"Storm Warning" follows a couple boating along the Gold Coast who find themselves lost and winding up at a backwater farmhouse as a storm arrives at nightfall. Unfortunately, they picked the wrong house to lodge in.
What "Storm Warning" has working in its favor is a strong sense of atmosphere-one that, oddly enough, doesn't feel all that Australian, but more like backwoods Texas. The film, written by Everett de Roche apparently in the 1990s, feels heavily inspired by "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" in more ways than one, and its visual elements are reminiscent of the backwoods genre-definer.
Jamie Blanks, an Aussie himself who brought us two criminally-underrated stateside slashers (1998's "Urban Legend" and 2001's "Valentine") directs the film, and lends the film a grittier feel than his previous offerings, which were much more polished. The reality is, "Storm Warning" is a technically well-made film with solid performances, but it's frankly just not that interesting. Part of this may be due to the fact that it was written nearly a decade before it was made, so the screenplay perhaps does not feel as fresh post-millennium as it did pre-millennium. In any case, there is a "been there, done that" experience to watching the film. Aside from some great gore effects, the backwoods redneck antics feel like a retread with no particular aim, and the singular focus on the two protagonists demands a level of character development that isn't entirely present.
The finale is particularly entertaining and at times mildly thrilling, but it ends in a manner that feels almost like a cop-out as it's so abrupt. While I can't condemn the film, I will say that, as well-made as it is, it simply feels stale. For fans of backwoods or backwater "redneck terror" flicks, it will prove mildly amusing though it feels almost as unremarkable as it does aptly-made. 6/10.
What "Storm Warning" has working in its favor is a strong sense of atmosphere-one that, oddly enough, doesn't feel all that Australian, but more like backwoods Texas. The film, written by Everett de Roche apparently in the 1990s, feels heavily inspired by "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" in more ways than one, and its visual elements are reminiscent of the backwoods genre-definer.
Jamie Blanks, an Aussie himself who brought us two criminally-underrated stateside slashers (1998's "Urban Legend" and 2001's "Valentine") directs the film, and lends the film a grittier feel than his previous offerings, which were much more polished. The reality is, "Storm Warning" is a technically well-made film with solid performances, but it's frankly just not that interesting. Part of this may be due to the fact that it was written nearly a decade before it was made, so the screenplay perhaps does not feel as fresh post-millennium as it did pre-millennium. In any case, there is a "been there, done that" experience to watching the film. Aside from some great gore effects, the backwoods redneck antics feel like a retread with no particular aim, and the singular focus on the two protagonists demands a level of character development that isn't entirely present.
The finale is particularly entertaining and at times mildly thrilling, but it ends in a manner that feels almost like a cop-out as it's so abrupt. While I can't condemn the film, I will say that, as well-made as it is, it simply feels stale. For fans of backwoods or backwater "redneck terror" flicks, it will prove mildly amusing though it feels almost as unremarkable as it does aptly-made. 6/10.