History YMMV / WolfCreek

* CriticalDissonance: Interestingly, this was actually one of the better reviewed torture porn movies, at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences collectively hated it, with it getting a rare F score on Cinema Score at the time of its release (It's American release, which came out on Christmas Day 2005, probably didn't help.) That said, audiences did eventually warm up to it in later years, gaining a cult following over the years, with the film currently having a 6.2 rating on IMDB.

* CriticalDissonance: Interestingly, this was actually one of the better reviewed torture porn movies, at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences collectively hated it, with it getting a rare F score on Cinema Score at the time of its release (It's American release, which came out on Christmas Day 2005, probably didn't help.) That said, audiences did eventually warm up to it with, gaining a cult following over the years.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The film was praised for being subversive at the time [[spoiler: for killing off the obvious FinalGirl first and having the male be spared]]. But when horror remakes started popping up in the late 2000s and subverting and deconstructing the genre even more - particularly ''{{Film/Scream 4}}'' and ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', this film's efforts don't look quite as daring. The film was also considered quite graphic for the time, as the TorturePorn genre was only just starting to emerge (the first ''Film/SawI'' film was released just one year earlier, and ''{{Film/Hostel}}'' came out the same year). These days, the violence in ''Wolf Creek'' can seem comparatively tame to other horror movies of its kind.

* CommonKnowledge: The film is 'known' for being a {{Gorn}}-fest on the same level as ''{{Film/Saw}}'' and ''{{Film/Hostel}}''. It got this reputation for coming out as TorturePorn was slowly becoming a subgenre. Despite this, it's not particularly bloody. [[spoiler: Liz's death is horrifying]] but not explicitly graphic. What's more is that [[spoiler: there are only three victims]] and the horror comes from what Mick has probably done to Kristy and could potentially do again.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The film was praised for being subversive at the time [[spoiler: for killing off the obvious FinalGirl first and having the male be spared]]. But when horror remakes started popping up in the late 2000s and subverting and deconstructing the genre even more - particularly ''{{Film/Scream 4}}'' and ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', this film's efforts don't look quite as daring. The film was also considered quite graphic for the time, as the TorturePorn genre was only just starting to emerge (the first ''{{Film/Saw}}'' film was released just one year earlier, and ''{{Film/Hostel}}'' came out the same year). These days, the violence in ''Wolf Creek'' can seem comparatively tame to other horror movies of its kind.

* CompleteMonster:
** Film duology: [[FauxAffablyEvil Michael "Mick" Taylor]] is an Australian [[SerialKiller killer]], [[SerialRapist rapist]], and torturer who preys upon tourists visiting the Wolf Creek area, falsely befriending them before taking them back to his home and slowly torturing them to death. He has killed several dozen people including a little girl. One of his favorite methods is "head on a stick", where he [[AndIMustScream severs their spine to turn them into a human vegetable]]. At the end of the second film, he [[FrameUp frames one of his victims for his crimes, leading to the ruination of the victim's life]].
** Prequel novels ''Origin'' and ''Desolation Game'':
*** [[VillainProtagonist Michael "Mick" Taylor]] killed [[{{Matricide}} his mother]] who loved him dearly and killed a dog to force-feed it to its owner before killing him too. While being pursued by four other {{serial killer}}s, Mick tied up his girlfriend Rose and used her as rape bait to lure the killers into a trap, and killed one named Jerry by gutting him and force-feeding him his own intestines. During the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, he committed more atrocities, and continued [[SerialRapist raping]], torturing, and killing when he returned home.
*** ''Origin'': [[DirtyOldMan Jerry "The Fiddler"]] is an obese [[WouldHurtAChild pedophile]] Mick confronts while seeking to reclaim his knife. To protect his vile lair, Jerry sets up the surrounding mine with {{booby trap}}s to kill any intruders. Introduced to Mick raping a little girl, Mick finds Jerry's place littered with trophies and [[SerialKiller corpses]] of [[SerialRapist prior victims]]. When Mick's own victims are discovered by authorities, Jerry allies with a group of other killers to murder Mick and attempts to rape Mick's restrained girlfriend when attacking Mick's home.
*** ''Desolation Game'': [[SociopathicSoldier Sergeant Atkin]] was Mick's superior in UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar and a fellow killer who [[EvilMentor helped mold him into a "professional" murderer]]. Agreeing to give a village scraps of food in exchange for being allowed to rape their women, Atkin has Mick join him in a series of assaults and both enjoy [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing their victims]] as they violate them. The two even shoot a couple of friendly soldiers who happen to witness their attacks. Teaching Mick the "[[AndIMustScream head on a stick]]" technique by severing a man's spine, Atkin lets Mick torment and kill the paralyzed man. Accosted by the village elder for their murder of their own two soldiers, Atkin and Mick go on a spree raping and killing all the villagers they can before Atkin attempts to kill Mick for fear of him talking.
** TV miniseries: [[SerialKiller Michael "Mick" Taylor]] murders Eve Thorogood's family, and spends the rest of the series trying to kill her. Mick captures Eve's LoveInterest and tortures him before making her stab and kill her love interest herself. In the second season, Mick murders a man who had been his friend for decades to [[HeKnowsTooMuch eliminate someone who could connect him to his crimes]], and targets a large tour group because [[DisproportionateRetribution the guide said Mick wouldn't make a good tour guide]] due to how {{politically incorrect|Villain}} he was.

