10 Movies That Portray Australia as a Hellscape, Ranked

Australia is known as a place with extreme conditions, mainly because of its often severe weather and the variety of wildlife present.the latter is known for being lethal. It’s likely an overstatement for the sake of a meme and everythingHowever, there are frightening aspects regarding Australia’s natural environment, as well as certain societal elements that can also be concerning.

Some thrillers, horror films, and even movies set in historical contexts capitalize on the notion of Australia being somewhat wild and occasionally intimidating. The following ones exemplify this idea most effectively, and to add variety, there will be more than just horror movies listed below (sorry,Razorback, Talk to Me, and Rogue, though credit where it’s due, none of you make Australia seem especially bright or enjoyable).

‘The Royal Hotel’ (2023)

In The Royal HotelTwo young women, while traveling through Australia, run out of money and are forced to take jobs at a rough pub located in a remote town. The town is so small that the pub serves as the center of all activity, and most of the residents are older men who initially act in ways that are a bit unsettling or strange around the two women.

And then all things accumulate andbecomes significantly more intense, but gradually, twisting The Royal Hotelfrom a bit of a drama into a complete psychological thrillerIt’s unsettling and intense in a manner that’s surprisingly disarming, and it proves more impactful than a more exaggerated or overly dramatic horror film that might share the same premise, setting, and structure. Sometimes, less is more, but there’s also a considerable amount going on here withThe Royal Hotel in any event.

“The Cars That Ate Paris” (1974)

It’s not even good enoughto be considered underrated by default, but The Vehicles That Devoured Parisis at least somewhat interesting, particularly given that it was an earlyPeter Weirmovie. One year later, he did an excellent job of portraying Australia as eerie and somewhat disturbing, withPicnic at Hanging Rockbut the atmosphere there still wasn’t quite as dreadful. Perhaps a bit more of a feverish vision, at most.

The Vehicles That Devoured Parisis very much a horror film, but also somewhat ridiculous at times, although not as absurd as Maximum Overdrive, where vehicles are truly evil. It’s not supernatural, with residents of the small town of Paris, Australia using cars as weapons, or causing car accidents to then steal the vehicles that are crashed into the town.It’s a chaotic movie, yet it manages to convey a particular sense of discomfort—and perhaps even suspicion—that often accompanies travel.through the sparsely populated regions of Australia.

‘Lake Mungo’ (2008)

It may seem like an exaggeration, butLake Mungotruly is amongthe top horror films from the 21st centurySo far. It executes the found footage or mockumentary style much more effectively than most other films that use a similar presentation, with the approach making the story here—regarding possible supernatural events complicating the life of a family already dealing with the consequences of a tragedy—even more intense and credible.

Lake Mungomay not deter people from visiting Australia as much as other films here, but take it from this writer: if you find the symbols in this movie recognizable, and then it begins to reveal unsettling thingsoccurring in areas that resemble places you have visited or plan to visit, thenLake Mungodoes begin to become more eerie. Being close to any body of water in Australia that isn’t the ocean during the dead of night, for instance, will never feel the same after watching this movie.

‘Mad Max’ (1979)

Among all the Australian directors available,George Milleris among the top few, and he is most famous for directing all five films in theMad Maxseries. Many of them take place in a post-apocalyptic version of Australia, making the location seem unappealing for clear reasons, but the first film stands out as being more of a dystopian story than a post-apocalyptic one.

Actually, the entire series serves as an effective method to understand the distinction between a dystopian environment and a post-apocalyptic one. In that film, things are deteriorating, both for the main character and in terms of society as a whole, with some minor aspects still functioning properly, but…everything’s headed to hell. And it’s already quite hellish, only to deteriorate further once enough elements sufficiently collapse to make the environment a fully developed post-apocalyptic scenario.

‘Bad Boy Bubby’ (1993)

You could almost call Bad Boy Bubby a a coming-of-age film, although an unusual one. The concept centers around a man who has been restricted to a single house for many years, under the control of a dominant mother who prevents him from seeing or engaging with the world beyond. It somewhat resembles Room, but in this case, it’s just one individual trapped, and this adult lacks any understanding of what lies outside.

