Back on the Prowl: Horror film star reprises role – Winston-Salem Journal

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. In 2005, Australian actor John Jarratt made a big impression on horror movie fans in Wolf Creek, a brutal, intense thriller about a deranged killer stalking tourists in the Australian Outback.

He reprised the role of Mick Taylor, a charming but sadistic survivalist with a thick accent and a diabolical sense of humor, in 2013 for the sequel Wolf Creek 2. Then in 2016, he came back again for a six-episode miniseries, which was first shown in Australia and then in the United States on the cable channel Pop. The series has been renewed for a second season.

Wolf Creek: Season One is being released Tuesday on DVD from Lionsgate Entertainment. Extras include behind-the-scenes shorts about the making of the series, the process of adapting the films, the visual effects, and the challenges of filming on the Outback.

The Australian Outback ... its like the ocean, Jarratt said. You know how, on a rough day, the ocean is enticing and yet dangerous? And youre kind of attracted to it, and you go for a swim in it. And if youre unfortunate, you might come across a Great White Shark. Well, thats kind of what Wolf Creek is on land.

And it is enticing, like mermaid-enticing, he said. And it is very dangerous. You dont need my character, Mick Taylor, to die out there. You die very quickly just from natural forces.

The series focuses on an American college student (Lucy Fry) who is the sole survivor of a massacre perpetrated by Mick. She proceeds to hunt him down to get revenge for the death of her family.

Jarratt, 65, said that he has gotten used to having a cult following for playing a killer.

He is a horrible human being and anathema to me, Jarratt said. Ive got six kids and two grand kids. I dont like these kind of people, but theyre very interesting characters to play, from an actors point of view.

He didnt adjust the character for television. Not a scrap, not at all, he said. The character is iconic, and he just is what he is. And I didnt think television or film. I just thought Mick is in this scene.

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Back on the Prowl: Horror film star reprises role - Winston-Salem Journal