* UnbuiltTrope: As one of the codifiers of the TorturePorn genre, the film instead relies on the suspense of what torture ''might'' happen to the protagonists. We never see what happened to Kristy, and the horror is [[NothingIsScarier only implied]]. [[spoiler: The victims all escape the traps and have rather mundane deaths]] that aren't particularly gratuitous.

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: The film was praised for being subversive at the time [[spoiler: for killing off the obvious FinalGirl first and having the male be spared]]. But when horror remakes started popping up in the late 2000s and subverting and deconstructing the genre even more - particularly ''{{Film/Scream 4}}'' and ''Film/TheCabinInTheWoods'', this film's efforts don't look quite as daring. The film was also considered quite graphic - as TorturePorn was only just starting to emerge (the first ''{{Film/Saw}}'' film was released just one year earlier, and ''{{Film/Hostel}}'' came out the same year).

* MisaimedFandom: Disturbingly enough, more than a few xenophobic Australians think Mick has the right idea, never mind that he's killed plenty of his fellow Aussies in his bigoted crusade to keep his country pure, and given his ancestry, isn't exactly pure himself.

* CriticalDissonance: Interestingly, this was actually one of the better reviewed torture porn movies, at 52% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences collectively hated it, with it getting a rare F score on Cinema Score at the time of its release. That said, audiences did eventually warm up to it with, gaining a cult following over the years.

*** ''Origin'': [[DirtyOldMan Jerry "The Fiddler"]] is one of four {{serial killer}}s that Mick Taylor investigates while attempting to reclaim his knife. Jerry is an [[FatBastard obese]] pedophile who [[SerialRapist rapes]] and [[WouldHurtAChild kills]] children. Jerry lives in an abandoned mine that he has booby-trapped to kill intruders (we see the skeleton of one of his adult victims). When Mick enters Jerry's home, he sees Jerry raping a little girl, and finds trophies and corpses of three of his past victims, and also sees Jerry [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kill a dog]]. After Mick murders a touring couple, Jerry and the other killers decide to kill Mick out of revenge for allowing the bodies to be discovered, which brought police into the area and made it more likely for the killings of the other killers to be discovered. When the killers attack Mick’s home, Jerry tries to rape Mick's girlfriend Rose (who Mick had tied up to use as rape bait to lure the killers into a trap). Just before Mick kills Jerry, he tells Mick that he should have killed the two truckers who discovered the couples bodies, stating "You never let anyone go."
*** ''Desolation Game'': [[SociopathicSoldier Sergeant Atkin]], Mick's superior during his time in the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]], [[EvilMentor trained Mick, helping him go from an "amateur" to a "professional" killer]]. Atkin cut a deal with the elder of a starving village, so they would get scraps of food in exchange for letting Atkin rape their women. Atkin introduced Mick to this practice and let him join in. Mick and Atkin were both {{sadist}}ic, often [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] the women. One of Mick's rape victims ended up dying, but this did not stop Mick and Atkin. One night, two men stumble upon them during their rape session. Mick and Atkin shot the two men dead thinking they were enemy soldiers, showing no remorse when they learned they weren't. Atkin taught Mick the "head on a stick" technique, severing the spine of a terrified soldier cowering in his pajamas. Atkin let Mick stab the already paralyzed man in the back again, and [[OffWithHisHead saw off his head]] and [[DecapitationPresentation mount it on a spike]]. When Mick and Atkin returned to the village, the elder scolded them for killing the two men earlier and [[NeverMessWithGranny wacked Atkin with her cane]]. Atkin snapped the cane, [[SlashedThroat stabbed her in the throat]] with it, and raped and killed all the women he and Mick could. Atkin later tried to kill Mick [[LeaveNoWitnesses out of fear that he would talk about what they did]] despite their VillainousFriendship.

