![]() 2014 / Director. Travis Bain. Review by Glenn Cochrane. If you type the word "throwback" into our in-site search engine you will see that it's one of my favourite references and therefore you can imagine my anticipation when I first heard about a new film called THROWBACK! On top of that the film is about the mythical creature The Yowie (Australia's answer to Sasquatch) and has been promoted with one of the best damn movie posters I've seen in years... yep, I was sold before I even saw it. The film tells the story of two fortune seekers who hike into the depths of a far north Queensland rainforest in search of a lost treasure. The legend has it that a notorious outlaw went in with a fortune but never came out again... and so our two antagonists walk, paddle and climb their way into the dense wilderness and unbeknownst to them the area has also been at the centre of multiple disappearances. Before long they find themselves pitted against each other before being separated, hunted and terrorized by the terrifying yowie. Throw a female park ranger and an undercover homicide detective (Vernon Wells) in to the mix and you've got a winner on your hands. THROWBACK impressed the hell out of me. Right from the get go it's clear that we're in the hands of a filmmaker who knows what he's doing. With an eye for bold, cinematic wide shots and beautiful panning it becomes obvious that the makers of this small low budget film had big things on their mind. Director Travis Bain has used the picturesque landscape to his every advantage to help ground his schlocky story with a foundation of credibility. He makes no secret of the fact that THROWBACK is a tongue-in-cheek affair and yet amongst the farcical nature of the story is a deeply seeded horror and an effective use of suspense. Where most films of this nature would keep their creature hidden in the shadows, Bain has brought him out into the light. It's a ballsy move on his part with the risk of the film's credibility at stake... but he pulls it off and manages to present a convincing monster and a suspenseful story with the assistance of solid performances and a fantastic score. The music was composed by Amotz Plessner and the legendary Richard Band (Re-Animator, From Beyond) and it will be a real deal breaker for a lot of viewers. Their score is truly wonderful. It adds bucket loads of suspense and elevates the film to a whole other level. As the film's title would suggest Travis Bain has crafted his film with a deep seeded love for genre films and he pays homage to a whole lot of them. From a nice reference to THE LEGEND OF BOGGY CREEK to an overall cue taken from CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE... his film is one of nostalgia and it's a whole lot of fun. It has played all around to the world at various film festivals and I was lucky enough to catch it at the 2014 Monster Fest. I can say, without any reservation, that THROWBACK was my favourite film of the festival. What it has accomplished on a small budget is nothing less than extraordinary. Keep tabs on THROWBACK on their official website and look out for it's DVD release.
5 Comments
Stephen Hofmeister
1/12/2014 01:24:21 pm
My thoughts exactly we saw at a cairns premier and for us locals it was extra special as we knew the areas it was filmed around
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Matt Halpin
2/12/2014 05:51:17 am
I got to see it at Melbourne's Monster Fest, too and I'm in full agreement with this review. The production standard was damn impressive so I couldn't believe my ears when the filmakers revealed the final budget figure. I can't wait to see what they come up with next. They mentioned it during the Q&A but I missed what they said.
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Josh Higgins
2/12/2014 06:05:01 am
Yeah, my girlfriend and I got to attend a screening and had a ball. They had tech issues around the middle but the director jumped up and got them sorted. It didn't hurt the screening as nobody walked out and were keen to see how the film played out. We loved it. Vernon Wells is a legend and chewed the scenery literally.
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Costa Kontrotis
2/12/2014 11:07:59 am
I hope this one hits bluray. the visuals were among the best of the festival. actors were perfect. editing and direction spot on. they said their next project was a sci fi actioner in the outback. COUNT ME IN
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2/12/2014 01:51:14 pm
Thanks to everybody for your kind comments, and for coming to the Monster Fest screening and supporting our little film. The good news is that Throwback IS coming to regions 2 and 4 DVD and region B Blu-ray in February, with other countries (including the US) to follow later in 2015. We welcome you to go to our IMDB page and write a user review to tell the world what you thought about Throwback: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2950996/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. Stay tuned to our Facebook page www.facebook.com/throwbackmovie for updates on release dates etc. And also keep an eye on the page for announcements soon about our next feature, an apocalyptic outback sci-fi/horror film jointly inspired by the two geniuses John Carpenter and HP Lovecraft. We are already working on some amazing concept art. It's going to be a VERY exciting genre project for Australia. Our crowd-funding campaign will launch in the new year.
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