Release Year: 2007
Country: Australia
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Sam Worthington, Caroline Brazier, Stephen Curry, Celia Ireland, John Jarratt , Heather Mitchell, Geoff Morrell, Damien Richardson , Robert Taylor, Mia Wasikowska, Barry Otto.
Writer: Greg McLean
Director: Greg McLean
Cinematographer: Will Gibson
Music: Francois Tataz
Producer: Matt Hearn, David Lightfoot , Greg Mclean
Availability: Buy it from Amazon

This movie came and went completely under my radar (a proposed theatrical release was torpedoed when another giant crocodile movie, Primeval, bombed at the box office) until not too long ago when someone else mentioned that, as a fan of movies in which crocodiles and alligators (and, one assumes, caimans if anyone ever made such a movie) attack and eat unfortunate boaters, I should probably see Rogue, a killer croc movie from the Aussie guy who brought us the road trip torture-horror film Wolf Creek. I was hesitant at first, because Wolf Creek was that awful breed of film that is almost good, which is far worse than being merely bad. It did so many things right, but the things it did wrong were so irritating and stupid that it made me hate the film far more than if it had just been crummy from start to finish. But still, it’s giant crocodiles eating people this time out, and the promise shown by Greg McLean was enough to convince me. Plus, it would be nice to watch a killer crocodile movie made by people in a country where you can actually get eaten by a crocodile.

The first thing to note about the movie is how beautifully shot it is. The second thing to notice is how low key it is, which was a real shocker for me, expecting as I did some mix of the visceral madness of Wolf Creek and the rampaging animal-monster goofiness of your standard Sci-Fi Channel “giant animals attack” movie. What we have instead is a movie that puts a lot of effort into developing tension and characters that exist in a well-worn and typical scenario: a disparate group of people — including a group of river tourists, their guide, and a couple of the Aussie equivalent of good ol’ boys (I assume they are good ol’ blokes) — find themselves cut off from civilization and rescue when a massive, exceptionally aggressive crocodile corners them in a remote and cell phone-unfriendly backwater of a river. Character strengths and weaknesses emerge in the ensuing struggle to stay alive as nature closes in a round them from all sides. In other words,McLean made a b-movie, but didn’t handle it with the flippant “don’t give a damn, because it’s just a stupid b-movie” attitude so many directors seem to possess.

I said that Wolf Creek was an almost good movie sunk by a few dumb but impossible to ignore flaws. Rogue turns out to be a rather rote “cut from the cloth of Jaws” movie that is made exceptional by the things it does right. Characterization is strong and, perhaps more importantly, believable. Sure, some people make stupid decisions, but they are stupid decisions that pretty much anyone in the real world might make when faced with such an extreme and unfamiliar threat. Even the unlikable croc bait characters are unlikable for very understandable reasons — panic and fear — rather than in that usual, superficially bitchy “jerk just to be a jerk” style upon which so many horror films rely. As a result, when people are put in danger, the film really manages to engage the viewer in their plight Normally, you just wait around until the next asshole gets bitten by a CGI reptile. Here, you’re actually rooting for the characters not to die, even though you know some will, and that ratchets up the intensity of the film even though the croc spends very little time on-screen. It is the unseen menace, lurking just out of sight but influencing everything that happens, showing up only when it’s most effective.

Radha Mitchell (Silent Hill) makes for a completely believable heroine, but the real star of the movie (besides the giant crocodile) is definitely the spare but breathtaking Australian scenery. Where as Wolf Creek wallowed in the grit and grime of its affable Outback psychopath, Rogue is practically a love letter travelogue to the dramatic landscape of the region, at least until the crocodile shows up and starts devouring tourists. It trades in the same basic principal as Wolf Creek, relying on the remoteness of certain corners of Australia to isolate modern people from the comforts and security upon which they would otherwise rely, then setting loose a killer in that environment that is as serene and beautiful as it is threatening and deadly. Australia itself has always been the best friend of the Australian filmmaker, after all. Still, that’s not meant to short change the cast, all of whom deliver solid, professional performances that help elevate Rogue even further above the heads and tails of the other “rampagin’ reptile” movies with which it is fated to be categorized.

McLean remains a writer-director worth paying attention to. Although I know the leisurely pace, low key tone, and minimal though effective use of giant fangs and gore will lose some people looking for something with a little more insanity in the mix, I really thought Rogue was an outstanding little film that deserved more exposure than it got. Luckily, word of mouth among cult film fans made sure that Rogue didn’t pass into the bargain bin unnoticed, where it would languish beside Dino Croc and other genuinely crappy giant crocodile/alligator movies — not that I don’t love Dino Croc, mind you, or even Super Gator, but Rogue is a reptile of a different color entirely.