wolf creek Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Man oh man do I love a good Killer Croc flick. Problem is ... there's maybe one true "classic" of the sub-genre (that'd be Lewis Teague's and John Sayles' Alligator, of course), and the rest of 'em are pretty much floating crap. Over the past year or so we've seen a bit of a resurgence in the category: Lake Placid 2 is mindless stupidity; Stewart Raffill's Croc is slightly better than that; that Primeval one is a passable enough time-waster; and the indie Aussie import Black Water is actually quite good, although more of a slow-burn nature thriller than a chomp-'em-up horror flick -- but what of Rogue?

Yes, Rogue. Ring any bells? Sophomore effort from Wolf Creek director Greg Mclean, Rogue looks to be a standard enough Killer Croc flick that stars Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell and Sam Worthington. The fact that the flick has been sitting on a shelf over at Weinstein Co. for over a year might seem like a red flag, but that's why the world needs horror geeks like me: So I can tell you that early reaction to the flick has been surprisingly positive! The flick came out in Australia last November, and while it didn't do a whole lot of business, I've been hearing rumblings from my horror colleagues that the movie's quite good!

Word has it this morning that Wonder Woman has finally -- thank the friggin' Lord, I tell ya! -- been cast in the upcoming live-action Justice League of America. Moviehole reports (via the director of one of the gal's most recent flicks) that Teresa Palmer has, in fact, landed the role. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say the director Moviehole spoke with was Ron Hardy, who worked with Palmer on December Boys. Since that was an Aussie pic, and Clint from Moviehole is an Aussie, I'd imagine he's pretty close to the production. But I could be wrong, and if I am, Clint will send us an email.

Anyway, this looks to be a bit stronger than any other rumor -- Clint has already updated the post telling us an Aussie newspaper is running the rumor today, and the entire online community is buzzing. Could we finally have our first official (damn you Biel!) Justice League cast member? Palmer is an up-and-comer; she got her start in Wolf Creek as a background actress, before going to do films like The Grudge 2, December Boys and the upcoming Kids in America. She's Australian, which automatically makes her sexy enough for this role in my book, and she's 21-years-old. Nothing is set in stone yet, but you might as well start debating -- is Teresa Palmer a good fit for Wonder Woman?

If there's one thing the media really loves to do, it's lump a bunch of barely-connected people into an ill-fitting group -- and then give that group a clever name. Whether it's The Rat Pack, The Brat Pack or The Splat Pack, I just get irked whenever a new "pack" makes it into the cultural lexicon. Oh, you're not familiar with that last one? Yeah, it's a moniker that's been given to a bunch of "new" horror filmmakers, one that seems to imply that these guys get together every weekend to smoke weed and watch Halloween 2 together.

According to a recent article in Time Magazine, one that seems to approach horror flicks the same way a prissy schoolmarm would approach some inappropriate comic books, the members of "The Splat Pack" are Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel), Neil Marshall (Dog Soldiers, The Descent), Alex Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes), Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses, The Devil's Rejects), and James Wan, Leigh Whannell and Darren Lynn Bousman of the Saw trilogy. (Apparently Wolf Creek director Greg McLean was part of the original pack, although he goes unmentioned in the Time article, probably because he hasn't made much money yet.)

But what do these guys have in common, really, other than the fact that they all make horror flicks? I see Americans, Brits, Aussies and a Frenchman in the mix, and while some of the guys are fresh-faced and 20-something, guys like Roth have been toiling away in backstage anonymity for years. Plus, c'mon, Rob Zombie is 42 years old, so how exactly does he tie in with these kids? And why is it that Neil Marshall never seems to be quoted in these articles? Is he just included because his horror movies are ... GOOD? Apparently the Splat Pack label was created by Alan Jones of Total Film, and I'm sure the guy's an absolute expert on horror flicks -- but labels create limits, exclusions and oversights. And, ultimately, articles like this one, I suppose. (Either way, I bet Jones bangs out a book called The Splat Pack by the end of 2008.)

The UK's Christopher Smith (Creep, Severance) is young and horror-heavy, so why isn't he a member of The Pack? Shouldn't (Dawn of the Dead screenwriter, Slither director) James Gunn be one of the den mothers? Lucky McKee has made only two feature films (May and The Woods), but they're both downright excellent pieces of horror. Why's he not a member? Uwe Boll's done a bunch of horror flicks that could be accurately described as " laden with torture," so why not throw him an invitation? You want a guy who loves the word splat? Try Jake West, the guy who directed Evil Aliens. Plus I read another article a while back in which Jonathan Liebesman (Darkness Falls, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning) was considered a member of The SP! Now, if that guy can be considered some sort of "future of horror," I'll eat my hat.

The common themes among the Splat Packers are ... what? They all like horror movies, they don't shy away from intense chills, harsh themes or copious gore, and they're all carbon-based life forms, I guess. But really: Does anyone out there think the work of Eli Roth is even remotely similar to that of Neil Marshall? Does a Rob Zombie flick remind you of what was seen in, say, High Tension? I mean, if you're going to define a term, then define it. And as a big fan of just about all these movies, I just gotta scratch my head when I hear these guys lumped together in one basket.

