Alenbalz Got sucked in by the IMDb rating for what turned out to be a long bit of disjoint rubbish, and stupid scene after stupid scene with Lousy acting, even for it's time, albeit for an interesting storyline/plot. And typical of many Australian movies of the period, trying to impress the overseas audience, with a couple of gratuitous scenes of all of the famous Australian wildlife, kangaroos, koalas, blue tongue lizard, wedge-tail eagle, cockatoos and the elusive Tasmanian Devil: and for those who don't know their Australian natural history very well, it doesn't really matter what the elusive Tasmanian Devil (which is called that because it is ONLY found in Tasmania), is doing on a mainland Australian beach. The man is an environmental vandal and the woman a typical frustrated/nagging suburban cliché, both are out of their comfort zones in the wild (nature). Man with a gun, as an answer to whatever he doesn't understand, whose answer is to shoot willy nilly in the direction of any nightly sound: and one of the stupid scenes is- down comes a woman's shoe when he shoots in the night sky. Both the man and woman manage to drive round in circles, woman at night, and man during the day. and don't even wonder, What's the point of having a 4wheel drive, if after you get bogged, you (man) simply abandon the car and run around like a chook without a head. This is not a movie of nature reaking revenge on two city slickers, but more a movie of two city slickers way out of their element.

Leofwine_draca LONG WEEKEND tells a story with an intriguing premise. In it, a bickering couple spend a weekend on the Australian coast, where they soon find themselves at the mercy of a vengeful nature determined to make amends for their abuse of their environment. It's an eerie, subtle and atmospheric piece of film-making that most resembles a '70s-era BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, with the emphasis on psychological over physical terror.Sadly, I ended up wanting to like this film a lot more than I actually did. Although the premise is excellent, the execution just isn't that hot. Way too much of the running time is spent with the two obnoxious characters bickering and fighting all of the time, which makes for a sometimes excruciating viewing experience; I was praying that nature would hurry up and give these guys their just deserts.The acting is mediocre at best, but the real problem lies with Colin Eggleston's direction, which fails to make the best of his set-up. Sure, the animal attack sequences are fairly well-staged, and there's no denying the inevitability and power of THAT ending, but the rest of it is just a little, well, dull. I just didn't get the level of eeriness from it that I needed; it pales in comparison to BLAIR WITCH, which showed less but which was a whole lot more effective as a horror film.

Spikeopath Long Weekend is directed by Colin Eggleston and written by Everett De Roche. It stars John Hargreaves and Briony Behets. Music is by Michael Carlos and cinematography by Vincent Monton.Peter and Marcia, their marriage teetering on the rocks, go away for what is hoped will be an idyllic long weekend of camping by the sea. But as they disrespect nature, nature decides enough is enough...Australia has produced some excellent horror movies over the decades, sitting up with the best of them is this, an abject lesson in terror wrung out from a minimalist situation. What you think is just going to be a standard "when animals attack" movie, proves to be something of far more depth and consequence. The animals do indeed attack, after Peter and Marcia carelessly trample nature's beings and foliage, where she's a ball of anger and ignorance and he's a machismo searching buffoon, but the horrors are not merely confined to what old Mother nature responds with, the horrors within the couple's marriage strike hugely audible chords, even marrying up to events unfolding in this not so idyllic paradise the couple thought they had found.Director Eggleston doesn't just plunge the couple (and us) straight into terror, he affords time for the story to build, for us to get a handle on the warring pair. He also niftily throws up a grey area in the first quarter by having the first act of carelessness as being accidental, it could happen to you or I, in fact this passage of the film has tricked us into having some empathy with the clearly troubled couple, but then bam! Eggleston puts an axe in Peter's hand and a can of insecticide in Marcia's and the film shifts into another gear. Items are brought into the narrative and dangled tantalisingly, but the director isn't clumsy in reintroducing them at a later point in the picture, the timing is right because now, as the film enters the last third, it's edge of the seat time.With such a minimalist setting, and using only two humans and their pet dog, the makers need to make their key scenes work to an optimum level. Thankfully that is the case, from a swimming scene to one where Peter is alone at night by the fire being haunted by noises all around him, it's a film of genuinely scary scenes. This is where the sound department come in and do wonders, the sounds of nature are amplified considerably for total unnerving effect, while the ambient swells for build up sequences gnaw away at the senses. Both Hargreaves and Behets are natural, and excellent because of it, while there's some beautiful natural Australian vistas brought out of the screen by Monton's photography.This is not a bloody film, but it doesn't need to be, it's an exercise in sharp breath holding terror. Messages and metaphors are there to pay heed to, but mostly this is just bloody great entertainment. 8/10

Cujo108 A bickering couple decide to spend a long weekend at a secluded beach. Once there, the disrespect they show for their surroundings leads to nature taking it's revenge on them.This is the epitome of Australian horror. Not only is it the best horror film to come from down under, but it's one of the best horror films, period. I first discovered this film back in the late 90's and was quite blown away by it. I love the nature strikes back sub-genre, but never had I found such films to be legitimately frightening. "Long Weekend", however, really got to me. I'm happy to say that it's still just as effective to this day.The mood, the haunting score, the atmosphere of the beach and the overall sense of nature conspiring against the characters all makes for a remarkable amount of tension. I love this film for many of the same reasons that I love "The Blair Witch Project", though there are many differences between the two as well. What's more, the animals attacks never come off as fake. A scene where an eagle comes in search of it's egg is raw and eerie. There are no fake birds on wires or men in bear suits to be found here. Our two leads aren't very likable, but that doesn't keep the film from being an unsettling experience. You have to love the ending too, which brings things full circle.A masterpiece of mood and tension, "Long Weekend" stands the test of time.