** [[FauxAffablyEvil Michael "Mick" Taylor]] is an Australian [[SerialKiller killer]], [[SerialRapist rapist]], and torturer who preys upon tourists visiting the Wolf Creek area, falsely befriending them before taking them back to his home and slowly torturing them to death. He has killed several dozen people including a little girl. One of his favorite methods is "head on a stick", where he [[AndIMustScream severs their spine to turn them into a human vegetable]]. At the end of the second film, he [[FrameUp frames one of his victims for his crimes, leading to the ruination of the victim’s life]]. In the prequel novels ''Origin'' and ''Desolation Game'', he [[{{Matricide}} killed his mother]] who loved him dearly and [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals killed a dog]] to force feed it to its owner before killing him too. While being pursued by four other serial killers, Mick tied up his girlfriend Rose and used her as rape bait to lure the killers into a trap, and killed one named Jerry by gutting him and force-feeding him his own intestines. During the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, he committed more atrocities, and continued raping, torturing, and killing when he returned home. In the TV miniseries, he murders Eve Thorogood's family, and spends the rest of the series trying to kill her. He captures her LoveInterest and tortures him before making her stab and kill her love interest herself. In the second season, he murders a man who had been his friend for decades to eliminate someone who could connect him to his crimes, and targets a large tour group because [[DisproportionateRetribution the guide said Mick wouldn't make a good tour guide due to how politically incorrect he was]].
** ''Origin'': In this prequel novel to the films, [[DirtyOldMan Jerry "The Fiddler"]] is one of four {{serial killer}}s that Mick Taylor investigates while attempting to reclaim his knife. Jerry is an [[FatBastard obese]] pedophile who [[SerialRapist rapes]] and [[WouldHurtAChild kills]] children. Jerry lives in an abandoned mine that he has booby-trapped to kill intruders (we see the skeleton of one of his adult victims). When Mick enters Jerry's home, he sees Jerry raping a little girl, and finds trophies and corpses of three of his past victims, and also sees Jerry [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kill a dog]]. After Mick murders a touring couple, Jerry and the other killers decide to kill Mick out of revenge for allowing the bodies to be discovered, which brought police into the area and made it more likely for the killings of the other killers to be discovered. When the killers attack Mick’s home, Jerry tries to rape Mick's girlfriend Rose (who Mick had tied up to lure the killers into a trap). Just before Mick kills Jerry, he tells Mick that he should have killed the two truckers who discovered the couples bodies, stating "You never let anyone go."
** ''Desolation Game'': In this second prequel novel, [[SociopathicSoldier Sergeant Atkin]], Mick's superior during his time in the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]], [[EvilMentor trained Mick, helping him go from an "amateur" to a "professional" killer]]. Atkin cut a deal with the elder of a starving village, so they would get scraps of food in exchange for letting Atkin rape their women. Atkin introduced Mick to this practice and let him join in. Mick and Atkin were both {{sadist}}ic, often [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] the women. One of Mick's rape victims ended up dying, but this did not stop Mick and Atkin. One night, two men stumble upon them during their rape session. Mick and Atkin shot the two men dead thinking they were enemy soldiers, showing no remorse when they learned they weren't. Atkin taught Mick the "head on a stick" technique, severing the spine of a terrified soldier cowering in his pajamas. Atkin let Mick stab the already paralyzed man in the back again, and [[OffWithHisHead saw off his head]] and [[DecapitationPresentation mount it on a spike]]. When Mick and Atkin returned to the village, the elder scolded them for killing the two men earlier and [[NeverMessWithGranny wacked Atkin with her cane]]. Atkin snapped the cane, [[SlashedThroat stabbed her in the throat]] with it, and raped and killed all the women he and Mick could. Atkin later tried to kill Mick [[LeaveNoWitnesses out of fear that he would talk about what they did]] despite their VillainousFriendship.

