Review: Wolf Creek 2

Everyone’s favourite psychotic “Crocodile Dundee” Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) is back for more heads on sticks, as he targets young European tourists and even a couple of nosy cops (one played by troubled former “Neighbours” star Shane Connor). Our lead protagonist is likeable ‘pom’ Paul (played very convincingly by an Aussie, Ryan Corr), whom Mick decides to toy with by giving him his own sick version of the citizenship test. Old pro Gerard Kennedy and veteran actress Annie Byron turn up as an elderly couple.

 

Although it was very similar to “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, the arrival of 2005’s “Wolf Creek” and its director Greg McLean was met with pretty much wholehearted support from me, if for no other reason than the possibility of more Aussie genre films should this one have been a big success. It was a perfectly  OK film (probably a bit more than OK), but I hoped it would see even better ones in its wake. That indeed happened, especially with the underrated and unnerving croc movie “Black Water” (whilst McLean’s own “Rogue” was a solid ‘creature feature’ itself), but not to the degree I had hoped. The big resurgence of the Aussie genre film hasn’t quite happened in the years since, I’m afraid, but I’ll never give up hope. This sequel from director/co-writer McLean has been on the cards for years (at least since 2010), but with various issues getting in the way (including Geoffrey Edelstein withdrawing financial support for reasons best going to Wikipedia for) it has thusly only emerged in 2014, after a stint at a couple of international film festivals in 2013 (including Venice).

 

The result? Yes, it’s a step down from the first film in terms of artistic quality, but it’s mostly got a different tone anyway. I wouldn’t quite say it goes into “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” territory, but it’s definitely a more over-the-top, schlockier film. If you can understand and appreciate that, it’s actually good fun and McLean once again shows himself to be a master at knowing how to shoot, frame, and light a film. This is a truly beautiful-looking film, even if that wonderful bushland scenery does some of the work. It’s in pitching the tone of the film that McLean proves slightly wonky here. Lines like ‘That’ll do pig!’ are funny and all, but the terror and sleaze from John Jarratt’s Mick Taylor have mostly gone now. Mind you, we’re probably talking a difference between Freddy Krueger in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and “Elm St. 3: Dream Warriors” (the best “Elm St.” film in my view) here, so it could’ve been a whole lot worse (Ever seen “Elm St. 4, 5, and 6”? Or “Elm St. 2” for that matter?).

 

Jarratt’s not bad here (his best moment is when he claims to hate the national anthem. Me too, Mick. Bloody oath!), he’s doing as instructed, or over-doing as instructed perhaps. He and the film are much schlockier than the original, the film is certainly gorier. In fact, despite the schlocky tone, the violence is quite harsh and uncompromising at times. But I do think Jarratt hams it up a bit too much for my liking, and as the film enters the final stretch it edges a bit too close to ‘torture porn’ for my liking. It’s the least interesting portion of the film, and the ending is really lame and terribly unsatisfying (even though it’s the closest to resembling anything from the real-life cases it claims to be based on). Mick’s subterranean lair isn’t quite as fantastic as the one in “TCM2” but it did remind me of it.

 

I appreciate that McLean was going for something a little different this time out, but it’s a bit of a mess. Still, for a mess it’s an underrated and entertaining mess, and in terms of entertainment value it might even be better than the first film, which let’s face it, took forever to get going (as did the original “TCM”). This one moves at a much, much better clip, and the characters aren’t quite as high on the douchebag-meter as in the first film (Corr is actually pretty good in what is essentially the lead role) or “TCM” for that matter. Despite some pretty awful CGI, Mick running over multiple kangaroos to the tune of ‘The Lion Sleeps Tonight’ is kinda funny in a sick way. The CGI is too lame to really find the scene offensive, by the way (I’m not so sure playing ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport’ was such a good idea in the current climate, but given when the film was made, I’ll give McLean the benefit of the doubt on that one). Meanwhile, there’s an absolutely brilliant shot of Mick riding on horseback in silhouette in the foreground with beaming orange sun and sky in the background like some sadistic “Man From Snowy River”. He even cracks the whip! Hilarious, but also a job well done to McLean and cinematographer Toby Oliver (“Beneath Hill 60”). It’s nowhere near as scary, though, and that may be a big problem for many of you. The only thing I found scary or at least ominous was Mick’s truck, which seemed to be photographed much more ominously than in the previous film. However, I don’t believe a horror film needs to be scary in order for it to be called a success.

 

Co-scripted by Aaron Sterns, “Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2” meets “The Hitcher” as directed by Sergio Leone is the perfect description here. I doubt it’ll revitalise the Aussie genre movie scene, but I don’t think that was the intention here. This is schlock and pretty good schlock at that, even if I personally wish it weren’t quite so over-pitched. It’s a sequel and it improves on the original in some respects, I think that alone is worth celebrating to be honest. I just wish it were scary. McLean is an excellent visual stylist and has a great attention to detail. I think he could make a truly great genre film one day. Until then, he has made three pretty good ones, even if this one is probably best appreciated by schlock genre fans.

 

Rating: B-