More horror! Can't stop won't stop!
Feb. 14th, 2026 07:01 pmVideo essay
First of all, on my last post about Australian horror movies,![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rhoda_rants linked me to this great video essay about Australian horror, which I did not know had a reputation overseas as being notably brutal even for the genre. Well worth a watch! I'm still chewing on the contents and deciding how much I agree with them (for instance, my emotional reaction to Wolf Creek was quite different from the essayist's, see below) but in particular I thought the analysis of colonialism as a major (albeit unexamined) presence in the Australian concept of an inherently dangerous and inhospitable Outback was spot on. I think deep down we all know damn well that this continent was not made to support a population of pale-skinned agrarians, and I'm very interested now to track down the cited anthology of Aboriginal horror shorts that portray the land not as a threat but as a source of comfort in the face of imported danger.
Feature films
Wolf Creek (2005): Two young British tourists and an Aussie bloke they've taken up with experience car troubles while roadtripping through the far remote Australian Outback, and accept help from a charming older man who turns out to be a sadistic serial killer. This is a film that excels at its objective, and its objective is something I do not really vibe with and don't care to experience again. It was just...brutal. Brutal and cruel and bleak in a way that felt far too grounded and believable to be fun. There's no mercy for the victims at all, no real moments of relief or triumph, no room for hope to grow. Mick, the killer, is not your cartoonish slasher villain in a silly mask. He's normal and lovable in a way that from an Australian perspective feels almost sacred - an embodiment of the tough, friendly, irreverent outback Aussie spirit in an era where most of us now live in cities. (He's not an over-the-top Crocodile Dundee type, either. I have a grandfather and some uncles out in WA who are just like Mick, minus the penchant for rape and murder.) It was also unnerving to see Cassandra Magrath in the role of one of the victims; I know her as the beloved daughter character in the extremely tonally different show SeaChange. This film was not really much more gory than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but the violence felt far more shocking and unpleasant. Thanks, I hate it! The directors did great, though.
Friday the 13th (1980): Well, this was a happy accident! I was absolutely sure this was one of the few horror movies I'd already watched back in my teens, and so I didn't bother to look up a plot synopsis before watching. If I had, then I would probably have been put off by the reveal of ( spoilers ) But:
1) I apparently had the film mixed up with Nightmare on Elm Street, which is the one I actually did watch in high school (I think I also watched Halloween, but I won't be 100% sure until I rewatch it).
2) The execution was campy enough that the upsetting-to-me themes didn't bother me at all in this case, and in fact made for a really great twist that deepened what until then seemed like a rather bland "everybody dies for no good reason" type slasher.
I don't have much more to say about this one, which is at least partly because I watched it with Husband and Close Friend who when put together are unstoppable chatterboxes during movies, and the vibe was more fun group hangout than serious media analysis. But it was fun! And I think I'll watch more of them, maybe next month when the salient date comes around again thanks to February being a round 28 days this year.
DNF: Black Water (2007): I got bored about halfway through this and gave up. I thought I would like it because it's all about a croc attack, and I am all about croc attacks in other contexts - I gobble up documentaries about terrifying wildlife and have had some great times during feeding hour at various national reptile parks. But by the time a solid half hour had elapsed of these three comically underprepared dickheads being stuck up a mangrove tree with no crocodile in sight, I just didn't care anymore. They probably got eaten eventually. Oh, well.
In lieu of a serious review, I'm just going to treat you guys (if you haven't already seen it) to a wildly popular crocodile-related Australian meme. Here's how one of our most famously nutty politicians responded when approached on the subject of same-sex marriage:
Horror shorts
Finally, a couple of horror shorts I watched recently. I don't have much to say about these, but they were fun, and I thought I'd link them in case others of you guys have also seen them/might be interested:
Connect 4 by RDCworld1: I knew these guys for their entertaining merging of Black "hood" culture with weeb/gamer geekery, but apparently now they do horror shorts as well! Connect 4 is a little paranormal snippet with a streak of gallows humour; I enjoyed it a lot.
2am: The Smiling Man by Michael Evans: The physical acting in this! Super, super scary body language. Also great editing. Loved it.
