Wolf Creek (Greg McLean, 2005)

[ben d banana]

This record is so great! We've been listening to this almost as much as the recent Devils' Rejects soundtrack. Which is sort of funny when you know the whole story. But more on that later in the review. This is a greatest hits of sorts from a mysterious honky tonk bluegrass band from the seventies called Banjo And Sullivan. Mysterious mostly because of their tragic story. According to the liner notes, Adam Banjo and Roy Sullivan were last seen at a dingy hotel called the Kahiki Palms, a brief stop over on their 1978 tour. The scene of a grisly murder, both Banjo and Sullivan's spouses and their roadie Jimmy Cracker were found brutally murdered there. Banjo And Sullivan were never heard from again and were presumed killed. The record itself however should not necessarily be sullied by those tragic events, as the music in this collection is totally fun and funny and kick ass. The lyrics are goofy for sure ("Dick Soup" is the honky tonk equivelent of a 'sausage party' apparently) but the music is so killer. Totally rambunctious, wild and wooly bluegrass, banjos and honky tonk piano, crazy lap steel, and there are hooks all over the place. This is like the perfect blend of classic old time bluegrass and more modern Bloodshoot stuff like The Old 97's -- tracks like "I'm At Home Getting Hammered, While She's Out Getting Nailed", "I'm Trying To Quit, But I Just Quit Trying", "Lord, Don't Let Me Die In A Cheap Motel" and even a killer cover of "Freebird".
The funny part is -- this band actually never even existed! Banjo And Sullivan, as well as their wives Wendy and Gloria and their roadie Jimmy are all characters in the recent Rob Zombie movie The Devil's Rejects! And all of them meet a seriously gruesome end. But how fucking cool is that? What ridiculous attention to detail! There's not even any Banjo And Sullivan music in the movie, but still, they went to all the trouble to record a whole record, and a great record at that! And then they released it through normal channels. In fact there's no mention anywhere on the package of the movie or Rob Zombie or anything. The only hint is in the liner notes, where it explains that they were the victims of a murderous gang called The Devil's Rejects! So by itself, this is a pretty cool, fun bluegrass record, but having seen the movie and knowing that this is just more elaborate back story for the film, makes this pretty darn amazing!
If you go to the Devil's Rejects website you can link to the Banjo And Sullivan website, check out the tour dates for that final tour in 1978, see photos and even see an old TV commercial for the record!!

Real is a co-worker recently found out a family member is a prime serial murder suspect after he got loaded on drugs, took a prostitute into the woods and attacked her with a hatchet before she fought free, hit him in the head with the hatchet, escaped and got the cops back there to arrest him.

That's more in-depth than I should go, but apparently the prostitute's performance was great. Shit, word is she had a hatchet stuck in her.

Annie, have you seen Dumont's Twentynine Palms?

[Lino]

Mr_sausage, have you seen Wolf Creek?

[The Invunche]

The great sausage spoke in general terms so it doesn't matter if he has seen it.

[Lino]

Oh, I see.

[The Invunche]

Saw this tonight.

If there's anything I really hate about horror movies it's stupid characters. It takes me right out of the movie when the girls make one bad choice after another.

SPOILERS:
Yeah, lets leave the creep knocked out of the floor, but alive. Lets dump the car because he's following us. Lets go back into his "lair" to get a new car because we dumped the other one. Jesus H. Christ.

We're supposed to feel sympathetic towards the girls, but watching this I can't help wanting them dead. Put me out of my misery, please.

Glad it was a download.

[rs98762001]

If there's anything I really hate about horror movies it's stupid characters.

Couldn't agree more. That's why I found the film so misogynistic, whether intentional or not. The two women were alternately annoying and stupid throughout the movie, and then gruesomely dispatched.

[The Invunche]

It's easy to throw words like that around, but lets say one of the girls had been black. Would you also say it was a racist movie?

[Michael]

Know what? Many people find the first half slow and boring. I actually liked the first half. It's so much superior to the last half. Wolf Creek is like two different films pasted together.. the first half sets ups very slowly but nicely ...just enough for me to like the young people. And the camera sweeps between the people especially the pool sequence.. very gorgeous! I also liked the kissing moment on the rock.. it was handled very lovingly. But...the last half ruined everything for me, for the same reasons that some of us brought up earlier.

. That's why I found the Couldn't agree morefilm so misogynistic, whether intentional or not. The two women were alternately annoying and stupid throughout the movie, and then gruesomely dispatched.

