Rogue

Last night, I watched Rogue.

This is the second feature written and directed by Greg Mclean, who did Wolf Creek. I liked Wolf Creek without quite loving it. Rogue is a very similar movie in terms of set-up - a group of tourists wander into the Australian Outback and blunder into the territory of an aggressive alpha male; in Wolf Creek, it was a serial killer, here it's a giant crocodile. They serve the same function.

There are a lotta horror movies that follow the Alien/Aliens pattern of establishing a group of victims, each with their own little identifying characteristic or hangup. This is frequently handled in the most ham-fisted way possible, making for plenty of shitty horror movies.

Rogue follows the same pattern, and a lotta them fit standard horror stereotypes: the whiny woman, the good guy, the stand-up female protagonist, the squirrelly dude who fucks it up for everyone else, the funny guy, etc.

The difference is, Rogue does this stuff well. Thanks to a combination of good writing, acting and direction, though I could see the structure, it never felt forced or inorganic. The f/x on the croc are great. The situation is dire. Never for one second was I bored. I never rolled by eyes.

So... Rogue is a by-the-numbers creature feature siege/survival horror flick, but it's elevated by consistently great execution. I can easily say this is the best croc/gator movie I've ever seen. I'm excited to see what Greg Mclean's next project might be.