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Wolf Creek.
 Wolf Creek has enjoyed unprecedented success since its conceptual birth from the artistic mind of writer and director Greg McLean, being picked up by giants of cinema production Harvey and Bob Weinstein and subsequently flaunted around both Sundance and Cannes film festivals. Still, it was unsettling to see the beaming faces of Cassandra McGrath and Kestie Morassi after witnessing them suffer 90 minutes of trepidation at the hands of jocular psychopath Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). Anyone who has endured the hour-and-a-half or so of shock and nastiness and recalls the blood-choked wailing of McGrath and Morassi's respective victims, Liz Hunter and Kristy Earl, will comprehend the contrast between their condition on screen and that evident in assertions that they in fact "loved" the experience.
"I relished every moment of it," says Morassi, delighted at the chance to reminisce. "Despite what you see on screen, I had an absolute ball making the film. The violence, the crying, the screaming and the blood: it's all just fun."
It is, of course, commonsense that an artwork, whether intended to induce fear, laughter, or empathy, will have different, sometimes opposite, affects on its creators, but one is nonetheless surprised by such revelations, and this is testament to the gritty realism of McLean's film. An area of particular joy for the pair was working with artificial blood.
"I loved the fake blood," McGrath joyfully ventilates. "You get addicted to it and you just want more. I can see why horror films [often] use far too much blood, because it's insatiable."
With an alleged sweet "raspberry" flavour, and several points at which their mouths had to harbour the matter, anyone can appreciate the desire for lashings of the vital fluid. Such plasmatic yearnings were, evidently, lavishly fulfilled, the two victims spending much of the fray doused in red.
The inducer of such injurious decoration, the memorably terrifying and sickening John Jarratt, was apparently, in the spirit of the rest of the horror, also a pleasure to work with. Behind the ghastly, sadistic figure of Mick Taylor is, as Morassi has it, "a lovely man, a beautiful man, a true professional."
While most of the 'suspension of disbelief' requisite for any horror could here be re-directed at the attempt to comprehend how such amiable personalities could create such a nasty film, it remains fact that McLean and his limited but resourceful and effective cast and crew have formed a genuinely frightening cinema experience. Producer David Lightfoot, a veteran of the Australian film industry involved in films from Rolf de Heer's acclaimed 'Bad Boy Bubby' to 2003's wonderful 'Japanese Story', appears to agree, describing McLean's skill as "phenomenal".
"I think it's an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. It still disturbs me quite a lot, and for me that's quite good, having worked on the number of films I have over the years," notes Lightfoot.
In all this talk the quality of a horror film seems to be necessarily connected to its capacity to manifest viewer fear. Considering the nature and history of the genre, this seems reasonable, but those that have achieved true classic status all bear credentials that are not necessarily horror related and allow for transcendence of genre. Lightfoot firmly believes 'Wolf Creek' - at least in an Australian context - possesses qualifications that will make it both successful amongst audiences and critically respected, particularly in its conscious avoidance of formula and in turn enhanced ability to shock.
"No matter whether you're doing horror, comedy or drama you've got to give it something that hasn't been done before. All the great horror movies are very different in their approach, and that's what makes them special, and what makes people talk about them. This is what works in Wolf Creek."
Shock and gore are, nevertheless, the most memorable aspects of the film, as Morassi admits when describing her reaction to it. "I felt ill - wonderfully ill."
To this end, McGrath believes the film may actually be therapeutic.
"There must be a whole army of people out there who never ever get scared so they have to go to a horror movie to get it."
Indeed, the world of sadism and evil that horror transports us to is not so different from our own, and perhaps comparatively tame, as Lightfoot deftly points out. "You've only got to pick up a paper and see man's inhumanity to man - that sickens me far more than a feature film will ever do."
Wil McGinley
 | 'Wolf Creek' is now screening. |
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