Rogue

Rogue Information

Rogue is a 2007 Australian independent horror film about a group of tourists in Australia who fall prey to a giant, man-eating crocodile. Rogue was released in Australia on 8 November 2007.

The film stars Michael Vartan, Radha Mitchell, Sam Worthington, John Jarratt and Mia Wasikowska and was directed, written, and produced by Greg McLean, who also directed the 2005 indie-Australian horror hit movie Wolf Creek. It was produced by David Lightfoot and Matt Hearn and made on a budget of . The film was inspired by the true story of Sweetheart, a giant saltwater crocodile that attacked boats in the late 1970s, although in real life, Sweetheart was never responsible for an attack on a human.

Plot

While carrying out his research as a travel journalist, cynical American Pete McKell (Michael Vartan) joins a group of tourists on a crocodile watching river cruise in Kakadu National Park of Australia's Northern Territory, led by wildlife researcher Kate Ryan (Radha Mitchell). After a run-in with two locals, Neil (Sam Worthington) and Collin (Damien Richardson), the cruise winds to a close and Kate prepares to return the group to base.

Everett (Robert Taylor) spots a flare in the distance, and Kate tells the group that they must investigate to determine whether someone needs rescuing. A few miles up river, they come across a half-sunken wreck when suddenly, something crashes into the tourists' boat, creating a crack in the side. Kate's only choice is to run it ashore on a small island in the middle of the river. The group disembark and begin discussing what to do when Everett is suddenly pulled into the water by an unseen predator and killed. Kate comes to the conclusion that they are in the heart of a large crocodile's territory and that it will be more aggressive than usual. The tourists realize that, by nightfall, the tide will start to rise and in a matter of hours, their small island will be submerged.

Neil and Collin arrive soon after and, as they near the island, an unseen force smashes their boat and sinks it. Neil manages to swim to the island safely, but Collin disappears.

As night falls, Neil suggests that he swim to the riverbank in order to string a rope between two trees, creating a zip-line that will allow the group to cross the river. Neil succeeds in setting up the rope and Mary Ellen (Caroline Brazier) crosses first, only to freeze in fear halfway across. Allen (Geoff Morrell) becomes impatient and aggressive and attempts to get himself and his daughter Sherry (Mia Wasikowska) across with Mary Ellen still on the line. While trying to secure the rope, Neil is attacked by the croc and killed. The tree holding the rope breaks and the three on the line fall into the water. They manage to swim back to the island, but as Allen crawls up the beach, the gigantic 23-foot beast suddenly lunges out of the water, rips off his right arm, and throws him into the middle of the river, where he is dragged under and killed.

Later that night, Pete suggests they can delay the beast with a hook and bait on one side of the island while everyone escapes off the other side. Simon (Stephen Curry) is skeptical of the idea, but Russell (John Jarratt) agrees to try. Lacking bait, everyone suggests using Kate's dog, Kevin, but they decide to use two dead birds that Neil and Collin had shown them earlier. Kate hooks the birds onto the boat's anchor while Pete secures the other end of the rope to a boulder and throws the bait out into the river. After a long wait, the anchor is suddenly grabbed and pulled and the group make a break for the far shore. Russell assists Sherry's mother, Elizabeth (Heather Mitchell), who can't swim. Pete tries to stop the boulder from being pulled over as Kate swims across behind the group. The beast suddenly lets go of the hook and bait, seizes Kate, and drags her underwater. Pete hurriedly makes the swim across the river with Kevin in tow, and heads off into the bush to meet up with the others.

As day breaks, Pete is crossing a stream when Kevin runs away. Pete chases the dog into a cave and falls down a narrow chute into a larger cave, where he sees Neil's corpse. He realizes that the cave is the beast's lair and, to his surprise, he finds Kate alive, but badly injured and unconscious. He attempts to carry her out but has to hide when the beast returns and eats Kevin, then enters the cave and falls asleep. Trying to reach the entrance carrying Kate, Pete wakes the beast, and it makes several attempts to kill both him and Kate as he retreats into the narrow confines of the cave. Finally, after a long fight in which he gets tossed around and is severely bitten on the hand, Pete makes one desperate last stand. He braces a broken log against a large boulder with the sharp end pointing out towards the beast. The beast lunges at him, and Pete successfully impales it through the head killing it. He escapes from the cave with Kate to join the surviving tourists and waiting paramedics.

As the credits roll, the camera zooms in on a newspaper article detailing Pete's heroic battle with the beast and rescue of Kate. The article also states that authorities believe the beast was being territorial (having mistaken the boat's motor as the sound of a rival crocodile), while others believe that the beast had acquired a taste for humans.

Cast

Michael Vartan as Pete McKell
Radha Mitchell as Kate Ryan
Sam Worthington as Neil
Stephen Curry as Simon
Celia Ireland as Gwen
John Jarratt as Russell
Heather Mitchell as Elizabeth
Geoff Morrell as Allen
Mia Wasikowska as Sherry
Caroline Brazier as Mary Ellen
Robert Taylor as Everett Kennedy
Barry Otto as Merv
Damien Richardson as Collin

Reception

Box office

Rogue debuted in the Australian box office on 11 November 2007 making . After 11 weeks in the nation's cinemas it left making A$1.8 million. It was released in the United States on 25 April 2008 and in its first weekend made . It remained in theatres for three more days before making an exit on a low US$10,452. As of 8 August 2008, Rogue has made A$3,475,708 worldwide.

Reviews

Although the film was a box office failure, it received critical acclaim, making it more critically successful than McLean's previous film, Wolf Creek. Melbourne's Herald Sun critic Leigh Paatsch gave the film three out of five stars stating that, "If you must see at least one killer croc movie before you die, it may as well be this polished little Australian schlocker". Sydney Morning Herald critic Sandra Hall gave the movie three and a half out of five stars writing that, "[I]t's almost elegant. Its only disadvantage is it conjures up inevitable comparisons with Jaws...a benchmark the film has no hope of achieving".

The film has a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Accolades

Award	Category	Subject
AACTA Award (2008 AFI Awards)	Best Visual Effects	Andrew Hellen
		Dave Morley
		Jason Bath
		John Cox
Australian Screen Editors	Avid Award for Best Editing on a Feature Film	Jason Ballantine
AWGIE Award	Best Original Feature Film	Greg McLean
Fangoria Chainsaw Award	Best Limited-Release/Direct-to-Video Film
Sitges Film Festival	Best Film	Greg McLean

DVD release

Rogue was released on DVD in Australia on 29 May 2008. The DVD's special features include "The Making of Rogue" documentary, four featurettes, and a theatrical trailer. The US and UK DVDs feature an additional audio commentary. As of 2013, Rogue has been released on Blu-ray in Canada and the UK. The Canadian disc features the film only, whilst the UK disc includes all of the aforementioned extras, bar the trailer.