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Complete
isolation: Kestie Morassie as Kristy, has nowhere to hide
and no one to save her.
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Wolf
Creek
John Jarratt, Nathan Phillips, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi
If
you’re driving long distance over Christmas to new postings,
you might want to save Wolf Creek for when you’re settled in
your new city.
It’s the story of three backpackers – two British girls
and a Sydney bloke – who buy an old bomb to drive from WA to
Cairns. You just know in the car-buying scenes that something is
going to go terribly wrong – and the car might be to blame.
After a backpacker-style farewell from WA, the trio start its all-Aussie
adventure. Their second stop is Emu Creek, the last fuel station
for a few hundred kilometres. They run into some unusual locals
who make them feel slightly off.
The first tourist attraction they decide to visit – despite
the urban myths – is Wolfe Creek, an enormous crater (the e
in Wolfe was dropped for the film to make it more scary sounding).
When their car won’t start after a bush walk into the crater
and back, the three resign themselves to having to spend the night
in the car and scare each other with UFO abduction tales.
Fortunately, Mick (Jarratt), a local, comes to their rescue and
offers to fix the car free of charge (alarm bells anyone?), but
they have to let him tow them back to his camp (lair) a few hours
away. After a bit of a chat and a tasty beverage beside a camp fire
at Mick’s, the trio settle down for a kip while Mick fixes
the car.
Things take an odd turn from there and let’s just say the car’s
not good to go the next morning, and the gang don’t quite make
it to Cairns.
Wolf Creek draws on the Ivan Milat backpacker murders and the Peter
Falconio disappearance in the NT. It’s not given an R rating
for nothing and if you’re not used to graphic violence, steer
clear.
It’s an excellently produced movie, with lots of cunning techniques
to make it scarier and eerier. John Jarratt and Cassandra Magrath
are exceptional, with Jarrat a little too convincing as a serial
killer (a long way from Better Homes and Gardens).
Rating: 
– Lt Simone Heyer
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