Wolf Creek (2005)

Stranded backpackers in remote Australia fall prey to a murderous bushman who offers to fix their car, then takes them captive.

Director:

Greg Mclean

Writer:

Greg Mclean

Stars:

John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi

3 wins & 24 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Jarratt	...	Mick Taylor
Cassandra Magrath	...	Liz Hunter
Kestie Morassi	...	Kristy Earl
Nathan Phillips	...	Ben Mitchell
Gordon Poole	...	Old Man
Guy O'Donnell	...	Car Salesman
Phil Stevenson	...	Mechanic
Geoff Revell	...	Petrol Attendant
Andy McPhee	...	Bazza
Aaron Sterns	...	Bazza's Mate
Michael Moody	...	Bazza's Old Mate
Andrew Reimer	...	Flashback Dad
Vicki Reimer	...	Flashback Mum
Isabella Reimer	...	Flashback Girl
David Rock	...	Irish Backpacker

Storyline

Just when you thought it was safe to go hiking in the bushes again...along comes Mick Taylor. Kristy, Ben and Liz are three pals in their twenties who set out to hike through the scenic Wolf Creek National Park in the Australian Outback. The trouble begins when they get back only to find that their car won't start. The trio think they have a way out when they run into a local bushman named Mick Taylor. Wait until you get a load of what Mick has in store for them. Their troubles have just begun.

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Plot Keywords:

bushman | australia | backpacker | meteor | stranded | 

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Taglines:

90 % of them are found in a month.

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Genres:

Horror

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong gruesome violence, and for language

Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English Swedish

Release Date:

25 December 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

El Cazador

Filming Locations:

Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$42,667 (New Zealand) (10 March 2006)

Gross:

$78,573 (New Zealand) (17 March 2006)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Australian Film Finance Corporation, The, South Australian Film Corporation, The, 403 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 104 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

John Jarratt remained in character between takes.

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Goofs

The female Swedish backpacker's line is translated in the captions as "Come on, let's get him out of here", when she's actually saying "Hur i helvete kom han hit?", which in English translates into "How the hell did he get here?"

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Quotes

Mick Taylor: I always use a rubber with you cunts... I just don't know where ya been!

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Crazy Credits

The producers would like to thank ... the people of Hawker, Port Augusta, Flinders Ranges and South Australia, ... Frank, Marie and the entire Mclean family

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Connections

Referenced in Scream 4 (2011)

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Soundtracks

"Double the Bass"
(2005)
Written by Justin Astbury and Rob Biancetti
Produced and Performed by SystemBot
Recorded © Timms Tunes/Digital Recordings
Under License from Digital Recordings 2004

User Reviews

Best Horror Film in Years.

Wolf Creek is one of the best horror films of 2005 in my opinion. The film starts off with our three protagonists - Ben, Kristy, and Liz. Liz and Kristy are both British girls who are traveling in Australia, and before leaving, they decide to go on a backpacking trip across the country with their new Aussie mate, Ben.

After traveling a few days, they finally reach the Wolf Creek crater. After a day of hiking, they return to find their car in disrepair. Stranded with nobody around, they face the fact that they may have to spend the night in the car. While lying there, a car pulls up, and out comes an old Aussie redneck named Mick. He offers them a ride to his garage where he can fix the car, and while he seems a little strange, he is nonetheless a friendly old fellow. After being being towed to the old mining campsite, they fall asleep by the fire while he works on their car. But when they awake, it is very apparent that Mick has much more in mind than just fixing their car, and the audience is pulled into our characters' dreadful nightmare.

To put it plain and simple, Wolf Creek is a disturbing film. The cinematography is excellent, the entire movie has an amateurish feel to it, and is gritty and raw. It captures that realism that films like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Last House on the Left" both have, and achieves a level of horror and reality that most films fail to do nowadays. Many people complain about the slow beginning, but overall the film benefits from it, because we get to know our characters before seeing them go through a world of dread - which is another rarity in modern horror cinema.

Australian director Greg McClean gives the audience many eerie shots, primarily of nature in the outback, that adds an unsettling tone to the film, even when something horrifying isn't going on. Other mysterious events are tacked on to make things even more unsettling, including campfire stories of UFOs, and the group's watches not working after reaching the crater. Although these events have nothing to do with the actual horror that awaits the characters, they still give the viewer a feeling that something isn't quite right. All of the actors give believable performances, they all seem like actual people, unlike many of the cardboard cutout characters we see in film today.

To sum things up, Wolf Creek relies more on suspense and tension than all-out gore, which I personally find to be more effective. This film is probably one of the few great horror films in the past 10 years, at least from what I have seen. Wolf Creek left me feeling unsettled with a bitter taste in my mouth, and any movie that has the power to do that is a good one in my book. I'd say this is destined to become the "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" of our generation. Wolf Creek is everything that a horror film should be. 10/10.