Rogue

In the Northern Australia, a group of tourists goes on tour in the Ryan's Wildlife River Cruise to see crocodiles in the Australian Outback in the boat The Suzanne with the guide Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). When they are ready to return, one tourist sees a distress flare 3 km upstream the river and Kate heads the boat to an unexplored territory. They are attacked by a huge crocodile, the boat sinks and the hysterical group is trapped in a small muddy island stalked by the crocodile. However, the high tide forces the group to move, and the American journalist Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) has an idea to hold the killer croc while the group swims to the other side of the river.

"Rogue" is a light version of the tense, realistic and dramatic "Black Water", which is based on a true event. The beginning is well developed and tense, but in a certain moment the story becomes unrealistic and corny with a silly conclusion. Anyway, "Rogue" is an entertaining adventure, and the viewers that have not watched "Black Water" or appreciate a commercial happy ending, will certainly like this flick much more than I did. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "Morte Súbita" ("Sudden Death")

It took me two full years to get around to seeing Rogue. Its been on my watch-list since its release, mostly because it was directed by Greg Mclean who did such an excellent job with "Wolf Creek", but I figured it would just be a step or two up from a good SyFy channel creature feature... maybe on a par with Lake Placid or its ilk, so I took my sweet time getting to it.

Wow was I surprised!

Just like Wolf Creek, Rogue builds slowly and steadily, introducing us to a group of sympathetic, yet humanly flawed characters. This is a great change of scenery from the usual Hollywood "model" stereotypes that usually fill such films. There's not a teenage jock or beach babe in sight. Likewise, the film takes its time to really set the location down in stone, with lingering shots on the wildlife and scenery that make you really feel like you're in the location with the characters.

When the action starts, it moves quickly but believably. Remember in "Deep Blue Sea" when the entire plot pivoted on the fact that a helicopter winch unexpectedly shorted out? Well, there are no such illogical coincidences or convenient plot accidents here. Everything the characters do, and everything the animal does, is explained logically and realistically. This makes the whole scenario frighteningly believable because very rarely does any character do something that makes you say "Oh C'mon!". Another refreshing change from the Hollywood norm.

The plot itself is pretty basic - our protagonists are stranded on a tiny island in a tidal river. They have a few hours before the tide engulfs the ground beneath their feet. Their boat is wrecked. It would be a case of simply swimming to the embankment and walking home if it weren't for the fact that a territorial 25-foot Crocodile has them pinned to the landmass. It could be the setup for a terrible, poorly done, B-movie, but Mclean takes his time and paces it so well as to make the whole thing seem very real and very dangerous. It's not entirely predictable either... if you could accurately guess at the opening of this film which characters live and which die I would be impressed. I've seen the large majority of animal attack offerings and this is one of the first that kept me guessing.

I'm truly amazed that Rogue doesn't get more conversation and critical acclaim. I'd say as far as animal attack horror movies go, this one should take a place on the winners podium right up there alongside "The Host" and "Jaws". It's a fantastic movie and it deserves the recognition.

Rogue is co-produced, written and directed by Greg Mclean (Wolf Creek). It stars Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington & John Jarratt. The film is inspired by the true story of "Sweetheart", a giant Australian crocodile that terrorised boats in a 5 year period between 1974 & 1979. Plot sees travel journalist Pete McKell (Vartan) in the Northern Territory of Australia finishing off his latest feature. With time to kill he joins a river boat cruise led by spunky local lass Kate Ryan (Mitchell). So along with assorted other tourists, they set off up river. Where after a tricky encounter with a couple of local nuisances, one of the tourists spies a distress flare further up stream, then another, and another. As captain of the boat, Kate is duty bound to respond to aid anyone who may be in distress on the waters. However, this means straying into "sacred waters" and before they know it, they are in the middle of the hunting ground of a gigantic crocodile. Who promptly attacks the boat and forces the group onto the nearest mini island, an island that is in tidal waters….and the tide is coming in………

Upon viewing Rouge it would seem that it may be one of the most unfortunate horror releases of the last ten years. It barely got a theatrical release outside of its own country (practically one week in selected cinemas in America & Europe), and it came out at a time when killer–croc movies were appearing almost every other month; Primeval, Black Water and Lake Placid 2 (good grief) all "surfaced" (hrr hrr hrr) during 2007 to take a "chomp" (ok I'll stop now) at the movie watching public. This following on from the sub-genre of aquatic reptile horror movies already being well served by Steve Miner's Lake Placid (1999) & Lewis Teague's Alligator (1980), both of which have huge fan bases. It's all relevant because Rogue happens to be the best of the bunch, a snappy (sorry, couldn't resist), scary, fun and slickly-produced Aussie movie. It's sickening that reams of sub-standard horror remakes get wide distribution whilst something like this, that deserves the chance at least, can't. The Weinstein Bothers should be ashamed of themselves for the treatment of Mclean's film.

