The Snowtown Murders (2012)
Average Rating: 7.5/10
Reviews Counted: 63
Fresh: 54 | Rotten: 9
It's a bleak and brutal endurance test, but for viewers with the strength and patience to make it to the end, Snowtown will prove an uncommonly powerful viewing experience.
Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 10
Fresh: 7 | Rotten: 3
It's a bleak and brutal endurance test, but for viewers with the strength and patience to make it to the end, Snowtown will prove an uncommonly powerful viewing experience.
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Average Rating: 3.5/5
User Ratings: 6,321
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Movie Info
When 16 year-old Jamie is introduced to a charismatic man, a friendship begins. As the relationship grows so does Jamie's suspicions, until he finds his world threatened by both his loyalty for, and fear of his newfound father figure, John Bunting: Australia's most notorious serial killer. -- (C) Official Site
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Cast
-
Lucas Pittaway
Jamie, Jamie Harvey, Ja... -
Daniel Henshall
John, John Bunting -
Louise Harris
Elizabeth, Elizabeth Ha... -
Craig Coyne
Ray -
Richard Green
Barry -
Bob Adriaens
Gavin -
Frank Cwertniak
Jeffrey -
Howard Matthew Johnson
Nicholas -
Marcus Howard
Alex -
Anthony Groves
Troy -
Aaron Viergever
Robert -
Denis Davey
Guitar Player -
Allan Chapple
Prayer Reader -
Beau Gosling
David -
Brendan Rock
Marcus -
Bryan Sellars
Minister -
David Walker
Mark -
Aasta Brown
Verna -
Nigel Howard
Man at Dinner -
Joanne Argent
Woman at Dinner -
Astrid Adriaens
Woman at Dinner -
Keiran Schwerdt
Thomas -
Kathryn Wissell
Suzanne -
Krystle Flaherty
Vikki -
Hannah Shelley
Vikki's Baby -
Andrew Mayers
Fred -
Dr. Gabor Kiss
Doctor -
Carol Smith
Doctor's Receptionist -
Jenny Hallam
Social Worker -
Robert Deeble
Gary
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The Snowtown Murders Trailer & Photos
All Critics (64) | Top Critics (10) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (9) | DVD (2)
Your appreciation of this Australian horror movie will depend on whether you think its artistry justifies its unrelenting ugliness.
Top CriticThe film is a chilling study of an evil, dominant personality and his victims.
Overlong and grim to the point where some scenes are virtually unwatchable...
An impressive but exceptionally disturbing feature debut from Australian director Justin Kurzel that pushes the new wave of Aussie crime films up a notch.
This distressing infiltration of a family of young boys by a charismatic psychopath rewards with a stylistic talent that feels entirely new.
A movie that heaps so much dank atmosphere on its suburbanites, you can't help but sigh with relief when events turn to serial killing (finally?).
Unflinchingly nasty, graphic and gut-wrenchingly powerful, Snowtown is a film that dares you to look away, but compels you to keep watching. As portraits of serial killers go, this deserves to be hung on the wall next to Henry.
The grimy social realism and gurgling torture scenes place director Justin Kurzel's startling debut midway between Animal Kingdom and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer.
It has no particular observations about the mind of psychopaths that is worth the incredibly nasty feeling you get from sitting through its incredibly grim two hours.
Is it the Aussie Gummo, or a true-crime drama that takes itself way too seriously? Can it be both simultaneously?
Observing the character's regular and repeated acts of cruelty becomes numbing after awhile.
Although it builds quiet, thick suspense and lacks the bravado and sensationalism of most films of the genre, that doesn't always work to its advantage.
the ghastly glee of The Snowtown Murders comes not in the kills, but in the stalking of one's true prey.
Though many will be put off by the elliptical style of this clammy, feral drama about Australia's most infamous serial killer, Daniel Henshall's jaw-droppingly malevolent performance will reward all those who seek it out.
The Snowtown Murders builds into a multipronged horror effort in which the torture and murder on-screen are matched by the psychologically convincing disintegration of a previously sympathetic protagonist.
What is it with first-time Australian filmmakers and ultraviolent true-crime movies about thuggish underclass families?
In spite of the inherently interesting subject matter and psychological dynamics explored, there is little in the way of suspense. I was intermittently bored throughout.
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Latest News on The Snowtown Murders
May 8, 2012:
Justin Kurzel Is John Le Carre's Kind of TraitorThe "Snowtown Murders" director will helm the film adaptation of Le Carre's "Our Kind of Traitor."
November 17, 2011:
Critics Consensus: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Doesn't ShineThis week at the movies, we've got a vampire wedding (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1,...
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Foreign Titles
- Snowtown (DE)
- Snowtown (UK)
