Shudder Saturday: Shiver (2012)

Some people really seem to spend a lot of their time squandering a lot of goodwill. I understand that people in the film industry don't always have the luxury of ensuring the quality of the work that they're involved with, but it would help if they at least did their part. There are some people here who feel as if they're going through the motions, and unable to even do that minimum amount of work well. I would name and shame them, but I worry that I'm misjudging people based on the poor writing and direction.

John Jarratt plays Franklin Rood, a talkative serial killer who targets women and believes that he is always poised to save them. When his latest victim (Wendy Alden, played by Danielle Harris) finds the courage to fight back, he actually feels quite pleased with himself. Wendy may have needed him to make her into the strong woman hidden away inside herself. He's probably still going to have to kill her though, especially while a couple of detectives (played by Casper Van Dien and Rae Dawn Chong) are closing in on him.

Based on a novel of the same name by Brian Harper, Shiver has been adapted from page to screen by Robert D. Weinbach. I'm not familiar with anything else that Weinbach has written, but I'm not surprised to see that he doesn't have a large filmography. There are a couple of upcoming projects that he is penning. I won't be rushing to see those.

Neither Harris nor Jarratt are at their best here, far from it, but I can see why they were picked for their respective roles. It's just a shame that they were then given nothing good to do by the clumsy and tired screenplay. The same goes for Van Dien and Chong. Neither may be at the top of the acting game, especially the former (who is, however, lovely, and I'll always have a soft spot for him due to the time he would happily answer various questions on the IMDb message boards that used to exist), but both are still usually a lot better than they are here. A few others appear in supporting roles, but the focus is on these four characters, even if they're just moving around in between scenes that contain either horrible violence or horrible (for different reasons) speechifying.

I like director Julian Richards, despite his filmography not giving me many reasons to. It may have been over 20 years now since he helmed the dark and enjoyable The Last Horror Movie, but I'll always hope that he can find his way back to something that inventive and twisted. This certainly doesn't come close, and I can only imagine it being enjoyed by the most easily-pleased horror movie fan looking for another chance to watch Harris battling against a fictional psychopath.

3/10

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Shudder Saturday: Boar (2017)

What is it about killer pig movies? Why do people keep trying to make them when most of them end up not being very good? I've sat through Pig Hunt, Prey (the best of the bunch), and now this. Okay, I have yet to see the celebrated Razorback, an oversight on my part, but it's not often that I get excited when I hear someone is releasing a new killer pig/boar movie. I decided to give Boar a chance nonetheless, and started to regret it within the first half hour.

I could describe the plot here, trying to add some details that might make you think there are characters and events to care about, but that would be making this into something it isn't. There ARE characters and events here, they're just not worth caring about. Seriously, not one. Okay, maybe one, or even two (I'll mention them soon), but they're not even the main characters that we're supposed to care about during the grand finale. This is a monster movie, pure and simple. It's about a huge beastie with a huge snout that likes to maul puny humans. And it occasionally delivers some decent gore.

Writer-director Chris Sun is trying to make something here that sits more in line with films like Tremors (the benchmark for monster movies that have a great seam of comedy running through them) and Lake Placid and that could be admirable. The fact that it is so far removed from those films, so poorly mishandled, instead makes it something that many viewers may end up resenting. There's no tension here, that dissipates quickly enough when you realise that the part of the movie that Sun thinks can provide most amusement is the "stunt" casting of people like Bill Moseley, John Jarratt, and Roger Ward.

Thankfully, that casting provides one or two pleasures. Nobody else really makes much of an impression (I wouldn't be able to point out Hugh Sheridan, Steve Bisley, Simone Buchanan, Christie-Lee Britten, Madeleine Kennedy, or any of the others, from a line-up right now) but Nathan Jones does okay in his role, and the aforementioned genre stars are at least given some moments to shine as the film hops from one redundant scene to the next. Jarratt and Ward are the real highlights, with the latter giving a particularly wonderful performance that makes you wish the film was good enough to deserve it.

There's nothing more that I can really talk about here. Boar is, in a horrible irony, often quite a bore. Those decent moments of gore aren't enough to make up for the rest of the film, which is too concerned with trying to make things quirky and comedic, to the detriment of what the film could have been, which is a creature feature with an impressive creation at the centre of things (the practical FX work here is another plus point). It still has scenes that work in that regard, but they're stuck between a multitude of scenes that don't ever manage to get the tone right.