First of all, on my last post about Australian horror movies,
rhoda_rants linked me to this great video essay about Australian horror, which I did not know had a reputation overseas as being notably brutal even for the genre. Well worth a watch! I'm still chewing on the contents and deciding how much I agree with them (for instance, my emotional reaction to Wolf Creek was quite different from the essayist's, see below) but in particular I thought the analysis of colonialism as a major (albeit unexamined) presence in the Australian concept of an inherently dangerous and inhospitable Outback was spot on. I think deep down we all know damn well that this continent was not made to support a population of pale-skinned agrarians, and I'm very interested now to track down the cited anthology of Aboriginal horror shorts that portray the land not as a threat but as a source of comfort in the face of imported danger.Feature films
Wolf Creek (2005): Two young British tourists and an Aussie bloke they've taken up with experience car troubles while roadtripping through the far remote Australian Outback, and accept help from a charming older man who turns out to be a sadistic serial killer. This is a film that excels at its objective, and its objective is something I do not really vibe with and don't care to experience again. It was just...brutal. Brutal and cruel and bleak in a way that felt far too grounded and believable to be fun. There's no mercy for the victims at all, no real moments of relief or triumph, no room for hope to grow. Mick, the killer, is not your cartoonish slasher villain in a silly mask. He's normal and lovable in a way that from an Australian perspective feels almost sacred - an embodiment of the tough, friendly, irreverent outback Aussie spirit in an era where most of us now live in cities. (He's not an over-the-top Crocodile Dundee type, either. I have a grandfather and some uncles out in WA who are just like Mick, minus the penchant for rape and murder.) It was also unnerving to see Cassandra Magrath in the role of one of the victims; I know her as the beloved daughter character in the extremely tonally different show SeaChange. This film was not really much more gory than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre but the violence felt far more shocking and unpleasant. Thanks, I hate it! The directors did great, though.
Friday the 13th (1980): Well, this was a happy accident! I was absolutely sure this was one of the few horror movies I'd already watched back in my teens, and so I didn't bother to look up a plot synopsis before watching. If I had, then I would probably have been put off by the reveal of ( spoilers ) But:
1) I apparently had the film mixed up with Nightmare on Elm Street, which is the one I actually did watch in high school (I think I also watched Halloween, but I won't be 100% sure until I rewatch it).
2) The execution was campy enough that the upsetting-to-me themes didn't bother me at all in this case, and in fact made for a really great twist that deepened what until then seemed like a rather bland "everybody dies for no good reason" type slasher.
I don't have much more to say about this one, which is at least partly because I watched it with Husband and Close Friend who when put together are unstoppable chatterboxes during movies, and the vibe was more fun group hangout than serious media analysis. But it was fun! And I think I'll watch more of them, maybe next month when the salient date comes around again thanks to February being a round 28 days this year.
DNF: Black Water (2007): I got bored about halfway through this and gave up. I thought I would like it because it's all about a croc attack, and I am all about croc attacks in other contexts - I gobble up documentaries about terrifying wildlife and have had some great times during feeding hour at various national reptile parks. But by the time a solid half hour had elapsed of these three comically underprepared dickheads being stuck up a mangrove tree with no crocodile in sight, I just didn't care anymore. They probably got eaten eventually. Oh, well.
In lieu of a serious review, I'm just going to treat you guys (if you haven't already seen it) to a wildly popular crocodile-related Australian meme. Here's how one of our most famously nutty politicians responded when approached on the subject of same-sex marriage:
Horror shorts
Finally, a couple of horror shorts I watched recently. I don't have much to say about these, but they were fun, and I thought I'd link them in case others of you guys have also seen them/might be interested:
Connect 4 by RDCworld1: I knew these guys for their entertaining merging of Black "hood" culture with weeb/gamer geekery, but apparently now they do horror shorts as well! Connect 4 is a little paranormal snippet with a streak of gallows humour; I enjoyed it a lot.
2am: The Smiling Man by Michael Evans: The physical acting in this! Super, super scary body language. Also great editing. Loved it.
