Os Crimes de Snowtown

16 year-old Jamie lives with his mother and abusive brothers. He is taken by his mother's new lascivious boyfriend. John and his crowd of self-appointed neighborhood watch takes Jamie under their wings. They drive out the boyfriend. The relationship leads to a spree of torture and murder.

This is an Australian film based on true events. This is a highly disturbing movie. To say that they are white trash is to insult white trash. The rampant homophobia is shocking, but then it gets much much worst. I feel that I have to warn that it dives head first into pedophilia and serial torture murders. It is truly soul grindingly gruesome. It gets really tiring to one's being. I do like the atmosphere in the movie although it does drag at times. It is a tough watch, and good only for people who are willing.

Brilliant in it's authenticity and simplicity. The attention to detail, costume and set design deserve recognition and credit. As the viewer you actually feel like your in the 90s, from the Nike Air sneakers to the Sega Master System etc. There is no clear distinction between characters at the beginning of the film, who are complex to say the least.This may leave some audience members confused, but also add to the intended emotions of the film. The actual murders were committed amongst the seemingly mundane and relatively normal lower class suburbs of Adelaide. The director Justin Kurzel, does a fine job at recreating that image. I loved this film because I am some what a crime buff and have a profound interest in Australian criminal history. This movie captures the very essence that is Snowtown. Crime buffs especially will enjoy this movie. The director doesn't necessarily rely on graphic imagery to the extent some people may think. More the psychological game of fear and suspense is applied through out the feature with impeccable brilliance. My heart was racing for a majority of the time, even the quieter moments don't allow you time to relax as the suspense builds. Snowtown is definitely not for the faint hearted or squeamish, but it is for those who can appreciate gritty Aussie crime flicks.

The press junket and first wave of critical notices built Snowtown up as a throat ripper that will cause you nightmares. That didn't do it any favours as per expectation levels for the horror enthusiast. However, this is a superb piece of film making, a real gritty and grainy deconstruction of the human condition gone sour. As with all films of this type that are based on real life incidents, it pays to read up on the facts if you be so inclined.

Debut director Justin Kurzel doesn't shirk from the horrors of the case, but skillfully he doesn't bang everyone over the head with shock tactics to grab the attention. It's a relentlessly bleak picture, there's a continuous build of impending dread, of human devastation wrung out by a master manipulator (Daniel Henshall as John Bunting superb), the depressing story told through the eyes of the simple and confused Jamie Vlassakis (Lucas Pittaway).

Not to be watched if one is looking to be cheered up! But that doesn't mean it shouldn't be sought out as essential cinema. It's a strong and potent film, worthy of inspection by adults who understand that not all film is about entertainment. 8.5/10

Snowtown is probably the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. (Note: To back that statement up, I have watched most so called 'torture-porn' flicks, including hard-edged foreign stuff like Martyrs and Audition.)

Unlike the vast majority of horror films, Snowtown depicts torture and murder in a way that is almost documentary-like - nothing is sensationalized, which makes it all the more horrific. You are essentially a fly-on-the-wall during a real-life murder. The strangulation scene in the bath tub is almost unwatchable - and it seems to go on forever.

I found it incredibly hard to watch and it has seriously shaken me to my core. Cinema is supposed to affect us, and Snowtown certainly did, which is why I've given it 10/10.

This is not like any other film I've seen before, I think that it would be an understatement to say that this film was chilling and eye opening. This film terrified me, and amazed me in it's brilliance.

I don't know where to begin, but when I think back to this film I remember how I'd felt while watching it, which is also something I can't even begin to describe. I never write reviews but for this one I felt I should just because I believe that a lot of people pass on watching films that don't have a rating above 7/10. But this film, definitely deserves to be watched.

At the time when I watched the film, I only found out afterwards that it was a true story. And you won't believe how little difference that made to how I already felt, because it was that powerful already. I felt terrified, and I'm not the one to be 'scared' easily, but you should've seen what it did to people who do get scared. This film like many other brilliant films has left me with something to think about afterwards, but unlike any other movie I've ever seen before, Snowtown gave me a slap across the face to open my eyes to an obvious truth. And it felt harsh to realize it, as it probably did for anyone who's seen Snowtown. It's that murderers exist, and yes it's no surprise, but this film showed me just how desensitized we all are to murders, serial killers. That's why watching this film felt like I'd experienced something. It's like that same exciting feeling you get when you watch Avatar and you're 'experiencing' the 3-D aspects, but for this you're exhilarated and experiencing something so f"cked up and real. It made "This Is England" look like a Disney film. This is actually a quote that seemed to best summarize what we all felt as me and about 8 other people discussed the film outside the cinema. And we could still hear a hint of fear in our laughter then.

It wasn't just another film. I've been inspired by how realistic the scenes are, I can't imagine that it was just scripted scenes, it truly felt all real. The actor that played the killer was the most terrifying character or man I've ever seen on film. You must watch this, a lot of people have become obsessed with this film, and it definitely deserves a higher rating.