Theatrical Review: Wolf Creek 2 (2014)

When we reviewed Wolf Creek (HERE) back in 2008, it had a profound impact on us; it not only opened our eyes to Australian Cinema in general, but it blew us away with its creepy, bleak portrayal of just how stupid it is to go backpacking across a country that is mostly made up of desert. And snakes. And crocodiles. And maniacs who hate foreigners.

Point is, it made us terrified of Australia, and most of its indigenous life.

When we heard that Greg McLean was planning on writing and directing a sequel to his modern day classic, we immediately thought two things:


First we thought "Yes! We get to see John Jarratt in action again!"

Then we thought "Oh no! Sequels to great movies usually suck!"

Having now seen Wolf Creek 2, we can honestly say that it was great seeing John Jarratt back in action as our favorite Aussie maniac, and that this sequel in no way sucked at all.

Wolf Creek 2 opens with two Outback Coppers deciding to pull over a passing truck and mess with the driver, mainly because they're bored. Little do they know that it's Mick Taylor who is driving the truck, and by treating him like a complete asshole, they're basically digging their own graves.

Meanwhile, two German backpackers are partying and hiking their way across Australia, braving the dangers of the Outback because they enjoy walking around a lot. They also camp, so maybe that was the point of their trip? Couldn't they just do that in Germany? Anywho, our boy Mick happens upon their campsite where he proceeds to teach them why he's the deadliest predator in Australia.

Looks like a lot of fun.

Things really get crazy when a British guy comes along, and tries to help one of the Germans escape Mick's deadly wrath. This pisses Mick off even more, because above all other foreigners he hates Pommie Cunts the most. *We're not sure what Pommie means, but we are more than familiar with the dreaded C-word, and so we have to assume it's not nice at all.

"Pommie Cuuuuuunnnnnntttttt!"

We're not going to say anything else about the plot here, because it really is best to let the elements of torture, potential rape, and human captivity unfold naturally, but suffice it to say that when we finally travel do to Australia, we're going to play it safe and just stay in Sydney. Maybe Melbourne. We're just not going to go roaming around all haphazard and shit, because we really want to live.

He's out there, folks. He's out there waiting.

Wolf Creek (2005) is easily one of our favorite flicks of the 00's. For us, it's probably the quintessential Aussie Horror flick, and aside from being a great movie, it made us pay more attention to the current state of Aussie Cinema, which has made us go out of our way to see some really great flicks since (Red Hill, Snowtown, Mystery Road, etc...) There's just something about a good Thriller or Horror flick set in the Outback that makes us really happy, and Wolf Creek is probably responsible for that.

The main reason that both Wolf Creek movies work so well, aside from the beautiful and dangerous locations, and the talent of writer/director Greg McLean, is the performance of John Jarratt; Jarratt's Mick Taylor is one of those characters that can make you laugh and cringe all in the same breath, and that makes him a perfect movie monster. He's the kind of guy that you want to sit and have a beer with, but he's also the last guy that you want to piss off. John Jarratt is a great actor in general, but in these movies, he's damned near perfect.

Location figures heavily into the effectiveness of Wolf Creek 2 as well. At one point, we yelled "Run!" at a character who was trying to get away from Mick, which made us laugh, because where are they supposed to run to? The vast, empty expanse of the Australian Outback is the perfect setting for a movie involving a maniac who likes to toy with and hunt his victims. It's Mick Taylor's playground, and unless he decides to let you live, there really is little chance of you escaping.

That's why these movies are so great.

How great is he?

We're not exactly sure what it is that makes foreigners want to go to Australia and backpack through its most remote areas, because to us, that's just asking for trouble. Roaming maniacs aside, do people realize how dangerous Australia truly is? Crocodiles, Brown Snakes, Taipans, Death Adders, Kraits, Pythons, Funnel Web Spiders, Sharks, Stonefish, Bats, Cassowaries, Paul Hogan... the dangers are endless!

*The chance of anyone dying because of any of these creatures is relatively small, but it could happen! Maybe.

...and if the wildlife don't getcha, he will!

Why has the first Wolf Creek still not seen a Blu-ray release in the U.S.? Would it be so much trouble to port it over to BD, clean it up a little, throw some extras on it, and sell it alongside of Wolf Creek 2, which is hitting Blu-ray on June 24th?

Maybe the Weinstein Company could give up the video rights to Anchor Bay or someone, so that we could actually both movies in the same HD format, because if one is available, both of them should be.

The coolest road-train crash scene ever.

Wolf Creek 2 takes the gore and violence of the first movie, and multiplies it by about 10, maybe even 20. This movie is full of all kinds of great gore gags like exploding heads, knife violence, saw violence, torture, body carving, arson... The body count isn't crazy high, but the viscera is definitely abundant and really well done.

We liked the beheading scene the best. It made us cringe a little.

That's an odd place to hang around. Zing!

 Nope.

Backpacking is for idiots. Also, Australians all think of the British as Pommie Cunts. Also, John Jarratt should be considered an Australian National Treasure. He's just so good at what he does.

Yep, that's the way out!

We enjoyed Wolf Creek 2 as much as we did the first one, and in some ways, maybe even more. This move felt leaner and meaner to us; it didn't spend a ton of time on back story or exposition, rather it got to the nasty business right off, and it didn't let up until the credits rolled. Fast paced, well made, bloody, nasty, and even oddly humorous at times, Wolf Creek 2 is easily one of the best times we've had in a Theater this year.

A

You can rent Wolf Creek 2 right now, or pre-order it on Blu-ray or DVD from Amazon. 

Wolf Creek 2 doesn't offer much in the way of sexiness, but at least the little bit of Shannon Ashlyn that we got made the drab desert surroundings of this movie a bit more tolerable.