A motley group of strangers are all forced to seek refuge at a remote outback roadhouse due to severe flooding caused by a fierce torrential downpour. However, one of these people proves to be every bit as dangerous as the savage storm that's raging outside. Director Kevin James Dobson, working from a compact script by John and Cody Jarratt, keeps the absorbing story moving along at a brisk pace, creates and sustains a substantial amount of claustrophobic suspense, maintains a hard gritty tone throughout, and makes good use of the isolated outback setting. Moreover, Dobson's taut and economical style doesn't waste a single minute and thus ensures that there's never a dull moment. The sound acting by the capable cast keeps the movie humming: John Jarratt as high-strung ex-con Phil, Craig McLachlan as the rugged Mory (McLachlan also composed the effectively shuddery score and contributed a few songs to the soundtrack), Jessica Napier as perky barmaid Kate, Rebecca Smart as the sassy Mickey, Chris Haywood as brutish cop Chris, Sacha Horler as the brash Shae, Angela Punch-McGregor as the nervous Sue, and Charlie Jarratt as Sue's loyal and protective son Damien. Geoff Cox's agile cinematography takes neat advantage of a constantly mobile prowling camera. A tidy little thriller.

Obviously Jarratt is wanting to cash in on Wolf Creek, bringing another psycho loser to the screen, and relishing in it. He is a good actor, and the acting here isn't the problem. It's the movie, written by the Jarratt's who should have never been allowed to put pen to paper. I couldn't believe how horribly bad this movie was. I know I wasn't in for Oscar viewing, and I expected B grade fare, but in two words it's incredibly or pathetically bad. Jarratt's wife, Angela Punch Macgregor, at first unrecognizable, in a splendid performance, and real life Jarratt son, (yes another Jarratt contribute) flee from their house in the wake of an approaching storm/flood. This take refuge in this gas, station run by nonetheless Craig Mclachlan, another one of the top performers in this. Of course the acting prize does go to Chris Haywood, as a shady guy, who shows up at the gas station, to take out the deranged Jarratt who's such fun to watch, in a film so bad, you appreciate it. There's no thriller elements in this. The characters motivations are obvious. Jessica Napier is nice scenery as the gas/convenience store hand who shares a strong kiss with her savior Maclachlan, amidst the raging waters of the wild Wonga river, as falling prey earlier to the maniacal Jarrett. And looking much older is Bec Smart, and lesbian friend, may'be, the terrific Horler. Actors can only do their best when faced with incredibly bad scripts as this. One line had me laughing, as to Maclachlan, correcting Jarratt's first and last character's name, with one of insult, as trying to cross an untamed ford in his fancy car, then having to be towed by Maclachlan's truck. The film even ends on a stupid line, and Macgregor and son, who are kept hidden in a bed shed at the good will of Maclachlan, looks very much like the one used in Wolf Creek, where Mick Taylor had his fun. Just out of curiosity, just watch this to see how bad a movie can be, but there's a few worse floating around, not a lot, about a few. Just don't blame the actors.

The Savage thing here is this movie it's not a horror 3.3 I think is overly Generous it's worse than any Michael Bay film I've Ever watched you may think "Oh come on it can't be that bad" let me count these waysThe Actors are horrendous it may be the scriptwriter or the poor way this movie was made but I wanted to see them get killed we have a horrendous overacting mother and an underacting teenager 2 girls who must've been hired off the street because this is the only reason as to why anyone would be in hereWhen I wanted to see them get killed I couldn't because the villain is afraid to use a gun let me read that to you again THE VILLAIN IS AFRAID TO USE A GUN The Dialogue only deserves a few words because I have seen better dialogue come out of 6-year-olds you get such dialogue as this "don't touch her or else""Or else What?""I'll Swear to god"yeah and that's them doing their best but it can't be for 6-year-olds because they overuse the F-word especially a copThe Villain has no motives and introduced as to the mother knowing he's out via phone call and the 2 words "he's out" and shots between the mother and son and the villain walking in slow motion through a city street seriously IN SLOW MOTION.The Characters: The mother is a private person for no reason with her wimpy son and the 2 girls who appear in the so-called wrong place one does nothing but cries throughout the whole movie from when the villain appears to the end of the movie the other calms her down I wondered when the scared-to-use-a-gun villain kills them I was angry at the end when he didn't there are the 2 people who own the bar the woman just serves them and tries to come at the villain with a baseball bat and doesn't the man who I mistook for Crocodile Dundee (and I'm Australian) and they do nothingThe sound is so bad every time it rains it sounds like somebody is using a bug zapper to make the noise collide with the ground

My expectations weren't very high for this film... and quite rightly so. John Jarratt (from Wolf Creek, Django Unchained... and Play School... you heard me) writes and stars in this little independent Aussie flick about a man who immediately after being released from prison (or rehab... it's never really made clear) heads straight home to visit his wife and son so he can demand either his half of their house or $5,000,000 (yet again it's not really made clear... and the house is probably worth about $500,000 at the most). The wife and son head to the holiday home of a family friend where they believe they'll be safe and can hideout until the coast is clear. Halfway to their destination they find themselves stranded at a roadhouse in the middle of nowhere due to the flooding caused by a storm that has conveniently just begun. Even more conveniently, they left their address book open and the psycho patriarch figures out where they're heading just in time to find himself stranded halfway there at the very same roadhouse. On the surface it would seem that he wants half the house or $5,000,000, otherwise he'll kill his wife and his son AND anyone who gets in his way, including the other poor unfortunates who are also stranded at the roadhouse. There is a mild twist at the end, but you'll still be left thinking, "Really? Is that it?". The acting is of the same calibre you'd expect from an episode of Neighbours or Home and Away on a bad day. Judging by the cover you'd be expecting a brutal horror movie and you'll wind up sitting through a lame thriller with a very low kill count and very little tension. Craig McLachlan plays the hero of the piece... and with all due respect Craig... enough said!I apologise for the fact that my carefully worded and relatively well thought out review is essentially just one massive paragraph :DCheck out my IMDb List for some better suggestions. "HORROR/THRILLER: Obscure, Overlooked & Underrated" http://www.imdb.com/list/8QFZ78e4Ar8/ :)