Wolf Creek Has a River of Problems
by Eugene Schacht
May 3, 2006

The feature film Wolf Creek, which was recently released on DVD home video, is nothing but a boring, cliché horror genre film. Artistically, it offers people nothing but regret for losing the 99 minutes of their lives they spent watching the movie.

The film, which is loosely based on true events in the Australian outback, follows three twenty-some year old adults as they visit Wolf Creek, a creator that has become a tourist attraction in Australia. However, their lives become endangered as they become the hostages of an insane local.

The plot sounds like it has potential, but unfortunately it takes way too long to develop. The first 63 minutes of the film are spent following the three travelers as they make their way to Wolf Creek. Along the way they encounter all the cliché things that people in these movies encounter. This includes sex, drugs and alcohol. Also, there is a lot of pointless dialogue as an attempt to develop the flat, predictable characters.

Once our “loveable” characters arrive at their empty, desolate destination, their car unexpectedly breaks down, just like it does in every other horror movie. Luckily a local named Mick Taylor, who is played by John Jarratt, happens to be driving by the extremely abandoned area and offers to help out the desperate travelers. What the protagonists don’t know is that Jarratt, who plays the weak roll to the best of his abilities, is actually a deranged serial killer.

The next 20 minutes feature Jarratt capturing and torturing the main characters in some of the most brutal ways imaginable…. Well, imaginable by Greg McLean, the director of Wolf Creek.

The torture scenes are pathetically blatant attempts at being overly brutal and graphic. These violent images of torture, though more intense than the average film nowadays, only give the viewer creative ideas for how to relieve the pain from boredom that is a result of this film.

When it is all said and done, Wolf Creek will leave you with a bad taste in your mouth and the urge to hit whomever you are sitting next to in the arm. Although it will provide you with temporary relief, just remember that your original rage is directed at Wolf Creekand Dimension Films for releasing such an awful film.