I reviewed Wolf Creek a little while ago, and it was good, a very effective horror with some totally genuinely horror moments. Please do read the review, there are never any spoilers in my reviews, and hopefully enough information to let you decide if you want to see it or not.
Except if you’re waiting to see it now, you might be disappointed. The Film Distributors are possibly going to delay the movie because…
…its psychopath main character could influence an Australian murder trial beginning next week. Low-budget thriller Wolf Creek is loosely based on the disappearance of British backpacker Peter Falconio from a remote outback highway in 2001. The body of the 28-year-old has never been found but former mechanic Bradley Murdoch will be tried for his murder in Darwin on Monday. However lawyers in the case are worried the release of the horror movie – about three young travelers abducted in the outback by a violent madman – could prejudice Murdoch’s trial and have pleaded for its release to be delayed.
The decision is supposed to be announced today, and for the sake of the trial I don’t see the real harm in a little delay. However, I’m never gullable enough to believe in this nanny-istic notion that people cannot make their minds up for themselves and view things with subjectivity. The movie isn’t the story of the events that happened to Falconio or what Murdoch did or did not do. Still it looks set for a delay, and there’s no harm done…is there? Surely there’s not enough of a connection to alter the jury’s minds?
Wow. I didn’t know any of that, thanks for that James. Interesting reading.
It’s quite a grown up attitude to take actually. I like the idea of protecting a Jury to such lengths but not banning movies.
I don’t know if you’ve heard the latest on this or not, Richard, but the delay over the release of the film applies only to the Northern Territory (where the trial is now underway) and was never going to be delayed in any of the other states (and it wouldn’t affect the film’s release schedule in other countries anyway). It releases on November 3rd everywhere else in Australia, as per schedule.
This isn’t the first time this has happened, of course; back in 1989 there was some trial or other in the US about international money laundering where the jury were banned from seeing “Lethal Weapon 2” in case it influenced them. And in Australia there was the mini-series “Blue Murder”, which was made in 1995 but couldn’t be screened in New South Wales until 2001 (by which time it had already been aired twice in all the other states) in case it had any effect on a criminal trial here in NSW.