Watch Long Weekend For Free

People are voting emotionally.

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

When a suburban couple go camping for the weekend at a remote beach, they discover that nature is not in an accommodating mood.If the credits are to be believed, the crew was quite small. Considering the budget was no higher than $300,000, this is entirely possible. Interestingly, the movie is shot in widescreen, which was unusual for such a low budget.The investment paid off, as this film is not just a winner for its scares and its acting, but also for its use of landscape. With much of the action taking place on the beach, or in the woods, you really want to have your view as wide as possible. This further creates a sense of being "alone", showing no one lurking in the margins. Just as a tight picture creates a sense of claustrophobia, though here it is just the opposite -- no human to run to for safety is in sight."Long Weekend" was a bit of a flop upon release in Australia, but after going to Cannes in 1978 it was picked up for distribution around the world and was quite successful. Producer Richard Brennan speculates that this may be because the Australian landscape was less scary and foreign to the natives.The movie gained a renewed relevance in 2008 when a remake starring James Caviezel was unleashed upon the world. Those who had not previously been aware of the classic were now having their eyes opened. This is indeed the beauty of remakes: likewise, the Australian cult film "Patrick" (also written by Everett DeRoche) was fairly obscure until it was remade, boosting the original's profile.Unfortunately, lead actor John Hargreaves and director Colin Eggleston died prematurely and could not contribute to the DVD release. The Blu-ray release (brought to you by the impeccable Synapse Films) rectifies this by having an audio interview with Hargreaves, which is the next best thing. A full-length commentary is also provided by producer Richard Brennan and DP Vincent Monton, who have no shortage of stories to tell and are worth the price of the disc by themselves. Incidentally, the film looks and sounds great, and the widescreen presentation is the only way to see it -- those made-for-TV pan-and-scan cuts are dreadful.The Synapse disc is no doubt the last word on "Long Weekend" and any fan would be wise to pick up a copy. Actress Briony Behets would have been nice to get for an interview, but she likely would have little to add that Brennan and Monton left out -- their commentary, again, is priceless.

LONG WEEKEND tells a story with an intriguing premise. In it, a bickering couple spend a weekend on the Australian coast, where they soon find themselves at the mercy of a vengeful nature determined to make amends for their abuse of their environment. It's an eerie, subtle and atmospheric piece of film-making that most resembles a '70s-era BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, with the emphasis on psychological over physical terror.Sadly, I ended up wanting to like this film a lot more than I actually did. Although the premise is excellent, the execution just isn't that hot. Way too much of the running time is spent with the two obnoxious characters bickering and fighting all of the time, which makes for a sometimes excruciating viewing experience; I was praying that nature would hurry up and give these guys their just deserts.The acting is mediocre at best, but the real problem lies with Colin Eggleston's direction, which fails to make the best of his set-up. Sure, the animal attack sequences are fairly well-staged, and there's no denying the inevitability and power of THAT ending, but the rest of it is just a little, well, dull. I just didn't get the level of eeriness from it that I needed; it pales in comparison to BLAIR WITCH, which showed less but which was a whole lot more effective as a horror film.

The reviews on this site for "Long Weekend" are positively hyperbolic: "the epitome of Australian horror" opines one gushing reviewer; who goes on to proclaim it as the "best horror film to come from down under" "lost Aussie masterpiece!!!" asserts another, who must really mean it, as they have punctuated this statement with three exclamation points! I'm sorry to say that I found this film to be fatuous, fatuous with at least 5 exclamation points. The plot is basically thus: Aussie bloke takes his frigid wife on a mini-break out of town for the weekend. His wife is the biggest whinger OF ALL TIME a bold move then, that the writer should choose to play against type and make her...English. Yes, she's whinging AND she's a pom - you learn something new every day.So this unlikable couple, who I cared not a jot for, reach their deserted getaway; en route they run over a roo on the highway, which subsequently turns out to be a rather bad move because this act (and some other crimes against nature) has made nature....very angry! an eagle attacks the Aussie bloke, then a possum bites his finger, something moans in the distance (creepy, apparently) but really, I didn't care, as after about 40 minutes of this film I had reached the critical mass point; a point where I know that the chances of the the film getting any better, are virtually nil, as the stall has been set, the cards have been dealt and you realise you are watching a stinker.

I saw this film on the strength of how Tarantino raved about it as some kind of unknown classic on the Not Quite Hollywood documentary.The 92 minutes it took to watch Long Weekend seemed like 3 weeks.The film is well made but as it is such a thin, boring story with poor dialogue, bad acting and two main characters who are so unlikable that it was impossible to care about them, this was destined to be a real drag.I usually write longer reviews than this but I'm not prepared to give up any more time on this film.Avoid it.