DVD Review: Wolf Creek

Darrell's Review

Before I really get into reviewing Wolf Creek, I feel the need to try to protect my reputation and explain how I came to watch this movie in the first place... since this isn't typically the kind of movie I'd watch.

Here's what happened:

A couple of months ago, Wendy and I gave the Batman Begins DVD to some friends as a thank-you gift. These friends consist of one of my oldest friends in the world, his wife, their adorable daughter, and their adorable son who, as of this writing, has not yet been born. (Trust us, the kid will be adorable if his older sister is any indication.) About that same time that we gave them Batman Begins, my friend gave us a copy of theWolf Creek DVD.

Now let me tell you a little bit about my friend. The main thing I want you to know is that he is an absolute sweetheart. I love the guy. You couldn't ask for a better friend. He'd give you the shirt off his back and ask if there were anything else he could do. He's like a brother to me, and he's also one of the people I admire and respect most in the world.

He also has terrible, terrible taste in movies. He almost exclusively watches bad horror movies and comedies and it's difficult to get him to watch anything else.

Wendy and I gave the family Batman Begins as a gift for the whole family, and we felt confident that it was a good gift because... well, A, it's not the kind of thing they'd watch, so we were sure they'd not seen it... and, B, once they've seen Batman Begins, EVERYONE loves it. Right? I mean, You've seen Batman Begins, right? And you loved it. Of course you did. What's not to love? It's a great film.

As far as the Wolf Creek DVD... well, neither Wendy nor I had much interest in it. Wendy hates those kinds of movies, and the reviews I'd read of Wolf Creek were so universally bad that I just didn't care to sit through it. Now, it's not that I have a blanket policy against horror movies. In fact, I love horror movies when they're done well, it's just that they're rarely done well.

A week or so ago, we were visiting with our friends and we noticed the Batman Begins DVD among their DVD collection, still in the cellophane. On the way home we got to talking about what a shame it was that they hadn't watched it since we were so sure that the whole family would enjoy it.

The other day, Wendy had me send my buddy an e-mail making the following offer: "YOU watch Batman Begins and tell us what you thought of it, and WE'LL watch Wolf Creek and tell you what we thought of it." My friend took us up on the deal.

Yesterday he sent us a quick review of Batman Begins. Basically, he mocked the film and mocked us for loving it. You can imagine how we felt: Imagine you're a balloon and someone has stuck a pin in you and you can feel the air seeping out quickly. We were soooo sure that he'd love Batman Begins, we'd really labored over the task of picking a movie for their family as a gift, and we just felt like idiots.

And on top of that, now we were committed to watching Wolf Creek.

We've just finished watching Wolf Creek and I think that the best way I can sum it up is to say that it is the polar opposite of Batman Begins. Where as the Batman film is about standing up to fear, facing down evil, and drawing on your inner strength, Wolf Creek is actually a celebration of fear, evil and weakness.

It's basic gore porn. You know what gore porn is, right? Regular porn is the gratuitous exposure of the human form in a simulated but artificial act of love. It exists because we live in a society that worships sex. Gore porn, on the other hand, is the gratuitous exposure of the human form in a simulated but artificial act of horrible violence. It exists because we live in a society that worships violence as much as it worships sex. It seems that, in our society, we don’t care what we see being done to the human form on the big screen, as long as it's gratuitous and meaningless and absolutely devoid of any real emotion.

Wendy and I were aware that, going into the movie, we'd probably be a bit resentful since our friend had trashed Batman Begins. So I made up my mind that no matter what, I was going to come up with something good to say about it. I think I've actually pulled it off. In fact, I have three good things to say about the movie:

• In the first seventeen minutes of Wolf Creek there are a number of very scenic and beautiful shots of the Australian countryside.


• One of the lead actresses in the film, Kestie Morassi, has an adorable little dimple in her chin. It makes her look like a cute little elf.


• There is a scene in the movie that reaffirms something I believe about handguns. This is it: We live in a world with real bad guys who have handguns and know how to operate them. The bad guys don't care about you and they will use handguns against you if they get the chance to and if they want to. Since handguns are an element of our world, and since the bad guys do have them, it is in your best interest (and mine, too) to know a little something about handguns. And, you should know a little something about handguns whether you like them or not. I, for one, absolutely loathe handguns and I don't own one. I do, however, know what I consider to be the bare minimum about them.

I also told myself that I wouldn't write anything about Wolf Creek that was intended to simply mock and degrade the film. And, I won't. I will, however, quote other reviewers who've summed the movie up to my satisfaction:

"there's nothing to separate Wolf Creek's last act from those of a few hundred other cheapies. It's boring, then it's nasty, then it's over. That last one is its only saving grace."
--Mountain Express

"Wolf Creek bills itself as "Based On Real Events," a dubious claim since the film is rife with the sort of boneheaded plotting that can only be found in sub-par thrillers of this nature... Father, forgive them, for they clearly know not what they do."
--All Movie Portal

"The film's preference for female suffering gives it a misogynist undertow that's even more unsettling than the gore. A 'misogynist' is someone who hates women. I'm explaining that because most people who hate women don't know the word."
--Ebert

This next clip is my favorite, since it not only sums up my feelings about the film but also neatly sums up a lot of what I believe about the cinema and life in general:

"Do not watch this movie. Do not support those who promote it. If your favorite critic lavishes praise on this sick piece, you need to find a new critic. This is a low, pathetic film and shame on anyone who offers praise to something that will without doubt bring pleasure to the sickest elements of our society."
--Nehring The Edge

You get the idea.

Batman Begins, however... well, you've already seen that movie. Great film, right?

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Wendy's Review

I hate movies like this, and I typically don't watch them. I don't like gore filled scarefests. And I didn't like Wolf Creek. First of all, it was so slow. The first 15 minutes seemed like 45 minutes. Second, I didn't like any of the characters. I thought that the guy and the two girls were shallow, vacuous, and more like a rough outline of today's youth. It doesn't make sense to have such undeveloped characters. Give me characters that are smart. Give me some reason to want them to survive. Third, like I said before, I don't like gore.

All this movie seems to do is glorify violence. You wind up feeling like you're supposed to be rooting for the bad guy. And what sense does that make? And he wasn't even that great of a bad guy. Give me a bad guy that is well-rounded, and not just some one-dimensional sadistic idiot.

The only thing I enjoyed about this film was the scenery. Australia seems like a real beautiful place. I'd love to go and visit someday.

Oh yeah, I also liked the part when the movie was over. That was my favorite part of the movie.



  ¶ 11:25 AM