100
Slant Magazine
The film's vision of masculine self-sufficiency is built around--and on, via Australia's own bloody colonial history--an elemental violence.
Wake in Fright
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- Australia,
- United States,
- United Kingdom
- 1971
- · 114m
Director
Ted Kotcheff
Cast
Gary Bond,
Donald Pleasence,
Chips Rafferty,
Sylvia Kay,
Jack Thompson,
Peter Whittle
Genre
Drama,
Thriller
Schoolteacher John plans to spend one night in a rough mining town in the Australian outback before flying to Sydney to enjoy his vacation with his girlfriend. But he soon finds himself completely broke, forced to spend night after night with the local alcoholics in this unsettling thriller…
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What are critics saying?
100
Observer by Rex Reed
Wake in Fright is the closest a movie can get to a primal scream.
100
Slant Magazine by John Semley
The film's vision of masculine self-sufficiency is built around--and on, via Australia's own bloody colonial history--an elemental violence.
100
Empire by Kim Newman
A well-warranted remastering of his Aussie new wave classic.
100
The Guardian by Peter Bradshaw
It comes from the age of Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange, but none of those movies can match the sheer hardcore shock of the Australian New Wave nightmare Wake in Fright from 1971.
91
Portland Oregonian by Marc Mohan
As unpleasant as so many of its going-on are, Wake in Fright works both as an early instance of "Ozploitation" cinema and as a harsh critique of Australian colonialism and the absurdity of trying to bring so-called civilization to this vast arid wilderness.
90
Los Angeles Times by Robert Abele
As a strictly psychological portrait of destructive masculinity it's a gut-sock, vividly photographed, thrillingly edited and marked by performances (Donald Pleasence and Jack Thompson, most notably) that heave with strange complexity and dark camaraderie.Wake in Fright is true horror.
90
Salon by Andrew O'Hehir
It's simultaneously terrifying and hilarious, a full-on shotgun blast to the face of rediscovered 1970s weirdness, something like finding out that there's a classic Peckinpah film you've never seen, or that Wes Craven and Bernardo Bertolucci got drunk in Sydney one weekend and decided to make a movie together.
90
Film Threat by Staff (Not Credited)
A very, very good film that examines male ego in a way that’s almost more Sam Peckinpah than Sam Peckinpah himself.
89
Austin Chronicle by Marc Savlov
Definitely not for the squeamish, Wake in Fright is calibrated for maximum psychic impact. Its madness is viral and disconcerting. Truly, you're going to want a stiff drink and a hot shower, or a noose, after visiting the Yabba.
88
Boston Globe by Ty Burr
Wake in Fright is a monster movie, and the monster is us.
80
The Hollywood Reporter by John DeFore
The picture is fresh and frightening, a strong arthouse contender certain to leave audiences talking.
80
Time Out by David Fear
Push any guy long enough with alcohol and aggressive masculinity, the film suggests, and you'll find an XY-chromosomed predator lurking behind the mask.
70
Village Voice
A road movie using undeveloped land as a blank screen on which to project a dark deconstruction of masculinity and manifest destiny.
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