Bad Behaviour

CONSEQUENCES is a very low budget Aussie thriller with intersecting story lines which mix and match as the running time progresses. So one day is about some corrupt cops and another is about a serial killer who eventually gets involved with the group. Other stories are about teenagers and one is about a vicious psychopath with murder in mind. I wanted to enjoy this, but the truth is that it's very cheaply staged and not really up to scratch when compared to the quality of other Aussie genre movies being made lately.

One thing the film does have going for it is the extreme level of violence with a handful of shocking moments seemingly styled on the black comedy of fare like WOLF CREEK. However, it's all rather cheesily done and thus lacks the impact and power of something with a more professional sheen. The acting is also quite poor with the exception of the two welcome old-timers, John Jarratt and Roger Ward, both of whom are sorely underutilised.

I thought this film was thoroughly enjoyable. It's a darkly humorous, horrific tale of severe violence and best enjoyed particularly with a crowd at a midnight viewing. I find it interesting that with all the apparent low score votes, I'm the first person to actually POST A REVIEW...

I sincerely hope this gets a release at some point, even if it is only on DVD (region 1, please!)

This is only a capsule review at this point as it happens to be ridiculously late at night and I don't think I can give a fair thorough review without a more recent viewing. I have seen it at two separate film festivals in the Bay Area (Cinequest and SF Indiefest's Another Hole in the Head) and the audiences certainly seemed to come away with favorable impressions, even if some found it somewhat disturbing.

Anyway, I hope to revisit this with a more proper review at a later date, particularly if the film gets some kind of distribution/release.

pt...

First the gripe the sound compression on the DVD I had was bad, the dialogue being too low and the music to loud which is a pity because I think this had something to say. We had to set the volume full bore just to make out what the cast was saying. Got a feeling Jarratt was auditioning for Tarantino, this is not a criticism as the film was obviously inspired by his works with a touch of Pulp Fiction, True Romance and the like. Pulled back a bit too much on the violence, as I think Sims was hoping for a more shocking slow reveal, this did not work for me being billed as a horror I would have loved to see more of the axe rampages.