Wolf Creek - Mobile Edition

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Wolf Creek
By Hervé St-Louis
September 20, 2016 - 11:15

Studios: Lionsgate Television, Zodiak Rights
Writer(s): Peter Gawler, Felicity Packard, Greg McLean
Starring: John Jarratt, Lucy Fry, Dustin Clare, Andy McPhee
Directed by: Tony Tilse, Greg McLean
Produced by: Greg McLean, Elisa Argenzio, Peter Gawler, Elene Pepper
Running Time: 6 hours
Release Date: 12 May 2016 (Australia), August 30 (UK), October 14, 2016 (US)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Distributors: Pop

After her family is murdered by serial killer Mick Taylor, Eve Thorogood goes on a quest to find the murderer. Travelling through the Australian outback, interacting with locals, good and bad, Eve finds the strength to become the huntress that will put an end to Taylor, who has killed many before and threaten to finish the job he botched. Will Taylor murder Eve before she can get her revenge on him?

Wolf Creek the series follows the two Wolf Creek movies that starred John Jarratt as Mick Taylor, the serial killer who always evade capture. For fans of the older films, this series offered an opportunity to turn the table on the antagonist for once. Taylor is menacing and his body count rises fast. The director decided that it would be best to not show us all of the killings in favour of only showing the results of his deeds. One knows that anyone who crosses Taylor will inevitably be dead.

Eve, played by the magnificent Lucy Fry goes on the classic hero’s journey to become a better warrior that will be able to confront Taylor. But Eve is not your typical heroine. With her tom boy looks and teenaged obliviousness, Fry quickly turns into a great action adventure actress that could easily be cast as the next Tank Girl. As an actress, she is able to emote quiet moments very well.

Plot-wise, the series keeps it suspense until it skips a few months into the future without explanations to show how Eve survives in the Australian. One of my favourite set up was with Bernadette, the owner of the Catholic outback bar who spoke to everyone and transferred bad information to all. A complaint that I have is that we have not seen her final fate although there was a hint that there is more to her story.

While the writers and the director of the show tried to create a lot of allegory and metaphors in this show, like planting information about how Eve would confront Taylor, and creating companions for her, some of their plot twists were odd. There is a detour with the police officer Sullivan Hill, played by Dustin Clare. His marital life is mixed in the story as a way to create more affinity for him as he is captured by Taylor. But the emotional connection did not work.

A parallel is created with the men that Eve shoots early on but it felt more like she was trigger happy than something set up as precursor to her eventual showdown with Taylor. The part with the supporting Maori characters was interesting and gave them a lot of respect. But it also had a vibe of magical negro helping the heroine on her journey.

The best parts of this series is the photography and the cinematography. We see so many large pristine shots of the outback that appear untouched by civilization. It’s a beautiful country and I’m glad that this series is coming soon to North American viewers.

Wolf Creek has not been released to television or home theatres yet. This six-part thriller will launch on Pop on Friday October 14, 2016.

Rating: 8.5/10