Fantastic!

Excellent, Without a doubt!!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

A student catches a man burying something in the woods and he seeks two of his friends who also make a couple to go there and dig out. In town a young girl has been missing and the kids believe that it's a possibility that indeed Tanya is buried over there and the cruel truth make their assumptions to be real. Fortunately, one of the boys manage to take a closer look at the killer's car so he decide to go after him and deliver to the police. Of course this will not be easy because in their way stand a man that wants to take revenge on the kids and they make the ultimate choice in order to get rid of the obstacle that stands between them. Will they succeed? The first 20 minutes are good, the action and the story keep the audience focused even through the middle of the movie but the last 30 minutes becomes dull and the story begins to get complicated towards the simple plot that has been at the start.An OK movie not a masterpiece but not the kind that you should neglect.

This is a small but nicely filmed dark Australian thriller. As is the case with many Australasian films it never worries about veering away from the predictable and this makes for an absorbing film. It follows 3 teenagers who happen to find a dead body and knowing who the killer is attempt to bribe him to help them with a local thug. I found this film grabbed my attention from the start helped by good believable performances from the 3 young leads. They are backed up well by Joel Edgerton, who has recently made it big thanks to his role in the excellent 'Warrior', and who really shines in this as the creepy local psychopath.It's a pretty grim story but never less than compelling and builds an impressive amount of tension as the film nears it's climax. This is a chilling and bleak film and whilst it's no classic I was surprised at just how good it was. A very impressive effort which is well worth more than one viewing.

This is not truly a horror, more of a slasher variation. Three teens stumble upon a serial killer. They decide to not call the police. That about settles it right there and then. About one hour more of absurd behaviour and thinking and the movie ends.The film had its good parts, mainly the relationship between the three teens and the psychological tension at the end. The middle, however, was pretty damn annoying, especially the flashbacks at twice the sound volume that instead of frightening me were making me fast forward.Bottom line: some Australian movies are very good. This is not one of them. I rate it slightly below average because of the premise. Could have been a lot better with a minimum of effort.

I saw what I believe to be the best Australian film of the year so far, Jon Hewitt's Acolytes.Acolytes is a stylish thriller with a killer premise. Get this…two bullied and molested teens discover a local serial killer in their suburb AND then set about blackmailing him to kill the bully who molested them. Hewitt has picked a top notch cast including excellent new comers Sebastian Gregory, Josua Payne and Hanna Mangan Lawrence to play the teens. Add to that three, yes, thats right three great psycho's! Lead by Joel Edgerton in an outstanding performance of serial killer du jour, Belinda McClory his deranged spouse and Michael Dorman as the teen raping bully, with swastika tattoos. Once you add these teens and these menacing adults, all hell breaks loose… Hewitt has crafted a balls to the wall serial thriller thats damn original and accomplished. You can see the influence of Larry Clark and David Lynch's Twin Peaks but Hewitt makes it all his own, in a Qld suburban back water, always ringing with the drones of emptiness. The script by Shayne Armstong, Shane Krouse and Hewitt is tight.If marketed correctly this film could be a break out hit with teens. The next Wolf Creek? It could well be. It makes all the right moves. The teens are real ala Larry Clark. They don't suck and have an attached PC agenda, they are non communicative, good looking and hip. The killers are dark with real menace. Joel Edgerton steals his scenes as the mild mannered local Ted Bundy, who sports a butterfly on his 4WD spare ala John Fowles The Collector. Dorman's petrol head rapist pours on the menace that tops Suburban Mayhem and provides a creepy thug who you can't wait to see buy the farm.The film is fast paced, tough and brutal. Not only that, it displays a confidence and directorial mastery from Hewitt that is surely to win him an IF or AFI nomination, if not award! Its nuanced and poetic mise en scene, brilliant sound design, excellent cinematography and tight structure mark it as clearly one of the best directed Oz features I have seen so far this year.The film leaves you shaken, thinking and unsettled. Its a truly great edition to the return to genre going on in Australian cinema at present. It will surely garner the interest of Hollywood. Oh, and did I mention it got into Toronto? What other Oz feature films can say that much? The world should get ready for a new auteur, Jon Hewitt.