Back in the mid-1970s, Australia's New Wave cinema explosion saw emerging filmmakers break away from the costume dramas and insular sex comedies that the country was known for to make some astonishingly strange fare.
Long Weekend was one of those. A feuding couple whose marriage is on the rocks set out on a camping trip along a remote Australian coastline in a bid to rekindle their relationship. This psychological drama, which relied on old fashion spookiness and suspense instead of titillating shocks, remains one of my top 10 best horrors. But its true horror isn't found in the frights, but in the protagonists reckless disregard of the environment, which is soon reversed as nature turns on them.
Long Weekend isn't Day of the Animals where nature is some killer monster on the loose, it's a slow burning, suffocating exercise in terror. It's also a subtle, social commentary – man may try to invade and conquer his surroundings, but the natural order will always win out.
Written by Everett De Roche, who was responsible for the Ozploitation hits Patrick, Razorback, and Harlequin, as well as a host of Australian TV dramas, Long Weekend is one of those powerfully written scripts that just doesn't age.
And so it is that Long Weekend has been given a modern makeover. James Caviezel, who recently popped up in a reimagining of The Prisoner – takes the lead role of Peter, a Melbourne-based wheeler-dealer American who cares more about his possessions than his wife Carla (Daybreakers actress Claudia Karvan). As in the original, Peter drags Carla to a legendary surfing cove despite the fact Carla would rather spend the weekend with her city friends than with Peter and his surfboard.
Isolated and feeling trapped on the beach, Carla's marriage to Peter soon goes into meltdown as the wind, the heat, the ants and the sound of an animal crying begin to have a stifling effect on their stay. What follows is a creeping melodrama that can only end in tragedy.
This is a beautifully constructed shot-for-shot remake, thanks to Urban Legend director Jamie Blanks. Whether it's better than the original is questionable, but the two leads give solid performances and the power of the script wins through. Plus, the pristine Australian scenery is, of course, a natural wonder to behold.
Now, if Blanks wants to do remake of one of my other favourite Down Under chillers, then may I suggest Wake in Fright?
Released 8 February
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2lZHlyXkmQ&fs=1
