Wolf Creek (TV Series)

If you were asked to sit and list horror films that seemed ripe for adaptation on the small screen, well you’d have been quite far down that list before Wolf Creek popped into your mind. While there are certainly horror series a hell of a lot worse than those violent Australian slashers they can hardly be called remarkable. However, maybe it is that which makes it perfect for adaptation.

The six-episode miniseries takes up the story of Mick Taylor (John Jarratt), a rather unpleasant individual who prowls the Australian outback taking out his frustrations on a host of tourists and backpackers. Usually by murdering them horribly. At the start of the series, he plays up to type by slaughtering the family of Eve Thorogood (Lucy Fry) who have come to Australia to get away from the world after Eve’s recovery from issues related to addiction. Unfortunately, he is lax enough to let Eve get away alive, and she vows to take revenge.

None of which can be called particularly complicated. It’s a simple revenge story and could be pulled out of the Wolf Creek world and dropped into pretty much any horror franchise you wanted. What Wolf Creek has that many of those other franchises don’t is a setting that is almost as unsettling as its big bad. If you’ll excuse the drop into cliche, the third most significant character here is the Australian outback, and it’s every bit as threatening as Taylor.

A large part of which comes from the rather impressive production of Wolf Creek. For all TV’s advances, it is still surprising when you tune in, and it looks as good as this. Cinematographer Geoffrey Hall gets across just how vast the world Eve is hunting Taylor across is and it gives the film a sense of foreboding that little else could achieve.

It’s a shame then that the plot so often negates that effect. Despite Australia’s immense size, the story makes it seem like everyone there hangs out in the same bar and drives down this one road. Eve is always bumping into the same people despite having moved hundred of miles.

Which is only a portion of the ridiculousness that this shows throws up. I don’t want to spoil anything, but there is a moment where an Aborigine comes to Eve’s rescue that is laugh out loud funny in its silliness. However, this kind of horror can get away with that crap because the second the violence comes along, you forget it.

For this is violence that is short, sharp and brutal. When someone gets stabbed, they stay stabbed and Taylor is a horrible man. Jarratt brings a grizzled aggression to the role, and while I’m sure he is a lovely man in real life, if he were dressed as he is in this I would cross the road to avoid him.

On the other side of this two-hander, Eve’s battle with her addiction to painkillers provides a wrinkle to her character but as the series goes on it becomes less and less important. Instead, you are left wondering how this young American tourist stands any chance against the Australian murder man. The supporting cast around her is also disappointingly weak, with main cop Sullivan Hill (Dustin Clare) mainly there to look pretty. Deborah Mailman steals every scene she is as the owner of a cafe every main character makes their way through but it’s not enough.

Wolf Creek isn’t perfect, but it is fun. Over the course of six episodes, they craft a story that builds nicely to the final confrontation but never gives you more than what you would expect. When people look back on this golden age of television, it’s unlikely that Wolf Creek will be placed on the pedestal that many other shows are, but if you’re looking for six hours of enjoyable horror action, then you could do a lot worse than give in to this.