Tagline: The thrill is in the hunt.
Wolf Creek movie storyline. It was supposed to be the vacation of a lifetime in the Australian Outback – full of fun, sun and adventure. But what happened to a trio of twenty-something backpackers took a wrenching detour into the depths of unrelenting terror. Based on true events, “Wolf Creek” is the haunting story of their unthinkable ordeal – a mounting white-knuckle nightmare so real it was destined to become horror legend.
“Wolf Creek” is a startlingly intense motion picture experience of rapidly escalating dread and suspense. At the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, the film – written and directed by Melbourne’s Greg McLean – was acclaimed as a daring, original blend of visually hypnotic thriller with unbearably scary movie.
The chillingly believable events begin as freewheeling, college-aged pals Liz, Kristy and Ben head out for a holiday hike in stunning Wolf Creek National Park to see its mysterious meteor crater. When they return, their car won’t start. Trapped in the vast emptiness of th! e wilderness – all they can do is wait for rescue. Luckily, as night falls, along comes colorful local bushman Mick and his massive truck, offering a tow to safety. But as the sun comes up the next morning, it becomes shockingly apparent that Mick has no intention of fixing their car or letting them leave the Outback… ever again. As Liz, Kristy and Ben search for any conceivable way out, “Wolf Creek” plunges towards an unforgettable climax.
Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morrasi) are twenty-something British backpackers in Broome, Western Australia, on a road trip with their Australian friend, Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips). For them it’s a time to cut loose, reconnect, and rediscover life, friendship, perhaps newfound love, and the countryside’s astonishing visual beauty.
Their journey begins full of energy, jokes, and a little urban myth-swapping about UFO sightings. These playful tales told one evening at a camping spot by Ben rightly spook Liz and Kristy, however, the worry they experience pales in comparison to the impending terror which shreds their definition of fear shortly after reaching the ‘Wolf Creek’ National Park, a meteor impact site which is the attraction of many road-tripping tourists.
The trio spends a day at the site, its massive size a picture perfect setting for silence and rumination – a calm before the storm; the handsome Ben even finds it an opportune time to make his move on Liz, who is more than receptive to his kiss. Ready to leave at dusk, they find their watches stopped, a peculiarity compounded by the fact that their car is not working either.
As they relinquish themselves to spending the night within the vehicle’s cramped confines, Liz spots some lights traveling toward them. The intimidating growl of an approaching truck dismisses the thought of a UFO encounter. Enter Mick Taylor (John Jarrati), an affable brute of a man equipped with a warm grin, infectious laugh, and the means to tow the broken down vehicle back to his camp where he promises to get it up and running.
Wolf Creek is a 2005 Australian horror film written, co-produced, and directed by Greg McLean, and starring John Jarratt. The story revolves around three backpackers who find themselves taken captive and after a brief escape, hunted down by Mick Taylor in the Australian outback. The film was ambiguously marketed as being “based on true events”; the plot bore elements reminiscent of the real-life murders of tourists by Ivan Milat in the 1990s and Bradley Murdoch in 2001.
Wolf Creek premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2005,[6] and premiered in Australia in March 2005 in Adelaide. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival the following May, and was released in cinemas across Ireland and the United Kingdom in September 2005. In its home country of Australia, the film received a general release in November 2005, apart from the Northern Territory, out of respect for the trial surrounding the murder of Peter Falconio. The film was purchased for distribution by Dimension Films in the United States, where it was released on Christmas day 2005.
Wolf Creek (2005)
Directed by: Greg McLean
Starring: John Jarrett, Cassandra Magrath, John Jarratt, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips, Guy O’Donnell, Gordon Poole, Andy McPhee, Aaron Sterns, Isabella Reimer
Screenplay by: Greg McLean
Production Design by: Robert Webb
Cinematography by: Will Gibson
Film Editing by: Jason Ballantine
Costume Design by: Nicola Dunn
Music by: François Tétaz
MPAA Rating: R for language, and for strong gruesome violence
Distributed by: The Weinstein Company
Release Date: December 25, 2005
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