Movie Review: Wolf Creek 2 (2013)

 

Way back around 2005 or 2006, I simultaneously fell in love with the film Wolf Creek, its director Greg McLean, and its antagonist Mick Taylor as played by John Jarratt. McLean put off doing a sequel to Wolf Creek in favor of making the equally awesome film Rogue, so many of us have been waiting a long time for this. And I'm happy to say that, for the most part, Wolf Creek 2 is another wonderful output from this talented filmmaker.

The outback is still not a safe place to go, as hitchhiking couple Rutger and Katarina visit the famed Wolf Creek Crater, and find themselves in the territory of brutal killer Mick Taylor. He hasn't lost his taste for blood, or his love of playing sick games with tourists.

The sequel definitely changes pace from the original, which was much more realistic and gritty. The first scene of Wolf Creek 2 lets the audience know that they are in for something very different - something a lot more graphic and with a lot more blood and action, and also with a little bit of a sense of humor. The film never really goes completely in one direction or the other in terms of tone, which is both humorous and serious, and there are a few twists in plot that will no doubt keep you interested.

John Jarratt is just plain brilliant - again. I could tell from the poster that they were going to focus
more on Mick's character in Wolf Creek 2, and honestly, that is exactly what I was hoping for. Jarratt's performance was fantastic - being able to have that somewhat lovable, unassuming side of a stereotypical Aussie, hiding the truth that he is a disgusting rapist-murder with no conscience. Almost ten years later, Mick is still that wise-cracking son of a gun whose brutality is now almost unmatched by many other killers. His look is also gladly the same with his sideburns, hat, and plaid shirt, rifle in one hand; knife in the other.

I had a feeling that there would be a more comical, Freddy Krueger-esque persona about Mick in Wolf Creek 2 (that Aussie accent pretty much begs for it) but I was glad to see that that did not take away from how terrifying he is. If anything, it added to it. Here is a man with the entire outback as his playground, where he can and does do whatever he wants to whatever hapless tourists come his way. That's unbelievably terrifying to me, no matter how many jokes he cracks, because that just shows me how much fun he is having doing what he does. McLean emphasizes this point by once again using many wide shots of the landscape, letting us know just how isolated our characters are.

I didn't realize what a hankering I had for some good gore until I watched Wolf Creek 2. During that first scene when a cop's head is blown half off by Mick's rifle, I was downright giddy to find out what else was in store for me. There's a pretty horrific beheading with Mick's second signature weapon - his trusty hunting knife. He also uses a shotgun, whip, and a handsaw in fun ways. One scene that even grossed me out is when Mick is having a little bit too much fun dismembering a body. The special effects are way too good, if you know what I mean. The effects are also wonderful when Paul gets to Mick's underground tunnels of terror, which is full of his past victims in various stages of decay. It also made me very happy that all the effects in the film are done in camera, with the exception of the kangaroos.

Speaking of which, if there is one thing in this film that deserves its own paragraph, it is the
awesomeness of... The Kangaroo Massacre. Holy goddamn, this was the funniest, most unexpected shit I have seen in a long time. During one of the car chases between Mick and Paul, Mick has gotten himself a big rig and uses it to straight up plow through a group of kangaroos as they cross the highway. You guys. I could not breathe, I was laughing so hard, especially with "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" playing in the background. Somehow it works, though, because the scene moves on quickly after that, and you're left just kinda like, "Well, that happened!" More awesome is the conclusion of this car chase, when Paul's car is pushed off a cliff. He survives, and jeers at Mick that he'll have to do better than that to kill him - so Mick sends the whole fucking big rig off the cliff, too. Brilliant.

The film ends with an awesome extreme wide shot of Mick in his home of the outback, which again becomes another character in the movie. Wolf Creek 2 was a long time in the making, and perhaps this was a good thing because McLean and Jarratt were really able to work on the story and do a sequel that is truly worthy of the original. I can't believe I had almost forgotten about Mick Taylor. I've watched the film about three times now, and falling in love with this wonderful villain even more every time.

