Rogue | Greg McLean (2007)

Entertaining killer croc movie directed by Greg McLean, the director of Wolf Creek (2004) starring Rhada Mitchell (Pitch Black), Sam Worthington (Terminator Salvation) and Michael Vartan (Alias).

Chicago based travel writer Pete McKell (Vartan) is sent to Australia’s Northern Territory for an assignment. More used to reporting on luxurious hotels and fancy restaurants he is less than pleased to find himself in the middle of nowhere. Still he makes the best of it and after seeing newspaper clippings in a bar about crocodile attacks he joins a tourist group on a river trip run by Kate (Rhada Mitchell). Along for the ride are a likeable American with a neurotic wife, a hoity-toity English couple with their young daughter, an Australian photographer, a middle-aged widower intending to spread his wife’s ashes, and an Irish woman.

During the trip the boat’s progress is impeded by Neil (Sam Worthington) and his beer-swilling buddy. There is clearly a little history between Kate and Neil and things threaten get out of hand before she forces their speedboat out of the way. At the end of the tour and just as they are about to return to town the Americans spot a flare. Kate insists they have no choice but to respond and they head into an area considered sacred by the aborigines. There they find evidence of a recently sunk boat, but before they can investigate further their vessel is smashed by an unseen force and also begins to sink.

The group find themselves stranded on an island, but the tide is rising and eventually they are going to have to cross the river. Worthington and disposable best friend in a horror movie stop by and taunt the tourists. Unfortunately for them they don’t realise the group are waving to warn them about the huge crocodile whose hobbies include smashing boats and eating their crew. Disposable best friend never resurfaces, but Neil joins the survivors on the temporary island.

Rogue follows the formula handed down from other water-based horror films like Spielberg’s Jaws (1975), Piranha (1978) and more recently Anaconda (Luis Llosa 1997) in which a group of people are menaced by unusually large natural predators. There is nothing original here, but that’s part of the fun. We know the group are in trouble as soon as Kate says no crocodile has ever attacked her boat as crocs never attack anything bigger than them.

McLean toys efficiently with stereotypes and audience expectations. Who will get eaten first? Who will turn out to bet the most cowardly in the group? Most importantly we wonder who will survive as there are three main heroes, the spirited Kate, the rough, but brave Neil, and the handsome Vartan. McLean keeps us guessing right to the end and with the help of cinematographer Will Gibson makes wonderful use of the Northern Territory’s scenery. Unfortunately for McLean there was another killer croc movie out in 2007, Black Water (Andrew Traucki, David Nerlich) and it bagged a UK cinema release while Dimension have yet to give Rogue even the DVD release it deserves. Region 1 versions are available on import though and are worth thinking about.

Kevin Sturton