Wolf Creek 2
Australia 2013
Written by Greg Mclean & Aaron Sterns
Directed by Greg Mclean

I’m not sure if the world needed a sequel to “Wolf Creek”, but alas, we got one regardless. The good news is that it’s pretty entertaining throughout, and probably could have been a lot worse. The bad news is that it misses the incredible tension that “Wolf Creek” build in its second half, and overall, is just very unexceptional and disposable. Just like Mike’s victims, one might say.

One aspect where “Wolf Creek 2” actually improves on its predecessor is the pacing. There is no worn-out introduction, thus the whole movie gets going a lot faster. The movie also benefits from Mick Taylors bigger/longer appearance, and is also better shot than the first one (which had a very cheap digital camcorder look to most of its scenes). And given the fact that I’m from Austria, I appreciated that the tourist couple were visitors from Germany. On the other hand, I found the movie rather lacking when it comes to tension. The characters are bland, and some of the situations they find themselves too far-fetched to really let me identify with them and their predicaments – which, as you might recall, was one of the things that I loved about the first one. I especially had a hard time with the labyrinth/cave-scene. And the ending felt very arbitrary and didn’t seem to make any sense. There is also not a single sequence that comes even close to being similarly exciting and enthralling as the 10-15 minutes in “Wolf Creek” after Liz wakes up in the shed. Ultimately, the sequel just offers very little that’s memorable. The only things that come to mind right away are the kangaroo-scene (with the whole truck sequence supposedly offering a nice homage to Steven Spielberg’s “Duel”), and the cruel quiz near the end. Other than that, “Wolf Creek 2” serves up well-trodden, worn-out slasher entertainment. If that’s what you’re looking for, fine. Just don’t expect it to reach the same heights as the first one.
5/10

IMDB