Storm Warning

After Wolf Creek, this is my second encounter with Australian hixploitation (at least off the top of my head), and it turned out better than expected. It follows a pretty well trodden path, the only minor surprise is the proportion of casualties between the good and the evil characters – a small dose of originality never hurts. The yokels look very nasty, the fear for the fate of the heroes pulls you into the action and you want them to take proper revenge on those redneck assholes. At times it’s pretty bloody – there’s one scene that was almost unpleasant (you’ll know when you see it…), and the atmosphere is effective, too. Storm Warning is something I must recommend to horror fans, it’s the best hixploitation film in recent years. 90% (22.12.2007)

The exposition is embarrassingly dull and sterile (we only learn that the protagonist is from France and doesn't really like killing anything), but the rest of it pretty much kicked my ass. The first hixploitation since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre that didn't bore me, physically disgusted me, surprised me, and made me care about the heroes and loath the villains. While stylistically unremarkable and occasionally a little too harsh (don't let the previous sentence fool you, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is somewhere else entirely), Blanks has the film firmly in hand throughout, evoking believable psychological terror and ultimately unleashing an imaginative revenge party that keeps you crossing your fingers for the hot chick and griping surprisingly little about the characters' illogical behaviour or unlikely consequences. And when it comes to physical violence, it has grace and the desired effect (there are two scenes that I'll remember for a long time). I kept telling myself that it would eventually drop somehow and that I could defend a mediocre rating, but it didn't. A small, unassuming, likeable carnage. Horror fans welcome. (29.05.2018)