Review: 100 Bloody Acres


Three young travellers (including Anna McGahan, her boyfriend Oliver Ackland, and comically obnoxious pommy friend Jamie Kristian) break down in a rural part of Australia. They are offered a lift from nervy Reg (Damon Herriman), who runs a fertilizer business with his brother, that has the special ingredient of road kill added to the smelly mix! Unfortunately, whilst McGahan gets to sit up the front of the truck with the seemingly harmless (but very, very distracted) Reg, her two companions are in the back with all the fertilizer. And is that a human corpse they see hiding in there? Before long, Reg has the trio tied up in his shed back at the family farm. And that’s when his brother Lindsay (Angus Sampson) turns up, and the terror really begins. Chrissie Page plays the boys’ auntie, who has a very close relationship with Reg, but an uncomfortably closer one with Lindsay.

 

Getting a wider theatrical release in 2013 after its film festival debut in 2012, this very dark comedy-horror from debuting co-writer/co-director duo Cameron and Colin Cairnes is a fun genre movie. It’s not exactly a good movie in the traditional sense, and the performance by Angus Sampson (mostly known for broad comedic work on TV) is like something out of a bad TV sketch comedy show, which is a bit unfortunate. He threatens to cheapen the film somewhat. It doesn’t work terribly well on the horror front, but this isn’t a straight horror film by any means, just enough of one that Sampson’s dud performance stands out like a sore (green?) thumb.

 

However, it is indeed a good example of the comedy horror subgenre, and it’s unfair to think of it in any other context, it’s not aiming for high art or even high art horror. There’s an excellent turn by the underrated Damon Herriman, a cute and charismatic one by Anna McGahan (Who has really nice norks, too. Hey, it’s important, OK?), and a startling cameo by Page that comes out of nowhere. Add to that a nasty sense of humour, a nice rural setting (more Ivan Milat territory than say, the outback), the amusing casting of John Jarratt as a cop, and a soundtrack full of quirky Aussie country songs (Ranging from Slim Dusty tunes to John Williamson’s classic ‘Old Man Emu’), and you’ve got a good time for those who can take it. It’s just that it could’ve been even better with an actor of some genuine talent in the Sampson role.

 

Definitely recommended to fans of “Motel Hell”, and the film at least answers the question of how you escape a murderer when you’re tripping balls in an amusement park called Fairyland (Answer: Not very effectively). I can’t wait to see what these guys come up with next.

 

Rating: B-

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