And what happens when guys like Ryan Schifrin (Abominable), Adam Green (Hatchet), J.T. Petty (S&Man) Scott Glosserman (Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon), Jon Levine (All the Boys Love Mandy Lane) and Adam Mason (Broken) start to make their way up the ranks? Will we have the arrival of Splat Pack 2: The New Generation? Back in the late '70s/early '80s, did we need a goofy little heading to remember names like Carpenter, Hooper, Craven, Dante, Landis and Cunningham?

Ultimately, I have no real point. I'd just seen the phrase "Splat Pack" one too many times and felt the need to vent. Opposing viewpoints are welcome, as long as they agree with my own opinions.

A few days ago, Slither-maker James Gunn mentioned on his MySpace page that his adorably splattery sci-fi horror rom-com was the receipient of four Fangoria Chainsaw Award nominations. My response was "Hey, cool. Where are the rest of the nominations?!?!?" And now, a few days later, here they are. Neat-o.

Although Fangoria has been doing their annual Chainsaw awards for over a decade now, 2006 marks the very first time the event will be televised, much to the delight of zombie freaks and slasher geeks all over North America. The event will be held in L.A. on October 15th, although the Fuse Network won't be airing it until the 22nd. (Which means if you want to watch the event "un-spoiled," I wish you luck.) Want to throw your own votes into the tally? Fine. You can vote right here, but only between September 1st and 13th (which is a Friday, mwaahaaa!)

After the jump you'll find a complete list of all the 2006 Chainsaw nominees, plus my own predictions on which flicks would win if the event were called Amazing Geek Weinberg's Horror Awards instead of The Chainsaws.

• Christa McAuliffe: Reach For The Stars - Massachusetts native Christa McAuliffe has become quite inseparable from the image of the ghastly tendrils of smoke hanging over the Florida sky after the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded in January 1986, but she's also remembered as a schoolteacher who never stopped teaching. It is this second image on which first-time filmmakers Renée Sotile and Mary Jo Godges focus, going beyond blindly reverent fluff and digging into the humanity that made the loss of McAuliffe and the subsequent grounding of the Shuttle so much of a tragedy. With a warm, comforting narration by Susan Sarandon and a note-perfect song track by Carly Simon (whose tapes McAuliffe brought aboard Challenger), the film captures the spirit of exploration and discovery through McAuliffe's example, and not by just stating she was a shining star we should all try hard to emulate.
 

 

Moira Macdonald of The Seattle Times walked out of Wolf Creek but reviewed it anyway, in the form of an editorial explaining why it was not worth reviewing. Roger Ebert dusted off his zero-star review, denouncing the film as something that he could not sit through "without dismay." Other critics have responded similarly. Ok, fine. But my question is this: why does it cause less dismay for these critics to sit through comedies like the Friday the 13th and Scream films, which make sight gags of slashed-up bodies, heads crushed like walnuts and popped-out eyeballs? Consider this tidbit from Ebert's review of a recent Michael Myers film: "There is a scene in the movie where a kid drops a corkscrew down a garbage disposal.....I am thinking, if this kid doesn't lose his hand, I want my money back." No dismay there. The key stylistic change between that film and Wolf Creek is that in Wolf Creek, death is not played for laughs. The characters are not glaring stereotypes, and the audience is primed to take their potential torture and death seriously. The director wants you to be legitimately scared or to cry, as some people around me in the theater were doing, when the carnage begins. So, why is that no longer a legitimate aim of horror cinema? Why is writer/director Greg McLean being castigated for doing his job effectively?

Round two, special for those of you whose family holiday traditions involve movie-going. To sum up: Rumor Has It... is awful, Wolf Creek is gruesome, Casanova is fluff, and The New World is murky. Details follow.

• Rumor Has It...: Rob Reiner directing a semi-sequel to The Graduate sounded so promising. It's too bad the movie is just not very good.  Most critics are disappointed, not only by the movie itself but also by the decline of Reiner, who has gone from genius to guy who directs bad romances (he is, after all, to blame for The Story of Us) in a depressingly short time. If you want to read a review that's at least sympathetic, check out our friend Roger Ebert's take - he thought it was "watchable." Is that a good thing?

• Wolf Creek: Remember the various reactions we covered a while back involving Roger Ebert's review of Chaos? Well, as soon as I read the essay of a critic who had walked out of a Wolf Creek screening, I immediately went over to see what Ebert had to say - and yep, he was equally disgusted. Though internet-based horror junkies are predictably wild about the movie, mainstream critics, for the most part, are repelled by its sadism and pointless violence.

• The New World: So, critical reactions to a Terrence Malick movie are split! Who could have guessed? Though the guy only puts out a movie every eight years are so, no one is ever sure what to make of them - and reactions to The New World are no exception. Either Colin Farrell is "stiff and uncomfortable" or he's "very good." The film is either "an incandescent brume of wonder, dread and awe" or "As an epic...monumentally slight." You get the idea. While it's impossible to summarize the incredibly broad range of opinions on the film, it's probably safe to say that if you're looking for a)a hot Colin Farrell romance, or b)a history lesson, you should go elsewhere.

• Casanova: It's never a good sign when a review's first non-Gay Cowboy-related line describes a movie as "utterly trivial." And, sadly for Lasse Hallström and the rest of the crew behind Casanova, that reviewer isn't alone in his sentiments. With the lonely exception of A. O. Scott of the New York Times, no one is very impressed by the movie, unless it's by a supporting figure (like Jeremy Irons, say, or the magnificent Oliver Platt).