Down Under Rises Up: Nature's Revenge in Ozploitation Cinema

The Australian outback is a place of isolation. Harsh and uninviting, it seems to hold with in it the ghosts of past crimes and a will to destroy anyone who dare try to colonise and contain it. Yet, for the past two hundred years many have sought to dominate this land and in Australian horror cinema the land is beginning to take its revenge. ‘Ozploitation’ films such as Wake in Fright (1971), Long Weekend (1978), Roadgames(1981), Razorback (1984), Fair Game (1986), and Dark Age (1987), as well as post-2000 horror films such as Black Water (2007), Rogue (2007), and Dying Breed (2008), often have characters battling against the unforgiving environment and its inhabitants. In retaliation against the exploitation and abuse perpetrated by these white settlers, these films present nature as a presence that seeks to avenge and punish past wrongs. Through the analysis of several key films from Ozploitation past and present, this article will investigate how these films subvert many common Australian stereotypes and question Australian’s national identity as one that is predominantly white, male and rural, demonstrating that nonhuman animals and landscape play an important role in commenting on, and embodying, national history and identity.