Wolf Creek (R, 2005)

Based on "actual events," WOLF CREEK follows the harrowing adventures of 20-somethings Ben (Nathan Phillips), Liz (Cassandra Magrath), and Kristy (Kestie Morassi), who drive for days to reach to Wolf Creek, a meteor crater and hiking area in the Australian Outback. When their car breaks down, Mick (John Jarratt) emerges from the pitch-black night and offers a tow to his garage where he says he can fix their engine. Uneasy, they go along and try not to make fun of their "colorful" host. After an evening spent chatting by a campfire, Liz wakes to find herself tied, gagged, and bloodied in a shed, having been drugged and dragged from her friends. Meanwhile, Mick is torturing Kristy in another building. Now free, Liz finds a collection of snapshots and video footage of Mick's previous victims and realizes he's a demented serial killer. Far from civilization, Liz and Kristy can only run and fall, scream and drive, crash and scream some more.

With a plot predictable by generic definition (it's a slasher movie), Wolf Creek's only context is other movies like it. The victims become monstrous to fight their abductor. The monster plods on, incessant, cruel, ordinary.

Studio: Weinstein Co.
Director: Greg McLean
Cast: Cassandra Magrath, John Jarrat, Kestie Morassi
Genre: Horror
Run time: 95 minutes
Theatrical release: December 25, 2005
DVD release: April 11, 2006
MPAA Rating: R
MPAA explanation: strong gruesome violence, and for language.