DVD Review: Wolf Creek 2

By Brad Henderson

When I first saw Wolf Creek I was amazed. The film still holds up to this day. It’s also one of the best “true story” films I’ve ever seen.

Wolf Creek is brutal but doesn’t glorify the brutality; it handles itself in such a way that it seems like a backwoods slasher. It’s a film that I’ve always adored so I was stoked that a sequel was being made and curious as to how they would do it. That said, I really didn’t want to see another slasher sequel that follows the same formula as the first one. I didn’t want to see a series of these films, because the first was a great standalone film. A sequel almost seemed needless and I was afraid they were going to do the same thing over again. Well, they did the same thing over again but in such a way that it is completely different.

In Wolf Creek it was all about the adults and their survival. The villain was a subplot that shows up and is mysterious all the way through. Wolf Creek 2 is just about Mick and his pure insanity. We get to see how freaking nuts this guy really is. That is the major difference between the original and its sequel.

In Wolf Creek 2 we don’t start off with some lovebirds on a cross-country trip or some out-of-town vacationers in the Outback. We start with Mick tearing shit up and not really giving a shit. In a way Mick is our lead character and they guy we actually kind of root for even though he is evil and insane.

Greg McLean has pleased me once again with a great little film that puts a new spin on his original. I’m happy to say he made one hell of a sequel. I wouldn’t say it is better or even as good as the original Wolf Creek but he did something unique that stands out. Most writers/directors/studios would just rehash the same movie because of the success of the first one. We have seen this many times and it still happens today.

Now, you might view Wolf Creek 2 that way: you may be seeing it as Mick Taylor just killing people. I look at it as getting inside his head and seeing that he is insane and not just some crazed hillbilly or guy that doesn’t want people in his territory.

Wolf Creek 2 is funny, brutal, scary, and just flat out a lot of fun. I would recommend this to anyone who liked the first film. I’m just excited that it wasn’t a flop or something rehashed. Wolf Creek 2 works perfectly when watching it back to back with the first film because they really do play well off of each other.

Wolf Creek 2 was released on DVD on June 24 through Image Entertainment.