Rogue

Rogue (2007)

Runtime: 99 minutes

Directed by: Greg McLean

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, Caroline Brazier, John Jarratt, Sam Worthington

From: Village Roadshow

As always, whenever I participate in Spooky Season each late August through Halloween, some of the films I expect to view beforehand was not viewed. At the same time, I’m always glad for the unexpected movies that are viewed, or the ability to see something in full that I’ve only watched parts of in the past, saw but it was before Letterboxd, or have been meaning to see for years now. In 2025 especially, those unexpected moments & catching up on movies I should have reviewed long ago has been a treat. That includes Rogue, tackled soon after release and never again until now.

This is the 21st century version of Ozploitation, an Australian film from the director of Wolf Creek; personally, the plot description of Wolf Creek doesn’t sound appealing to my tastes-a giant killer crocodile picture is more appealing. The premise isn’t too terribly complex: an American travel writer is in the outback in the Northern Territory of Australia, on a boat cruise fixated on viewing crocodiles. After encountering louts Sam Worthington and Damien Richardson-the latter actor was acclaimed on screen in his native country but after retiring… well, he’s an activist far to the right--you can read his Wiki page if you’re so inclined-circumstances happen and they’re stuck on a tiny island after the croc attacks their boat.

The movie’s not filled with gore or even a numerous amount of deaths-unfortunately, one of the kills is of a dog; rather, the focus is on the disparate group of characters who are forced to work together to escape the island. There were some faces known to me… Radha Mitchell, John Jarratt, Barry Otto for a moment, child actor Mia Wasikowska, and a “favorite” of many, Sam Worthington. At least here, he was fine—and more often than not I don’t think he’s terrible. Certainly, I could nitpick some aspects, such as some characters acting like dopes for the sake of the plot.

All that said, they filmed in a scenic remote location, there are several exciting setpieces and it was an enthralling trek, if not the most original story in the genre. A bonus is that the effects-including the CG-actually look good. The presumption is that the vast majority of killer alligator/crocodile films are useless tripe, whether they be practical effects or those putrid SyFy Channel films that presented bargain-basement CG. One day I should track down 1987’s Dark Age, a crocodile film that stars Jarratt as the hero. I haven’t seen much in that category-at least Crawl, Alligator, and Rogue are good times for entirely different reasons.