A young schoolteacher tries to escape small-town Australia and reach Sydney…but gets waylayed in the darkest possible way.

This is an amazing examination of small-town madness, the unspoken insanity of such a life and the brutality and destruction undertaken by men.

It’s also an amazing portrayal of cabin fever being caused by huge open spaces.

The film features another insane performance by Donald Pleasance who is in top form. If this doesn’t act as enough of a recommendation then I don’t know what will. 

The kangaroo hunting scenes are strangely beautiful just like the rest of the film. The outback has rarely looked so gorgeous on film. However, what goes on there means that this is far from a 70s tourist board film.

The rediscovery of this film and its subsequent restoration restores my faith in humanity. This film is too important to be left unseen and decaying in a basement somewhere. This movie would make a great double bill with Nic Roeg’s Walkabout. In fact, both films were entered into the same year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Wake In Fright was screened as Outback in some territories.

4.5 out of 5 stars