(Damian
Power/2016/Australia)
A
horrific tale of rape and torture in outback Australia, Killing
Ground tries to unsettle a bit too much before devolving into a grim
chase to the final moments. Thankfully there are no scenes of the
sexual assaults but the aftermath and cruel torture that are shown
strays dreadfully close to unnecessary provocation or even what’s
called torture porn these days. There’s no reason why the fates of
the people onscreen can’t be shown in several split second gruesome
flashbacks that could easily jar and shock the audience effectively.
In fact there’s no reason we need to see their deaths at all.
However the director makes a conscious choice to show an elongated
five minute scene of the torture endured. We are subjected to that
and it begs the question why? It’s already established that the bad
guys are bad and the audience are led into the scene more or less
knowing the fate of the people involved. In that sense we are set up
to know the outcome and therefore know what’s coming next. So is it
titillation? I felt it was too close to the bone and it spoiled the
film because otherwise Damian Power creates a menacing tension and
carries the viewer along with the terror of the main characters. The
flashbacks mentioned lack any subtlety really but then again the
current trend in Australian horror thriller films seems to be the
more shocking and gory the better.
(2/5)
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