Incident at Raven's Gate

an early film from rolf de heer (bad boy bubby, the tracker), it is also one of the most impressive pieces of visual art to be created in australia, and far superior to the majority of horror coming from the rest of the world. a tale of the human condition in the lonely mental wastelands of the australian outback, de heer succeeds in making us feel the insanity and discordance which lurks beneath the surface of country australian life for anybody who can no longer keep themselves sane through nature, sports or trips to the pub. far superior to picnic at hanging rock, this is a film that will truly creep you out and leave you thinking about what lurks outside. america has its backwoods, and australia has its outback.

It was late one night and in effort to keep myself entertained, I decided to see what was on the On Demand menu. Zipping through the titles, I came across an obscure 1988 film called "Encounter at Raven's Gate". The plot description didn't say much, just something about aliens and the Australian Outback. Well, having seen the movie, I'm not sure I could even say that. The film begins with a police officer checking out an abandoned, seemly trashed house in the middle of no where who all of sudden gets jumped by a mysterious government scientist, who commandeers the officer into searching for the occupants of the house. From there, the film jumps back five days prior to Eddie Clearly, an ex-con working at his older brother's ranch and who seems to have a fancy for his brother's wife, Rachel. Naturally, this causes a little tension between Eddie and his brother, Richard. But they won't have time to dwell on that too long, for strange things are in the air. Soon birds start falling from the sky, water begins mysteriously drying up, strange radio problems start popping up, strange lights amid people disappearing, and most of all people and animals start acting more viciously all of a sudden.

One particular case of this is a police officer who holds a grudge against Eddie for some reason or another who murders the woman he's in love with but who's banging Eddie because she wouldn't go to the opera with him! What is the cause of all this? Is it due to aliens? Demons? Inter-dimensional beings? Some unknown natural phenomenon or cosmic event? Ultimately the movie never says, leaving the viewer in a frustrating state of what the hell just happened? In a way, though, this could be justified as trying to establish a truthful interpretation of the strange and unexplainable since most, if not all, of what is reported as unknown (UFOs, ghosts, strange creatures in the night, etc.) is, well, unknown. Despite the confusing state of things, the actors take their roles seriously which helps keeps the viewing engaged. Steven Vidler gives a solid performance as Eddie, as does Ritchie Singer as Eddie's brother Richard. The two do an excellent job of establishing tension between their two characters over the strange events and Rachel, played by Celine O'Leary. Furthermore, director Rolf de Heer should be credited with establishing a creepy atmosphere. So with all that said, how would I recommend this film? Well, if you're someone who wants a definite answer and conclusion, you probably want to stay away from this one. But if, on the other hand, you're someone who's up for something weird, wacky and a bit of a mind f--k, then check this out. The "X-files" always said "the truth is out there", but I'll be damned if I could find it here!

"Encounter at Raven's Gate" had potential to be an intriguing Australian entry in the sci-fi genre, but there are problems. One of the best features could have been the Australian outback scenery. Unfortunately the video quality of the VHS tape is so inferior that you are just trying to figure out what is going on, instead of marvelling at the cinematography. More than half are night scenes and are so dark that the images are the worst transfer I have ever seen. The movie is something about water shortages, growing plants, demonic possession, strange electrical charges, the sky raining dead birds, unexplained animal attacks, and makes little sense. - MERK

Eddie Cleary an ex-con has just been released from prison and ends up working for his older brother on a farm in the outback. However some weird occurrences involving flashing lights, electrical cuts and evaporating water begins to put a strain on Eddie with his brother and wife.

I can say it was unconventional, but I'm at a lost to what director Rolf de Heer (the man behind the 1993 cult 'Bad Boy Bubby') was trying to imply with this visually ambitious, but messily plotted head-trip. It's frustrating, because there was potential within its considerably off-kilter framework, but in the end the mysterious air that was established fades and the drama infectiously takes hold. The story throws around a lot of weird things (strange lights, possessions, power shorts), but nothing is truly expanded on that we're wondering if it's all hallucinations, supernatural or otherworldly interference. In the end it's kind of hinted, but not entirely fulfilling with the outcome making the eventual build-up feel pointless. There's even a sub-plot involving an opera loving police officer that goes onto to be redundant to the bigger picture and ends rather kooky. The material is uneven and a little heavy handed with the narrative moving back and forth from present time to the past (going back 5 days to eventually finish on the present day at hand). It looks like it tries for a psychological front and it doesn't always work, but it's intentions stay enthralling (with a glimpse into an unstable mind that's on the verge of insanity in an isolated backdrop, which can mess with your mind) and there's an amusing range of characters and scenarios.

Atmosphere and imagery is impressive, and the boundless Australian outback landscape demonstrates a mystifyingly haunting and hypnotic strangle hold. Richard Michalak's free-flowing camera-work is filled with provocative angles and adds to the unusually trippy nature. So does Roman Kronen & Graham Tardif's spectrally bellowing music score. The performances fair-up well enough. Steven Vidler as Eddie is ably solid. Celine Griffin, Ritchie Singer, Vince Gil, Max Cullen, Terry Camilleri and Saturday Rosenberg were tailored to their parts.

Chaotically drawn up, but remains interesting and well-made.

Profound organically evolving thriller. The well developed main characters also drive this as they react to the occurrences and to each others infectious changes. Ruthless antagonists and deep government coverups, with some characters already mad and some turning mad; this is a wide ranging story.

The copy on Amazon Prime is low quality but you forget this after the strength of the story takes hold. It's terrifically well directed with a great soundtrack, all aspects of film craft shine here. Well done, back then.