AustLit
Latest Issues
AbstractHistoryArchive Description
A group of hikers, chasing rumoured sightings of the extinct thylacine (Tasmanian tiger), run into a family of cannibals descended from escaped convict Alexander Pearce.
Notes
-
The trailer for this film is available to watch via YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtnPGuvmnug (Sighted 22/6/2012)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
-
Dead Heart : Australia’s Horror Cinema
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 31 October 2018; -
Rumblings from Australia's Deep South : Tasmanian Gothic On-Screen
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , 6 April vol. 5 no. 1 2011; (p. 71-80) 'This article examines the current cinematic attention to Tasmania and its stories, with particular attention paid to the Gothic mode. 'Tasmanian Gothic' has become a by-word for the unsettling combination of Tasmania's colonial histories and its harsh landscapes in literature, but its cinematic counterpart has virtually been ignored. It is suggested that Tasmania is experiencing a renaissance on the big screen and it is the Gothic that appears to be the most dominant mode through which it is pictured. The article then charts a history of local Tasmanian Gothic cinematic production, a hybrid vision that tends towards a combination of stylistic, thematic, historical and geographic elements. Tasmanian Gothic cinema refers not simply to productions by Tasmanian film-makers, but to the broader on-screen representation of the island, its culture and histories by a range of local, interstate and international crews. As this article suggests, Gothic cinematic representations of Tasmania are yoked by a number of persistent concerns that act in dialogue with the unique cultural and geographic positioning of Australia's only island state.' (Author's abstract)
-
Australian Eco-Horror and Gaia's Revenge : Animals, Eco-Nationalism and the 'New Nature'
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 4 no. 1 2010; (p. 43-54)'We hear so much about extinction in debates around climate change. But what about those animals that go feral and then return – bigger, hungrier and angrier – to wreak revenge on humans who may have done them injustice? Using an eco-postcolonial framework, this article examines how a number of exploitation horror films have dealt with environmental topics and issues of trespass. In particular, I examine the agency of animals – crocs, pigs, thylacines and marsupial werewolves – in some key Australian eco-horror films from the last 30 years: Long Weekend (Eggleston, 1978), Razorback (Mulcahy, 1984), Dark Age (Nicholson, 1987), Howling III: the Marsupials (Mora, 1987), Rogue (Greg McLean, 2007), Black Water (Nerlich & Traucki, 2007) and Dying Breed (Dwyer 2008). On the one hand, these films extend postcolonial anxieties over settler Australian notions of belonging, while on the other, they signify a cultural shift. The animals portrayed have an uncanny knack of adapting and hybridizing in order to survive, and thus they (the films and the animals) force us to acknowledge more culturally plural forms of being. In particular, these films unwittingly emphasize what Tim Low has termed the ‘new Nature’: an emerging ethic that foregrounds the complex and dynamic interrelationships of animals with humans.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
-
The Cars That Ate the Picnic at Wolf Creek: A Symposium on Australian Horror Films
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australian Weird Fiction , no. 3 2009; (p. 147-166) Critics David Carroll, Robert Hood and Lee Battersby answer several questions posed by Studies in Australian Weird Fiction and provide fans of the genre with personal insights and interpretations never before discussed, spotlighting a variety of old and modern films. -
Ready for Its Close-Up
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 November 2008; (p. 25) Michael Bodey discusses a range of films, including Dying Breed, that have used Tasmania as a setting.
-
Honey, I Ate the Kids
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 6 November 2008; (p. 21)
— Review of Dying Breed 2008 single work film/TV -
Don't Go Down to the Woods Today
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sunday Mail , 9 November 2008; (p. 4-5)
— Review of Dying Breed 2008 single work film/TV -
Restraint Ramps Up the Tension in Tassie
2008
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 8 November 2008; (p. 26)
— Review of Dying Breed 2008 single work film/TV -
Ready for Its Close-Up
2008
single work
column
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 15-16 November 2008; (p. 25) Michael Bodey discusses a range of films, including Dying Breed, that have used Tasmania as a setting. -
The Cars That Ate the Picnic at Wolf Creek: A Symposium on Australian Horror Films
2009
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australian Weird Fiction , no. 3 2009; (p. 147-166) Critics David Carroll, Robert Hood and Lee Battersby answer several questions posed by Studies in Australian Weird Fiction and provide fans of the genre with personal insights and interpretations never before discussed, spotlighting a variety of old and modern films. -
Rumblings from Australia's Deep South : Tasmanian Gothic On-Screen
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , 6 April vol. 5 no. 1 2011; (p. 71-80) 'This article examines the current cinematic attention to Tasmania and its stories, with particular attention paid to the Gothic mode. 'Tasmanian Gothic' has become a by-word for the unsettling combination of Tasmania's colonial histories and its harsh landscapes in literature, but its cinematic counterpart has virtually been ignored. It is suggested that Tasmania is experiencing a renaissance on the big screen and it is the Gothic that appears to be the most dominant mode through which it is pictured. The article then charts a history of local Tasmanian Gothic cinematic production, a hybrid vision that tends towards a combination of stylistic, thematic, historical and geographic elements. Tasmanian Gothic cinema refers not simply to productions by Tasmanian film-makers, but to the broader on-screen representation of the island, its culture and histories by a range of local, interstate and international crews. As this article suggests, Gothic cinematic representations of Tasmania are yoked by a number of persistent concerns that act in dialogue with the unique cultural and geographic positioning of Australia's only island state.' (Author's abstract)
-
Australian Eco-Horror and Gaia's Revenge : Animals, Eco-Nationalism and the 'New Nature'
2010
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Studies in Australasian Cinema , vol. 4 no. 1 2010; (p. 43-54)'We hear so much about extinction in debates around climate change. But what about those animals that go feral and then return – bigger, hungrier and angrier – to wreak revenge on humans who may have done them injustice? Using an eco-postcolonial framework, this article examines how a number of exploitation horror films have dealt with environmental topics and issues of trespass. In particular, I examine the agency of animals – crocs, pigs, thylacines and marsupial werewolves – in some key Australian eco-horror films from the last 30 years: Long Weekend (Eggleston, 1978), Razorback (Mulcahy, 1984), Dark Age (Nicholson, 1987), Howling III: the Marsupials (Mora, 1987), Rogue (Greg McLean, 2007), Black Water (Nerlich & Traucki, 2007) and Dying Breed (Dwyer 2008). On the one hand, these films extend postcolonial anxieties over settler Australian notions of belonging, while on the other, they signify a cultural shift. The animals portrayed have an uncanny knack of adapting and hybridizing in order to survive, and thus they (the films and the animals) force us to acknowledge more culturally plural forms of being. In particular, these films unwittingly emphasize what Tim Low has termed the ‘new Nature’: an emerging ethic that foregrounds the complex and dynamic interrelationships of animals with humans.'
Source: Publisher's blurb.
-
Dead Heart : Australia’s Horror Cinema
2018
single work
column
— Appears in: FilmInk , 31 October 2018;
- Tasmania,