Dying Breed

"Dying Breed" is a largely derivative and predictable Aussie horror flick that nevertheless benefices from a handful of marvelous elements, like a fascinating historical plot outline (albeit not at all accurate), breathtaking filming locations & scenery and a few unyielding shock sequences. The pivot character in "Dying Breed", even though he only briefly appears during the opening sequence, is Alexander Pearce a.k.a. "The Pieman". He was a cannibalistic murderer of Irish descent who got exiled to Tasmania to pay for the crimes he committed. Back in the early eighteen hundreds, when the whole of Australia was still a British prison colony and Tasmania an island where the heaviest cases were shipped off to, Alexander "Pieman" Pearce was the only convict how managed to escape and flee into the impenetrable Tasmanian forests. Obviously this plot outline isn't entirely accurate, as the real Pieman was in fact the nickname of a completely different prisoner and the real Alexander Pearce died at the gallows in 1824, but hey, it's a horror movie so everything goes. After the introduction of Pearce and the Tasmanian region, the plot resumes in present day Tasmania with the arrival of four twenty-something adventurers. Nina is a zoologist and wishes to continue the research of her sister who died here eight years ago whilst looking for last remaining species of the Tasmanian Tiger. She and her friends quickly discover that her sister didn't just drown, but fell victim to the bewildered and horribly inbred descendants of Alexander Pearce. They have only one goal in their miserable existence and that is to keep the bloodline alive. At the festival where I watched this movie, "Dying Breed" was exaggeratedly promoted like an Aussie interpretation of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "The Hills Have Eyes". Perhaps this is a fairly apt comparison, but stating something like that inevitably raises high expectations that "Dying Breed" can't possible fill in. Director Jody Dwyer does a reasonably good job, but he/she (?) yet doesn't succeed in generating an atmosphere of despair and sheer terror. It also takes slightly too long before the suspense and nastiness truly breaks loose. The first half of the film is overly stuffed with typical inbred jokes and stereotypical tourist behavior. There are a handful of downright disgusting sequences, notably a gruesome bear trap death sequence and a few close ups of pick-axes-in-the-head moments, which will undoubtedly appeal to the bloodhounds among us. The nature and wildlife images are dreamy to stare at and the acting performances are surprisingly above average. One of the lead actors is Leigh Whannell who, along with James Wan, created the original concept of "Saw".

Just saw Jody Dwyer's Dying Breed. What an excellent Australian Horror flick it is! It could well be one of my favourite Australian Films of the year.

Four young cryptozoologists go to check out Western Tasmania in search of ye ol' Tasmanian Tiger. Little do they know they are stumbling upon the ancestors of Alexander Pearce, the famous Australian ex-convict, bush ranger and sometime cannibal known as the 'Pieman'. Suffice to say fine dining is loosed on the Pieman River as a group of Deliverance style in bred Tassie freaks hunt down our hapless Tiger hunters. Dying Breed is well cast with Leigh Whannell (Saw) giving us a great version of the metro-sexual out of his league in the wilds of Western Tasmania and Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek) as a roustabout larrikin hunter. Whannel is an excellent leading man and should branch out from horror and do other serious work. The two girls Sally MacDonald and Melanie Vallejo are good too. Especially the later, when she is strung up and dismembered Cannibal Holocaust style out the back of the Pieman's shed. I'm sure Leigh Whannell must have been showing the director Cannibal Holocaust, as this scene certainly bears the imprint of that classic film and the Dying Breed scene is very well done in its brutality. The film has various very effective set pieces in a cave, at night in the bush, out the back of the killer's shed, on a bridge at dawn, etc. All shot effectively and scored very nicely. The ominous Tasmanian landscape evokes a darkness akin to what DH Lawrence said about the great primordial emptiness of the Australian bush. The film should travel well as the Aussie accents aren't too harsh, and one is a Irish accent. The family of inbred freaks are memorable and varied in their motivations and actions.

Dying Breed is a great edgy genre piece that is one of the first to appear in the new wave of horror cannibal films, so its ahead of the game world wide, also. I would have to rate it right up there with Rogue from last year and Acolytes, Horseman and Rats and Cats.

Why did they not enter it in MUFF? It would have won some awards! Check out the posters. I like the stylish one, while the second one with a gory pie will entice the teen market.

Stylish new Ozploitation is on display, that gives hope to the future of the Australian Film Industry!

Between 1788 and 1868, Australia served as a penal colony for the British Empire and Tasmania was the most feared. The prisoner Alexander "The Pieman" Pearce escaped and survived in the woods eating human flesh. In the present days, the researcher Nina (Mirrah Foulkes) organizes an expedition to Tasmania to proceed the work of her deceased sister Ruth and find evidences of the extinct Tasmanian tiger in the wilderness. She travels to a remote area with her boyfriend Matt (Leigh Whannell) and his troublemaker friend Jack (Nathan Phillips) that brings his girlfriend Rebecca (Melanie Vallejo) and they spend the night in a village of descendants of "The Pieman". Sooner the quartet discovers that things have to stay hidden to survive.

