As I assert in the New American Revolution, all is not lost for our generation. Consider this column by Moira Macdonald, the movie reviewer for the Seattle Times. her assessment of the horrific film “Wolf Creek” is based in moral honesty. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a repudiation by a film critic based in simple common decency. I don’t think taking that sort of stand is popular in her industry, but she should know it’s popular with us regular people.
Via the Seattle Times:
…As I sat in the theater, barely able to look at the screen, I thought of how someone’s real death inspired this “entertainment” — opening in theaters, ironically, on a holiday that traditionally reflects joy and goodwill. And I realized that, unlike the characters, I did have a means of escape. To stay, I would have had to become numb: to look away, to remind myself repeatedly that this wasn’t real, to remove myself from the experience entirely. And that’s not how I ever want to approach a movie.
When I first saw the commercial for this sadistic slab of celluloid and heard the tag line “Opening CHRISTMAS DAY”, all I could think was, “what a great place for the FBI to round up the serial killers and sickos of the world.” I mean, who else would be standing in line on the day of of SAVIOUR’s birth to watch other human beings be hunted and tortured? I almost wanted to do a drive-by of a theatre showing the film just to see the sadists on the parade with a morbid sort of sideshow curiosity.
I hope this doesn’t sound glib (I certainly don’t mean it to!), but if more movie reviewers took the same action she did, and wrote about it the same way, perhaps we’d have fewer movies like this one.
One can at least hope, can’t one?
Forgive me for muddying the waters, especially since I haven’t seen (and probably won’t see) this movie. But in this era where everyone is offended by everything, I always take a moment to try to tune in on the greater “buzz”, just to see how far the opinions diverge. Ultimately the only evaluation that matters is my own, and I’m perfectly happy to stand alone in my own testimony to the truth if it comes down to that, but it’s fair to wonder what others are reporting. And a great place to get the quick capsule reviews (without giving away too much about the plot!) is at the Metacritic site:
http://www.metacritic.com/film/titles/wolfcreek
Hmmmm, it’s interesting how the evaluations range from 0 to 100, suggesting (as one reviewer commented) that this movie will be appreciated by fans of the genre and disliked by others.
Actually, the foregoing wasn’t what I really wanted to say; I think the thing that got my writing this was the original comment, quoted by Tammy, to the effect that the movie was fundamentally repulsive because it had been inspired by someone’s real death under unpleasant circumstances. Yes, it’s very disturbing to think that our entertainment is based upon a terrible human sacrifice, isn’t it? But isn’t this done all the time? For example, the serial killer being chased in “Silence of the Lambs” seems to be based upon Ed Gein, with a bit of Ted Bundy’s methodology thrown in. And Gein also was a model for Norman Bates of Psycho fame. If you start looking into it, you’ll find that everything is based upon something. So the gripe with this movie wouldn’t be based upon the objective evaluation that it’s inspired by real death; instead we’re making the more subjective evaluation that the resulting entertainment is exploitation lacking any socially redeeming value. And this moves us into squishy territory where I’ll argue with you no matter what your position is, and I’ll argue with myself as well. On one hand, there’s some truth in the observation that one man’s literature is another man’s pornography; on the other hand, some stuff is simply trash and that’s all there is to it. This film is probably trash, but I’d hold out the possibility that it may be more than trash.
I guess this is all a long-winded way of saying: Maybe, maybe not. Ummm, I dunno.
I have always been a horror film fan, much preferring the classic UNIVERSAL films to the slasher genre, but I TOTALLY get it that there will always be an audience for the grindhouse gore films that became popular in the early 70’s. The original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE is a classic of the genre that also spawned MARK OF THE DEVIL and LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT…the kind of films where free vomit bags were distributed to patrons or who’s makers encouraged the audience to repeat “It’s only a movie” to keep from fainting. This sort of bloodlust exploitation cinema and the “how much can you stand?” carnival-esque approach to advertising them will ALWAYS exist and I really have no problem with that, as these extreme films usually appeal to a very limited audience
What bothers me with WOLFS CREEK is the CHRISTMAS DAY opening. YUCK!!! It’s just soooo anti-festive…anti-holiday of any sort. I just can’t imagine the psyche of anyone who would choose to spend their CHRISTMAS day watching this. Even the GRINCH would steer clear and wait a few days if he really wanted to see it!
I am a big horror film fan. I prefer horror movies with plots (Saw) over plot less slasher films (Friday the 13th). I am not at all offended by this movie. I think we all get offended to easily. I loved the movie Saving Private Ryan, it was based on a true incident where lots of American lives were lost. I am also not offended by the opening day being on Christmas, apparently they did some research and figured it would have good sales on that day. A lot of college kids are home for break, with nothing to do, they are more than likely the target audience.
What revolts me about movies like this is the prurient aestheticizing of cruelty.
Ebert slammed this film too (Gave it “zero” stars) and noted:
“I know, I know, my job as a critic is to praise the director for showing low budget filmmaking skills and creating a tense atmosphere and evoking emptiness and menace in the outback, blah, blah. But in telling a story like this, the better he is, the worse the experience. Perhaps his job as a director is to make a movie I can sit through without dismay. To laugh through the movie, as midnight audiences are sometimes invited to do, is to suggest you are dehumanized, unevolved or a slackwit. To read blase speculation about the movie’s effect on tourism makes me want to scream like Jerry Lewis: Wake up, lady!”