The Big Picture

• Many horror films have predictable endings, but Wolf Creek stands out with its bleak and dark conclusion.
• Wolf Creek subverts the final girl trope, killing off all the heroes and leaving the villain alive and victorious.
• The film's frustrating and realistic ending deviates from horror tropes, leaving viewers with unresolved justice and a villain who continues to evade consequences.

Usually, horror movies have at least a somewhat predictable ending. If you're watching a franchise slasher, chances are that the killer might look dead at the end, but he's probably coming back. But at least the hero or the final girl gets a moment where they're standing tall, victorious, even if only briefly. Increasingly, however, horror has gone for darker, more disturbing endings. There was nothing to smile about at the end of 2022's Smile, or last year's Evil Dead Rise and Talk to Me, for example. Going back a little farther, Saw in 2004 and The Mist in 2007, went dark as well. And much farther back, who can ever forget the final images of 1973's The Wicker Man? In all of these cases, the hero dies, or at least wishes they were dead.

There are many more examples, but another horror film that falls into the category of grim endings is 2005's Wolf Creek. This Australian flick introduced us to a new iconic villain, but it also hit audiences with an unforgettable finale that not only left the good guys destroyed and the bad guy standing tall, but it gave that bad guy an out in the most frustrating and hopeless of ways. Nothing is more bleak and more grim than the last scenes of Wolf Creek.

’Wolf Creek’s Mick Taylor Is an Outsider’s Stereotype of an Australian Man

Part of Wolf Creek follows familiar horror tropes. When three young backpackers decide to take a trek through the barren Australian outback, you know something bad is going to happen to them. Wolf Creek asks, "What if you came across Crocodile Dundee, but he was a murderous psychopath?" What makes Wolf Creek work, even before we meet the villain, is that we care about the heroes. You have British besties Liz (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristie (Kestie Morassi) with their local friend Ben (Nathan Phillips), who seem like they will be simple cookie-cutter fodder, but writer and director Greg McLean really works to make you care about the trio before the horror starts. They might like to have fun, but they're good people who care about each other.

That's what makes us engaged when they run into the evil man who will change their lives in Mick Taylor (John Jarratt). Taylor is a stereotype of how outsiders look at Australians, with the big hat, knife, and backward ways. When the friends meet him in the middle of the night when their car breaks down along a lonely highway, Mick takes the group to his place. He comes across too strong though, laughing too much and making uncomfortable jokes, but still, they go with him. When Ben makes a joke comparing Mick to Crocodile Dundee, saying "That's not a knife, this is a knife," Mick goes quiet for a moment, looking at Ben with pure hatred.

Later, the car is destroyed, and Liz and Kristie are next seen tied up. Mick is there with Kristie, pointing a rifle at her, laughing as she screams in terror. This isn't a silent madman like Michael Myers. Mick loves to talk and everything is a fun game made just for him. Liz creates a diversion and grabs Mick's gun, even shooting him, but since this is only the second act, of course, the bullet just grazes him, and of course, there are no more bullets. They try to get away, but Mick tracks them down as Liz finds proof that he's been killing tourists for years. Sadly, Liz meets her end by Mick's knife. After stabbing her, he holds up his weapon and says, "That's not a knife, this is a knife." We now know Liz won't be the final girl. It's up to Kristie to carry that burden.

There Is No Final Girl in ‘Wolf Creek’

When Kristie can't find Liz, she runs off into the night. In the morning, covered in blood, she stumbles onto a highway and crumbles from exhaustion. An elderly man pulls up in his car to help her, but he's immediately shot dead from long range by Mick. Kristie takes the man's car and guns it, with Mick hot on her trail. He catches up to her, sticking out his tongue, but when Kristie forces him off the road, it looks like she'll get away. Nope. Instead, Mick gets out of his car, pulls out his rifle, and shoots out one of Kristie's tires. He then catches up to her, and as Kristie crawls away, Mick silently shoots her dead in the film's most heartbreaking and unforgiving moment. There's no final girl to be found in Wolf Creek.

Is this going to be one of those movies where all the heroes die? Not exactly. It goes worse than that. We're now down to the very rare horror movie where only the guy is alive, but even if Ben is victorious, we're not getting a happy ending. The preceding events have been too brutal and final. We haven't been following Ben at all, but now we find him crucified to a wall back at Mick's place, the dead body of another rotting tourist beside him.

Mick Taylor Got Away To Spawn a Sequel and a Spin-Off ‘Wolf Creek’ Show

Ben manages to painfully escape and make it to a dirt road where he collapses. When a shadowy figure in a hat approaches him, we lean in. Here it is, the showdown between Ben and Mick. While it's a bit awkward to have Ben live and save the day while both women die, at least we have a hero who can take Mick down. Not so fast. The figure in the hat is not Mick but someone else. This person saves Ben, driving off with no madman shooting at them as they make their getaway. Mick is nowhere to be found. So he must be lying in wait, right? Just before Ben looks like he's going to make it, boom, Mick will pop up and do something in the final frame. That horror trope never comes. Instead, Ben gets taken to a hospital and later put on a medical plane. The last time we see Ben, he's in handcuffs, taken into custody by Australian authorities, as he's now the suspect in the murders of his friends.

The film ends first with text that reads,

"Despite several major police searches, no trace of Liz Hunter or Kristy Earl has ever been found. Early investigations into the case were disorganized, hampered by confusion over the location of the crimes, a lack of physical evidence, and the alleged unreliability of the only witness. After four months in police custody, Ben Mitchell was later cleared of all suspicion. He currently lives in South Australia."

We then cut to Mick walking into the sunset, rifle at his side, like it's a happy ending.

It's easy to be frustrated by Wolf Creek's ending. It won't give us what we want. At least in The Wicker Man, Saw, The Mist, Smile, and Evil Dead Rise, we get a big showdown. Not here. These women died and were never avenged, and Ben and Mick never have a face-off. We don't get the climactic horror scene of good versus evil. Even if evil wins and Ben dies, it still has to happen, right? Instead, we just get text about bad policing. That's it? Greg McLean won't let us have our horror tropes, he chooses to go for realism by reversing expectations. The man lives, but no one will listen to his claims. He's ignored, and when he's finally let go, it's too late. He will live, but his life is ruined forever. Meanwhile, Mick is long gone, out to kill again. Mick did kill again, creating another murder spree in 2013's Wolf Creek 2, where again, he gets away with his crimes. Mick Taylor became such an infamous character that Wolf Creek even became a two-season TV series. And guess what, Mick Taylor lives yet again! It looks like the only thing that can kill him off are producers, for even though for years there's been talk of a third season or third movie, it has yet to happen.

Wolf Creek is available to rent on Amazon.

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