Primal (2010)

This film was disappointing but in many ways it shouldn't have been, young peeps in the remote outback, monsters with teeth (scary teeth), what can go wrong? It starts off pretty well as the characters are believable enough and the backstory makes sense. I started getting bored when the insects arrived at the camp. Perhaps I missed it, but what were these insects? What were they doing? They ate a big hole in a tent and a bag, but then seemed to go away. They reappeared however when the peeps get back to their car, finding the insects had eaten the tyres. Obvious escape route thwarted but puzzling how these insects were so selective in what they ate and didn't eat! I was also puzzled by the ending- it just seemed rushed given the build up.

A group of friends travel below ground to view ancient cave paintings but soon find a horrible sickness gripping one of their own, which leaves them with nothing in their mind but a primal blood lust.Josh Reed wrote, directed, edited and produced this film. Any love or vitriol should be placed squarely on his shoulders. (At this time -- 2012 -- he seems to be devoting his time to the television series "The Hamster Wheel".) I notice others have called this a "good Australian horror film". Is that a compliment or not? Are Australian horror films so different from American, British or other films that they have to be judged on their own scale? If so, I would argue this is a good horror film and a great Australian horror film. Far better than "Wolf Creek" (which is respected for reasons far beyond my comprehension).Early on, we have a nasty rabbit impalement. While it did not bother me, those who dislike animal violence (even when the rabbit is clearly fake) may be a bit disturbed or grossed out. I will say some of the effects are slightly cheesy (such as the jumping shots), but the "primal" teeth are done very well. What was probably a cheap prop actually comes across as pretty effective.

While touring the Australian outback, a group of friends studying Aborigine cave art finds a site protected by a voracious predator that regresses those it comes into contact with into a primal state, forcing them to come together to kill their friends before it gets to them.There's really not a whole lot against it as this was an absolutely fantastic film here. What really gives this one a lot to enjoy comes from the absolutely amazing set-up to their camping trip in that location which gives this a really creepy feeling. With them being out in the remote part of the forest and being surrounded by the area around them from the pool to the claustrophobic cave, filled with it's cramped spaces and darkened surroundings to their overrun campsite, this all makes for a really creepy situation here to launch into the frenetic and vicious attack scenes that are so frequent here. Relying a lot more on the set-up of their being reduced to an altered and deformed state along the way to match it physically as the short pace never lets up providing this one with plenty of great scenes. From the opening attack on the wall-painter to their slowly-building realization of what's happening to her as she comes under the possession at the campsite, there's a great base of action in place before really turning it up with the later scenes throughout here. The first freak-out with the possessed friend where they get to see firsthand how much more powerful and vicious they've become with the enhanced agility and hunting prowess, the invulnerability and the physical deformities that come along here makes for a wholly impressive attack, the ambush in the jungle where they attempt to trap it turns into several intense, high- energy chase around the woods attempting to get away from the brutal creature as they're completely overwhelmed into barely getting away through a freak occurrence and the later scenes where they get chased through the underbrush, along the river and tunnels are all really exciting and thrilling action scenes makes for some good times. It's also pretty brutal and gets in some amazing gore gags that look really nasty and vicious, helping to sell it even more. There's even some decent comedic attempts that showcase an actual group of friends ragging on each other without going overboard and a great sense of suspense in the stalking in the jungle that all make this a highly enjoyable entry. There's really only one main flaw in here which is the finale in the cave as the film's biggest surprise waiting in the bowels of the location that doesn't match the tone and feel found elsewhere as it comes off way too fantastical against the more realistic and natural tone that runs through the rest of the film, and along with the ridiculously over-the-top CGI that looks unbelievably fake, that's all that's really wrong here as the positives really overwhelm this one.Rated R: Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity and an attempted rape.

Australian horror film about a group of friends out in the wilderness to look at some ancient rock drawings. One becomes infected with a strange type of virus which turns her into a man-eating wild woman with super-strength and the rest of the group have to deal with fending her off whilst dealing with the possibility the rest of the group may suffer the same fate.For me, I rather enjoyed the film. Characters were interesting, dialogue good etc, but the CGI effects at the end of the film ruined it for me as they were not very well done and just made the whole thing rather unbelievable. I'm not a huge fan of CGI anyway, but when it's done badly it makes it worse.