Dark Age (1987)

Director:

Arch Nicholson

Writers:

Sonia Borg (writer)
Stephen Cross (screenplay)

Genre:

Horror

Tagline:

Death is only one bite away.

Plot:

In the Australian outback, a park ranger and two local guides set out to track down a giant crocodile...

Plot Keywords:

Giant Animal | Park Ranger | Australian Saltwater Crocodile | Boat | Trap

Cast

John Jarratt	...	Steve Harris
Nikki Coghill	...	Cathy Pope
Max Phipps	...	John Besser
Burnham Burnham	...	Oondabund
David Gulpilil	...	Adjaral
Ray Meagher	...	Rex Garret
Jeff Ashby	...	Mac Wilson
Paul Bertram	...	Jackson
Ron Blanchard	...	Bluey Noakes
Gerry Duggan	...	Joe Blunt
Ken Radley	...	Reynolds
Janet Kingsbury	...	Ann Wilson
James Fitzgerald	...	Smithy
Hank Mosby	...	Hitchens
James Mann	...	Hitching

Also Known As:

Blood Surf 2 (Philippines: English title) (bootleg title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Company:

F.G. Film Productions

Trivia:

This film remains unreleased in its country of origin, Australia. This is apparently due to Avco Embassy owning the Australian distribution rights but they went bust just prior to the films release.

G'day mate! … Big teeth ya gat there!

"Dark Age" is a rather impressive creature-feature from Down Under, professionally directed and surprising NOT featuring the dreadful clichés of other over-sized-animal flicks. It has style and brains and still the movie is pretty bloody and vile, which is a unique combination already. And even when the story tends to get a little tedious, you can always admire the lovely outback filming locations as well as the typical Aussie accents, which I personally find really cool. The hungry reptile eating his way through the Australian outback is referred to as Numu…Nuwamu…BIG FREAKIN' CROC! He's some sort of ancient and spiritual deity to the aboriginals, but since the protected saltwater croc already consumed quite a few people, local park ranger Steve Harris is under a lot of pressure to destroy it. He cooperates with the leader of the aboriginals to keep the beautiful animal alive, but there are loads of angry poachers that want its head as a hunting trophy. About 15-20 minutes into the film, there's a sequence that every single horror fanatic on this planet will love or at least respect… The croc leaves his territory and heads for the populated areas where it immediately attacks & devours a defenseless child. This scene genuinely surprised and shocked me and I got hooked to the film until the end. It's the only REAL shock-moment, but it's great enough to recommend the entire movie. The climax is also very spectacular and fairly original. The big plastic croc-creation looks convincing enough and, as said, the locations are often breathtaking. It's quite a challenge to come across a copy of this obscure Aussie adventure/horror movie, but it's definitely worth it.