4/10

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Wolf Creek 2 (2013)

John Jarratt returns to the role of deadly Mick Taylor in this enjoyable sequel to Wolf Creek, but fans of the first movie should be warned ahead of time that this is quite a different beast, in some ways. The subtlety and slow burn of the first movie are gone, replaced with some grand guignol and entertaining outrageousness.

There's very little plot to speak of. Taylor is driving through the outback, looking for the opportunity to have his own particular brand of fun whenever he spots potential victims. He kills some people, and then finds things a bit more challenging when he sets his sights on a young man (Paul, played by Ryan Orr) who finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Once again written and directed by Greg Mclean (with Aaron Sterns joining in as co-writer this time), it's made clear from the opening scenes that viewers are in for a very different ride. Wolf Creek was interested in the victims, and the growing horror of realising just how alone and vulnerable people can be while travelling in any foreign land, whereas the sequel is all about Mick. He's not necessarily turned into a figure of fun, but he's certainly always entertaining while he goes about his nastiness.

Jarratt is great, as anyone would expect after seeing his performance in the first movie, and Ryan Orr is likable enough as the potential victim. There are other people who come in and out of the movie, but the main thrust of the film centres on Jarratt and Orr, and it works because of the way in which the two different personalities seem to spend so much time toying with one another.

Some people have preferred this to the first movie, and it's easy to see why. It's not as slow, there's plenty of blood 'n' guts on display, and it's just a more fun experience, overall. However, I felt punched in the gut a few times while watching Wolf Creek, and that's something I'll always give it extra credit for. This sequel may be more in line with full-on slasher movies, making it easier to be entertained by, but that means that it feels more generic and "safe" than the first movie. Which is a shame.

This is certainly worth your time, and I'd be lying if I said that I wouldn't look forward to a third trip to the creek.

7/10

http://www.amazon.com/Wolf-Creek-DVD-Combo-Blu-ray/dp/B00J0IQISG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405644168&sr=8-2&keywords=wolf+creek+2

Wolf Creek (2005)

Based on true events. It's a line that has been used to market movies for a long time now, and it's hardly ever accurate. Wolf Creek is based on a couple of famous murder cases, but it could just as easily be a complete work of fiction. At least this horror movie doesn't make the same mistake that so many other "based on true events" horror movies make. It remembers to actually deliver some real horror.

Nathan Phillips, Kestie Morassi and Cassandra Magrath play, respectively, Ben, Kristy and Liz, three youngsters who head off on a long road trip to see some of the sights that Australia has to offer. Ben is a born and bred Australian, while Kristy and Liz are both from Britain. They all, however, end up as potential victims when they have car trouble in the middle of nowhere. That's when Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) turns up. He seems like a very helpful man. Of course, appearances can be deceptive.

Written and directed by Greg Mclean, showing no signs that this is his first feature, Wolf Creek is an intense horror that isn't easily forgotten once the end credits have rolled. It takes its time, allowing viewers to get to know, and warm to, Ben, Kristy and Liz in the first half of the movie before then dragging them through a hellish ordeal. Some people may find their patience stretched a bit too thin, but the second half certainly provides a big pay-off. Rewatching it today made me wince and cringe all over again, just as I did when I saw it for the first time.

Phillips is a ball of energy as Ben, but Morassi and Magrath don't slouch alongside him. All three of the young travellers feel like real people, imperfect and not quite as prepared for their adventuring as they could be. And then there's Jarratt, giving horror fans a new horror villain, with a performance equal parts entertaining and terrifying. Mick Taylor is not an unstoppable boogeyman. On the contrary, he just happens to be someone who is very good at his awful hobby, especially when compared to his prey, who are unwary and unable to get their bearings in the countryside sprawling all around them. He may not be a new horror icon, but he comes pretty close, and Jarratt is undoubtedly the star of the show.

Not one for the faint-hearted, Wolf Creek is a nerve-shredding experience that doesn't have to throw blood and guts all over the screen to get a reaction. There IS some of the red stuff flowing, don't get me wrong, but viewers will tend to react most strongly to the relatively bloodless, yet no less visceral, moments.

There are a couple of flaws, mainly with the structuring of the second half and the less plausible moments that take it into proper slasher territory, yet they're not enough to drag it down too far. This remains a superior modern horror, and I'm sure that it has put more than a few people off the idea of a backpacking holiday.

8/10

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