James Wan, Jennifer Kent and Leigh Whannel all have one thing in common, that being that they are all Australian. Each one of these people has produced amazing and influential horror movies that every horror fan has heard of. It’s not an impossible thought that Australians are the masters of the horror genre, the Conjuring franchise, The Babadook, Insidious, Saw, The Invisible Man and many more films where Australian movie producers have been a massive influence during the creative process.
James Wan is probably the most well-known example. He is well known for making the iconic Conjuring franchise, Saw, Insidious, Malignant, Megan, Lights Out and more. James Wan has had a massive impact on the horror film industry. If you know horror, you know James Wan.
The Babadook is a popular horror movie that was directed by Jennifer Kent, as mentioned before by an Australian director. The Babadook is an extremely popular horror movie, rated 5 stars on Rotten Tomatoes. This movie is extremely popular on Netflix and periodically will make its way onto the Netflix top ten.
You may be thinking well that Australians can make good horror movies but so can anybody else, what’s different? It’s the distinct idea that gore isn’t everything. I find that other horror movies that aren’t made by Australians, focus largely to an unnecessary extent on the gore of things. Halloween, The Purge and Scream all which are focused on how gruesome they can get the kill, later realising the rating doesn’t match up with the pre-conceived expectations. While I find that Australians have a distinct kind of scare, there is a physiologic build to why things happen and a massive build of tension. This type of fear is what makes the movies scarier, harder to watch and even harder to look away from.
Wolf Creek is an Australian film that made $35 million at the box office. It is a psychological thriller based around crime; the story is set in the outback. Many believe that the movie is enough to scare off any tourist from ever coming to Australia. This movie is a classic; when you think of Australian horror movies, this one is always the first to be mentioned because of its impact.
The horror movie genre has been significantly influenced by Australian directors, actors and screenwriters. The influence has created some of the best horror films of all time. Which truly shows that Australians are masters of horror.
