Young Maeve Dermody is holidaying with her newly pregnant sister Diana Glenn and brother-in-law Andy Rodoreda in the Northern Territory when they decide to go on a boat trip with guide Ben Oxenbould. A nasty croc overturns the boat, kills the guide, and forces our three panicked protagonists to seek refuge up in the trees while they think of their next course of action. But they better think fast, because ‘ol bitey bitey ain’t going away and is getting mighty hungry!
This tense Aussie killer croc film from debutant writer-directors Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich goes to show, like ‘Wolf Creek’ and the superficially similar ‘Rogue’ (both directed by the talented Greg McLean) that Aussie genre films are indeed possible, and good ones at that. And yet, how many of them are we getting? Scant few. Well, that’s the Australian Film Industry for you. Anyway, even without ‘Rogue’ comparisons, this isn’t about to win any awards for originality (though that is kind of unavoidable, really), but this one scores big-time with the tension, and scenery that for once isn’t just used as a backdrop (a lot of the film has our main characters pretty much left stranded in the trees, deciding on their next move).
The larger budget ‘Rogue’ was well-made and well-shot, but this one’s more effectively shot and more affecting overall, and made on a much smaller. I can’t believe I’m praising an HD-filmed movie for being so effectively shot, but there you go. This is the exception to the rule. The first real shot of the croc is genuinely unnerving, despite Glenn’s occasional acting histrionics. Meanwhile, Dermody’s the scene-stealer in the cast, and went on to some acclaim in the Aussie flick ‘Beautiful Kate’. Her slightly whiny, not very useful character could’ve been a little annoying in someone else’s hands.
There is occasional CGI used (though we don’t see the croc in motion too much, wisely), but these guys are smart enough to have also captured some real-life footage of saltwater crocs, and unlike ‘Rogue’ (where the water had a cinematic green tint- pretty as it was, but artificial) the film is aptly titled, the water being dirty, dark, and perfect for a pretty scary film. Best of all is the use of sound and visuals together, what we hear (and therefore don’t see) is just as unnerving as what we see, with revolting chomping sounds as the croc feeds on a dead body whilst a storm also rages in the background, intermittently lighting up the pitch darkness with lightning. It’s terrifically scary stuff, keeping me on edge more than a few times.
Aside from not agreeing with the course of action ultimately taken by the characters (I would’ve stayed in the trees!), and some uneven acting from Glenn (who is best known for the excellent Aussie brothel drama series ‘Satisfaction’), the only other flaw I can really see with this is that the music score by Rafael May is a little insistent and bombastic for my tastes. Otherwise this is simple, but very, very effective for what it is; a B-budgeted creature feature from a country that hasn’t made very many in recent years Some of the boo! Moments nearly made me soil my pants, and I’d have probably died if I saw this direct-to-DVD film in cinemas.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Not to be missed by fans of this subgenre, and certainly prospective Aussie filmmakers and Aussie audiences (and those financing our films for that matter) need to see this and champion it, even belatedly. It can be done, we just need to see it done a lot more often!