"Dying Breed" is another sub product of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and gives the sensation of déjà vu to the viewer with the total lack of originality. There are many flaws in the predictable story, like for example, how could an expedition travel unarmed in a remote area in the wilderness? What would they expect while observing the wildlife? How can a group travel without a Plan B for unexpected situations? The greatest different in this feature is the wonderful location in Australia. Further, the acting is good and for fans of the slash genre, it entertains. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): Not Available

The little hype surrounding this Australian feature is probably better left unnoticed, as while I found it solid it doesn't pull any out punches we haven't already gone through before to leave an impressive imprint. Hey it reminded me of an other Australian horror film 'Wolf Creek (2005)' and maybe 'The Hills Have Eyes (2006)' remake, but this time the escalating terror is found in the beautiful forests of Tasmania as a group of young adults head out searching for the supposedly instinct Tasmanian tiger, but actually earth up something more horrifying about the area's local history.

For me this film really came out of nowhere, as the striking poster artwork (featuring a half eaten pie with an eyeball and finger within it) caught my attention and some rave reviews can feed your appetite. Sadly though, I was only one of four who were at the cinema to see it. I probably could've gone without seeing it and waited for it to hit DVD, but there's nothing quite like watching a horror film on the big screen.

What this story sets off to be is a little unsure, but about midway through you know where it's heading (Psycho territory with cannibalistic currents). I might sound like a broken record, but really this isn't nothing new compared to much modern horror focusing on the visual torture and torment of its victims. While it might not be as abundant, it still lingers and has a really nasty side. It has explicitly raw moments with pockets of vicious intensity, but it was not the violence that unnerved but the ominously remote woodland backdrop with constant eerie imagery. The scenery is gorgeously lush, but lurking beneath the gracefully hypnotic setting is the true grotesque horror that's hidden very well. The nocturnal, but surprisingly also the day sequences can get under your skin. The cinematography is professionally catered for with it drawing upon the atmosphere and setting. Editing is brisk, but well infused.

As for the story it uses actual facts and spins them in to total fiction. The main base of the story centres on the history of the extinct Tasmanian tiger, which some still believe exists and combining that legend of the cannibalistic Irish convict Alexander Pearce that managed to escape from the penal colony and headed for the wilderness to only be hanged in 1824. Then we hit modern times with a group of four after the exclusive photograph of the Tiger, but one of girls lost her sister within the same area they're visiting in a supposed drowning many years earlier. Now cue those articles of missing backpackers. But when they meet the creepy locals, the inbred jokes flow. Still we're flooded with flashbacks, piled on to flashbacks. Even if the set-up is clichéd and obviously formulaic, these back stories do give it a little more background and depth, and lessens the idea of turning in to something meaningless. The script has its questionable actions, but mainly lets it go about things.

The pacing is rather leisured, and I can see many complaining about the slowness of the opening half (think of the criticism that 'Wolf Creek' copped). But I thought it was milked out accordingly and with a purpose, to hit you hard when it finally changed direction. Featuring heavily is that it centres on mood, visuals and sounds than that of tearing and ballistic actions. Even when it does break out from it's causal handling, it still doesn't burst out and only adds tension with jolts in scattered slabs and formulated rushes. When it comes to the end, I found it to be stumbling there and results not entirely satisfying. But it still keeps that glum feel throughout.

Jody Dwyer's assured direction is slick and stylish. Maybe too so, but it's a brash display as his not afraid to bare gore and flesh… usually the latter in recent times sees little daylight in the mainstream horror releases. Even animal lovers should be aware. The performances are workmanlike, but no real empathic edge was created. Well not for me. One thing though it never seemed like they were ever aware in what type of situation they were or could be in, but when it unfolded it didn't entirely changed the perception. Leigh Whannel, Nathan Phillips, Mirrah Foulkes and Melanie Vallejo play the unlucky party.

A basic, but durably crafted genre effort.

I just got back from seeing Dying Breed and it was quite a mixed bag.

It took at least 50 minutes for the main action to begin. The first act got repetitive, dull and boring quickly as our four main characters seemed to do nothing and just chat. Don't get me wrong, I love character development, but they could have taken about ten minutes off the first act. There were many pointless scenes.

The other bad factor was the acting. Leigh Whannel sadly gave a poor performance, as well as all the other members in the group of four.

Onto the good, the gore was excellent and the film had that raw and gritty feel to it. Some scenes were creepy and disturbing. Also, the ending was very good and a fitting climax to the film.

Overall, this is an above average Aussie horror with many flaws and clichés, but still manages to entertain. A very generous 7/10.