This week we’re going camping.
The Long Weekend (1978)
This low budget '70s Australian film is something of a lost treasure and shows that sometimes having no money can almost be a blessing. There are no make-up or special effects to hide behind and this seems to have made all involved up there game to compensate.
The film only has two characters – Peter and Marcia, a married couple whose relationship is on the rocks. In an attempt to save their marriage they take a weekend break to a secluded beach and it’s their experiences there that make up the bulk of the film. Strange sounds at night and a mysterious shape in the water are just some of the terrors they encounter and rather than bring them closer, their trip serves to drive them even further apart.
It gradually becomes clear that Peter and Marcia are the villains here, not just attacking each other but the idyllic beach environment as well and Mother Nature isn’t happy. The characters are brilliantly realised but you don’t sympathise with them — rather you observe with a sense of revulsion as their history of infidelity and abortion unfolds.
Given the assured direction, you expect director Colin Eggleston to have ascended to the heights of his fellow countrymen Peter (Picnic at Hanging Rock) Weir and George (Mad Max) Miller. Sadly, though, this is his career highlight — but what a highlight! He makes the environment a living thing. What you can’t see is usually far more effective than what you can and this is true here where most of the time you don’t see anything; instead you hear sounds that turn the woods into an alien world full of unknown threats. He also shows a gift for character as he cuts open Peter and Marcia’s marriage and lets us see its dark innards.
As Peter and Marcia, John Hargreaves and Briony Behets are completely convincing. The structure of the film is such that you’re not sure who you’re supposed to be rooting for (Peter? Marcia? their marriage?) and the script gives them both the chance to be good and bad, not to mention downright ugly.
Also worthy of mention is screenwriter Everett De Roche. Patrick is probably one of the most well known Australian horror films of the '70s and that to came from Roche’s pen and was made the same year. This film, though, is more of a character study, with Roche dissecting the couple's relationship. Rarely do horror films have such keenly observed characters; these aren’t the usual stereotypes but real people, shown to us warts and all.
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