This is a good-looking, acceptably acted film that goes the "Wolf Creek" route not just in outback-horror theme, but in taking a long time establishing character and slight warning bells before finally bringing the horror. Unfortunately, where that strategy hugely paid off for "Wolf," making the horror content all the stronger, here the long buildup only underlines how weak the payoff is. The "Swagman" nemesis of apparent Australian folk legend whoi bedevils three university field researchers here is treated too literally to pull off the supernatural menace intended, and too abstractly to be credible as a real-world one depicted (we actually see him gutting people, etc.).
All the urgency, tension, panic and so forth that should explode in the second half instead turn out to be things this director doesn't do well. The movie just kind of slowly falls apart when it should grip us ever tighter. I get the feeling that the filmmaker was attracted to using this flat, marshy outback territory as a sort of "Blair Witch" labyrinth in which people get lost-absorbed into a hostile landscape, so to speak. But the more blatant genre aspects he had to incorporate to get funding (meaning the Swagman hook itself) aren't things he has much feel for, or probably even wanted to do.
So you've got a horror movie in which all the things that should be supportive atmosphere (primarily the often-impressive widescreen cinematography, plus a pretty good score) are decent, but the horror that should be the focus becomes increasingly lame and convictionless. It's a movie that gets less scary as it goes on, yet the audiovisual elements remain just interesting enough in a semi-arty way that the silliness doesn't translate into "so bad it's good" fun. So, the whole thing is a bit of a wash--one that suggests talent, perhaps, but not for this kind of film.
All the urgency, tension, panic and so forth that should explode in the second half instead turn out to be things this director doesn't do well. The movie just kind of slowly falls apart when it should grip us ever tighter. I get the feeling that the filmmaker was attracted to using this flat, marshy outback territory as a sort of "Blair Witch" labyrinth in which people get lost-absorbed into a hostile landscape, so to speak. But the more blatant genre aspects he had to incorporate to get funding (meaning the Swagman hook itself) aren't things he has much feel for, or probably even wanted to do.
So you've got a horror movie in which all the things that should be supportive atmosphere (primarily the often-impressive widescreen cinematography, plus a pretty good score) are decent, but the horror that should be the focus becomes increasingly lame and convictionless. It's a movie that gets less scary as it goes on, yet the audiovisual elements remain just interesting enough in a semi-arty way that the silliness doesn't translate into "so bad it's good" fun. So, the whole thing is a bit of a wash--one that suggests talent, perhaps, but not for this kind of film.