Hmm.. the guy was stupid too. Look at the campfire scene as one of numerous examples.

[rs98762001]

the guy was stupid too. Look at the campfire scene as one of numerous examples.

You're absolutely right. And the killer wasn't exactly a smarty pants either: "I'll just let you hang on this hook, torture you while talking even more than a Bond villain, and wait until your friend who I tied up badly comes to your rescue."

[Dear Catastrophe Totoro]

It's strange, I was just having this conversation with a friend a few minutes ago. I don't deal well with horror films in general, I don't really see the point in them. Films like Wolf Creek and Saw, I really have to ask what possible value could these films have? "Head on a stick"? Ripping into someone's stomach looking for a key? Hearing the screaming. God. It's all about going to the darkest place imaginable for sheer exploitation value. What other value could there be? There's nothing to find here, people. This is our basic animal nature. Animals deal with torture, death, and pain on a daily basis. We get to escape it (if we're lucky). Shouldn't we be happy about that? There's no philosophy, no truth, its just violence, hatred, and fear manifesting itself in a form of entertainment, just for cheap thrills.

I can understand how certain horror films can be entertaining because they are stylized, and yes, style can be used to separate us emotionally from the actual acts displayed on the screen, and at times can even make a comment out of them. If human beings are feeling closer to our darker nature, then this is something to fear, not encourage. Studies have shown that viewing extensive violence can increase certain chemicals in your brain, actually causing you to be more in touch with your aggression. Even worse, violence in films can increase the level of hostility in minds that are still developing, giving them more aggresive dispositions. I'll try to find the link for that study (as I know what I just said was lacking to the point of being laughable), but I found it interesting, and emotionally I found it true. And actually, this backs up with Annie said about these films being "A Sign O the Times," except I see it as hostility creating more hostility. I for one am grateful that films during WW2 were mostly escapism, or films with social commentary smuggled into classical genre films. It would be horrifying if in their place we received dozens of horror films about death camps.

By the way, I've heard a rumor around my city that a Faces of Death movie might be playing at a local multi-plex. Please tell me that it is illegal to publicly show snuff films? However, the fact that people are believing this and possibly anticipating it could show how this recent trend of horror films could be numbing our reaction to violence. And actually, now that I think about it...when the remake of Texas Chainsaw Massacre was released, I heard from two people that they were surprised that they actually showed police footage of the real attacks. I tried to tell them that it wasn't real, but they were convinced that it was, and with this being considered, their overall reaction toward the movie was, "really good, really scary." If anything is attracting young audiences to horror films, it is the truth of their true nature that they do not even recognize anymore in our sanctioned, commercialized society. Grizzly Man is a good place to start if one wants to learn a greater truth, but I doubt Wolf Creek is going to enlighten anything.

(By the way, the last thing I want to do is insult, or call anyone a sick, sad person for loving these films. Most of my friends do love these films, and they are wonderful people. I'm just making sure no one takes anything as a personal attack, and actually, I'm posting this in hopes of learning what it is that I'm not understanding.)

[Napoleon]

I'm posting this in hopes of learning what it is that I'm not understanding.

This thread covers your question. Eventually. Around page 3.

[Dear Catastrophe Totoro]

Well, thank God I rehashed that.

I saw Silent Hill with a friend yesterday, and even though I'm sure that movie is light on violence compared to some films, it still put me in a sour mood. Instead of posting, I should have heeded the words of St. Elliott Smith: "You fuckin' aughta stay the hell away from things you know nothing about." I haven't seen Wolf Creek, so I can't comment one way or the other.

[Michael]

I haven't seen Wolf Creek, so I can't comment one way or the other.

I recommend you to steer far far far away from Wolf Creek. That's for sure and you'll thank me for that.

[The Invunche]

The stupidity of the characters is far more unnerving than the torture/horror.

[Len]

Watched Wolf Creek yesterday. As some have said before, the first half is good and has a nice feel. The second part was occasionally disturbing, but more just frustrating, due to the aforementioned idiotic characters and a boring psychopath. The stupid Crocodile Dundee reference ("that's not a knife") was kinda hilarious though (maybe unintentionally though). I was surprised how little gore there was in the end though, and I have to admit the killing scenes themselves were kinda powerful and somewhat disturbing.

