I would say the same on this. I had high hopes for this one, but it didn't really do it for me. I bought it as a blind buy, and think it was ok. I probably won't watch it again.

I liked it a lot. But as time went on, after I had seen it, the luster faded. There really wasn't much there that stayed with me.

And yeah, it takes a while to get going. And that is a major problem for repeat viewings. Essentially the first 1/2 (if not more) of the movie, is all set up. While set-up is important to know and care about the characters, I think we have to be honest about the audience these days. No one is going into this movie not knowing that lots of horrible things are going to be happening to the main characters-it's a horror film, and it was marketed as such. I think its a small failure on the part of the filmmaker that rather than a feeling of dread for what is about to happen to the lead characters, most of the audience is just biding their time waiting for that something to happen. That feeling of dread I think is found in a movie like HOSTEL.

As for a long set-up before the pay-off, a movie like AUDITION works brilliantly. Mainly because you are not waiting for the big bad killer to come into the picture.

All that said, I think WOLF CREEK was head and shoulders above DEVIL'S REJECTS or the HILLS HAVE EYES remake. IMHO.

You thought Hostel had a building feeling of dread more so than Wolf Creek? Interesting. I love Hostel, but thought the first half was more EuroTrip than building tension. Wolf Creek on the other hand started building tension pretty much right from the start for me, especially with the brilliant cinematography and camera work. That's just IMHO though.

For those of you that didn't like it, do you mind if I ask what horror movies you do like? Seriously, I don't ask that with any disrespect as you are entitled to your opinion, and that's cool we don't all agree. I'm just curious what you DO like...I'm always looking to build up my horror library!

I liked both but thought Wolf Creek had a better ending in that it didn't insist on tying up all the loose ends.

I saw Wolf Creek last night and I loved it, Hostel for me was too gimmicky and corny.

I could see how someone would feel that way about Wolf Creek vs. Hostel. But for me, I'm the type of viewer who can't forget what he knows about a movie before it starts. Thus, while Hostel had this playful, American Pie/EuroTrip opening, that just undercut the tension knowning that something bad was going to happen. For Wolf Creek, the way it was shot, you know bad things are coming from the start.

Maybe its just the energy that I felt Hostel had in the beginning that attracted me.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Wolf Creek, especially on first viewing.

So, what more does the R4 include? I read a review somewhere that said it's 2-discs with many deleted scenes (I think we only got one), a featurette (already have) and a commentary track with the director and the three stars. On ours, isn't it the director, producer and two of the stars? What's up with that? (Unless the reviewer was mistaken).

The R4 DVD contains almost the same stuff as the R1. It has 3 Deleted scenes, but the R1 Unrated cut has two of them inserted back into the film. That's why we only get one. I think the Commentary is actually the same one, but I'm not sure on that.

So the only thing that is missing from the R1 disk is the "Meet Mick Taylor: An Interview with John Jarratt" Featurette.

I loved Wolf Creek. It takes a while for the violence to start, but about 35 minutes or so into the film they meet Mick.

The first half of Wolf Creek boring? Nope. First half of Hostel boring? Yep. The only thing that kept me interested at the beginning of Hostel was the naked girls. With Wolf Creek, the scenery and interaction with the main characters kept it well interesting when the bad stuff started to begin. Wolf Creek was very brutal, but with Hostel it just fell flat.

I am pretty happy to have these two in my collection though.

^^^^ I just picked both up yesterday and can't wait to dig into them.

I just saw "Wolf Creek", and while I'm satisfied with merely renting it, I also think it's the best of the recent wave of 70s-era throwback horror. I liked "Haute Tension" a good bit, but I think "Wolf Creek" is the better film. I also think it's easily better than "Hostel", "Saw", "The Devil's Rejects". It really achieves that deep, visceral dread that merges into flat-out screaming horror... much like the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". I really dug it.

I just watched both Hostel & Wolf Creek tonight, since a few a comparing the two films, here are my impressions of both. Hostel - "These girls will have sex with you because of your American accent". Yep, someone actually says this. Ugh.. I found no feeling of dread, nothing scary at all. Plenty of gore but it is not used effectively & comes off as just cheap.
Wolf Creek is a horror movie, that trumps Hostel rather easily. It's not perfect, it has a few clunky parts, but manages to build up some real dread & is definately creepy. I agree with Richard Malloy's review, parts of it did remind me a bit of the original TCM.

If you haven't seen either, I'd definately recommend renting them first.

Wolf Creek is not a horror movie, nor is it suspensful nor is it scary. Rather, it is a disturbing mish-mosh of cruel and savage acts preceeded by a boring first half. I don't know if it was just the mood I was in that night. But Wolf Creek was the most disturbing movie I have ever seen. And I'm a huge fan of horror movies. This junk wasn't it! The closest thing I can come up with to compare it to is a snuff film. If you're into that kind of stuff, then rent it, buy it, whatever. I threw my 'backup' copy away. It's the first and only DVD I have ever thrown away since I began collecting them 5 years ago.

Unlike TCM or Jason and other movies like that who HIT the violence for a few seconds and move on. Wolf Creek stays with it for 5 to 10 minutes a scene. So instead of it being a flash in the pan gore fest, it's a drawn out violent and sadistic abuse of the mind and body.

Pure sadistic garbage on the highest level especially if you have a daughter around their age.