Review of Rogue

Australian horror marches to it's own beat and we've many examples like Dying Breed, Wolf Creek, The Ruins etc... and Rogue is yet another successful entry. Based on a true story of a killer croc named Sweetheart between 1974 & 1979. Since I'd seen Greg McLean's other movie, Wolf Creek, I decided to give this a try, as this looked promising and with a couple of my friends, we went to see it in the cinema. For days we talked nothing but this movie and the best quote said by Neil (Sam Worthington) "Like I said, now is the best time to move because the fucker is busy."

On to the film: Rogue opens in a very National Geographic documentary sort of a way with Radha Mitchell explaining all the birds and the bees and the crocodiles with rather impressive wide shots of the Australian Outback. The film is 1 hour 30 minutes and for the first half-hour it's all just dialogues and wandering around and then the flare happens. Within that 1 hour left, the action and suspense is so well scripted and well shown, that it keeps you on the edge of your seat with anticipation and sweat. Almost everyone gave a rather convincing performance in their respective characters but I really enjoyed Radha Mitchell's performance as Kate and Michael Vartan's performance as Pete and also Sam Worthington, who in his short screen appearance, managed to play a quite likable hero and a memorable character.

Overall, the mood of this film is very intense and surprisingly realistic and none of that cliche-stuff. The way the crocodile leaps up gets me every-time and on top of that, add the spine-chillingly music that only elevates the suspense and unpredictable atmosphere of the film. If you're a fan of 'animal-themed' movies, then Rogue is a must-watch and even though the crocodile itself hardly appears onscreen, it's absence only makes it feel like as if it is! The ending was very "well, that had to happen" and even in that, manages to end on a somewhat good note. A movie not to be missed!

9.1/10