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Uneven 'Wolf Creek' still beats most Hollywood horror

Not everything on Christmas morn will be merry and bright.

The Weinstein Company is making sure there's something at the megaplex on Sunday for every single member of the family. It's unleashing "Wolf Creek," the celebrated Australian horror story very loosely inspired by real-life murders.

The Weinstein Company 'Wolf Creek' B- The verdict: At times unsettling, effectively filmed Australian horror tale. Maybe a dingo ate the script because it has a few monstrous holes. Director: Greg McLean Starring: Cassandra Magrath, John Jarret, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips, Andy McPhee Run time: 99 minutes Release date: Dec. 25, 2005 Rating: R for strong, gruesome violence and for profanity. See showtimes On the web Official movie site View the trailer    Trailers require Quicktime Rate 'Wolf Creek'   Go see it   Make it a matinee   Wait to rent   Don't bother Voter Limit: Once per Hour View Poll Results

A kind of bloomin' onion-style "Texas Chainsaw Massacre," "Wolf" involves a trio of youthful campers (one Aussie dude and two English dolls), the wide-open-spaces outback and a weirdo stranger with a big knife.

It's a story as simple as they come. The campers' car breaks down. The stranger shows up to help. Before you know it, there's a little slicing and dicing going on over here with one camper and a little sexual torture going on over there with another.

What "Wolf" has going for it is a grimy, but watchable, cinematic veneer, a killer able to bare a remarkable blank stare ( a fireside look he gives our male camper is totally unemotional and totally chilling) and a steady stream of amusing and creepy dialogue. Asked why he hunts kangaroos, the stranger deadpans: "I was doing people a service, really, by shooting them. There's kangaroos all over the place ... like tourists."

While the story is a takeoff on real-life events, including Australian incidents known as the "Backpacker Murders," the film is full of horror tale retreads. For instance, how does the killer, who's taken the campers to his remote digs, know exactly where to hide among a fleet of cars to lie in wait for one of his escaped hostages? And why is there a video camera that someone picks up that just happens to be primed for its electronic memory to reveal all the right plot points?

Still, "Wolf" is a shade better than a lot of the current crop of Hollywood horror movies ("Saw II") and remakes and redos of Japanese terror films. It's probably most like the French slasher film "High Tension."

They're both bloody, vicious and a little over the top. And a solid enough antidote to anyone feeling overdosed on holiday cheer.