One of my favorite movies of 2005, Wolf Creek, has just been released on DVD in an unrated version. Wolf Creek is a brutal unrelenting horror film with an unusual structure. It spends nearly an entire hour building up the three main characters then the murders begin. Wolf Creek was made with an all Australian cast and crew based on Ivan Milat the infamous backpacker serial killer. I got a chance to talk with writer/director Greg McLean about his nihilistic picture.
Buy the unrated DVD of Wolf Creek
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you consider the unrated cut on the DVD of Wolf Creek your definitive cut?
Greg McLean: Definitely yes. But there arent many changes from the theatrical version. There was one part where we linger on the knife actually going through the spine. Theres also the scene where Cassandra Magraths character goes down into the well and finds all the dead bodies and we cut that because the audience found too disturbing. But its back in for the DVD.
Theres also a romantic subplot between Christy and Dan that was put back in there. There was the implication that those two had slept together, which we didnt have in the theatrical version.
DRE: What made you want to put that back in?
GM: We thought it would be a nice little detail to add. It also adds something extra to the film as well and shows the relationship a little bit more.
DRE: I felt for sure I would see some breasts in the unrated cut.
GM: [laughs] Im sorry to disappoint there, but we consciously steered away from that clich because it felt like most of the genre tends to go to that. Obviously it borders on being exploitation, so we thought we wanted to keep it on the realistic side. In reality not every girl does have big bouncing breasts.
DRE: Of the people that have seen Wolf Creek the scene that they tend to remember is the head on the stick scene. Was that something that you read about or did you just make that up?
GM: Thats actually something the serial killer did to some of his victims so it makes it even scarier.
DRE: Do you know if Ivan Milat has heard of or seen the film?
GM: Ivan Milat is serving his time in a high security prison. So I hope he hasnt heard of it because I never want to get a phone call.
DRE: [laughs] In watching the unrated cut, I just noticed how little blood and gore is in the movie.
GM: I think the implication is always scarier than what you show on screen. Its actually what comes before it and after it. We wanted to keep the tone of the film much more like journalism to allow people to imagine these kinds of things happening. We tried to make it like the journalistic retelling of true events than a horror movie. That allows for a sense of dead. Then the killings happen incredibly fast. I think that is much more realistic and much more like how actual crime works.
DRE: Wolf Creek was one of the many movies that that seemed to have gotten lost in the Weinstein Disney shuffle. Would you agree?
GM: To a degree, yeah. Obviously was a transitional period and at the end of the day it was a very small movie that cost about $150,000 US to make so considering the origins of the movie, it sold remarkably well. Its always going to look like a success story from our point of view, but as compared to something like the SAW films, its not really in the same category but weve been really happy.
DRE: So you thought Christmas Day was the perfect day to release it in America?
GM: [laughs] The Weinsteins said it was either crazy or really bold and we knew it was going to be offensive to a lot of people. But when you release this very sadistic horror film on Christmas Day that can either work very well or it can backfire. It would be interesting to see what it would have done during a different time period. But there was a good bit of outrage that I heard about when it was released on Christmas Day.
DRE: Im just astonished that youre able to make such a good looking movie so cheaply. Is that because youre in Australia where the film industry is hungrier than it is here?
GM: I think so. The other thing is that all the people involved with making the film are very experienced professionals, in a sense of the cameras, the sound, all the people very experienced people who were very passionate to be doing something very different. They believed that this could be a really interesting cinematic experience if we did it right.
DRE: When we spoke last December you said you were in a very aggressive mode of existence when you were making the film. Could you talk about that frustration and anger?
GM: I had tried for five or six years to get a film out. Its a very small industry so its very difficult to get started. I had a number of projects get to a certain point and then boil over and not happen. Therefore I was getting very desperate to try and make a film. I was just focused on making something that would actually have an impact on our audience. I thought that Wolf Creek would be the only film Id ever make in my whole life so I wanted to put every single ounce of my energy into it. I guess that aggression got into the film.
DRE: Have you seen the remake of Hills Have Eyes yet?
GM: No I havent. Im dying to see it. Im really keen to check it out. Im really a fan of High Tension so Im keen to see what this guys done next.
DRE: I thought it was funny because it has a very similar, not that hes imitating you, discovering the video cameras scene.
GM: I guess all filmmakers steal stuff from everywhere, so maybe theres influence in there from us.
DRE: I have a really good transition question from Wolf Creek to your new film, so listen to it. For Wolf Creek, whether you think so or not, youre ripping on the idea of what Americans think Australians are, basically Crocodile Dundee. Now youre working on now is another thing that we all think of Australia, crocodiles. Are you trying to tweak Australian conventions?
GM: Probably subconsciously. For a long time Australia has been stuck in a few stereotypes and every country has that as well. Im sure Americans get frustrated with the stereotypes that are put out by Hollywood. Coming from Australia, you can often get frustrated with the simplicity of the ideas so its enjoyable to take those culpable stereotypes and ideas and completely fuck with them.
DRE: Are you in the midst of editing Rogue now?
GM: Yeah, were about halfway through editing now and weve got about four or five months worth of special effects to do. I think were going to come out the first part of next year.
