Plot: What’s it about?
I have to admit that when I received “Wolf Creek”, I immediately confused it with “Cry Wolf”, a DVD which had come out a few months before. The box claims that “Wolf Creek” is a combination of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Blair Witch Project”, two of the genre’s greatest entries. So it’s a bold statement to compare this movie to those two. Oh, and Quentin Tarantino claims that it’s “…one of the best horror movies in the last 25 years…”. I’m not sure how much Mr. Tarantino was paid to make that quote, but after seeing “Wolf Creek” I wasn’t really impressed, disturbed and more importantly – scared. Now what I will do is give writer/director Greg McLean credit because in the Hollywood system of movies, if you don’t like the way something is done – you do it yourself. And that he did. My problem with the movie was that it didn’t really seem to have any sort of plot. Granted, it was based on true events but it played out more like a documentary as opposed to an actual movie.
For what it’s worth, we have three twenty-something’s who, for whatever reason, buy a car and drive halfway across Australia to go to Wolf Creek. Wolf Creek isn’t really a creek, but a site in the middle of nowhere (literally) where a meteorite hit sometime ago. It’s one of the biggest sites on the face of the planet and it seems to be some sort of tourist attraction. We meet Ben (Nathan Phillips) and his two traveling companions, Liz (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy (Kestie Morassi) both of whom are very attractive. They drive along, get in a minor tussle with some local drunks and finally reach Wolf Creek. They hike, hang out and arrive back at their car only to find that their watches have stopped and the car won’t start. As “luck” would have it, a local man (John Jarratt) happens by and offers them a tow back to his place. They reluctantly accept and after their arrival are gathered around a campfire with a few drinks. Act II shows us that Liz (or Kristy, I can’t remember which) finds herself bound in a shack and she happens upon Kristy (or Liz) as she’s being tortured by the mysterious man. The rest of the movie shows their feeble attempts at escape.
I don’t want to go so far as to say that I hated “Wolf Creek”, it was mildly entertaining. But when I watch a horror movie, I want to be scared. I want to wake up in the middle of the night an pull my shower curtain back for fear that something might be there. With “The Blair Witch Project” I was genuinely scared and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was just…disturbing. “Wolf Creek” embodied neither of those. There’s no back story, no motivation for what happens and very little resolution at the end. About halfway through the movie, I paused it (waiting for something to happen) and read Roger Ebert’s review of it. I think Mr. Ebert is among the best film critics out there and I respect his opinion. He gave this movie zero stars. So while this movie may have fans, it has detractors as well. That said, I’d recommend “Wolf Creek” for a rental only and if you’ve never seen “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “The Blair Witch Project”, those are far more entertaining.
Video: How does it look?
For a low-budget movie made in Australia, I have to say that the video quality for “Wolf Creek” far exceeded my expectations. The 1.78:1 anamophic image is simply glorious at times and only fails to impress in a few instances. A majority of the movie takes place during the day and we get plenty of looks at the desolate Australian Outback. Colors are bright and vivid and one thing that impressed me was the level of detail. There are some dark scenes and I saw some “gritty” look and feel to some of those scenes, aside from that however, I was very please with how this came across on DVD. Perhaps a less stellar transfer would have affected the mood of the movie? At any rate, “Wolf Creek” excels in the video department.
Audio: How does it sound?
I wasn’t as impressed by the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack as I was with the video, but like the movie – there’s just not a whole lot going on. There were a few instances in which the LFE came into play, but on the whole everything is dialogue-driven. I didn’t really notice any score per se, though the first ten minutes did have a few “party” scenes that made their presence known. A good soundtrack, but nothing to write home about!
Supplements: What are the extras?
There aren’t too many supplements on the disc, most notably is a commentary track by writer/director Greg McLean and he tells details of the shoot, the script and the story as to which the movie was “inspired”. McLean does a good job on his track and tells of the mixed reviews of the film. Actresses Cassandra Magrath and Kestie Morassi as well as producer Matt Hearn also participate. The obligatory “Making of ‘Wolf Creek’” is also shown as is a deleted scene. The original theatrical trailer rounds out the supplements.
