"Don't open that door! Don't waste time with that! Just run!"

If there's a bane of horror movies, it's that they lose credibility when the characters do blatantly stupid things that lead inevitably to their demise. Wolf Creek almost avoids this trap. So much so that it's going to warrant another watch or two. If subsequent viewings don't show flaws, this one will be one of the best horror movies I've seen in years.

With the opening plot to the movie, a jaded horror buff could be forgiven for thinking that he's in for yet another take on the cliche'd "kids take a wrong turn, meet a maniac or two and die". Sure. That's how it begins, but it does it so well that it's hard to take fault with it. Based on actual events, the plot follows three tourists on a long cross-country trip through the Australian outback take a stop at Wolf Creek National Park for a quick hike to see the massive crater at the center. When they return to their car, they find that it won't start. Before long, they're saved by an old fellow named Mick. Things get worse from here.

The actors in the movie are either British or Australian and only one from any movie fans of the genre would have seen before. Kestie Morassi plays a nurse in the lame Darkness Falls. For virtual unknowns, these actors make their parts believable and just likeable enough that you almost begin to care what happens to them.

For his first feature length film, writer/director Greg McLean does an excellent job of keeping up the tension needed for this type of film. The camera work is nice and fast paced with some odd angles that cause a sense of foreboding throughout the film, even during the first half of the movie when nothing is really happening. If he keeps this up, he has a promising future ahead.

As for the DVD itself, the transfer is nice enough with only a little grain here and there. The special features are a little light with only one deleted scene and one trailer, but the hour long making-of featurette almost makes up for that. It's a rare treat that we get more than a 20 minute feature for any horror movie these days.

Wolf Creek is a new take along side the multitude of Texas Chainsaw Massacre rip-offs. The difference? When Wrong Turn is long forgotten, you'll still remember this one. It definately deserves a spot on any horror fan's DVD shelf.