Movie Review: I Spit on Your Grave 2 (2013)

 

I'm a fan of the original I Spit on Your Grave in the sense that I respect it and the filmmaker for what he was trying to do. I respected it enough to be more than a tad disappointed at the 2010 remake, which was fantastically brutal, but I felt it focused too much on inventive revenge rather than the victim's feelings. Though I didn't really have much interest in I Spit on Your Grave 2, I knew I would eventually watch it because my sick mind loves movies like this. And what did this little sequel hold for me but a big surprise.

Katie is an aspiring model who visits a photography studio one day to have some pictures taken. She immediately leaves after refusing to pose nude, but when one of the men follows her home, things only turn more and more horrific as Katie is kidnapped, and brutally raped and tortured by several men. They bury her alive but Katie miraculously survives, and hashes out a plan to get her bloody vengeance on all those responsible for hurting her.

Again, I'm really surprised at how much I liked this. I thought I knew exactly what I would get with a straight-to-DVD sequel to a remake of a controversial 70s exploitation flick - but I ended up being wrong in some aspects. The sequel definitely cashes in on the gritty reputation of the series, as the rape and revenge scenes are very graphic and disturbing, but somehow the feel of the story is different. I think it was the side story with the priest and the police officer that made everything a bit easier to deal with for me. It was actually wonderful to see, for once, in a rape-revenge movie that not all males are evil - that most of them would be appalled to know of the things that happened to this girl.

Jemma Dallender is absolutely wonderful in the lead role of Katie, a role that is incredibly difficult on several levels. She had to go from being a happy, normal woman, to one going through unthinkable pain and suffering, to one made almost crazy and violent by what she has been through. Her voice, especially when she is screaming, is almost child-like but at the same time so raw with emotion that it hurts to listen to her cry and scream. When she has to go into hardcore killing mode for the revenge, she excels. They also gave Dallender the same basic look that Camille Keaton made famous in the original ISPOYG - with the long, long hair parted down the middle - and I really like that as a nice homage or common thread between all the movies. The title also appears on the screen in way similar to the previous entries and that was nice to see as well.

I do question the character of the police officer in Bulgaria a little bit. He really does fuck-all to help Katie when she first escapes, or at least doesn't seem all that experienced in dealing with rape victims. He says her story is implausible and that she seems to be on drugs, which is why she doesn't want to go to the hospital. Okay, a couple things about that. Has he never heard of the international sex slave trade where women are drugged and taken to other countries? Does he not know that a lot of rape victims refuse medical attention because they don't want to be violated again? I'm not saying that he wasn't sympathetic toward what happened to Katie, it's just that his thoughts did not match his actions.

The violence is disturbing to say the least - at one point I even questioned if they had gone too far. The first rape is a long and graphic scene, and things only get worse from there. Katie is pissed on by one of her rapists after asking for water to drink, she is violently beaten about the face for no reason, and endures several shocks to the body and genitals by a cattle prod. Her kidnappers sell her to a disgusting, fat sadist to do whatever he wants to her for a while, and though you never see what he does to her beyond the cattle prod, it is probably most shocking to see her in the aftermath, lying on the dirty mattress in the fetal position with a huge amount of blood on the insides of her thighs.

This is all so messed up that I was somewhat pissed off that cattle prod asshole did not get the worst of Katie's revenge. Again, she does things to the perpetrators that are similar to what they did to her. The guy who pissed on her gets drowned in some more piss and shit, and that was probably my favorite one because for me, the pissing on her was almost worse than anything else that happened. As weird as that sounds, it just seems absolutely disgusting and the ultimate humiliation - a show of the character's complete lack of respect for others. Cattle prod asshole should have gotten what the leader of the rape pack got in the end - a brutal and uncut scene of his balls getting smashed in a vice. Now, how all this was accomplished by a girl living with nothing in the sewers of a foreign country is hard to believe at times, but if you're worried about that stuff by this point, you're watching the wrong movie.

I absolutely love revenge films and I have to say that I Spit on Your Grave 2 is surprisingly a nice entry into the genre. It is ultra-violent and difficult to watch, like these movies should be, but a wonderful lead actress carries the film well, and the shift in location and circumstances bring something new to the series. It is definitely not one for everyone, though, so watch at your own risk.