Last year, I was subjected to M. Night Shyamalan’s THE HAPPENING, a film where nature took over and made humans kill one another. The film was a mess in its story, script and acting. It made no sense and we never really got the idea of what was going on. NATURE’S GRAVE is a remake of the 1978 film LONG WEEKEND. It fares better than THE HAPPENING, but is still a weak film about when nature decides to fight back.
The film’s plot is simple: A couple Peter (Jim Caviezel) and Carla (Claudia Karvan), whose relationship is on the rocks, decides to get out into the Australian wilderness to try to work things out. Things just seem to get worse, especially when they think they hear a baby crying at night. Paranoia sets in, and they notice a large sea animal in the water. It turns out that sea animal is just a manatee that ends up dead on the beach, or so we think. As more and more odd things begin to happen, the couple begin to let out all their problems on each other as animals attack and nature seems to be stalking them. They soon learn that something is not right. However, the couple still cannot seem to get along. Nature plays on their feelings, and uses these feelings to rip the couple apart.
I do not know where to begin. The story is all over the place and the film starts so slowly that by the time the real action begins, the film abruptly ends. The first hour of the film is just the couple fighting and cursing each other out. Some strange things happen, but they take a back seat to the unstable relationship and excessive use of the “F” word. The story is left so open that I really just did not get it. You really do not know if it’s nature doing all of this or if one of the characters has gone insane. It is not explained enough for the audience to really grasp the moral of the story.
The film’s strong points are in its acting. Caviezal gives a hell of a performance as Peter. Despite the fact that I really did not care for this film, I have to give him credit for playing such an odd character. Karvan is also good as Carla. As they are the only actors in the film that interact with each other besides their pet dog, this leaves the performances open to being better because the actors get to spend one-on-one time with each other and develop the characters together. Both actors are good in their parts. It’s just too bad that the story is confusing and too scattered for me to really get into the film as a whole.
The productions value of the film are good. The locations are nice and fit the film well, and there are some creepy shots of animals looking at the cast members with hate on their faces. The manatee on the beach that mysteriously moves looks OK. In some scenes you can tell that it’s fake. But all in all, the film’s visuals are pretty good and the make-up effects are fine, though sometimes brutal.
The DVD has no special features. I wish there had been some special features that would better help me understand what was really going on in this film. A mysterious arrow appears throughout the film, yet we have no clue where it is coming from. Overall, the film has a great and appealing look to it, but for me the story just falls flat. I have never seen the original film, so I don’t know how this remake compares to it, but it is a lot better than THE HAPPENING when it comes to the “When Nature Attacks” genre.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
