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Post by Fenril on Nov 9, 2010 14:59:21 GMT -5
"In the spirit of slayrrr's sister threads to the Mexican horror one, I'm starting threads about horror movies from assorted countries other than the US, UK, Italy or Japan (simply because those are the countries whose horror film productions are easier to find on a global scale, so they would be better known)."
Seen any horror movies from Australia and if so, what did you think of them?
For the record, Peter Jackson's movies are New Zealander, not Australian (I only mention this because in real life I've seen people making this mistake).
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 10, 2010 11:31:14 GMT -5
Since you specified the difference:
Dying Breed-A couple searching through the Australian wilderness for signs of a supposedly extinct creature find themselves under attack by an inbred, cannibalistic family. Talk about a massive let-down, I figured this one was going to be a creature feature, and instead it's a psycho/cannibal film. Once I got over that, I realized the film was a massive cliche and didn't really do anything different except where everything took place. Good gore, though.
The Ferryman-A group of friends on a sailing trip find themselves being killed off one-by-one by a legendary figure who steals human souls for an underworld master. Really dull and complicated, it's quite hard to understand what's going on and the attacks aren't really all that good.
Howling III: The Marsupials-A man working on a film crew finds that his new love interest is a werewolf being hunted by a coven of werewolves who are intent on keeping their existence a secret. Cheesy good time, not a whole lot of quality parts but it's a lot of fun.
Nature's Grave-A couple camping in the wilderness runs afoul of nature and forces the animals around them to strike back. This movie fucking sucks, it's one of the worst I've seen and has absolutely nothing worthy about it at all. I wish this movie was destroyed and forgotten, it's that bad.
Outback Vampires-A couple stop off at a small town during a camping trip in the outback and find that it's inhabited by vampires. Pretty cheesy and more silly than frightening, it still counts.
Razorback-A feral pig launches a rampage on a small settlement on the outback, forcing the locals to hunt it down and kill it before it harms more. Really enjoyable and quite interesting, not a bad entry at all.
Rogue-A tourist boat traveling down a small river finds itself under attack by a monstrous crocodile. Really slow in getting itself going, and once it does, not really that memorable. Hardly any violence and the creature becomes more of an afterthought once it is established as being around. Massive disappointment.
There's also Wolf Creek and Saw, but those sucked even worse than Nature's Grave so I won't give them any acknowledgment here.
And if you really want to be anal about this, throw in Queen of the Damned as it was a US/Aussie co-production.
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Post by Fenril on Nov 10, 2010 17:55:53 GMT -5
So that's... one good entry and a couple enjoyable ones out of nine. Uh. And if you really want to be anal about this, throw in Queen of the Damned as it was a US/Aussie co-production. Given that I didn't care for this movie that much but didn't quite hate it... what the hell. So here's my list: - Long weekend (1978). Nature's grave is a remake of this one, from the director of Razorback. The plot is mostly the same, a couple on vacation find nature turning against them. I really liked this one, it has a very creepy atmosphere. - The last wave (1977). One of Peter Weir's earlier movies, concerning a lawyer trying to defend a group of tribal aborigines while having visions of a huge natural disaster. Again, very good atmosphere in this one, through the effect is more "amazing" than "creepy". - Cut (2000). Fairly routine slasher with some supernatural elements. Hardly original, but it has some okay gore. - Lake Mungo (2008). Mockumentary ghost movie. Truth be told it's pretty boring, through there a couple interesting elements in it. I didn't hate Wolf Creek that much, but it's my least favorite Aussie film so far. As for Saw, all I can say is I'm still baffled at this becoming the Friday the 13th of the present generation. |
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Post by Bartwald on Nov 10, 2010 18:05:38 GMT -5
I liked Wolf Creek - much more so than Rogue, actually. The latter was fun - but not really frightening or suspenseful, while Wolf Creek kept me on edge throughout the whole second half.
Howling III, on the other hand, is a really funny horror movie - one of my favourites in the Howling franchise.
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Post by Fenril on Nov 10, 2010 18:38:32 GMT -5
I think my problem with Wolf Creek is that I don' t really like "Torture Porn" movies (recent films where the emphasis is entirely on making the audience squirm rather than scare them). Also, plenty of stupid character moves.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 11, 2010 11:20:24 GMT -5
I forgot about Cut, I kept thinking that since it had Kylie Minogue in it, it was British. But I agree with what you said, fairly decent but enjoyable.
