Picnic at Hanging Rock
Sub-Genre- Supernatural
In Attendance- Me
Cast Members of Note- No one really,m save for John Jarratt who went on the star as the maniac in Wolf Creek 30 years later.
What's it about?- Funny story... I once tried to get a girl to go on a "Picnic" to "Hanging Rock" once, but once she found out what it all meant, she ran screaming and her dad ended up trying to kill me... Heh. Good times.
Anyways, a bunch of schoolgirls head off for a picnic on a rock, manners and nice clothes in tow, not knowing that the rock hates them and wants them dead.
3 of them decide to go exploring on the rock, since they've been acting creepy and all "It's calling to us" all day, and head off alone. Edith, the nose picking fatty of the group tags along because she wants to be cool, even though she's fat.
The only one that returns is the girl that plays for Team Hungry* (That's trademarked folks), screaming about them disappearing and taking all of the sandwiches with them. One of the teachers heads off after them and doesn't return either.
So the race is on to find the girls, and try to understand what exactly happened to them. My bet is that one of Cthulhu's land dwelling cousins had something to do with all of this.
I wont ruin the ending here, but suffice it to say that the rock wins.
The Good- This movie is a work of art, and in essence is a story on par with something Lovecraft may have written. What happened to the girls? What other world does the Hanging Rock belong to? The eerie atmosphere and the slow pace allow everything to unfold just so, and though we get few answers, we cant help but be compelled.
What I love about this movie, is that we get hints of something horrible coming; as the girls climb the rock and explore, they begin to say odd things and act strangely, and we realize that the rock itself is something otherworldly, and the girls are ultimately doomed. I don't know why this reminds me of something Lovecraft-ish, maybe it's the whole "We humans have no idea what's really out there" thing that makes you sit and wonder exactly what we are missing.
Has Peter Weir ever made a bad film? The man is a cinematic auteur, and this movie is on par with his Witness and Dead Poet's Society, which were all beautifully realized films.
The Bad- What in the hell happened to them? I know there are hints here and there, and if you Google the book, you can read a chapter that explains everything that was never released, but damn I need to know!
The Downright Horrendous- Good lord, does every group of girls have the whiny and annoying fat friend? Someone should have tossed a Twinkie off of the cliff and seen if that would have finally shut her up. Probably not.
The Gory- A minimal amount of carnage and blood, as this is more of a psychologically twisted film.
The Naked- None. Very disappointing considering that the movie is about an all girl school. Sigh.
Best Line- "Everything begins and ends at the exactly right time and place." or "Waiting a million years, just for us."
What did we learn?- It's probably best to stay the fuck away from the Australian Outback.
Rating- A- This is a great film in general, and is a subtle horror movie that makes us want answers that we don't ever receive. See this if you can, though beware that it has heavy drama elements and a slower pace.
Final Thoughts- This picture just looks wrong.