* FunnyAneurysmMoment: Early in the film Liz makes a joke "after last night, never drinking again" as an explanation for why they haven't brought booze. [[spoiler: As she's killed during her trip, it turns out she never will drink again]].

* UnfortunateImplications: As noted by Creator/RogerEbert in his [[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/wolf-creek-2005 review]], the film's voyeuristic emphasis on the female characters' suffering gives it an uncomfortably misogynist vibe.

* WhatAnIdiot: Liz shoots Mick and knocks him out with the gun. While he's at her mercy, she does not shoot him in the head or make sure he's definitely dead. [[spoiler: Because she doesn't act in this vital moment, she and Kristy end up dead]].

** ''Wolf Creek: Origin'': In this prequel novel to the films, [[DirtyOldMan Jerry "The Fiddler"]] is one of four {{serial killer}}s that Mick Taylor investigates while attempting to reclaim his knife. Jerry is an [[FatBastard obese]] pedophile who [[SerialRapist rapes]] and [[WouldHurtAChild kills]] children. Jerry lives in an abandoned mine that he has booby-trapped to kill intruders (we see the skeleton of one of his adult victims). When Mick enters Jerry's home, he sees Jerry raping a little girl, and finds trophies and corpses of three of his past victims, and also sees Jerry [[BadPeopleAbuseAnimals kill a dog]]. After Mick murders a touring couple, Jerry and the other killers decide to kill Mick out of revenge for allowing the bodies to be discovered, which brought police into the area and made it more likely for the killings of the other killers to be discovered. When the killers attack Mick’s home, Jerry tries to rape Mick's girlfriend Rose (who Mick had tied up to lure the killers into a trap). Just before Mick kills Jerry, he tells Mick that he should have killed the two truckers who discovered the couples bodies, stating "You never let anyone go."
** ''Wolf Creek: Desolation Game'': In this second prequel novel, [[SociopathicSoldier Sergeant Atkin]], Mick's superior during his time in the [[UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar Vietnam War]], [[EvilMentor trained Mick, helping him go from an "amateur" to a "professional" killer]]. Atkin cut a deal with the elder of a starving village, so they would get scraps of food in exchange for letting Atkin rape their women. Atkin introduced Mick to this practice and let him join in. Mick and Atkin were both {{sadist}}ic, often [[ColdBloodedTorture torturing]] the women. One of Mick's rape victims ended up dying, but this did not stop Mick and Atkin. One night, two men stumble upon them during their rape session. Mick and Atkin shot the two men dead thinking they were enemy soldiers, showing no remorse when they learned they weren't. Atkin taught Mick the "head on a stick" technique, severing the spine of a terrified soldier cowering in his pajamas. Atkin let Mick stab the already paralyzed man in the back again, and [[OffWithHisHead saw off his head]] and [[DecapitationPresentation mount it on a spike]]. When Mick and Atkin returned to the village, the elder scolded them for killing the two men earlier and [[NeverMessWithGranny wacked Atkin with her cane]]. Atkin snapped the cane, [[SlashedThroat stabbed her in the throat]] with it, and raped and killed all the women he and Mick could. Atkin later tried to kill Mick [[LeaveNoWitnesses out of fear that he would talk about what they did]] despite their VillainousFriendship.

* SoBleakItsBoring: The horrific violence inflicted on the protagonists is meant to make the viewers empathize with them, which works well with some viewers, but not with others. Many audience members just stop caring after all the violence they see. The fact that Mick Taylor constantly [[spoiler:[[KarmaHoudini gets away with his crimes]]]] doesn't help.
--> '''Creator/RogerEbert''': "I know, I know, my job as a critic is to praise the director for showing low budget filmmaking skills and creating a tense atmosphere and evoking emptiness and menace in the outback, blah, blah. But in telling a story like this, the better he is, the worse the experience. Perhaps his job as a director is to make a movie I can sit through without dismay."