LONG WEEKEND

Briony Behets and John Hargreaves

LONG WEEKEND (1978). Director: Colin Eggleston.  

Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) are a couple undergoing serious marital difficulties. Inexplicably, they take off on a camping trip to an isolated spot near the seashore. As the vacation progresses, they have a couple of unpleasant encounters with wildlife, but far worse is the fact that their tempers fray and their relationship completely unravels. But their travails aren't over ... 

On the beach

Long Weekend, an Australian flick, purports to be a horror film and many viewers apparently even saw it as a "nature gets revenge"-type movie. Well ... Peter gets briefly attacked by an eagle and bitten by a possum -- and at the opening someone on the radio news talks about strange bird behavior -- but if one is hoping for something along the lines of The Birds or even Frogs, look elsewhere. The film is moody and well-directed, setting an eerie and disquieting tone almost from the beginning, but it's all just a tease. It's almost as if the filmmakers decided they could get more people into the theater if they somehow fashioned this into a horror film instead of a marital drama, but it just doesn't work.   

Peter tries to befriend a possum -- bad idea!

What does work are the performances by Behets and Hargreaves, although their characters are not the most pleasant of people; the wife is especially negative. The two actors do a great job dealing with the varied physical and emotional crises they face during the running time. Vincent Monton's cinematography is first-rate, and there's an interesting score by Michael Carlos. While the movie does build up to tragic events, it never really comes to a boil. 

NOTE; Coincidentally a novelization of the film, written by Brett McBean, has just come out from Encyclopocalypse Publications. This might be very interesting! You can find it on Amazon. 

Verdict: Take this as a moody marital drama and it might work for you. **1/4.