It's that simple. It doesn't take much imagination to realize, in the the middle of the Outback, it would be quite easy for a psycho like Mick to operate for a long time and never get caught.

Wolf Creek is brutally violent and unflinchingly realistic. It never gives the audience time to catch their breath or to feel any hope. This movie is not for everyone. It leaves you unsettled and feeling uneasy. This is only for real horror fans who desire a scare that will stick with them long after the movie ends.

Wolf Creek won't be everyone's cup of tea. It's unflinchingly violent and the film takes its time in building to that violence which will leave many viewers twiddling their thumbs out of boredom, but once it gets going, there are few films as scary and nightmarish. The idea of being trapped in the outback with no one around for miles and nowhere to hide as a psychotic killer terrorizes and tortures you and your friends is as scary as it gets.