Savages Crossing (2011) Reviews

• Savages Crossing: Lacklustre

  Platypuschow2018-08-13

  Australian cinema has always been highly hit and miss with me but I have to say recent efforts including Wyrmwood (2014) have shown that there is a lot of potential there. Written by and starring John Jarratt, the man you'll all know better as Mick the psycho from the Wolf Creek franchise this is an attempt at a thriller but lacks imagination and an ending. It tells the story of a group of people seeking refuge in a roadhouse during a storm. But one of them causes chaos and puts everyones lives at risk. Another review refers to this as a "Micro-Budget" movie which suggests to me that person has no idea what micro-budget actually involves. Sure it's no AAA blockbuster but it has enough money behind it to look and sound the part and also has Craig McLachlan who folks will know from both Neighbours & Home and Away. The film certainly has it's moments despite it's glaring flaws but sadly as mentioned lacks an ending. The credits just suddenly roll without everything being wrapped up and that is unforgivable. At present time I believe the IMDB rating to be too low for a film of this caliber, but not by much. Great for fans of Australian cinema, not so much for everyone else. The Good: Competently made John Jarratt The Bad: Too few likeable characters Rather predictible No ending Things I Learnt From This Movie: The "No ending" thing better not catch on! If you want to convince people you're a police officer it's best to show off your standard issue sawn off shotgun

• Aussie thriller goes straight-to-DVD for a reason.

  NozinAroun812010-04-26

  My expectations weren't very high for this film... and quite rightly so. John Jarratt (from Wolf Creek, Django Unchained... and Play School... you heard me) writes and stars in this little independent Aussie flick about a man who immediately after being released from prison (or rehab... it's never really made clear) heads straight home to visit his wife and son so he can demand either his half of their house or $5,000,000 (yet again it's not really made clear... and the house is probably worth about $500,000 at the most). The wife and son head to the holiday home of a family friend where they believe they'll be safe and can hideout until the coast is clear. Halfway to their destination they find themselves stranded at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere due to the flooding caused by a storm that has conveniently just begun. Even more conveniently, they left their address book open and the psycho patriarch figures out where they're heading just in time to find himself stranded halfway there at the very same roadhouse. On the surface it would seem that he wants half the house or $5,000,000, otherwise he'll kill his wife and his son AND anyone who gets in his way, including the other poor unfortunates who are also stranded at the roadhouse. There is a mild twist at the end, but you'll still be left thinking, "Really? Is that it?". The acting is of the same calibre you'd expect from an episode of Neighbours or Home and Away on a bad day. Judging by the cover you'd be expecting a brutal horror movie and you'll wind up sitting through a lame thriller with a very low kill count and very little tension. Craig McLachlan plays the hero of the piece... and with all due respect Craig... enough said! I apologise for the fact that my carefully worded and relatively well thought out review is essentially just one massive paragraph :D Check out my IMDb List for some better suggestions. "HORROR/THRILLER: Obscure, Overlooked & Underrated" http://www.imdb.com/list/8QFZ78e4Ar8/ :)

• Never As Good As It Could Have Been

  Theo Robertson2013-09-09

  A flash flood in Australia cuts off a small handful of people in a remote roadside diner . A man called Phil enters and threatens his estranged wife Sue and the stranded drivers realise they're in a desperate struggle for their lives This is a low budget Aussie thriller with a very small cast and a limited number of sets . This isn't enough to condemn the film as a failure of course but if you're making something along the lines of THE OLD DARK HOUSE then you'll need to make sure you're bringing something new and appetizing to the table and this is where SAVAGES CROSSING fails to a very large extent . What happens for most of the time Phil played by John Jarrat swaggers around over acting to high heaven telling people if they don't tell him where his wife is he's going to have to kill them Another minor annoyance is Craig McLachan as the hero of sorts Mory . McLachan was once a household name in Britain and Australia twenty years ago due to his starring roles in NEIGHBOURS and HOME AWAY while like so many Aussie soap opera stars had a side line as a pop singer and he does the incidental music here on a soundtrack that is rather intrusive . He doesn't make much of a hunky hero either in a film that feels something of a wash out which is appropriate since it revolves around a flood

• A stylish little micro-budget genre movie.

  toxiemite2010-08-11

  Savages Crossing is a micro-budget horror flick written by John Jarratt and his son and it really is just an exercise in vanity. Jarratt had a fleeting glimpse at resurrected stardom with Wolf Creek and so he's essentially written himself another psychopathic lunatic role in a similar vein. But hey, the movie works. The first 10 minutes are woeful (and unnecessary) as its shot in day light and the lack of budget shows, but once night falls and the rain pours, Savages Crossing has a great atmosphere and performances. Craig McLachlan is actually really good as the 'take- no-sh!t' country farmer and in my opinion he steals the show. Its not great by any means, but certainly worth a look.

• Its Savage Alright

  WakenPayne2010-06-24

  The Savage thing here is this movie it's not a horror 3.3 I think is overly Generous it's worse than any Michael Bay film I've Ever watched you may think "Oh come on it can't be that bad" let me count these ways The Actors are horrendous it may be the scriptwriter or the poor way this movie was made but I wanted to see them get killed we have a horrendous overacting mother and an underacting teenager 2 girls who must've been hired off the street because this is the only reason as to why anyone would be in here When I wanted to see them get killed I couldn't because the villain is afraid to use a gun let me read that to you again THE VILLAIN IS AFRAID TO USE A GUN The Dialogue only deserves a few words because I have seen better dialogue come out of 6-year-olds you get such dialogue as this "don't touch her or else" "Or else What?" "I'll Swear to god" yeah and that's them doing their best but it can't be for 6-year-olds because they overuse the F-word especially a cop The Villain has no motives and introduced as to the mother knowing he's out via phone call and the 2 words "he's out" and shots between the mother and son and the villain walking in slow motion through a city street seriously IN SLOW MOTION. The Characters: The mother is a private person for no reason with her wimpy son and the 2 girls who appear in the so-called wrong place one does nothing but cries throughout the whole movie from when the villain appears to the end of the movie the other calms her down I wondered when the scared-to-use-a-gun villain kills them I was angry at the end when he didn't there are the 2 people who own the bar the woman just serves them and tries to come at the villain with a baseball bat and doesn't the man who I mistook for Crocodile Dundee (and I'm Australian) and they do nothing The sound is so bad every time it rains it sounds like somebody is using a bug zapper to make the noise collide with the ground