When the main character, Bubby, finally manages to escape, he has some periods of joy, but also faces numerous challenges, and the movie shifts in tone significantly once the central plot begins. It’svery strange, somewhat dreamlike, and yet it ultimately has aa very distinctly Australian form of madness throughoutIt becomes remarkably strange while, in its own odd manner, seeming disturbingly real and solid.

‘The Nightingale’ (2018)

The Nightingaleis set a long time ago, so the specific type of brutality and torment depicted here stems from the past, but thatdoesn’t automatically make the entire thing significantly more enjoyable to watch.This is one of the most intense moviesout there, as it features a character seeking vengeance following a significant amount of hardship and trauma, much of which is difficult to convey while maintaining a PG rating.

The movie proves challenging to watch through, in certain respects, but perhaps that’s expected when dealing with the disturbing themes it aims to explore. Although it isn’t a horror film in the traditional sense,Jennifer Kent’s previous directorial effort, The Babadook, it is significantly more terrifying and brutal, resulting in it being the one that goes further in portraying Australia (in the past) as a terrible place to live.

‘The Proposition’ (2005)

Then another movie set in the past,The Propositionalso examines how violent certain aspects of Australia’s history have been, here taking on a more Western-like feel (though you could also refer to it as)The Nightingalea type of Western). In terms of story,The Propositioncenters on a man who finds himself in a scenario where he must betray one of his siblings, leading to a complex ethical conflict about his decision.

There is more to it than that, withThe Propositionhaving a number of supporting characters and resembling a Western/crime movie as well, butin any case, the intense discomfort of it all comes through more frequently than not. Anyone looking to witness something similarthe lines of a Blood Meridian filmat a moment when therestill isn’t a Blood Meridian film, this is not the worst option available.

‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ (2015)

Well, Mad Max: Fury RoadIt’s definitely enjoyable to watch, but envisioning oneself living in that world is a completely different experience. To be honest, some parts of this movie arevery intense and emotionally exhausting, albeit everything happens so quickly that it’s thrillingis likely how you feel most of all. Still, what a terrifying post-apocalyptic world this is, having deteriorated much more than the world shown in the originalMad Max.

It isn’t directly connected to that film, or the others, but it’s simple to recognize that it occurs at a later time (and likely in the same universe, although that’s not really the focus).As for the second and third oneMad Max movies, plus Furiosa, none of those make Australia seem enjoyablebut there’s likely the greatest amount of darkness and suffering in the first and fourth films, which is why those two are here.

‘Wolf Creek’ (2005)

This isn’t a remarkable film, as it closely follows the same patterns seen in numerous other horror movies, taking common clichés very seriously, but yeah, it’sWolf Creek, and it kind of has to be here. It’s the ultimate “stalked in the outback” type of film, if that’s even a sub-genre. It’s the kind of movie that most distinctly Australian thriller/horror films made after 2005 will be compared to, for better or worse.

The storyline is simply “what if we did”The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,but in the outback?” You don’t receive much else here, and certainly, it’s gruesome and occasionally intense, butif you’ve seen a significant number of violent horror filmsIn your era, you likely won’t be very surprised here.. It was controversial due to being somewhat unpleasantHowever, many other horror films were gritty and violent around this time, so it’s somewhat underwhelming. Still, it effectively portrays Australia as menacing, particularly with the film’s opening reminder about the number of people who disappear there each year, so it deserves a high ranking for these purposes, even if the quality is somewhat average and the writing is rather lackluster.

‘Wake in Fright’ (1971)

Wake in Frightcould very well be the ultimate Outback thriller, arriving sooner thanThe Royal Hotel and Wolf Creek, and possibly more effective in terms of being disturbing than both. In the movie, there’s a schoolteacher who becomes trapped in another one of those chaotic and unpredictable outback towns, and while waiting for a way to leave,he slowly goes mad, thanks to the people in his vicinity, and their actions.

The way everything becomes more intense and chaotic inWake in Frightis quite impressive, and must be seen to be fully understood; it’s one of those highly impactful psychological films and everything.For what it’s worth, it’s likely also one of the stronger films tolook into alcoholism and/or heavy drinking, as well, to the extent that much ofWake in Frightseems to involve watching different people become increasingly drunk, and thus increasingly careless.