Frankly, I also agree wholehartedly about the Torture Film genre. Stop calling it Torture Porn, it's not an accurate phrase.
After we got to Saw IV, I came to the conclusion that the people who like those films need to be removed from the potential breeding portion of the human race, as the kind of thinking that makes people consider them good films needs to be eliminated from the human psyche is we are to continue on as a viable race on this planet. I have about as much love for them as I do Christian watchdog groups.
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Post by Bartwald on Nov 11, 2010 13:07:47 GMT -5
Frankly, I also agree wholehartedly about the Torture Film genre. Stop calling it Torture Porn, it's not an accurate phrase. is an awful phrase but I guess it won't go away easily... I'd much prefer torture film, too, but people seem to consider the former more catchy - what can you do. We can't stop the Saw movies from being made just because we don't like them, either. But why exactly so many people want to see each new Saw as soon as it hits theatres is a real mystery to me. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 12, 2010 11:34:25 GMT -5
Well, then just like the genre, we'll just have to make it go away.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Nov 15, 2010 11:38:11 GMT -5
As I've done with the others in here, I guess I should rank these:
1. Razorback
2. Howling III: The Marsupials
3. Outback Vampires
4. Cut
5. Rogue
6. Dying Breed
7. The Ferryman
8. Nature's Grave
9. Wolf Creek
9. Saw
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Post by Fenril on Jan 24, 2011 16:53:23 GMT -5
Saw the Australia / UK coproduction Triangle. Liked it, appears to be a haunted house (in this case, haunted boat) movie at first, then seems to be a slasher and is in the end something quite different (you may have already heard what it is, but I'd rather keep it as a surprise for the potential viewer). It's one of those cases where the script if more clever than it seems, and seemingly random phrases (like "I do anything differently, I lose him") end up becoming important clues.
Recommended.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 14, 2011 10:06:43 GMT -5
Can add another one to the list, Road Kill, about a group of friends driving through the Australian outback are attacked by a gigantic, mysterious big rig and find themselves chased by the unrelenting machine, which runs on human blood to keep going.
Not a whole lot to stay interested in, it's basically about the people going insane while being chased but it's never clear what's doing the chasing. The rig is a central figure but it's not being driven by itself, there's clearly a person operating it but overall, it's just not given anything all that clear-cut to define what's going on. Basically, nothing that happens is done with a clear reason, so you don't know what's going on. It's bloody though, if that matters, but it really needs a lot of work.
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Post by Fenril on Jun 14, 2011 13:09:25 GMT -5
Not a whole lot to stay interested in, it's basically about the people going insane while being chased but it's never clear what's doing the chasing. The rig is a central figure but it's not being driven by itself, there's clearly a person operating it but overall, it's just not given anything all that clear-cut to define what's going on. Basically, nothing that happens is done with a clear reason, so you don't know what's going on. Actually, that sounds pretty intriguing to me, so I might check it out. Never heard of it before. |
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Post by slayrrr666 on Jun 15, 2011 10:03:57 GMT -5
It's really not, man. It's just so confusing about what's going on because it never comes out and specifically says what's happening, plus as I mentioned the rig is a central figure but it's not about it hunting them down but more in line with them being driven insane in the situation. It's really not as good as you think it is.
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Post by Fenril on Jun 15, 2011 14:11:17 GMT -5
Eh, we'll see. I have several movies to get through before, anyway.
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Post by slayrrr666 on Aug 5, 2011 10:51:05 GMT -5
Another one for the list, Perfect Creature, about a policewoman and a vampire tracking a fellow vampire before he spreads a deadly virus on the population. Really, really bad, more so in the sense that it never really feels like a true horror film, more like a deranged sci-fi film rather as the setting (a futuristic time that looks for all the world like 1800's England) and all these ground-rules about the society make it really difficult to get a handle on what's going on, and the near-total elimination of any traditional vampiric qualities (frankly, if the two leads weren't vampires, you wouldn't have any change at all in the story since it never makes them being vampires integral to the story and it just as well could've been an ordinary madman doing this) coupled with extreme amounts of boredom, fixed only by the final showdown which is pretty decent makes this one enjoyable.
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