Savages Crossing

Director - Kevin James Dobson (The Virgin of Juarez)
Starring - John Jarratt (Wolf Creek), Chris Haywood (Sleeping Beauty), and Sacha Horler (Babe: Pig in the City)
Release Date - 2011
Genre - Horror
Tagline - "Revenge runs deep"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     In 2005 the Australian horror flick Wolf Creek took over the horror community.  The film offered a brutal story and an amazing performance from then unknown star John Jarratt.  The man had been acting since the 70s but became a staple in the horror community when the film was released.  Wanting to quickly capitalize on his fame, director Kevin Dobson cast him in his horror film Savages Crossing.  MVD was kind enough to send me a review copy of the film some time ago and I sadly forgot about it.  The film looked interesting but when I moved I forgot I had it.  Sorry, MVD that it took me so long to check this one out!

     The film follows a group of Australians who are forced to seek refuge in a diner as a horrible storm hits and floods the surrounding area.  Among the crowd is an abusive husband who tracked his family down that was trying to get away from the drunk.  When he arrives his family is not too happy to see him and soon a "cop" arrives to arrest him and soon it is clear that he is not really a man of peace but tries to kill the father figure.  He fights back and kills the fake cop only to reveal hie is far more evil than his family thought.
     Savages Crossing was a film I was a bit excited largely due to John Jarratt's involvement.  The man was ruthless, cunning, and down right chilling in Wolf Creek and the thought of him giving another riveting performance really excited me.  Sure, Wolf Creek 2 is out already and I could easily grab that but I wanted something just a little different.  Sadly, what we got was a slow burning horror flick that tried to toss in the thriller feel.  The acting in this one is no where near the level I expected especially from Jarrat who just absolutely killed it in WC.  His character flip flops throughout the film.  At first he plays the sympathy card and portrays a weak character and then flips it into a ruthless killer but no where near WC.  The remainder of the cast does a solid job supporting the film but Jarratt is clearly the focal point of the film.  The story for this one is nothing new.  A group of people locked inside a building and forced to defend themselves.  This has been seen in so many films but this one does try to mix it up and some of the WC allure only to fail miserably.  The story is slow burning and way too much dialogue in between scenes of interest.  Finally, the film does have a couple kill scenes but the are nothing spectacular.  In fact, they are all pretty dull and boring.  The practical effects are great for what we get but I was expecting something so much more.  Overall, Savages Crossing is a film that tries to capture what made Wolf Creek so popular only to deliver one of the slowest moving horror films that I have seen in recent years.  I do not recommend this one.