Straight away we should make clear that, as its certification suggests, Rouge is not particularly bloody. Those in need of sequence after sequence of a crocodile tearing humans limb from limb need not seek this film out. While it is in no way able to live with Lake Placid in terms of being "intentionally" humorous, thus comedy seekers should approach with caution. What Rogue offers is a movie that's tightly structured and paced to precision, packed with suspense and affording its characters some time to actually impact on the story. The first half hour is technically sublime, as we get to know the various folk on board the boat, we are treated to gorgeous cinematography from Will Gibson (location the estuaries of the Northern Territory), accompanied by one of the most pleasingly orchestral scores ever laid down for a creature feature, courtesy of François Tetaz (the nods to Jaws are just fine). All of this of course serves to offer up the calm before the inevitable storm; from where Mclean then follows the marker set by Jaws by not giving us sight of the croc. It's the ultimate tease until the attacks start, but even then its mostly suggestion, the tension mounts as we couple it with our own imagination.

What unfolds from here is a series of set pieces as our stranded group try to avoid becoming crocodile lunch. Here normally a film of this ilk shows dumb people doing dumb things, but Mclean shows respect to the genre and its fans by having some of these folk do silly, yet understandable, things, thus the scares are elicited by way of believable reactions. And of course the situation brings out the best and worst from most of them; peril has a funny way of doing that to a human being. Also of note here is that Mclean doesn't make the croc a monster, this is merely a hungry animal protecting its territory. A quick piece of dialogue earlier in the story had pointed to hunters possibly being the ones who fired the distress flares, as croc goes about his snarly way, it doesn't hurt to remember this moment. The cast all give credible performances, notably the handsome hero in waiting Vartan, Mitchell (whose becoming the screen queen darling these days) & Jarratt, who shows us a different string to his acting bow than the one he played as loony Mick Taylor in Wolf Creek.

The movie has its flaws, but they are few. The croc on appearance will irk some people, tis true that Mclean could have done better there. While one WTF turn of events loses its impact as the director isn't as bold to follow thru like he did in Wolf Creek. But they are forgivable. For as we find ourselves holding our breaths during the creepy and practically silent finale, that culminates in a fine B movie bit of outrageousness, we realise that above all else it's been the suspense and ominous foreboding that made this one damn effective thriller. Mclean appears to be holding a grudge against his native country, his two films thus far hardly enticing the tourists to explore the gorgeous lands of Australia. What ever his means or motivation, long may it continue if he keeps producing films like this. Lets hope that his next project is not as ignored as this one was. Because for sure there is a very good director here and it would be tragic should a talent be burned by how his movie was handled and decided to take a step back from directing.

Evocative beauty blends with B movie thrills for a devilishly great time. 8/10

Greg McLean is looking to be someone to watch out for. After scaring audiences witless with his Aussie outback shocker "Wolf Creek" and hurting the Australian Tourism Board immensely his back at it again. However, this time he replaces a serial killer with a 7 metre saltwater crocodile who's hungry for humans and luckily a boat full of them arrives at his doorstep.

McLean doesn't waste time with a huge story, it is very basic and to the point. Pete McKell is an American travel writer who travels the world and writes about the places he visits. He is sent to the Northern Territory to go on a river cruise which is lead by Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). On board there are plenty of other tourists waiting to become bait.

The movie starts off with some beautiful scenes of Australian outback, they are absolutely stunning. When the action starts, though, it never lets up. For the rest of the movie I was on the edge of my seat, McLean really knows how to racket up the tension. It helps that the river is murky and we don't see too much of our monster until the end. And when we do see our crocodile friend it is amazing. Part CG and part animatronics, the crocodile looks very good and very menacing.

The acting is good all round, although the characters aren't hugely deep, the actors do a good job of making us love them or hate them. Particularly good is John Jarret (of Wolf Creek fame) and Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill).

For those that like blood and gore you won't be too disappointed, there is some and it's nice and bloody when it comes.

3½/5

Granted, it's not perfect, and the idea is not 100% original (from a cinematic point of view) but one thing I love about Greg McLean's films is that he takes what are essentially Australian icons and flips them totally askew. For instance in Wolf Creek the films brutal killer - Mick Taylor is basically Mick Dundee turned psycho. And in Rogue, he yet again takes a well known Australian reptile and sets it loose on some unsuspecting tourists.

There's no denying McLean can shoot a beautiful movie, and some of the wonderful scenes of the Australian top-end are simply stunning. The characters all portray strong performances, especially when the pressure sets in and they begin to crack. McLean also does a good job at drip feeding the dread and teasing the audience with nothing but growls, grunts and slippery tails. It's an age old formula where directors don't show the full extent of the threat till the end - well, thankfully we don't have to wait that long, as when the croc does reveal itself - we see that it is frickin'MASSIVE! And what's even more scary is that these thing's actually exist up there.

The croc itself is naturally CGI with some animatronics, and it's a relief to see that it looks "real". The movement and animation is authentic and the sound design is also effective in giving the audience that jolted feeling a 3 tonne croc would give.

It's a tense, taught and well directed film, and the only gripe I have about it is that it seems a little short - maybe that was put down the fact that I was so immersed into the film? But it did feel a little short. It also lacked the brutal punch Wolf Creek gave us back in 2005, but never the less, it's a cute little Aussie horror thriller where McLean pays sound homage to classics like Jaws and Aliens. And it's also good to see more "genre" films like this coming out of Australia, and it's also good to know people like the Weinsteins and Warner Brothers are backing horror films from Australia for international releases and distribution.

For anyone into their Reptillian chills and thrills - I highly recommend ROGUE.