With the Australian film industry in a bit of a slump for the past few years, things have perked up at the end of 2005 with Little Fish, Look Both Ways and most of all Wolf Creek, the best Aussie film since Lantana, and the best horror film since Blair Witch Project.
WC is not as tonally consistent as Blair Witch - it has a plot flaw (actually more like an irritation, and one that could have been easily fixed) when the heroes get a chance to kill the baddie and don't take it; the ending isn't as powerful as the middle and it gets a dose of the Hollywoods in two moments: John Jarratt revving up his car on the highway, and the use of video cameras for exposition. But it more than makes up for this with the excellence of its performances, the intensity of its mood, its sheer hard core-ness (for lack of a better expression). Two moments in particular: the scene where one of the girl's wakes up, and the scene where the character we think is going to be the hero... turns out not to be. Wonderfully non Hollywood, without wisecracks or a gaggy villain - just terror. It doesn't glory in its sadism though - the violence is unpleasant, often implied (and heard), and when it is seen it is briefly scene. John Jarrat - what a legend. A tribute to all involved with it.
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