In this feature,
Psychobabble looks at classic cult items beyond Horror and Rock & Roll.
Wake in Fright is
a horror movie without the things that define a horror movie. There are no ghosts, though it is terribly
haunting. There are no serial killers, unless you count the drunken hunters who
wantonly slaughter kangaroos in perhaps the most disturbing scene I’ve ever had
the displeasure to watch. There are no monsters, unless a town can be a
monster. That town is Bundanyabba, or “The Yabba” as the locals call it. They
are the demons who do the monster’s bidding. They stupefy its victims with
beer. They drain its victims’ resources with sub-moronic gambling events. Then
they go in for the kill with a methodical but swift dehumanization process.
