Carnifex (2023) by Sean Lahiff

Director: Sean Lahiff

Year: 2023

Country: Australia

Alternate Titles: N/A

Genre: Creature Feature

Plot:

After a devastating forest fire, a documentary team heads into the Australian outback to check the impact on the local wildlife, but as they go about their mission find that they may have inadvertently stumbled upon the hunting grounds of a vicious, legendary predator and must get away alive.

Review:

This was a rather fun genre effort even with some minor issues. One of the stronger elements here is the general setup featured here with the idea featuring some rather intriguing elements. With the idea of the group going into the outback trying to figure out if the recent fire has impacted the local wildlife but slowly finding that something is stalking them, this works nicely enough to the point where it manages to deliver a decent enough setup to bring the group out into the wilderness. The early scenes of them wandering around the woods trying to get their gear working or finding if anything needs help sort out the bonus of bringing about the fun of getting to know them but the escalating tension found by being in the gorgeous locations keep it moving along during this section.

That brings about the generally fun second half where the series of creature attacks and confrontations that are quite fun to see play out. With the first attack on the ranger showing off the brutality quite nicely, the later scenes that show it attacking the animal in the middle of the forest while they watch it occur through their camera equipment that only grants them a night-vision series of glances at it but serves to get the rest of the encounters going. Built around a series of chases and escapes trying to get out of the woods when they realize what’s going on and that they’ve encroached on its territory, this adds a solid series of chases and impressive suspense-filled encounters that are quite exciting with enough gore, decent jump-scares, and a solid enough creature for its positive points.

There are some drawbacks to be had with this one. One of the main issues here is the stagnant and dreary pacing that moves the film along quite slowly so it never develops the kind of steam that it really could. From endless scenes of the group blathering on about the different wildlife they see on their equipment during the night or their personal lives which doesn’t offer much in the way of interest during the first half. That it never provides much in the way of interesting creature action throughout here since most of this setup keeps the creature off-screen for nearly an hour into it can be a bit of an issue with the sluggish tempo keeping it from really letting loose with the kind of action or scares usually featured in these kinds of films.

The other issue here, despite how fun this part of the film is, the final half does have a lot of stupidity on display to keep this going. The fact that the main figure here is a supposed documentary filmmaker but never once sets anything up unless it’s designated interview footage or everyone is standing around observing something in the distance destroys the illusion of who she is. Likewise, the entirety of the chase through the woods is utterly stupid with everyone running after a frightened creature while using night-vision equipment since they can’t locate it at night so they don’t come off much smarter either. As well, with the constantly changing creature’s behavior who goes from an ambush predator to a stalker for no reason than bringing about more carnage, these factors are what brings this one down.

Overview: ***/5

A generally enjoyable enough creature feature, this one comes off well enough for what it is even though some drawbacks at play bring it down in the end. Those with an appreciation for this kind of feature, are curious about it, or aren’t bothered by the flaws featured here will have the most to like while most others should heed caution.