Australian horror cinema is a different kind of beast - one that often goes unappreciated
for it’s unrelenting and subversive nature - as well as it’s oftentimes stunning use
of geographical creativity.
The thing is, when you live in a place full of so many terrifying insects, arachnids reptiles
and drop bears - it takes a certain level of original fear to actually make an impact
on an audience.
And well - in that case, that magical place known only as Australia - is doing a pretty
damn good job for horror cinema.
Hello horror fans, and once again - welcome back to the scariest channel on YouTube - Top
5 Scary Videos.
As per usual, I’ll be your horror host Jack Finch - as today, we curiously take a look
at the Top 5 Scariest Australian Horror Movies.
Roll the clip.
For the curious amongst you, that clip was from 2014’s resounding Australian horror
success, The Babadook, written and directed by the awesome Jennifer Kent.
Now, I’m pretty sure that The Babadook’s notoriety doesn’t need any further acknowledgment
- because as we all know, it’s an incredibly innovative and original spin on the genre
- so consider this an honorable mention.
Which, as chance would have it, segways me neatly to my first point.
Kicking off at Number 5 - Snowtown, 2011
And this film would have placed higher on this list - but it’s important to not ignore
the fact that this film definitely won’t be for everyone.
2011’s Snowtown is a bleak - hard-hitting - uncomfortable experience.
It was created with the deliberate intention of jarring its audience - to highlight the
true-historical case of one of Australia’s most notorious crimes - the Snowtown serial-murders
- that were carried out between 1992 and 1999 in the poor, Adelaide suburb of Salisbury
North.
Snowtown is a chilling study of evil - but it is also one of Australia’s most unrelentingly
original horror films.
Directed by Justin Kurzel, with a screenplay by Shaun Grant - Snowtown was Kurzel’s directorial
feature debut - and the fact that he chose to tackle such a notoriously challenging source
material - says something about the nature of Australian film making.
Snowtown pulls no punches, much like Kurzel’s eye for horror in cinematography, but instead
of focusing wholly on the gore and grizzly nature of the Snowtown murders, it focuses
on the circumstances that enabled these atrocities to occur.
In the same way that this is a horror film - it’s also a cautionary tale on how violent
prejudice can fester through disenfranchised young men.
Swinging in at Number 4 - Picnic at Hanging Rock, 1975
Because Australia has been doing horror cinema for a long, long time - and 1975’s Picnic
at Hanging Rock is still perhaps one of the most underrated hallmarks of horror cinema.
But that’s not to deny the fact that it is - in fact - an incredibly well loved relic
of 1970’s filmmaking.
Directed by the legendary Peter Weir - the same man that directed Dead Poets Society
and The Truman Show - and adapted by Cliff Green from the 1967 novel of the same name
- Picnic at Hanging Rock outlines the disappearance of several schoolgirls and their teacher in
the outback of Victoria, Australia on Valentine’s Day, 1900.
It’s important to note that this film is - first and foremost - beautiful, and the
sweeping vistas of rural Australia’s encompassing landscape serve only to juxtapose the deeply
unsettling and unresolved mystery that plagues the nature of its narrative.
If you’ve ever seen Sofia Coppola’s awesome 1999 drama, The Virgin Suicides - then you’ll
understand exactly where she got her inspiration from.
Again, Picnic at Hanging Rock isn’t a conventional horror - in the sense that it employs ambiguity
instead of lucidity - mystery instead of resolution - and hysteria instead of stoicism - but behind
the captivatingly beautiful visage of this film, is a deeply unsettling narrative that
gently peels away the nature of Australian colonialism.
Coming in at Number 3 - Lake Mungo, 2008
You might be sensing a similar theme here - and it’s that Australian horror cinema
has a habit of taking worn out conventions, recombobulating them - and in many cases,
executing them in a much more original and unique manner.
Found footage cinema is no exception then - and 2008’s Lake Mungo is one of the most
inventive horror-mockumentaries of recent times.
The thing is - Lake Mungo just seems to get everything *right* - so much so, that it reaches
the point where you’re not entirely sure if you’re still watching a fictional format
or not.
