Long Weekend
Director: Colin Eggleston
Cast: John Hargreaves, Briony Behets
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons
Long Weekend is the eco-horror flick from the land down under, Australia. It’s a hard movie to easily categorize as it is part relationship drama, part nature film, and finally towards the end, an animal attack flick, thus its link to the horror genre. The pace of the film is extremely measured, some might call it downright slow, but it does deliver with a very minimal cast of two, who are both very well developed characters, combined with some undeniably beautiful cinematography. A cult classic, and one that has been hard to find, this film is now available from the always excellent Synapse Films. Is it worth a get? Well grab your hiking shoes and please don’t litter, we’re off for a Long Weekend.
A bickering married couple, Peter and Marcia, go on a camping holiday in isolated wilderness of Australia. You know, the continent that always tops the list of world’s most deadliest this, and most poisonous that. Gee, whatever could go wrong with that idea? Anyway, this is a marriage hanging by a thread, and actors John Hargreaves and Briony Behets do a great job of portraying that. They have a great chemistry, or almost anti-chemistry, as they have a believable seething malice towards each other here. However, this movie does sort of beat that into the ground, as it all seems to go on and on a bit too long. As good as the acting was, and as beautiful as the scenic side of Australia was captured on film, I must admit I was starting to check my watch before events picked up, and that’s never a good thing.
That said, from the start this film lays it’s premise out, as Peter and Marcia turn out to be first rate assholes when it comes to nature. Things start off small with them littering, chopping down a tree, and spraying pesticide all over the place, and eventually ramps up with the death of wildlife. Eventually Mother Nature can’t stand no more and seeks revenge with the aid of all sorts of Aussie animals. Here begins the horror aspect to this otherwise slice of matrimonial melodrama, and it is glorious, in an admittedly cheesy sort of way. Unlike most other animal attacks movies that would give you killer bears, wolves, piranha and sharks, Long Weekend focus on some distinctly Australian animals and a few critters you would think as being all that dangerous. Kangaroos, possums, eagles, and even manatee-like dugongs all get in on the action here. Does the bitchy couple survive nature’s wrath? Does their marriage? Well for that, you’ll have to watch the movie, but one thing’s for sure, they went through a hell of a Long Weekend.
Now on to the extras and goodies Synapse Films has included with this Blu-ray. First and foremost, it can’t be overstated just how good this movie looks, but that’s what Synapse does. No one, but no one puts as much time and effort into making their releases look as best as they can as Synapse does, and this is clearly evident in this gorgeous looking HD transfer. In addition to that there is an audio commentary track with producer Richard Brennan and cinematographer Vincent Monton. There is a short (about five minutes) audio interview with the late star, john Hargreaves, set to a still picture gallery. The original theatrical trailer is also found here.
Long Weekend isn’t a movie for every horror fan. Admirers of Aussie or late 70s cinema will get more bang for their buck here. So will anyone who just loves animal attack movies or relationship dramas set in the backdrop of some truly beautiful wildness, that don’t mind the occasional woodland critter trying to bite the face off of someone. If you fall into any of these categories, give this one a try. It gets a conditional recommendation from me.
