John Jarratt is AWESOME. Rare that these slashers can act, and that aspect just adds a ton to this now series. Ryan Corr does an admirable job as well.
This sequel lacks a bit of the style and realism of the first film - kind-of going the torture porn route with more blood and gore, but the overall production is well above the average for the genre, and while I'm a fan of the genre, I still think that in the whole scheme of things this is a pretty good movie. Quite literally mind-blowing, if not truly mind-blowing stuff.
The most important thing here is that it didn't disappoint the way that so many of these do, and Jarratt really deserves the credit for that.
The 'torture-porn' thing might initially be seen as a cop-out, but they did return the bar to it's 80's glory in that respect. The gore is done right with make-up, latex, etc, and a clear lack of cgi. Tom Savini would be proud.
Looking forward to a long, happy series of these with Jarratt in tow. As slightly above average as this is, it's still better than just about every slasher flick this side of the pond(s) over the last 3-4 years save maybe "Maniac".
The similarities to the original "The Hitcher" come because Jarratt(Mick) seems to be 'on the road' for most of the movie.
Overall, this definitely worked for me. Recommended for fans of the genre, but because of the torture-porn aspect, not recommended for anyone else.
Brutal. At times funny. Good production values. This might be the only decent horror selection in that red machine.. The aussies have turned into the new horror kings... lord knows we can't get it right anymore. If I made a list of my top 10 horror flicks of the last decade - they'd have at least half of them - Korea would have a couple - we'd have 2 or three.
Negatives.. In the first film one could argue that the set-up took too long. Here, it might not have taken long enough.
Also, there's a completely meaningless and unnecessary scene involving kangaroos that really just doesn't fit into the movie at all. Needed to be left on the editing floor.
69/100 You'll like this if you liked: Wolf Creek(a touch better), THe Hitcher(orig/better), The Collector(about even or just below), or The Hills Have Eyes(remake/even or just barely below).
This sequel lacks a bit of the style and realism of the first film - kind-of going the torture porn route with more blood and gore, but the overall production is well above the average for the genre, and while I'm a fan of the genre, I still think that in the whole scheme of things this is a pretty good movie. Quite literally mind-blowing, if not truly mind-blowing stuff.
The most important thing here is that it didn't disappoint the way that so many of these do, and Jarratt really deserves the credit for that.
The 'torture-porn' thing might initially be seen as a cop-out, but they did return the bar to it's 80's glory in that respect. The gore is done right with make-up, latex, etc, and a clear lack of cgi. Tom Savini would be proud.
Looking forward to a long, happy series of these with Jarratt in tow. As slightly above average as this is, it's still better than just about every slasher flick this side of the pond(s) over the last 3-4 years save maybe "Maniac".
The similarities to the original "The Hitcher" come because Jarratt(Mick) seems to be 'on the road' for most of the movie.
Overall, this definitely worked for me. Recommended for fans of the genre, but because of the torture-porn aspect, not recommended for anyone else.
Brutal. At times funny. Good production values. This might be the only decent horror selection in that red machine.. The aussies have turned into the new horror kings... lord knows we can't get it right anymore. If I made a list of my top 10 horror flicks of the last decade - they'd have at least half of them - Korea would have a couple - we'd have 2 or three.
Negatives.. In the first film one could argue that the set-up took too long. Here, it might not have taken long enough.
Also, there's a completely meaningless and unnecessary scene involving kangaroos that really just doesn't fit into the movie at all. Needed to be left on the editing floor.
69/100 You'll like this if you liked: Wolf Creek(a touch better), THe Hitcher(orig/better), The Collector(about even or just below), or The Hills Have Eyes(remake/even or just barely below).