"In this world, there's people like me and people like you. And people like me eat people like you," says serial killer Mick Taylor in the latest trailer for Wolf Creek 2, courtesy of The Wrap. Taylor doesn't see himself as a murderer, more an exterminator. See, he likens foreigners in his great outback to feral pigs, a non-native species that has overrun the Outback wreaking all kinds of damage to its ecosystem. He shoots pigs, but for the humans who wander away from their homelands, Mick promises a far more brutal fate. This is an interesting way to spin out a sequel from the first film, which was "based on real events."
In 2005, the independent Australian slasher flick made its world premiere at the Sundance, and later played at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Part of its allure was its claim to be telling a true story, a device that can be especially mesmerizing in horror. Wolf Creek unfolded the story of two thrill-seeking British tourists, Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi), who went backpacking across Australia back in 1999 with the help of a Aussie friend Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips). After a visit to Wolf Creek National Park, the trio finds themselves stuck as their car has mysteriously broken down. It seems good luck when a trucker named Mick Taylor (John Jarrat) discovers them and offers them a place to stay for the night.
Wolf Creek was a terrifying take on the slasher that was far more brutal on its final girls than the genre typically allows for. However, its ending was frustratingly lame with lazy title cards meant to explain how what we've just seen relates to reality. Frankly, it left a sour taste in my mouth, and I just grew more frustrated upon learning that Wolf Creek was mostly sold on the "based on true events" promise than it was dedicatedly based on any. But this is exactly what makes Wolf Creek 2 so intriguing.
Gone is the bogus promise of "based on true events." Instead Greg Mclean, who wrote and directed the original centers its sequel on the menacing Mick and gives him a xenophobic doctrine to fuel his cruelty and blood lust. Tourists and backpackers beware, Mick is coming for you!
Like its predecessor, Wolf Creek 2 made its world premiere at a prestigious international film festival, specifically the Venice Film Festival last August. Its theatrical world premiere will come on February 20th, 2014 in Australia and Italy. No US release date has yet been set.
