Long Weekend (1978)

User Rating:

6.8/10   

Director:

Colin Eggleston

Writer:

Everett De Roche (written by)

Release Date:

29 March 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

Their crime was against nature...Nature found them guilty. [DVD Australia]

Plot:

When a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature isn't in an accommodating mood. |

Plot Keywords:

Camping | Dugong | Unhappy Marriage | Female Masturbation | Wedgetailed Eagle

Awards:

5 wins

Cast

John Hargreaves	...	Peter
Briony Behets	...	Marcia
Mike McEwen	...	Truck Driver
Roy Day	...	Old Man
Michael Aitkens	...	Bartender
Sue Kiss von Soly	...	City girl

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M

Filming Locations:

Bega, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Australian Film Commission, The

Trivia:

Even though star Briony Behets was married to director Eggleston at the time, she wasn't his first choice to play the role of Marcia. She only got the role later after another actress fell through.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: There are a couple of shots of a Tasmanian Devil shortly after the couple arrive at the campsite. As the name suggests, Tassie Devils live only in Tasmania. Yet the beach/camping scenes were filmed in Bega, NSW, which is a long way away, and separated by a large stretch of ocean.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Superb but dated.

I saw this film when I was quite young and it scared the s**t out of me. I must have watched most of it through my fingers. This not because the film is a total gore'athon like most, 'so called' horror films, but because of the films unrelenting tension and suspense, supernatural elements and its ability to turn your own imagination against you. This is a skill a lot of writers/directors seem to have forgotten. Of course if you don't have an imagination then it won't work which is why a lot of horror films tend to rely heavily on 'visuals' and special effects rather than suspense and plot. Unfortunately the film was made in 1979 and it shows. This however, makes the film even more apt for younger people who weren't around in 1979 and are more likely to still have an imagination to torment. Unfortunately I've grown up now the imagination has dulled and I now know that reality is far more terrifying than any fiction. I have given this film an artificial 10/10 to boost it's rating to a level to which it deserves.