Outback (Mike Green, 2019) wr. Mike Green, Brien Kelly; Brendan Donoghue, Taylor Wiese, Lauren Lofberg
Down Under for an adventure-filled vacation, a young American couple quickly find themselves stranded in the unforgiving Australian outback.
First-time feature filmmaker Mike Green has done a tremendous job exploring these dangers in his new film, Outback – a survival nightmare based on the true story of an American couple, Wade (Taylor Wiese) and Lisa (Lauren Lofberg), who become stranded on their way to Uluru. Think Gerald Rocionato’s Cage Dive on dirt.
While Outback is a tense, nail-biting thriller at its heart, the film leans heavily into the horror genre with plenty of blood and flesh wounds to satisfy the most hard-core gorehound. Outback’s heart-racing thrills come courtesy of the film’s Jason Voorhees. This is a film where an entire country is the villain and its machete is snakes, scorpions, isolation and the harsh Australian sun. CinemaAustralia.
Naive Americans have to come to terms with the country they are visiting: drive on the other side of the road etc. The relationship of the two main characters is a cliche: he is a typical wannabe alpha male, while she is trying to have a relationship. Also: great opportunity for shots of red roads etc.
They get lost, and leave the vehicle. (Never leave the vehicle!) ... One good thing about the story is that it does not degenerate into genre horror for its own sake: the threats to life are naturalistic.
The film ends with some cards (printed information) which reveal what supposedly happened to the characters after the end of the film, to suggest that it was based on real events.
Garry Gillard | New: 22 November, 2019 | Now: 13 July, 2020