The Backpacker

It's always a funny thing going to see low budget (I'm talking micro micro) films, you're never sure what you're going to get. I was in Canberra last week and my mate and I were approached by 2 sexy girls in red shirts giving out fliers for The Backpacker, a film I'd never heard of.

The film's a thriller, set in the Aussie bush and I was blown away by how great the story was. Having been out of the country for a while it was refreshing to see a home grown flick made for next to nothing that satisfied both of us. The story wound out nicely and I could never tell what was going to happen next.,

The music blew the film along and the guy who played the psycho Malek was awesome. There's a few bits and pieces that could have been tighter but overall we came feeling like we'd be on a pretty cool ride. Good one guys.

Really refreshing to watch an Australian low budget action/thriller with a believable twist! Took my girlfriend to this flick as we had heard about it on the radio, really got a shock at this little beauty. The bad guy really gets you going, he plays bad very very well. The guy playing the soldier is good as he really is like a soldier, I would know as I was in the service for awhile. You could hear a pin drop at times, the tension was on the screen and in the cinema helped along with a really solid soundtrack. If you get a chance this film is worth viewing, real eye-opener for how to do a really low-budget film and get away with it.

For an Aussie film this is pretty cheesy, BUT not half bad for the low budget. A cat and mouse game between a serial killer and army vet. Supposedly set in the bush but had my doubts of where it was filmed. It was entertaining with the scenery and the chase. Not great BY any means but workth a 4 out of 10.

Not bad for a man hunt movie... but not really good either. It was a bit too drawn out and the acting was weak although not abysmal. But the protagonist had a motivation other than just surviving because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and although at times he was kind of stupid he was not just a clueless twit like so many 'victims' are in such movies. The "bad guy" was fairly well played, and at one point when he is injured, he plays it consistently which is nice. There is also one of the neatest little minor characters about half way through which i enjoyed. If you watch the movie you will know what I mean. In fact I didn't see any completely unforgivable incongruities, so all in all I say give it a watch if you have the time and nothing better to do.

Low budget is no excuse for poor writing and production. The intended storyline is more than enough meat to construct a quality segment with. That said ... this has to be the worst trained soldier in the history of training soldiers. He is more like a high school tight end than a well trained soldier. Get snuck up on, falls asleep while on watch, fails to secure prisoner when has a chance to, no sense of direction, no sense of survival skills ... how can this story be based on such a false character... the female ... is scripted to be even dumber than the soldier. Sorry, this is a poor effort to support such a storyline. Please do not make anymore films for the public. Practice with shorts, very short shorts and rebuild your approach. Investors beware of these types of producers, they give real film makers a bad stigma and expose the industry to excessive risk. Films can be very lucrative and well made, even if a modest budget is involved. This gets a single star for the attempt. And negative stars for the execution.