Director Colin Eggleston, more known for the police dramas he made for Crawford Productions, teamed up with legendary American-born screenwriter Everett De Roche, known for his entries into the horror and thriller genres such as ROAD GAMES, RAZORBACK, HARLEQUIN, and PATRICK to create an off-beat man vs. nature sort of horror-thriller set in the rough outdoors of Australia in the film LONG WEEKEND.
LONG WEEKEND is a not-so-simple story about a middle-aged couple who, during a rougher period in their relationship together, go on a weekend trip camping together to some secluded beach. The wife, Marcia, is played by English-born actress Briony Behets and her adoring husband, Peter, portrayed by the “quintessential Australian man” (according to his bio in IMDB.com) John Hargreaves, and the film focuses entirely on the relationship dynamics between the two of them, along with both husband and wife’s crude disrespect for nature. Peter brings his dog Cricket along, seemingly the only one from their party who is going to be immune to any dire consequence his owner’s have brought upon themselves. The outdoor elements of nature that seem to appear to be taking a supernatural stance against them are fueled by subtle actions the couple engage in, but these actions have major consequences against nature. A film that has been tossed into the “Eco-Horror” category by some and “Natural Horror” by others, the film chugs along at a solid pace and kept my interest piqued and my entertainment fulfilled.
The film, at its basest elements, is a man vs. nature sort of scenario and the dark nature and turn of events seem to begin when Peter (Hargreaves) tosses his lit cigarette onto the side of the road into the dry grass and brush which starts a small fire and followed up by hitting a kangaroo crossing the highway due to Peter’s not paying attention to the road for a few seconds. The scene looks extremely realistic and while listening to the producer’s and cinematographer’s audio commentary on the blu-ray one will find out that the kangaroo ran over in the movie was, in fact, a real dead kangaroo that they had shipped to the where they were filming to use. Apparently, dead kangaroos are found littered all over certain roads and highways of Australia but the spot they were filming had none, so the filmmakers had to get one from an area more populated with kangaroo carcasses. I am sure animal lovers out there will find the scene abhorring. Of course, maybe the scene in WOLF CREEK 2 in which Mick Taylor (actor John Jarratt) plows the semi he is driving into a giant herd of kangaroos crossing the highway was some sort of extremely over-the-top homage to Eggleston’s Aussie thriller, but who knows. I would like to think he had Eggleston’s LONG WEEKEND in mind when he was directing that sequence.
Through the coarse of the film, more and more subtle (as well as blunt) offenses are committed, such as when Peter wildly shoots his shotgun into the air and out over the horizon, tossing his empty glass beer bottle into the ocean like a total asshole. All the while a sound that resembles a baby whale or dolphin cry echoes at various times and intervals throughout the film. This is creepy as fuck! Viewers are put on edge because of the uneven pace and small breaks between the fighting and relationship spats our couple is having and nature mounting small attacks on them for their careless actions. Everything about the plot of the film felt very subtle to me while watching it, especially the scenes in which Peter goes swimming or surfing in the ocean. Peter’s wife, Marcia, spots something big and dark in the water (after being interrupted from her sexy novel reading and masturbation session) and runs to warn Peter. Although no one has seen exactly what this large dark shape in the water is, or if it is even dangerous, Peter grabs his trusty shotgun and climbs up to higher beach ground and shoots off a bunch of rounds, leaving the area where the creature was seen filled with blood. Peter thinks it was a shark but his wife feared something else. Viewers find out later on just exactly what it was.
As more and more offenses against nature continue to occur, like finding an eagle’s egg and keeping it with their food and joking about making eggs for breakfast with it, the wails and odd occurrences continue in higher frequency . It is no wonder then, when a large Eagle attacks Peter, his wife overreacts. His wife thinks it was a “she” that wanted her egg back. So what does the wife do? Whip the egg into a tree and smash the living bird inside into bloody egg goo! Peter asks her why she went and did that acknowledging that it is a “living thing” thing, but Marcia replies, “It’s just an egg.” The movie has some incredible energy in the dialogue and interactions between actress Behets and actor Hargreaves, full of incredible tension most of the time as they are portraying a couple who are on the rocks due to some major marital issues revealed later on within the film.
