Film Review: Wolf Creek 2
Surely there are better Australian scripts out there that deserve the funding
Can I see a show of hands for the people who were asking for a Wolf Creek sequel? OK, maybe there are a very small number of you that were, but not enough to warrant a follow-up, right? Wrong. So here we are, back in the outback for another round of dumb tourist vs. sadistic killer (aka Wolf Creek 2). The stakes are the same (your life), and so is the story. At least the first act, which plays out like a blueprint of the original. The rest of the film is a disjointed mess of wild road rage, hide and seek, and torture porn, all the while trying to dupe us all into believing the entire thing is true.
Don’t let the filmmakers fool you into thinking the original and the sequel are based on true stories. They’re not. Just because title cards at the start of a film say ‘Based on actual events’, doesn’t mean they’re based on ‘factual’ events. Sure people get killed in the outback, but writing epilogues at the end of a film about fake court cases with fictional people involved in heinous crimes is a technique used with the sole purpose of making the film seem more real and more scary. Even the most factually accurate of autobiographical films bend the truth to make the story more interesting. Did David Helfgott’s father in Shine relentlessly abuse his piano prodigy son? No. Did Russell Crowe’s John Nash character in A Beautiful Mind have a loving and caring wife who stuck with him through his mental illness? No. She left him at the first signs of crazy.
In Wolf Creek John Jarratt gave a career defining performance, bringing Mick Taylor to life and terrorising cinemagoers the world over. In the sequel he treads into overacting territory, where the once terrifying pig-shooter is now nothing more than a caricature of himself. The dark sinister side of Taylor which made the original so successful is toned down for more of a larrikin, humorous version. It kind of reminded me of how Freddy Kruger would crack jokes at the expense of his soon-to-be Elm Street victims. Remember that? Back in the 80’s when it original and funny?
Greg Mclean doesn’t do much to raise his profile as a writer/director either. This is very basic horror direction. There’s a noteworthy car chase sequence involving a truck which will evoke memories of Spielberg’s Duel, but besides that we are in a territory all too familiar to the original which doesn’t leave much room for Mclean to show us what he’s really capable of behind the camera. Worst still, maybe he’s already shown us?
Are there any shinning lights? Yes, a couple. Young Aussie actor Ryan Corr delivers a great performance as the intelligent British backpacker who’s knowledge of Australian history nearly wins Mick over. And the sequence in Mick’s underground lair which is a dark and endless maze filled with the attrocities and remainders of Mick’s crimes is a great vision into the mind of the killer. For a brief moment his character is somewhat developed and explored a little further. It’s also a welcome relief to the dialogue heavy scene that preludes it.
So, in terms of ‘coulda, shoulda, woulda’, how could this film have been better? For starters, release a sequel a couple of years after the original. Horror franchises do well when they are relevant. It’s been 8 years since the original, and the horror sub-genre of ‘torture porn’, of which this film falls into, unfortunately died in the ass around the time Saw 4 and Hostel 2 were released. What about letting another director helm the sequel? This keeps the franchise fresh while having a new perspective on the story. It worked for Aliens and 28 Weeks Later. Finally, why not completely divert the audiences expectations? Turn the story on its head and give us something unexpected. Hell, why not take Mick out of the outback and out his comfort zone by sending him to Byron Bay or Bondi where he’d have a field day terrorising foreign backpackers to his sadistic hearts content?
I’m not in the business of bursting bubbles, but I’m aware I may have pricked a few people with this review. I’d just hate to see you waste your money on a film when it would be much better spent seeing something else. Even if I only gave a rating of 2 stars out of 5, I feel that is being a little generous. But above else, the most disappointing thing other than the film itself is the fact that governing body Screen Australia partially funded the film. Surely there are better Australian scripts out there that deserve the funding.
Wolf Creek 2 is now showing in cinemas nationwide
WOLF CREEK 2
Directed by: Greg Mclean
Written by: Greg Mclean, Aaron Sterns
Cast: John Jarratt, Ryan Corr
Released by: Village Roadshow
Running time: 106 minutes