Long Weekend (1978)

"Their crime was against nature. Nature found them guilty."

Synopsis: The story concerns a couple, Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets), who, along with their dog, go for a weekend camping trip. The pair show incredible disrespect for nature, such as polluting, killing an innocent dugong, throwing lit cigarette butts in dry bush, and spraying insecticide, among other transgressions. As tensions between the couple escalate, nature is not pleased with their environmental wrongdoing and starts to strike back, first by an eagle and possum attacking Peter, and then through more insidious means...

My Thoughts: This is probably the oldest Australian movie that I've seen to date, but apparently even back in the late 70's the Aussies really knew how to help the cinematography of their films by using their incredible landscapes. The only difference here is they filmed about half of it on the beach which was still amazing visually, but does hurt the overall creepiness of the movie. Obviously, it would have been easier for the director to shoot scarier scenes in the middle of the woods than on a secluded beach, so I give him credit for not going the easy route. Plus, I gotta admit all of those mysterious cries & screams coming from the water were a little unnerving.

The two lead actors are really good as the dysfunctional husband and wife. Peter starts off as your average inconsiderate married guy and Marcia is the typical bitchy wife. By the time the reasons behind their marital problems are revealed, the couple was almost completely unlikable and by the last twenty minutes you find yourself rooting for the animals to finish them off.

This was a slow mover, but it never put me to sleep and the acting was good enough to where you almost felt like you were listening in on a couple fighting at a bar. Which is always fun!

My Rating: 6 / 10




Worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of Aussie films ...like yours truly. A remake was released in 2008 starring Jim Caviezel (Passion of the Christ, Highwaymen) under the title, "Nature's Grave" in the U.S.

"click here to see the trailer"