Wolf Creek 2 (2014)

2 Stars (out of 4)

Howling Bad

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Fans of Wolf Creek (2005) admire its stripped-down gory realism, its devotion to characters, and its cruel existentialism: bad things simply happen to good people. Many others, however, saw it as a pack of old slasher movie clichés dressed up as a "based on a true story" allegory. Either way, the clichés totally take over in the needless sequel Wolf Creek 2, which brings back serial killer Mick Taylor.

A loving German couple enjoys a backpacking trip through the Australian outback, headed for the famous Wolfe Creek crater. Unfortunately, the evil Mick (John Jarratt) discovers their camp, and slaughters Rutger (Phillipe Klaus). Rutger's girlfriend Katarina (Shannon Ashlyn) gets away and a British tourist, Paul (Ryan Corr), picks her up. But Mick is in hot pursuit, and eventually he gets Paul in his torture chamber. Paul buys himself some time by singing an classic Australian song but winds up playing a deadly trivia game that pits his ten fingers against ten questions about Australian history. Can Paul escape, or will he become another of Mick's mutilated victims?

The movie still wears its "based on a true story" badge, which seems ridiculous since Mick is practically a supernatural killer, like Freddy and Jason, able to know exactly where his prey is at all times. The victims, as usual, are not very bright and tend to make all the typical mistakes that slasher movie victims make, such as running down the middle of a road while being pursued by a vehicle. The raw gore and the prickly string music score are old hat. Actor Jarratt is the only interesting thing here, though he'd likely be better served in a different kind of movie.