Review by Geoff Jenke
When a young suburban couple decide to go camping for New Years Eve, they arrive at their isolated destination to discover another tent already set up. There were no signs of the owners, but they discover a child wandering around alone. This sets off a terrifying chain of events that push them to their limits and beyond.
Killing Ground is yet another Australian “don’t go into the bush alone” semi horror story in the tradition of Wolf Creek, Blair Witch Project and at times even the 1970’s movie Deliverance.
The first half of the movie is told in two different time lines, the current couple, Ian and Sam and the other missing camping people from a few days before. The story lines eventually collide in a torrent of brutality and death. Whilst it is a violent film, a lot of it is “suggested” violence, in that you don’t actually see it.
The story line is not something totally original with campers going alone into the bush, people dying and the audience left pondering who will survive. Actually in this movie it is not hard to pick who will survive and who will be the hero, but there are plenty of twists and turns to give doubt to your early choices.
Killing Ground is not really a full-on horror movie, more a violent suspenseful disturbing thriller.
Stars Aaron Pederson (Mystery Road) and Aaron Glenane (Drift, Molly) as German and Chook who both ooze evil from the moment we meet them. Also stars Harriet Dyer (Love Child, Rake) and Ian Meadows (The Wrong Girl, The Moody’s) as the luckless couple going camping. Both put in strong stellar performances under what must have been chilling filming.
Killing Ground is set in beautiful rural Australia. It is a slow burner for the first half, but then once the real horror starts, the movie becomes a violent and disturbing first class B-grade film.
Directed by Damien Power who also wrote the screenplay for the movie.
No Comments