Highly reminiscent of the earlier foretelling of doom from 'Frogs' (1972), 'Long Weekend' tells of a city couple whose marriage is on the rocks taking a short break to a secluded beach where their careless attitude toward nature leads to retributive justice. The message seems abundantly clear from virtually the outset, but our hapless pair have neither the cognisance nor compassion to do anything but dig deeper graves from which there's no prospect of escape.
Heavy reliance on metaphors with conversely little emphasis on dialogue, I felt that sometimes the editing was a little too quick to fully absorb what was happening in shot; similarly in post-production, music cues may have evoked more feeling in the dramatic scenes, although there's an undeniable vulnerability being exposed to just the sounds of nature in the context of the characters' isolation.
There's no shortage of ecological horror movies and the 70s produced a stunning array of antagonists to prey on mankind. That said, 'Long Weekend' may be the only exponent to use such benign animals (e.g. Dugong, possum) as threats even if their impact is largely indirect, and the real harm is caused by man himself.
Picturesque psychological thriller is perhaps too allegorical to satisfy the average 'nature run amok' punter and consequently may struggle to find a mainstream audience, but it's still well-worth the time with strong performances from both Behets and Hargreaves and the enduring message to take care of Mother Nature, or she'll 'take care' of us.
Heavy reliance on metaphors with conversely little emphasis on dialogue, I felt that sometimes the editing was a little too quick to fully absorb what was happening in shot; similarly in post-production, music cues may have evoked more feeling in the dramatic scenes, although there's an undeniable vulnerability being exposed to just the sounds of nature in the context of the characters' isolation.
There's no shortage of ecological horror movies and the 70s produced a stunning array of antagonists to prey on mankind. That said, 'Long Weekend' may be the only exponent to use such benign animals (e.g. Dugong, possum) as threats even if their impact is largely indirect, and the real harm is caused by man himself.
Picturesque psychological thriller is perhaps too allegorical to satisfy the average 'nature run amok' punter and consequently may struggle to find a mainstream audience, but it's still well-worth the time with strong performances from both Behets and Hargreaves and the enduring message to take care of Mother Nature, or she'll 'take care' of us.