As the film progresses, Marcia wants to leave this horrible beach and is the only clued in to the darkness that presides here. All of the occurrences that transgress throughout the film are things that can happen normally, but the coincidence level soars with each new mishap involving nature. The only aspect of the film that I felt was truly bizarre was the sea mammal Peter shoots multiple times that seems to drag itself closer and closer towards their encampment. It pulls itself up onto the beach and Peter shoots it a few more times, but it seems to not be quite dead. The dread Marcia knows is there seems to be lost upon Peter who is blown away by all the nature surrounding him and is trying to really push the vacation into being a healing time for him and his wife. As the couple realizes things are pretty messed up and decide to finally leave, things in nature are taken to a whole new level. The film gets more and more violent and dark as it progresses. This was a highpoint for me in my liking the movie.
LONG WEEKEND is a film that I have found out, with each viewing, that I am discovering new transgressions the couple made against nature that I may have missed or not noticed prior. I went into watching this film knowing zero about it. I did not even know it was categorized into “Natural Horror” and I had it in my head that it was going to be about a couple terrorized by a “Mick Taylor“-type psychopath (WOLF CREEK) or an “Animals on the Rampage“-type deal where indigenous creatures would attack them in bold and gory fashion. Instead, I found myself watching a mixture between a supernatural thriller (almost like how a ghost story is generally built up) and a tense, psychological, character-driven vehicle. I was also waiting for either character in the film to snap at some point and go crazy, killing off the other. Marriage can be such hell at times! The film definitely kept me thinking and on my toes.
I give writer Everett De Roche credit for really keeping my curiosity piqued throughout the entire movie viewing experience. Having seen RAZORBACK, a true “Animals on the Rampage” entry about a giant wild boar that kills man and most notable as being the greatest killer pigs movie ever, and PATRICK, a film about a man in a coma who uses telekinesis powers to attack and harass those caring for him so he can have one nurse as his own, both films are extremely unique and wildly different types of horror films. The man is instrumental in putting Australia on the map in the horror department, as well as filling some major slots in the Ozploitation department.
The elements of horror creep into the film throughout the movie, accentuated by the insanely creepy compositions of Michael Carlos, a composer who only had credited to his name 10 credits in a 4-5 year career. Some of his more notable soundtracks were (after LONG WEEKEND, of course) STORM BOY (1976) and BLUE FIN (1978). If the soundtrack was not creepy and powerful enough for viewers, it definitely complements the beautiful cinematography which is another highpoint in watching the film. Cinematographer Vincent Monton, most known for his work on ROAD GAMES (1981) and THIRST (1979), was fortunate that the director and producer chose to shoot the film using Panavision (anamorphic) and shoot on 35mm film. Looking at the panoramic shots early in the film of the beach and throughout the whole movie are really breathtaking and probably would have been lost if it had to be cropped. The film had a very small budget (which is mentioned in the audio commentary included on this blu-ray) and for a smaller budget it looks great.
Since I am reviewing the High Defintion 1080p Transfer on Blu-ray, supervised Synapse Films, which also has a Remastered DTS-HD MA 5.1 Surround Soundtrack, both the incredible cinematography and uniquely creepy soundtrack shine with the upgrade in quality. As for Special Features on the single Blu-ray disc, as well as the Audio Commentary from Producer Richard Brennan and Cinematographer Vincent Monton, there is a short Motion Still Gallery featuring an Audio Interview with Actor John Hargreaves and also the Theatrical Trailer. The film has an Aspect Ratio of 2.35:1, runs about 95 minutes in length, and retails for $24.95 on their website.
Synapse Films did a great job once again, in both restoring this Aussie gem and giving it some all-star treatment for its U.S. release. I praise Synapse for finding the forgotten gems, polishing them up, and releasing them. I always look forward to seeing what films these guys plan to clean-up and release!
