Greg McLean on Wolf Creek

When three backpackers break down in the Outback, they're pleased to encounter a friendly local who offers help. But things take a turn for the worse when they get back to his camp. We talk to the writer-director of maybe this year's scariest horror flick, who wants to make sure you're afraid of what's out there...

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You've said you wanted to create an Australian Boogieman who exemplifies the more monstrous aspects of the Australian archetype. What do you think those are?
Crocodile Dundee, Steve Irwin, these characters represent the wholesome, goofy, friendly face of the outback. Simple guys always willing to help strangers. This archetype is a bit embarrassing for Australians. With Mick, I just took those characteristics and subverted them.

Did you meet anyone who inspired this character?
I went on Safari once in the Northern Territory and the guide had some of the qualities. My character is a psychopath, and of course this guide was a decent guy, but he had a real Outback sense of humour. He was very direct, he could sense what your weak spot was and he'd go straight for it. It wasn't nasty, just strange to us. There have also been several real life killings in the Outback, like the case of Ivan Milat (The Backpack Killer) and Bradley Murdoch (The killer of Peter Falconio) which stunned Australians, because their crimes were so cold-blooded and planned.

In a typical 'slasher' you can sit back and say 'this is not real'. Wolf Creek isn't like that...
To be effective, to be truly scary, we always wanted this to feel as real as possible. We spent a long time looking at what things would look like and sound like. We always shot things from the point of view of the kids.

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