You're One Coin Toss From Savagery

Wake in Fright is one of the most disturbing films ever made about educated people. Not because of what happens in it, but because of who it's aimed at. Released in 1971, it was soundly rejected by the country it exposed for being too honest. As a result it was buried and almost destroyed. Almost lost forever. The negative was found in a Pittsburgh shipping container in 2004, one week from being scrapped. It took a forensic restoration to bring it back. And it's a classic. This is a film about an educated man who arrives in the Australian outback already convinced that he is superior to the people around him. And so what happens to him, and what he allows himself to become, isn't a corruption. It's a revelation. The Yabba doesn't change John Grant. It just reveals his true, savage self. Ted Kotcheff would go on to make First Blood. And this, this is its spiritual predecessor. One coin toss. Five days. A journey into the heart of darkness. #WakeInFright #firstblood #AustralianCinema #MoviedromeRedux #TedKotcheff #DonaldPleasence #ChipsRafferty #FilmAnalysis #CultCinema