Absolutely perfect mix of low-key realism and expressionistic horror. I'd liken it to Straw Dogs, The Birds and Rosemary's Baby. It's more a psychological thriller than a straight-up animals attacking human film, but the savagery of the natural world is never far away.No special effects, very little music, just a young couple whose marriage unravels on an isolated beach, and at the same time nasty events happen which suggests nature isn't happy with them....it's all done in a believable way so the animal attacks may just be co-incidence. Very atmospheric, perfectly paced and great building of tension - reaching a real sense of dread in the last half hour.

This is one of my all time favorites. Whilst it takes a bit to get going, what it sets up is an all time great finally. It's disturbing and intense. Beyond sickening in parts. The film borders and intense psychological thriller and horror, whilst showing probably the most realistic couple in the history of cinema. It's great, it's fantastic and it's as scary as hell. One of the greatest films of all time. Should be idolized by many. It has aged extremely well and continues to frighten in the present day. You will see nothing like this and you will be glad to never experience this in real life. Cold and disturbingly terrifying beyond belief.

I remember watching this as a child back in the day when the BBC used show a series of movies from Australia and New Zealand late at night and Long Weekend left an indelible impression on me. Then watching again on DVD a couple of decades later i found that the movie had lost none of its impact.Shot at the time of the Australian "New Wave" film making era (regarded by many as a golden age of Australian cinema) Long Weekend also tapped into a short lived sequence of movies with an ecological message. In the 1970 's film makers explored the concept of man no longer being top of the food chain whether through intelligent ants, fire starting primordial bugs or nature fighting back against mankind's abuse. At the start of the Long Weekend a news channel playing on a background television reports of birds attacking people and this is before the bickering couple have even set of for their destiny with disaster. The couple played brilliantly by John Hargreaves and Briony Behets are a fairly dislikeable pair. A positive assessment of their characters is not possible as the viewer picks over the remains of their marriage and their subsequent actions. In a last ditch attempt to save their marriage they take themselves off to the sticks for the Long Weekend.Where this movie excels is in its eerie, creepy atmosphere which is assisted by the remote swamp/coastal off the beaten track location and the influence of John Boormans Deliverance on proceedings. The false hope aroused when the abandoned vehicle is spotted on the beach and then the locating of the tent housing only a dog amplifies their isolation and the terminal level of desperation and paranoia consuming the couple. Not only is their marriage on the rocks but our urban couple are clearly out of their depth in their location. A sequence of premeditated and accidental abuse of their surroundings by the couple is paid back in spades by mother nature at times in a quasi supernatural style which causes events to spiral completely out of the couples control. There is no happy ending. A much inferior remake of this movie was made starring John Caviezel in an almost shot for shot Gus Van Sant's Psycho style which does prompt the question why.

One of the first eco-horrors I think, but it joins the others in being pretty lame. At least it wasn't an overly ambitious grand-scheme effort (ahem, The Happening), being just a little story about an urban couple who go camping and do all sorts of inconsiderate sh*t to Mother Nature, who decides to take offence and sends her minions to sort them out.There are some interesting scenes in the movie - a mysterious presence in the sea, a vicious possum, a reappearing dugong carcass - but a lot of the time it just shows an unpleasant couple who're out camping. The suspense and thrills just weren't there for me. I don't understand why so many people raved about it on IMDb. Must be environmentalists, all.