STACK #146 Dec 2016

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DVD&BD FEATURE

We’ve seen locally produced creature features starring an oversized pig and giant crocodiles. Now, writer-director Luke Sparke introduces a monster from Aboriginal legend in Red Billabong . Words: Scott Hocking “R azorback was a pig, Rogue was a crocodile – they’re real animals. You ain’t seen anything like this before,” grins Luke Sparke when STACK meets with the debutant director. big arms, little head and big feet. I also wanted a distinctive bellow for the creature, like what was heard in the outback legends,” he explains.

As for the human element, Red Billbong focuses on a pair of estranged brothers – played by Home and Away heartthrob Dan Ewing and Dance Academy ’s Tim Pocock – who must put aside their differences when they discover something big and unnatural lurking in the vicinity of their late grandfather’s bush property. In casting his leading men, Sparke wanted

It’s this point of difference that makes Red Billabong stand out amongst the recent wave of Australian genre films that appropriate zombies, slashers and other horror film staples. Few local films tap into the primal legends of our own land – a fact that Sparke was determined to change. “When I was looking back at mythology and Australian history, this creature kept coming up, and there’s so many different versions of it, from white European settlers to the 1970s – reports and sightings of something in the woods. The real juicy stuff comes from the Aboriginal Dreamtime, and I respectfully reached out to a lot of groups to make sure I didn’t step on anyone’s toes. “When I hired Greg Fryer to play Mr. Garvey [the film’s Indigenous hero], he was very excited to bring his culture to a mainstream popcorn film for fun, and hopefully audiences will think about that culture as well.” Respectful of tribal beliefs, Sparke was mindful to avoid the Dreamtime incarnation of the creature (each tribe has its own different version) and instead looked to classic monster designs for inspiration. “I wanted the traditional look – the silhouette is this very mean shape with

Dan Ewing andTim Pocock

actors who could comfortably inhabit their characters and be able to improvise. “Dan was one of the very first people I went to, and he and I just clicked because he loves ‘80s movies,”says the director who grew up on a diet of films like Predator and Aliens . “Tim was the last person I cast, and he’s a stroke of genius because he took that character in a different direction – he was the whiny younger brother in my script.” Sparke hopes that viewers get behind Red Billabong for its entertainment value, and also to ensure that more Australian films like it get made. “It’s not going to change your life, but it’s a fun two hours,” he promises. “If audiences back this we can continue to make Australian genre films to offset the great dramas we

You ain't seen anything like this before

make. More adrenaline- junkie films that people can have fun with.”

• Red Billabong is out Dec 21

more homegrown monsters

The Reef (2010) Having unleashed a killer croc in Dark Water , director Andrew Trauki sets a Great White shark on a group of holidaymakers whose sailboat has capsized on the Great Barrier Reef. The Aussie answer to Open Water .

Razorback (1984) “It only has two states of being – dangerous or dead.” A monstrous feral boar terrorizes an outback town in this cult classic that’s full of appropriately hammy performances. The quintessential Aussie monster movie.

Primal (2010) A group of campers are attacked by a mutant rabbit and turned into ferocious, fanged demons in this tongue-in-cheek shocker. There’s also a horny CGI cave creature that further strains credibility.

Howling III: The Marsupials (1987) Who would have thunk that werewolves and kangaroos are related! Even Dame Edna is on the menu in this blatantly ridiculous guilty pleasure that throws in werewolf nuns and ballerinas to add to the trash value.

DECEMBER 2016

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