Australian horror films seem to be hit or miss the last few years, we had some good ones such as UNDEAD and WOLF CREEK, but then we also had a few that were not so great. Take into effect the success of any cannibal in the woods or in the middle of nowhere films like WRONG TURN or THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. Mix in After Darks Films best film of last year Frontier(s) and well; by the looks of DYING BREED I think they looked at it like being this years Frontier(s). However DYING BREED is no where near as good, but still holds up as a somewhat decent flick. It’s also loosely based on the legend of The Pieman as well.
DYING BREED takes place way down under in Tasmania where four people are looking for the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger, to see if they can track one down in the forests of the large Australian island that might still be out there. The foursome enters the town of Sarah, an insolated place in the middle of nowhere that they think might be there best bet in finding the rare tiger because the land has not had many people travel though it. There is however a catch to the story, One of the girls researching the animal is also looking for her sister who went missing years ago in the same location. Her and her friend will soon find out the truth as to what might of happened to her when they tangle with a group of locals who warn them about the Pieman. The Pieman is a local legend, told for decades of a cannibal living in the woods. The locals themselves are pretty scary as well, and it might not just be the Pieman that our characters will have to look out for.
DYING BREED starts out a bit slow with our characters traveling though the island to get to their location. There are very few intense scenes with the exception of a child biting one of our character on the hand. After a long and boring twenty minutes or so of character development that really didn’t do much but let me know that Jack is annoying as hell, and the rest of the characters including the lead Nina are kind of boring. The story starts to develop and mold into something a bit more intense. Once the townsfolk come into the picture and everyone moves into the isolation of the forest, is when the true horrors begin. I don’t mean to knock the screenwriters, but the story was something we’ve seen before, and some of the dialogue was bad at times. The plot was also predictable at times, but there were some pretty cool scenes with original ideas thrown into them.
The production value was good, but it did have a similar feel to films like WRONG TURN. The exterior shots took place in your basic forest setting, with some pretty freaky looking cabins and shed thrown in there for that killer in the woods home effect. There were also a mines and tunnels that bought out that HILLS HAVE EYES kind of feel to the film with the darkness surrounding our characters. The visual and make-up effects were pretty good and we get our fare share of body parts, blood and gore. The Pieman also looks really freaky looking and I really have to give the effects team credit for making him look so dam scary.
DYING BREED is your basic cannibal in the woods story. It’s nothing special, but it’s not a bad movie. It has it’s ups and downs with a few good twists here and there. Especially the ending. It’s entertaining and frightening to say the least and while it does have a few original elements to it’s story the majority is something we’ve all seem in plenty of other horror films similar to this one before. It’s worth checking out, if your a fan of cannibal horror films or if you need a decent horror flick to get you though the day.
The DVD has a few features including a Miss Horrorfest Webisode, Tiger by the Tal: The Making of Dying Breed, Producer’s Trailers and more…
– 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
