Storm Warning - Überleben kann tödlich sein

After Wolf Creek, this is my second encounter with Australian hixploitation (at least off the top of my head), and it turned out better than expected. It follows a pretty well trodden path, the only minor surprise is the proportion of casualties between the good and the evil characters – a small dose of originality never hurts. The yokels look very nasty, the fear for the fate of the heroes pulls you into the action and you want them to take proper revenge on those redneck assholes. At times it’s pretty bloody – there’s one scene that was almost unpleasant (you’ll know when you see it…), and the atmosphere is effective, too. Storm Warning is something I must recommend to horror fans, it’s the best hixploitation film in recent years. 90% (22.12.2007)

Ich bekam von Storm Warning genau das, was ich erwartet und gewollt habe. Psychische Qualen. Der Terror vonseiten der Banden wird hart, aber realistisch dargestellt. Das Blut fließt erst gegen Ende, wo sich die ganze Situation zuspitzt und die Frau das Gesetz in die eigenen Hände nimmt. Aus dem Opfer wird so jemand, der ihnen all das Leid schön zu fressen gibt. Besonders die erste Falle in der Scheune fand ich ziemlich einfallsreich, der Tod der anderen Person tat auch mir weh, igitt... Nur ihr männliches Pendant hat mich gestört, weil er im Vergleich zu ihr ziemlich schwach erschien, er konnte sich nicht rechtzeitig gegen seine Peiniger stellen. Aber ansonsten ist es ein großartiger Hixploitation-Film, der in eingefahrenen Gleisen läuft und das stört überhaupt nicht. (09.03.2010)

The exposition is embarrassingly dull and sterile (we only learn that the protagonist is from France and doesn't really like killing anything), but the rest of it pretty much kicked my ass. The first hixploitation since the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre that didn't bore me, physically disgusted me, surprised me, and made me care about the heroes and loath the villains. While stylistically unremarkable and occasionally a little too harsh (don't let the previous sentence fool you, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is somewhere else entirely), Blanks has the film firmly in hand throughout, evoking believable psychological terror and ultimately unleashing an imaginative revenge party that keeps you crossing your fingers for the hot chick and griping surprisingly little about the characters' illogical behaviour or unlikely consequences. And when it comes to physical violence, it has grace and the desired effect (there are two scenes that I'll remember for a long time). I kept telling myself that it would eventually drop somehow and that I could defend a mediocre rating, but it didn't. A small, unassuming, likeable carnage. Horror fans welcome. (29.05.2018)