Deep down in the Australian outback, a tour boat is hitting the waterways. With it's experienced (yet young) guide leading the group of tourists out to see Saltwater Crocodiles doing their thing. While they're out deep downriver, the see a distress flare go up. Heading to the source, they're suddenly attacked by a giant, vicious croc that strands them all on a small island in the middle of a swamp. Now the tide's starting to rise, and time's running out for the group. They need to quickly get off the island before they all become food for this rogue animal.

Yup, it's a sweet little creature feature. It's a movie that's normally just all the joys of a giant monster eating people wrapped up with snazzy effects and your standard cast of a nice enough leads and some throwaway snacks backing them up. They're the kind of movies that make for a good popcorn movie night with friends, and are always a pleasure to watch.

But wait, that's just your normal creature feature.

Enter Greg Mclean. You might remember him as the guy who made the very awesome Wolf Creek a few years ago. And once again, he has taken a genre that has been stuck in it's own little niche for quote some time, and crafted something outstanding.

To start, the characters are all very well played and introduced. Much like Wolf Creek, the first big chunk of the film is just spent setting up everyone, with little to no horror moments. You've got your loving couple, your adventure-loving accountant, a family trying to be happy together, a distraught widower, and a magazine reporter to name a few. Like I said, they're all well played, and they act exactly like real people would actually act. And also like Wolf Creek, you grow to like all of them, and you dread knowing what may happen to them. This movie is also one of those ones where you really can't predict who's going to live and who won't. It's a movie that constantly keeps you on your toes on that front.

Speaking of keeping you on your toes, it's a very tense movie. The special effects when present are decent enough (the croc looks really good, if occasionally a bit too shiny), but for the most part they're absent. The film has earned several comparisons to Jaws simply because you don't see the creature that much. Usually it's an underwater shot at people's legs or a simple rustle in the reeds. And really, that's all it needs, as it makes for a very creepy movie at times (not even an especially gory one. This is a guy who doesn't need a bucket of krovvy to make a good horror movie). The haunting shots of the Australian Outback (some of it, apparently, captured on film for the first time for this movie) and the great score only add to the creep factor.

Quick note on the actors again (did I say they all did a great job? Pretty sure I did), this movie, again like Wolf Creek, features John Jarratt as one of the leads. Though unlike his crazed, psychopathic performance as killer Mick Taylor, here he plays basically the opposite personality. Nice, reserved, and helpful, I didn't even know it was him until it was mentioned on the Making Of DVD feature. Like before, he gives a terrific performance, and is definitely someone I'm going to try and find more work by.

So, overall it's a good, solid horror movie. The scares are good (not heavily reliant on jump-scares either), the players are all excellent, the plot is strong, and all the other bits and pieces fall into place well. This is only Greg Mclean's second feature film, and while I prefer Wolf Creek a little more, hes definitely establishing himself as one hell of a writer/director (the man's two for two, after all. Not a lot of horror directors out there can vouch that). I can't wait to see what he brings us next.

Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6QSy4ZBwKg