By Peter Maddern
When two star struck lovers (Ian and Sam – Ian Meadows and Harriet Dyer) happen upon a remote camping ground in the wilderness little do they know that swearing their love for each other may be the last useful act they engage in. Writer / Director Damien Power draws on a wealth of past Australian horror films when he then introduces two red-neck weirdoes, the impotent German (Aaron Pedersen) and Chook (Aaron Glenane) to commence the harassment and then, of course, the killing as this film gathers pace. Meanwhile, all are not alone as the tent along the banks of the idyll mountainside lake was once filled with a happy family including a toddler.
The highlight of the film is the non-linear plot that, once cottoned onto, allows us to put the pieces of the puzzle – previous and as they unfold – into their correct spots. Sadly for this reviewer the fun of it all disappeared then.
Opinion is likely to be divided between those who like these kind of grossly violent films with their wafer thin characters, asinine dialogue and deeply remote setting and those who feel they have seen all this before and wonder why we must again. The nice family and the two lovers just add to the cliché and the persistent use of a shotgun as weapon of choice also wears thin in the imagination stakes. How about wiping out a posse of good-looking but narcissistic millennials with sniper shots and poison darts? Now that would keep everybody cheering til the end.
As a first time production for an aspiring writer and director, Killing Ground reminded me of the flaccid offering of Martin McKenna in his Is the Real World of early last year. I reckon if you want to make a splash one needs to show more imagination than these stories held – they may be low budget but great, new ideas cost nothing.
Kryztoff Rating 2.5K
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