STACK December 2016 Issue No. 146

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40 DECEMBER 2016
DVD&BD
FEATURE
We’ve seen locally produced creature features starring an oversized pig and
giant crocodiles. Now, writer-director Luke Sparke introduces a monster from
Aboriginal legend in Red Billabong. Words: Scott Hocking
“Razorback was a pig, Rogue was a
crocodile – they’re real animals.
You ain’t seen anything like this
before,” grins Luke Sparke when STACK
meets with the debutant director.
It’s this point of difference that makes Red
Billabong stand out amongst the recent wave
of Australian genre films that appropriate
zombies, slashers and other horror film
staples. Few local films tap into the primal
legends of our own land – a fact that Sparke
was determined to change.
“When I was looking back at mythology
and Australian history, this creature kept
coming up, and there’s so many different
versions of it, from white European settlers
to the 1970s – reports and sightings of
something in the woods. The real juicy stuff
comes from the Aboriginal Dreamtime, and I
respectfully reached out to a lot of groups to
make sure I didn’t step on anyone’s toes.
“When I hired Greg Fryer to play Mr.
Garvey [the film’s Indigenous hero], he
was very excited to bring his culture to
a mainstream popcorn film for fun, and
hopefully audiences will think about that
culture as well.”
Respectful of tribal beliefs, Sparke was
mindful to avoid the Dreamtime incarnation
of the creature (each tribe has its own
different version) and instead looked
to classic monster designs for inspiration.
“I wanted the traditional look – the
silhouette is this very mean shape with
big arms, little head and big feet. I also
wanted a distinctive bellow for the creature,
like what was heard in the outback legends,”
he explains.
As for the human element, Red Billbong
focuses on a pair of estranged brothers –
played by Home and Away heartthrob Dan
Ewing and Dance Academy’s Tim Pocock
– who must put aside their differences
when they discover something big and
unnatural lurking in the vicinity of their late
grandfather’s bush property.
In casting his leading men, Sparke wanted
actors who could comfortably inhabit their
characters and be able to improvise. “Dan
was one of the very first people I went to,
and he and I just clicked because he loves
‘80s movies,”says the director who grew up
on a diet of films like Predator and Aliens.
“Tim was the last person I cast, and he’s
a stroke of genius because he took that
character in a different direction – he was the
whiny younger brother in my script.”
Sparke hopes that viewers get behind Red
Billabong for its entertainment value, and
also to ensure that more Australian films like
it get made. “It’s not going to change your
life, but it’s a fun two hours,” he promises.
“If audiences back this we can continue to
make Australian genre films to
offset the great dramas we
make. More adrenaline-
junkie films that people
can have fun with.”
You ain't seen anything
like this before
• Red Billabong
is out Dec 21
The Reef (2010)
Having unleashed a killer croc in Dark Water,
director Andrew Trauki sets a Great White
shark on a group of holidaymakers whose
sailboat has capsized on the Great Barrier
Reef. The Aussie answer to Open Water.
Razorback (1984)
“It only has two states of being – dangerous
or dead.” A monstrous feral boar terrorizes
an outback town in this cult classic that’s
full of appropriately hammy performances.
The quintessential Aussie monster movie.
Primal (2010)
A group of campers are attacked by a
mutant rabbit and turned into ferocious,
fanged demons in this tongue-in-cheek
shocker. There’s also a horny CGI cave
creature that further strains credibility.
Howling III: The Marsupials (1987)
Who would have thunk that werewolves and
kangaroos are related! Even Dame Edna is
on the menu in this blatantly ridiculous guilty
pleasure that throws in werewolf nuns and
ballerinas to add to the trash value.
more homegrown monsters
Dan Ewing andTim Pocock