Expected more

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

The reviews on this site for "Long Weekend" are positively hyperbolic: "the epitome of Australian horror" opines one gushing reviewer; who goes on to proclaim it as the "best horror film to come from down under" "lost Aussie masterpiece!!!" asserts another, who must really mean it, as they have punctuated this statement with three exclamation points! I'm sorry to say that I found this film to be fatuous, fatuous with at least 5 exclamation points. The plot is basically thus: Aussie bloke takes his frigid wife on a mini-break out of town for the weekend. His wife is the biggest whinger OF ALL TIME a bold move then, that the writer should choose to play against type and make her...English. Yes, she's whinging AND she's a pom - you learn something new every day.So this unlikable couple, who I cared not a jot for, reach their deserted getaway; en route they run over a roo on the highway, which subsequently turns out to be a rather bad move because this act (and some other crimes against nature) has made nature....very angry! an eagle attacks the Aussie bloke, then a possum bites his finger, something moans in the distance (creepy, apparently) but really, I didn't care, as after about 40 minutes of this film I had reached the critical mass point; a point where I know that the chances of the the film getting any better, are virtually nil, as the stall has been set, the cards have been dealt and you realise you are watching a stinker.

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.

I saw this film on the strength of how Tarantino raved about it as some kind of unknown classic on the Not Quite Hollywood documentary.The 92 minutes it took to watch Long Weekend seemed like 3 weeks.The film is well made but as it is such a thin, boring story with poor dialogue, bad acting and two main characters who are so unlikable that it was impossible to care about them, this was destined to be a real drag.I usually write longer reviews than this but I'm not prepared to give up any more time on this film.Avoid it.

"Nature Revolts" is somewhat the generic term for a sub genre of horror that was particularly huge throughout the 70's decade. Basically all these films are the illegal offspring of Alfred Hitchcock's legendary milestone "The Birds", released in 1963, but the popularity only skyrocketed during the 1970's, when creative exploitation directors began using all sorts of unlikely animal species as crusaders against the ongoing pollution and abuse of our planet's ecological system. This crazy but oh-so-delightful sub genre includes movies with murderous frogs ("Frogs"), rats ("Food of the Gods"), mutant bears ("Prophecy"), rabbits ("Night of the Lepus"), cockroaches ("Bug") and even worms ("Squirm"). The Australian-made "Long Weekend" is a peculiar but extremely worthwhile contribution to the "Nature Revolts" sub genre, as it doesn't focus on one animal species in particular but puts forward the entire Eco-system as a combatant. In a last attempt to save their already stranded marriage, Peter and Marcia head out to a secluded camping site near a beautiful beach. Since they're so incredibly preoccupied with their own relationship problems, they don't even notice all the harm they cause to the world surrounding them, like starting forest fires, road-killing kangaroos and littering the woods. As the couple's personal problems grow worse, so does their disrespect. Marcia hates the camping trip and sprays insecticides all around, while Peter randomly fires his shotgun at everything that moves. After numerous little and not-so-little incidents, nature declares war and promptly all animals in the area combine forces. Please, don't go into "Long Weekend" expecting a highly exhilarating and non-stop spectacular thrill-ride. This film moves along at a very slow pace and absolutely nothing happens throughout quasi the entire middle-section. Instead, the suspense is patiently brooding and the intelligent script (courtesy of Everett De Roche, who wrote practically ever horror movie that was ever made in Australia) is packed with heavy symbolism. For example, it's never really clear whether Mother Earth is so angry with the couple because they are so nonchalant … or because they committed a much more dreadful crime against nature (which is simultaneously the root of their personal troubles). Especially the last twenty minutes are oddly unsettling and tense, with John and Marcia steadily going paranoia due to recurring bunyip cadavers, virulent eagles and escape routes that always end where they started. The whole climax is made extra disturbing because there are no more dialogs; only uncanny natural sounds. The end shot will make a shock-impact even though you could never really sympathize with the protagonists. Competently directed by Colin Eggleston and featuring some of the most plausible acting performances I've ever seen, "Long Weekend" is another genuine Aussie horror sleeper.