Still, Wolf Creek was better than Hostel, which was just horrible (and not in a good way at all). Kinda like a bad imitation of a particularily boring Takeshi Miike-film.

And on the subject of Miike, I hope the trend of slow and relaxed first halves started by Audition (in which it worked perfectly) has come to an end now though. In Audition it worked, because (if you hadn't heard the hype) it was a bit of a shock, and the shift from somewhat tender drama to sadistic horror was really a bit shocking. In Wolf Creek and Hostel it's clear from the beginning that the first half is just buildup so when the bloodletting starts, you're supposed to feel something for the characters, or even disturbed by the sudden shift in gear (not a chance, considering the way the films are marketed). Hostel failed because all the characters were awfully boring and in Wolf Creek the same idea failed because after the horror starts, the characters suddenly start following every bad slasher cliche there is.

[Lino]

Maybe now it's time for the people who really liked this movie to please step in on the conversation. I'm out of it for now - just waiting to see how this will unfold.

[Lino]

Cowards!

[chaddoli]

I loved the film. I thought it was one of the best horror films in recent years. Part of why I loved it was because it was so brutal, and in a much more real, horrific way than something like the shitty Hostel. I think two examples of the film's strength within its genre are the killings of the two girls. First, he explains briefly what a "head on a steak" is, then immediately does it to her. And that's it. She's dead. There is no added faux drama, no mercy. It reminds me of the first death in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Then later, when the other girl seemingly escapes, he catches up to her, holds the gun to her, then kills her. The brutality and cynicism of his killings is what impresses me about the film, because it doesn't pull any punches (like Hostel does).

[The Invunche]

But how can you not be frustrated by the sheer stupidity of the girls? How is it possible to ignore that while watching?

[Lino]

Helpful info from an imdb.com poster:

I have compiled answers to the most frequently asked questions I see on this board, it gets old when people ask them over and over, so here's the ones that I seem to see often. If you have any others I can try and answer them too.

1. Why did the watches and the car not work?
Well, the watches most likely quit working because of magnetic levels around the crater area, certain minerals and whatnot in the ground can cause mechanical things to go haywire. As for the car, the magnetic waves is also a possible answer, but more than likely Mick tampered with their car while they were hiking.

2. Why didn't the girl's just hit Mick over the head with the gun a few times, to make sure he was dead? Considering Liz had just shot him in the throat, she probably assumed he was either dead or would die from blood loss. Besides, if you had been going through a situation like that, you wouldn't exactly have a clear mind.

3. Why didn't the girls just push the other car over the cliff after Mick went down there to see if they were alive? If the girls had pushed the other car over, Mick would automatically know it was them, and come running up after them, leaving both the girls and Mick on foot. Not to mention Mick was armed with a rifle, so I doubt Kristy or Liz would want to bring any attention to themselves.

4. Why didn't the girls just run on foot instead of having Liz go back to get a car? They were in the middle of nowhere, and had no idea where they were. The outback is huge, they could be running for a very long time before finding another road or any civilization for that matter. By the time they would find a road, Mick would've already caught up with them.

5. Why was Mick never caught and his mining site never found? I'm not from Australia, but I've heard that there are thousands of places like that all around the outback. The outback is an enourmous place, and tracking down just one campsite would be very, very difficult.

6. Is this really based on true events? Yes, but the characters in this movie are fictitous. The events in Wolf Creek are inspired by a group of similar cases that occured all over Australia. The Ivan Milat backpacker murders that took place in the 1990's seem to be more closely related to Wolf Creek than the others, but the story is a combination of many of Australia's most brutal murders. Search for Ivan Milat at crimelibrary.com, and you can read about the case. Wolf Creek has much more truth behind it, opposed to "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" or "The Amityville Horror" which were both supposedly based/inspired by true events.

[ben d banana]

If you can't figure that shit out on your own you are probably stupid enough for it to change your opinion.

[The Invunche]

Helpful info? It's the same kind of apologetic drivel that you can get from fanboys all over the net for badly written movies.

[HerrSchreck]

..certain minerals and whatnot in the ground can cause mechanical things to go haywire.

Clearer now?

[The Invunche]

We might be dealing with a geologist here.

[HerrSchreck]

Actually most posters to imdb are venerable masters of multiple arts-- martial, liberal-- and humanities. Awesome, versatile, intimidating, zen masters.

Ha-sa (chop)! Hai-YA (kick)! A-wa (leap)!

Om.