DRE: Is the crocodile all CGI or is it a mix?
GM: Its really CGI but we did have a big mechanical one for the movie. But what they can do with CGI is phenomenal.
DRE: Does John Jarrett shower when he was filming Rogue?
GM: Yes, fortunately for the cast and crew he managed to take a shower in this one.
DRE: How difficult was it dealing with the mechanical croc?
GM: Pretty easy. We had a guy called John Cox who did all the creatures. Hes an amazing genius who built this incredible mechanical crocodile for us.
DRE: Since you are working with American actors for the first time on Rogue, have you found much of a difference between American and Australian actors?
GM: Not really. We had Michael Vartan in Rogue and we had such a great time together. It really was a kind of egalitarian set. There were a lot of very funny moments making the film where Michael learned very quickly that its very different from American filmmaking experiences because its a bit of a younger industry. I think he had a really good time working the way we work here.
DRE: I read that you got some Nescafe grant back in the early 90s, what was that?
GM: Its a grant that they have here in Australia where they try to encourage people with ambition in the arts. I put in an application when I was very young saying I would love to be a filmmaker. I won a grant to develop projects and I got to hang around with directors. It was an entirely good thing at that time. That was a long time ago, so its taken me a long time to get going. But now that its going I want to keep doing it, I want to go as fast as I can and do a film a year.
DRE: I read that you also had directed some theater, like Hamlet and The Magic Flute. How did that lead to Wolf Creek?
GM: Very early on I wanted to be a fine arts painter so I did that for about five years and then eventually it worked out that I wanted to be journalist. Doing that eventually led to directing theatre which helped me learn how to direct actors. All those experiences helped me to tend to want to work on film.
DRE: The Weinsteins are infamous for making sequels, would you want to write or produce a sequel to Wolf Creek?
GM: We had that conversation on whether I wanted to do a sequel. I really hate those sequels that try to cash in on the original. Maybe someday I will do it but everything would have to be for the right reason.
DRE: When you mentioned that youd love to do a really nasty anthology film like Tales from the Crypt. Is that something thats still on your mind?
GM: Actually Im developing something right now thats along those lines. But I cant really talk too much about it.
DRE: Would you say its an anthology movie though?
GM: Not really, no. Its moved away from that. It has a similar tone and it is still horror.
DRE: If you actually want to do a movie a year youd have to start another one before the end of 2006.
GM: Thats right. At the moment we wont go into production until the end of the year. Then at the same time I shoot that one I have to start developing other projects and getting ready for the next one.
DRE: Has anyone convinced you to do a remake yet?
GM: Ive had a couple of things introduced to me but Im not really interested in doing that because there are so many great original ideas.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
Buy the unrated DVD of Wolf Creek
Daniel Robert Epstein: Do you consider the unrated cut on the DVD of Wolf Creek your definitive cut?
Greg McLean: Definitely yes. But there arent many changes from the theatrical version. There was one part where we linger on the knife actually going through the spine. Theres also the scene where Cassandra Magraths character goes down into the well and finds all the dead bodies and we cut that because the audience found too disturbing. But its back in for the DVD.
Theres also a romantic subplot between Christy and Dan that was put back in there. There was the implication that those two had slept together, which we didnt have in the theatrical version.
DRE: What made you want to put that back in?
GM: We thought it would be a nice little detail to add. It also adds something extra to the film as well and shows the relationship a little bit more.
DRE: I felt for sure I would see some breasts in the unrated cut.
GM: [laughs] Im sorry to disappoint there, but we consciously steered away from that clich because it felt like most of the genre tends to go to that. Obviously it borders on being exploitation, so we thought we wanted to keep it on the realistic side. In reality not every girl does have big bouncing breasts.
DRE: Of the people that have seen Wolf Creek the scene that they tend to remember is the head on the stick scene. Was that something that you read about or did you just make that up?
GM: Thats actually something the serial killer did to some of his victims so it makes it even scarier.
DRE: Do you know if Ivan Milat has heard of or seen the film?
GM: Ivan Milat is serving his time in a high security prison. So I hope he hasnt heard of it because I never want to get a phone call.
DRE: [laughs] In watching the unrated cut, I just noticed how little blood and gore is in the movie.
GM: I think the implication is always scarier than what you show on screen. Its actually what comes before it and after it. We wanted to keep the tone of the film much more like journalism to allow people to imagine these kinds of things happening. We tried to make it like the journalistic retelling of true events than a horror movie. That allows for a sense of dead. Then the killings happen incredibly fast. I think that is much more realistic and much more like how actual crime works.
DRE: Wolf Creek was one of the many movies that that seemed to have gotten lost in the Weinstein Disney shuffle. Would you agree?
GM: To a degree, yeah. Obviously was a transitional period and at the end of the day it was a very small movie that cost about $150,000 US to make so considering the origins of the movie, it sold remarkably well. Its always going to look like a success story from our point of view, but as compared to something like the SAW films, its not really in the same category but weve been really happy.
DRE: So you thought Christmas Day was the perfect day to release it in America?
GM: [laughs] The Weinsteins said it was either crazy or really bold and we knew it was going to be offensive to a lot of people. But when you release this very sadistic horror film on Christmas Day that can either work very well or it can backfire. It would be interesting to see what it would have done during a different time period. But there was a good bit of outrage that I heard about when it was released on Christmas Day.
DRE: Im just astonished that youre able to make such a good looking movie so cheaply. Is that because youre in Australia where the film industry is hungrier than it is here?
GM: I think so. The other thing is that all the people involved with making the film are very experienced professionals, in a sense of the cameras, the sound, all the people very experienced people who were very passionate to be doing something very different. They believed that this could be a really interesting cinematic experience if we did it right.
DRE: When we spoke last December you said you were in a very aggressive mode of existence when you were making the film. Could you talk about that frustration and anger?
GM: I had tried for five or six years to get a film out. Its a very small industry so its very difficult to get started. I had a number of projects get to a certain point and then boil over and not happen. Therefore I was getting very desperate to try and make a film. I was just focused on making something that would actually have an impact on our audience. I thought that Wolf Creek would be the only film Id ever make in my whole life so I wanted to put every single ounce of my energy into it. I guess that aggression got into the film.
DRE: Have you seen the remake of Hills Have Eyes yet?
GM: No I havent. Im dying to see it. Im really keen to check it out. Im really a fan of High Tension so Im keen to see what this guys done next.
DRE: I thought it was funny because it has a very similar, not that hes imitating you, discovering the video cameras scene.
GM: I guess all filmmakers steal stuff from everywhere, so maybe theres influence in there from us.
DRE: I have a really good transition question from Wolf Creek to your new film, so listen to it. For Wolf Creek, whether you think so or not, youre ripping on the idea of what Americans think Australians are, basically Crocodile Dundee. Now youre working on now is another thing that we all think of Australia, crocodiles. Are you trying to tweak Australian conventions?
GM: Probably subconsciously. For a long time Australia has been stuck in a few stereotypes and every country has that as well. Im sure Americans get frustrated with the stereotypes that are put out by Hollywood. Coming from Australia, you can often get frustrated with the simplicity of the ideas so its enjoyable to take those culpable stereotypes and ideas and completely fuck with them.
DRE: Are you in the midst of editing Rogue now?
GM: Yeah, were about halfway through editing now and weve got about four or five months worth of special effects to do. I think were going to come out the first part of next year.
DRE: Is the crocodile all CGI or is it a mix?
GM: Its really CGI but we did have a big mechanical one for the movie. But what they can do with CGI is phenomenal.
DRE: Does John Jarrett shower when he was filming Rogue?
GM: Yes, fortunately for the cast and crew he managed to take a shower in this one.
DRE: How difficult was it dealing with the mechanical croc?
GM: Pretty easy. We had a guy called John Cox who did all the creatures. Hes an amazing genius who built this incredible mechanical crocodile for us.
DRE: Since you are working with American actors for the first time on Rogue, have you found much of a difference between American and Australian actors?
GM: Not really. We had Michael Vartan in Rogue and we had such a great time together. It really was a kind of egalitarian set. There were a lot of very funny moments making the film where Michael learned very quickly that its very different from American filmmaking experiences because its a bit of a younger industry. I think he had a really good time working the way we work here.
DRE: I read that you got some Nescafe grant back in the early 90s, what was that?
GM: Its a grant that they have here in Australia where they try to encourage people with ambition in the arts. I put in an application when I was very young saying I would love to be a filmmaker. I won a grant to develop projects and I got to hang around with directors. It was an entirely good thing at that time. That was a long time ago, so its taken me a long time to get going. But now that its going I want to keep doing it, I want to go as fast as I can and do a film a year.
DRE: I read that you also had directed some theater, like Hamlet and The Magic Flute. How did that lead to Wolf Creek?
GM: Very early on I wanted to be a fine arts painter so I did that for about five years and then eventually it worked out that I wanted to be journalist. Doing that eventually led to directing theatre which helped me learn how to direct actors. All those experiences helped me to tend to want to work on film.
DRE: The Weinsteins are infamous for making sequels, would you want to write or produce a sequel to Wolf Creek?
GM: We had that conversation on whether I wanted to do a sequel. I really hate those sequels that try to cash in on the original. Maybe someday I will do it but everything would have to be for the right reason.
DRE: When you mentioned that youd love to do a really nasty anthology film like Tales from the Crypt. Is that something thats still on your mind?
GM: Actually Im developing something right now thats along those lines. But I cant really talk too much about it.
DRE: Would you say its an anthology movie though?
GM: Not really, no. Its moved away from that. It has a similar tone and it is still horror.
DRE: If you actually want to do a movie a year youd have to start another one before the end of 2006.
GM: Thats right. At the moment we wont go into production until the end of the year. Then at the same time I shoot that one I have to start developing other projects and getting ready for the next one.
DRE: Has anyone convinced you to do a remake yet?
GM: Ive had a couple of things introduced to me but Im not really interested in doing that because there are so many great original ideas.
by Daniel Robert Epstein
SG Username: AndersWolleck
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That's not a knife > This is a knife - wsshht