Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Wolf Creek 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

The Butcher Boy from Oz

Reviewed by Michael Reuben June 24, 2014

Writer/director Greg McLean's 2005 shocker, Wolf Creek, scared audiences and divided critics with its slow, eerie buildup and its grisly, unrelenting payoff. Working in the great tradition of "Ozsploitation" films, but with a genre fan's knowledge of horror film history, McLean set out to create an Australian boogeyman who could be every bit the equal of Jason Voorhees or Michael Myers. But, as memorably portrayed by character actor John Jarratt, Wolf Creek's Mick Taylor became even more frightening, because there was nothing supernatural about him. He was strong and resourceful, but he was just a man, which made him all the more dangerous, because he looked completely normal. No one saw the soulless psycho hiding behind the thin veneer of expansive "G'day!" bonhomie until it was too late.

Although Wolf Creek, which isn't yet available on Region A Blu-ray, purported to be based on actual events, the story was more suggested than adapted. Several hikers have disappeared over the years in Australia. In some cases, the bodies have been found; in others, they haven't. None of the individuals convicted for these murders—some wrongly, according to their supporters—even remotely resembles Mick Taylor in depravity or sheer gusto. Mick is more closely related to those belligerent drinkers and exuberant hunters so indelibly captured in director Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright, a film that was initially condemned in Australia for its depiction of the Oz milieu. Mick Taylor is the horror-film doppelgänger of those characters, exaggerated to an absurd extreme, and perhaps it says something about the power of horror films that this terrifying figure was embraced as a kind of folk hero in his native land. Acknowledging the connection, McLean has included in the sequel, Wolf Creek 2, a scene that is a direct homage to Kotcheff's film. Anyone familiar with Wake in Fright will recognize it immediately.

Although McLean planned a sequel to Wolf Creek from early on, it took him almost nine years to get it into theaters, partly because of struggles with his next project, a giant alligator film called Rogue, and partly because of financing issues. Wolf Creek 2 had a bigger budget (and looks it), but by the time it appeared, interest seemed to have cooled. The sequel did considerably less business than the original, although, ironically, the critical reaction was much improved.

Unlike the original Wolf Creek, where Jarratt's Mick Taylor did not appear until almost halfway into the film, the sequel brings him out immediately, when two local cops makes the mistake of hassling the self-described pig hunter as he cruises along the highway. It doesn't go well for the cops. McLean and his co-writer, Aaron Sterns (who served as script editor on the first feature), are consciously playing on their audience's anti-authoritarian streak by making the police especially obnoxious and deserving of their fate. Despite his excessive (and gory) response, Mick Taylor is the more sympathetic party in the encounter, if only by a small margin. McLean and Sterns are setting up their viewers for Mick's further exploits, which will be even more extreme than the atrocities he committed in the first Wolf Creek. (Yes, that's actually possible.)

Once again, Mick Taylor's preferred targets are young foreign hikers exploring the wild locale around Wolfe Creek Meteorite Crater National Park (the "e" in "Wolfe" has been dropped for the title, presumably for the double entendre). He begins with a German couple, Katarina and Rutger (Shannon Ashlyn and Philippe Klaus), whose tent he drives up to with a story about camping being prohibited in the park. But Wolf Creek 2 expands Mick's roster of victims to include Paul (Ryan Corr), a British tourist driving across the outback in a jeep, and an elderly couple, Jack and Lil (Gerard Kennedy and Annie Byron), who live on a remote farm. Additional victims come and go too quickly even to qualify for names. Mick's array of weapons also expands in this film. In addition to his reliable rifle and Crocodile Dundee knife, he uses his truck, power tools and, in a fashion reminiscent of Steven Spielberg's Duel, a massive semi-trailer truck.

McLean and Stern have also provided Mick Taylor with something that passes for a rationale, or at least an excuse for indulging his joy in causing pain and suffering. It has something to do with keeping Australia beautiful by ridding it of foreign invaders, which is ironic considering Mick's awareness (as revealed in a historical "quiz" he puts to one of his victims) that his forefathers were immigrants who colonized Australia for its resources.

If you are familiar with Wolf Creek, then the conclusion of Wolf Creek 2 will come as no surprise. McLean is too smart to close off a potential franchise, and Mick Taylor will always be out there in the vast open spaces of the outback, waiting to pounce on the unsuspecting. One has to wonder, though, how long the authorities can continue doubting his existence. In the first film, he left no evidence of his activities, but the sequel's demands for bigger and more spectacular scenes required the kind of encounters that are hard to ignore. People tend to notice when cops go missing or a semi hauling freight disappears. Eventually someone will go looking for Mick Taylor, and it won't be kids with backpacks.