Written and directed by Joel Anderson, Lake Mungo follows the tale of an Australian family
- the Palmer’s - who’s sixteen year old daughter, Alice, drowned while swimming at
a dam in Ararat near Victoria.
What unfolds is a slow-burning examination of a teenage girls life - that gradually gives
way to the supernatural, in an exploration of what a family can go through during a time
of tragic grief.
Without digging too deep beneath the surface either - Lake Mungo is just a straight up
incredible horror film.
It’s well executed, it’s script is painfully original - and the naturalistic approach that
Anderson employs with his cast of relatively unknown actors only lends itself to being
one of the most authentic found footage films in horror.
Next up at Number 2 - The Loved Ones, 2009
If you’re a frequent viewer of Top 5 Scary Videos - you’ll know that it’s no best
kept secret that 2009’s The Loved Ones is up there on my list of modern horror classics.
Also, if you want to find out why this song -
Is the most terrifying damn pop song that you’ll ever hear - then please, let that
be enough curiosity to give you reason to watch this film.
The Loved Ones is just a straight-up horror joy to experience, and the fact that again
- it was the debut film of writer and director Sean Byrne - just says so much about Australian
horror cinema.
It feels familiar enough that it’s accessible to all audiences - and whilst on the surface
it may seem to be a regular teen-slasher knock off - it’s just so, so much more than that.
It’s a psychological plunge into what happens when a psychopathic, drill-wielding - bleach
flinging teenage girl has never been told the word no - and has a dad that just so happens
to also be all of those horrifying things.
No spoilers, obviously, because - well, just go into this film with no preconceptions.
It’s 84 minutes - every minute is horror mastery.
It’s equal parts Texas Chainsaw Massacre and equal parts Carrie.
It’s Australian horror cinema at its best.
The Loved Ones.
Watch it.
And finally - coming in at our Number 1 spot - Wolf Creek, 2005
A film which perhaps personifies all things Australian horror cinema - deeply seeded traumatic
scars and all.
Wolf Creek is not a film that you will forget quickly, it’s an experience that will stay
with you for a long time - and back in 2005, it was a benchmark for this particular little
horror fan.
This film is violent.
It’s explicitly horrific - and it exemplifies despair.
Many would simply chalk up Wolf Creek as another Ozploitation, a mindless - buzzsaw of a movie
- but it’s really, really not.
Wolf Creek was made with the intention to smash taboo’s and obliterate the usual genre
archetypes - all the while nodding to these same exact cinematic structures, but completely
subverting them in it’s own originally unique way.
I do understand, in some cases - the backlash that this film garnered - but it’s wrong.
Wolf Creek personifies Australian film making by being painfully real.
Intentionally.
The fact that the title slasher villain Mick Taylor - played by the awesome John Jarratt
- is a caricature of Crocodile Dundee - is for those exact reasons.
Written and directed by Greg McLean, Wolf Creek set out with the intention of grabbing
Australian cinematic conventions by the scruff of the neck and obliterating them - and it
did exactly that - while also being just a damn terrifying horror film.
Beautiful sweeping Australian vistas?
Check.
Horrifying psychopathic serial killer?
Check.
Well - there we have it horror fans, our list for the Top 5 Scariest Australian Horror Movies.
Of course, there are many - many more - so why don’t you let us know your thoughts
in the comment section down below, as well as an any particular personal picks.
Before we depart though - let’s take a look at some of your more entertaining remarks
from over the past few days.
First up - Andrew Hunter says -- Big question Jack; A Serbian Film - or the Human Centipede
3 - you can erase one of the films from history.
Which do you choose?
Keep being a legend dude!
-- Hey, cheers Andrew Hunter - you keep being a legend too buddy.
Ehh - yeah, the replies pretty much nailed it.
A Serbian Film.
Like I said - one time is too many.
Forget that film.
On that horrifying note - that’s all we’ve got time for in today’s video - cheers for
sticking around all the way until the end.
If you were a fan of this video - make sure to hit that thumbs up button - as well as
that subscribe bell, and we’ll be seeing you in the next one.
As per usual, I’ve been your horror host Jack Finch - you’ve been watching Top 5
Scary Videos - and until next time, you take it easy.