Aussie wilderness romp is more "silly" than scary
Didn't I just brag about how much better Aussie horror movies were. And then I had to see this film that is plagued with problems. To the films credit, I watched this kind of late and did not get sleepy. The cast is likeable for the most part and there is some decent gore, even some nudity. You know, all of the typical horror staples. You even have the chick that has a fear she has to overcome ala "The Descent"...but I just kind of found myself laughing at the whole thing. It's just not scary, suspenseful, or intriguing. But it's frustrating because, aside from some production decisions (I would have loved to have been there the day they decided to shoot this film in this manner...:P) it's not a terribly bad film. Time to expound...
This movie starts off with a caveman doing some drawings on the side of cliff. He gets attacked by something just as he's finishing and then we pick up on a carload of students on the road to find this very painting. And as they say, no one has seen it for 250 years...if it's that easily accessible it's hard for me to buy this. It really doesn't take them long to reach it...but anyway. So Anya (played by Zoe Tuckwill-Smith) is on this trip with her maybe future squeeze Warren (Damien Freeleagus), friends Dace (Wil Traval) and Kris (Rebekah Foord), and couple Chad (Lindsay Ferris) and Mel (Krew Boylan). Early on we find that Anya is afraid to go through the cave that will save the group "hours" to go through. Apparently one of her boyfriends locked her in a basement for a week and left her with some claustrophobia. Naturally, this is not going to have anything to do with her overcoming this ailment...but anyway.
So, they find the drawings and Dace gets attacked by a bunny with very large teeth. They don't seem to find this the least bit frightening though and so set up for the night. Mel just can't wait to have sex with Chad, in fact they barely get in their tent. So Mel decides to go skinny-dipping in the water, but Chad is being a prude and tells her to have some respect. Meanwhile, Warren is doing his best to "not sing" with a guitar by the campfire. I"m telling you, this guy was so off-key it made me want to mute the TV. But anyway, Chad starts to walk away and Mel comes out of the water telling him how silly he is being, only to find that she is covered in leeches...yuck! And this is kind of where the "horror" part of this movie begins...as something in water is changing Mel...making her teeth fall out and...is it just me or is she starting to act very "primal".
At this point the movie just gets ridiculous. What is supposed to be horrific, comes across as laughable. Indeed, I chuckled more than once at Mel trying to act all savage. And those quick camera cuts that are supposed to show how fast she has become, just make the whole thing look really ridiculous. I rolled my eyes everytime they used that "effect" to try to make it seem scary. And the ending is very predictable, and some people do some very stupid things in the name of being "macho"...it was really stupid, trust me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Yeah, a lot of people make a lot of dumb mistakes and bad decisions. Like good old Dace, who after Mel starts bleeding from the mouth, acts like he's kind of irritated about having to leave. I've never seen a fever make you start shedding teeth in lieu of fangs...but Dace knows everything already. And Chad, I don't care how in love he is (and it's not conveyed that he is THAT in love), if your girlfriend eats your best friend...it's probably time to say she's a lost cause...
Ok, i've bashed this enough. The cinematography by John Biggins is quite striking. It's only the quick edits and fast forwarding to make Mel seem more aggressive that REALLY don't work. I don't think they meant for me to laugh during those parts. I really liked some of the stars too. Anya is your typical strong girl that has to overcome some fear, but she plays the part pretty well. And Warren is kind of comical and doesn't come across as too much of a jerk for the role he's playing. The sound was standard horror movie fare, and the "shrieking" of Mel just got me everytime...to laugh that is. It was just so ridiculous it couldn't be scary. And the finale is more ridiculous than the whole of the movie.
So, despite some good acting...its all kind of undermined by bad editing choices. I can't be that good to this film, despite some nice gory scenes. It's just too stupid to instill any kind of fear or suspense. And some of it is not even explained well...they throw stuff in and then just kind of abandon it, after making a point to show us...and what is the point of that?
3.5 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment