Wolf Creek 2 - John Jarratt

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

directed by Greg Mclean
Australia 2013

"Welcome to Australia, cocksucker!" Pig-shooter and "outback legend" Mick Taylor (John Jarratt, PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK is back on the hunt for "foreign vermin" in WOLF CREEK 2. With the element of discovery dispelled with the first film, WOLF CREEK 2 is not so much a slasher/"torture porn" take on true crime as an "adventures of Mick Taylor" with a string of victims attempting to evade him in the outback and sure to die horribly; a placeholder sequel that takes some quirky turns but does not really advance its concept. If most of the would-be victims are shallowly-developed, the film takes care never to let us forget that Mick is a bigoted, xenophobic, racist rapist and cannibal whose pride in Australia does not extend to its wildlife (he happily mows down kangaroos to the tune of "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"), the landscape, or any of his fellow countrymen when they interfere with his hunting. Here we have German tourists Katarina (Shannon Ashlyn) and Rutger (Philippe Klaus) touring the Wolf Creek Crater, violating the "no camping on a national park" rule in ignorance and compounding the offense by refusing Mick's offer of a lift to town. This leads to the inevitable brutality and splashy, unflinching gore that sends Katarina fleeing into the outback and dragging British tourist Paul (Ryan Corr, NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN) into a nightmarish chase. The ill-fated Klaus asked what has happened to altruism when no one will pick them up in the middle of nowhere, and Mick intends to teach Paul the consequences of violating the "first rule of the outback: never stop" and to make him pay for "getting between a man and his meal". Picturesque wanderings dappled with explosions of gore in the first half give way to an intense and quirky third act that unfortunately falls back on some uninspired stalking through the tunnels of Mick's underground charnel house and a flat ending. WOLF CREEK 2 is ultimately not a bad watch but viewers will likely find it wanting in retrospect.

Eric Cotenas

Theatrical Release: 17 April 2014 (USA)

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DVD Review: Entertainment One - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for the Review!

DVD Box Cover		CLICK to order from:
Distribution	Entertainment One Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:41:45 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	2.35:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 5.3 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate
Audio	English/German Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles	English for German subtitles (burnt-in), English SDH, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Entertainment One Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.35:1 Edition Details: • Making WOLF CREEK 2 (16:9; 50:59) • Deleted Scenes (16:9; 24:50) • Start-up trailers for '3 Days to Kill', 'A Walk Among the Tombstones', 'A Most Wanted Man', and 'Afflicted' DVD Release Date: September 15th, 2014 Amaray Chapters 16

Comments

Shot with the Arri Alexa in 2.8K and finished in 2K, WOLF CREEK 2 is attractively presented on Entertainment One's midrange bitrate dual-layer anamorphic DVD (a Blu-ray is also available) with impressive close-ups and good detail in medium and long shots of the outback (as well as well-exposed night shots). The Dolby Digital 5.1 track is full-bodied with plenty of environmental sound effects in the surround and is generally busy during the action scenes (especially those further accompanied by music, including The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight"). The first forty-odd minutes follow a German couple and their dialogue is translated by burnt-in yellow subtitles, but there are also SDH subtitles for all of the English dialogue and sound effects (as well as song lyrics). The disc features the uncut version with both the feature and the extras have been passed without cuts (the film has been released in Restricted 18+ and Mature Accompanied 15+ versions in Australia and only in its unrated cut as combo release stateside)

Extras include a fifty-minute documentary and over twenty minutes of deleted scenes (two self-contained scenes while the others are extensions). The deleted scenes occur in the first act of the film with extended scenes at the hostel in the opening, extensions of the campsite scene with the German characters, and some touristy bits wisely deleted. Paul also gets an extended introduction. The only additional gore is some shots during the gutting scene in which the sequence of shots was altered and there are some grislier lingering shots (as well as some variations in the ad-libbed dialogue of actor John Jarratt). There is no trailer for the film but there are four start-up trailers.

- Eric Cotenas

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