Wolf Creek

Film Threat Daniel Bernardi

Every single performance is the result of a cast that has gone to the far reaches of acting ability and even exceeded them.

TV Guide Ken Fox

Easily one of the most brutally realistic horror movies since the original "Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974).

LA Weekly John Patterson

Full of clever reversals, brief triumphs and bitter setbacks, Wolf Creek is consummately well-crafted, unapologetically vicious and leavened with moments of humor that merely intensify the horror.

Variety Dennis Harvey

Essentially a worst-case-scenario white-knuckler executed with terrifically focused skill and realism.

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Holiday counterprogramming at its finest. This gut-churning horror indie is based on true stories of tourists disappearing in the vast Australian outback... This scared the hell out of me.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

What makes Wolf Creek so effective is not its originality (which, let's face it, is practically non-existent), or even its amount of gore (the violence is implied more often than it's shown), but the ways in which McLean tweaks the usual formulas, so what you think is going to happen next almost never does.

New York Post Lou Lumenick

Director McLean doesn't let up on the suspense, which builds to an electrifying climax that is greatly abetted by Will Gibson's gritty cinematography and Francois Tetaz' nerves-inducing score.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

While Wolf Creek has clunky moments, when you want to slap the idiot prey until they wake up, the movie embraces a minimalism that feels refreshingly old-school in a field of slasher films drunk on self-referential wisecracks and narrative tricks. And Jarrat's jolly-creepy performance might place Mick in the pantheon of great movie killers.

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

What's Christmas Day without a good serial killer movie?

The Onion (A.V. Club) Nathan Rabin

Wolf Creek is the kind of well-executed sleazefest that makes audiences feel not just creeped-out but downright dirty, as if it would take a three-hour-long shower just to wash all the grit and grease away.

Dallas Observer Luke Y. Thompson

Writer-director Greg McLean, who has many shorts and commercials under his belt, makes a significant feature debut here, with unapologetic horror that doesn't compromise.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Wolf Creek, an unusually crisp and boldly shot "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" knockoff, looks as ancient and patterned as a druidic ritual.

Boston Globe Janice Page

Wolf Creek is ultimately all about the torture and the trauma. Happy holidays.

Chicago Tribune Jessica Reaves

As horror movies go, this is a pretty good one.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Jennie Punter

While it's not exactly the kind of movie many will feel like catching during a holiday break, fans of the horror genre will appreciate the fresh take on a killer's hunt for fresh meat.

The Hollywood Reporter James Greenberg

An auspicious debut from first time Aussie writer/director Greg Mclean, film combines the style of cheesy horror films and the flair of classic thrillers.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

John Jarratt is perfectly creepy as the outback loner gone psychotic survivalist who gets his kicks from the systematic degradation and torture of hapless victims. And make no mistake, the ordeal is excruciating.

The New York Times Manohla Dargis

The vogue for retro-horror, particularly the stripped-down shivers of 1970's slasher flicks, continues apace in this nasty little piece of work from Australia.

Austin Chronicle Marjorie Baumgarten

Wolf Creek (much like the new Saw horror franchise) exists for no reason other than to inflict an acute sense of inescapable and inscrutable torture upon the story's victims – and, by extension, the audience. If that's what you're into, Wolf Creek should be a satisfying assault.

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

The ambitions are so paltry that our response should be too: Wolf Creek is unimaginative, light on the grue and heavy on the faux-serious desperation.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust

An initially promising horror film that turns exploitive, Wolf Creek fails to deliver the requisite payoff considering its leisurely pace.

USA Today Mike Clark

There's no substitute for bad taste. And this one has it double-barreled, both in the timing of its release and as a movie, one said to be loosely based on fact.

Washington Post Stephen Hunter

A nasty bit of counter-programming, Wolf Creek is for people sickened by the sentimental excesses of the day and the holiday season and want to hide from them in mayhem, slaughter, torture and degradation.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

This is a movie for genre fans only; there's not an aspect to it that should appeal to the rest of the world. It's neither original nor inventive, and while its young cast works hard, there's not even a standout performance worth recommending.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Just because Dimension considered Greg McLean's nasty exploitation flick worthy of their time and money doesn't mean it deserves yours.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

There is a line and this movie crosses it. I don't know where the line is, but it's way north of Wolf Creek. There is a role for violence in film, but what the hell is the purpose of this sadistic celebration of pain and cruelty?