British backpackers Liz and Kirsty (Cassandra Magreth and Kestie Morassi) join their friend Ben (Nathan Phillips) in buying a car in which to travel the Australian outback. It proves to be a bad investment, breaking down in the isolated Wolf Creek National Park. Rescue comes in the shape of Mick Taylor (John Jarratt), an imposing but helpful local who offers to repair the car back at his camp. They agree and retire for the night but when Liz awakens, she's been tied up, drugged, and held prisoner. In the distance, Kirsty screams, and Ben is nowhere to be found...
Every year, around 30,000 people are reported missing in the Outback. It is estimated one tenth are never seen again. Taking that statistic, together with the high-profile abduction of British backpacker Peter Falconio, Greg McLean crafts an unnerving study of fear. Paced with immense skill, Wolf Creek starts as a shy romance, with Ben and Liz starting to build a mutual attraction. But a sense of dread drip-feeds the early stages and builds toward the arrival at Taylor's camp.
When the sadism begins it has all the more impact as a result, letting McLean fulfil his wish of subverting the cliched view of the rugged Aussie loner. A cracking gag about Crocodile Dundee marks the turning point, and Taylor is thereafter drawn as the devil incarnate. There's a supernatural element which softens the terror a little, but the performances from Magreth, Morassi and Jarratt are all too convincing for the horror to ebb away, even though much of it is implicit.