Wolf Creek 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cinematographer Toby Oliver shot Wolf Creek 2 with the Arri Alexa, but he also used small GoPro cameras to obtain remote footage for some of the major stunt sequences. (As revealed in the "Creating a Monster" documentary, sometimes the memory card was the only part of the camera that survived the stunt.) After post-production on a digital intermediate, the result is the film-like clarity for which the Alexa is noted. The image on RLJ/Image Entertainment's 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced from digital files and features the usual virtues of a Blu-ray that has bypassed any analog processing: a clean, detailed image with solid blacks—essential for the many night scenes—and only an occasional flicker of video noise that is probably a hangover of visual effects work. The naturalistic color palette provides a gorgeous, travelogue-ready rendition of Australia's scenic wonders, which explains the allure for so many foreigners (and the steady supply of victims for Mick Taylor's slaughterhouse). It is surely no coincidence that the most garishly artificial hues appear both in the brief urban scenes before Katarina and Rutger depart on their trek and in Mick Taylor's lair. Neither is a natural environment.

Perhaps because the substantial extras are all in 1080p, Image has departed from its usual practice of squeezing feature films onto a BD-25 and has granted Wolf Creek 2 a BD-50. The result is an average bitrate of 24.98 Mbps, which is unusually generous for a digitally originated film and particularly helpful for the complex action scenes.

Wolf Creek 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wolf Creek 2's 5.1 mix, offered on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA, rises to its major action scenes with thunderous dynamic range and deep bass extension, especially when Mick Taylor commandeers a semi-trailer truck for a highway pursuit. Other elements of the sound mix are equally impressive, though not quite as loud: various gurgling, splattering and grinding sounds caused by Mick's array of weapons and the powerful report of his trusty rifle, especially at close range. The sound designers have also created a variety of atmospheric effects that echo through the entire sound field, including the winds of the outback, a tell-tale clanging of cutting implements that accompanies Mick's truck and, in the opening scene, the slow turning of a windmill that director McLean added as a sly reference to Sergio Leone. Never buried under the mix is Mick Taylor's guttural growl, with an accent so thick that individual words can be difficult to distinguish, although his general meaning is rarely in doubt. The dialogue of the other actors is usually clear enough; Katarina and Rutger speak mostly in German, which is subtitled.

The score by Johnny Klimek, returning from the first Wolf Creek, shifts readily from uneasy foreboding to full-out terror. It also segues well into several standards that figure prominently on the soundtrack, including Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild", The Tokens' "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and Patsy Kline's "I Fall to Pieces".

Wolf Creek 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Butcher's Cut: Deleted Scenes (1080p; 2.35:1; 23:56): The scenes cannot be selected individually, but they are introduced by title cards. The titles are listed below (with minor edits to avoid spoilers):
• Backpacker Hostel
• German's Campsite
• Sacred Canyon Waterhole
• Colonial Cemetery
• Butcher Scene
• Meeting Paul Hammersmith
• Rabbit Truck Chase
• Paul Finds a House
• Paul at Dinner



• Creating a Monster: The Making of Wolf Creek 2 (1080p; 1.78:1; 52:07): This comprehensive documentary on making the film proceeds chronologically through the story, describing the logistical and dramatic challenges of creating each of the major sequences. Substantial footage from major locations is included, as well as interviews with McLean, Sterns, producers Helen Leake and Steve Topic, cinematographer Toby Oliver and all of the principal cast, including Jarratt, who is fascinating on the challenges of playing a character he finds repugnant.



• Introductory Trailers: At startup, the disc plays trailers for All Cheerleaders Die and Evidence, which can be skipped with the chapter forward button and are not otherwise available once the disc loads.

Wolf Creek 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wolf Creek 2 is an exceptionally well-crafted film, made with wit and intelligence. Whether it's a viewing experience one will enjoy is another matter. The depiction of a villain who treats other humans as just so many animals for abuse and slaughter is certainly frightening, especially when it's done with the conviction that Jarratt brings to his performance, but it's not everyone's idea of a good time, especially since McLean denies the audience any form of catharsis. With few exceptions, Mick Taylor's victims don't deserve their fate, and Mick is never dealt any real payback. His victims suffer needlessly and pointlessly, which is part of the horror. They rarely escape, and when they do, they have been permanently damaged and are never the same. A boogeyman is supposed to frighten people into behaving well, but Mick Taylor punishes even the good. If this sounds like your idea of fun, the Blu-ray is technically a safe bet, and the extras are superior.