I can't understand the hype this film received when released. Its just a very average, typical, cliched horror film. Fairly enjoyable but nothing original or exceptional about it.
In its favour, I liked the Australian outback, made a nice replacement for the more usual American deep south. The meteor crater was quite stunning. There was a nice helicoptor shot of it. The build up was ok, and that talk they have with the psycho around the camp fire was interesting in setting up the tension.
But then the rest of the film quickly becomes a very cliched typical horror film, with characters doing completely utterly stupid things that no right-minded person would do. For example:
- that girl quite cleverly uses fuel to blow up a car so that the guy comes outside. Perfect opportunity to arm herself (loaRAB of bits of sharp metal about) and get him. Instead she runs inside the cabin and stanRAB in front of her friend doing nothing. What? Who would do that?
-She fails to shoot him dead at point blank range. He is unconscious though, so she hits him on the back a couple of times. Excuse me? An actual person would get a heavy object and squash the ****ers head to mush. Instead they leave him alive and run outside.
-They are driving away and come to a cliff edge. So you reverse and go a different way dont you. NO! In fact you get out and push your only means of escape off the cliff edge! Yes, that makes sense.
-When wandering around a psychos house, most people would not take it as an opportunity to peruse his home movies.
-The other girl is on the road. Guy in car stops. So you quickly explain a mad man is after you and get in and tell him to put his foot on it. NO! You collapse and start weeping and let him wander around outside. Shyeah right.
-The final crap thing was they are trying to suggest this film is based on real events. I know it is an amalgamation of other real stories, but even in its own created storyline it doesnt make sense. They suggest the guy gave the police information about what happened to the girls. Except the guy who survived never actually saw the girls after they had been drugged. He would have no information about what happened. In other worRAB, even in its own universe, its entirely made up.
Enough. I know its just a dumb quite enjoyable horror movie.