By Erin Free
American cinema is filled with big screen bogey men, from Jason Vorhees (Friday The 13th) and Michael Myers (Halloween) to Freddy Krueger (A Nightmare On Elm Street) and Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre). Despite its harsh history and brutal terrain, however, Australia is strangely bereft of horrifying cinematic monsters. But the one high-profile movie madman that we do have is memorable and terrifying enough to make up for it. With 2005’s surprise smash hit, Wolf Creek, debut writer/director Greg McLean took audiences on a skin-crawling journey into fear with his whiteknuckle story of three young backpackers stalked by a crazed outback killer. Loosely based on the real life murder spree of Ivan Milat, the film was as tight, terrifying and finely crafted as any American horror movie. At its centre is Mick Taylor, a seeming larrikin bushman of the Australian tradition, complete with hat, rifle and knife. But what he does with those tools is far from typical. “I’m going to do something now that they used to do in Vietnam,” Taylor sneers to a bound female captive before driving a blade into her spine. “It’s called making a head on a stick.”
Like many great horror villains, however, Mick Taylor is also occasionally uproariously hilarious, taunting and teasing his victims with a style of humour safely described as pitch black. “She was good for months,” Mick says, pointing at a stowed corpse, “until she lost her head!” Though a fascinating creation on paper alone, Mick Taylor is stunningly brought to life – again in the 2013 sequel, Wolf Creek 2, and now in Stan’s original six-part TV series – by actor John Jarratt, one of Australia’s most genial and well-loved figures, who boasts a number of fine film performances as well as a successful run as a TV presenter on the lifestyle programme Better Homes & Gardens. The surprise casting choice has paid off handsomely, as Jarratt consistently and inventively mines the inherent twisted humour of the character with aplomb, while never losing sight of his menace. The actor has even used a little Method Madness to get there. “Because Mick was such an abhorrent human being, I had to stay within the realms of that character,” Jarratt told FilmInk after the release of the first film. “I’ve never been that far away from myself that I’ve had to do that before – go the full ‘Method.’ Sometimes I think that’s a bit of a wank. I’d say to the three young actors [on the first film], ‘You’re so vibrant and young and healthy and fresh. I just think of veal!’ Then I’d walk away. I freaked them out all the time!”
Despite his years playing the nice guy, John Jarratt still inspires fear on the street thanks to his indelible performances as the unforgettable Mick Taylor. “I have to sometimes reassure them and say, ‘It’s okay; I’m not mean like that,’” Jarratt told FilmInk. “I’ve actually seen women hide behind their boyfriends at a bar, hoping that I’m not going to get anywhere near them. The films are nightmarish, but I don’t think they hold me to ransom for that. They just get absolutely horrified by what I do.”
Wolf Creek will stream on Stan from May 12. For more information, head to Stan. For more on the Wolf Creek series, head to the show’s website. Check out FilmInk’s review of the first episode of the new Wolf Creek series here.
