The film: Wolf Creek's release last year came as the world waited for the real-life trial of an Australian man accused of murdering an English backpacker and abducting his female travelling companion.

It was a lucky bit of timing for the film- makers, because the story is based on a similarly gruesome scenario, and both would send shivers down the spines of all those who plan to explore the Outback.

First-time director Greg McLean serves up a tight and thoroughly nasty slice of cinema, about a thoroughly nasty subject. It's blood-soaked, violent, and chilling to the last.

What makes Wolf Creek stand out from your standard slasher flick is the presence of veteran Australian actor John Jarratt, who brings real menace to his turn as Crocodile Dundee gone wrong, Mick Taylor.

The story follows three carefree twenty somethings on a long and desolate road trip from Broome on Australia's northwest coast to Cairns in far north Queensland. The feeling of isolation is all-consuming, and McLean plays this card for all it's worth as the camera swoops and gallops across the wide, brown landscape.

The locals the trio encounter along the way are cartoon creepy - all grubby, toothless, beer-bellied ogres. It's as though they've landed on another planet. And when their car breaks down, rogue bushman Taylor comes to their rescue.

But something's not quite right about the old boy. Something even more disturbing than his ill-fitting flannelette shirt and dodgy shorts.

It doesn't take long before all hell breaks loose. And when the violence hits, McLean gives it to us with both barrels. It's relentless, hands-in-front-of-your-eyes stuff. The cast of youngsters play up the wild-eyed innocence well enough, but it's all about Jarratt's performance.

Jarratt was there at the forefront of the Australian film industry's golden era of the 1970s - he played a pivotal role in Peter Weir's seminal Outback mood piece Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) - but has made a living mostly from TV in the intervening years. But here he has created a monster for the ages - and in the end that's the film's saving grace.

The extras: The main disc includes a commentary from the main players, and the extra disc boasts a 50-minute making-of documentary, which highlights how brave everyone was to tackle conditions in the Outback, and deleted scenes.

It's rounded out with an illuminating interview with the excellent Jarratt.

The verdict: Not for the faint-hearted, or anyone contemplating an Outback adventure.