I honestly don't understand why this movie flopped when it was first aired in 1979. It is one of the best films in the horror genre. I saw it years ago as a child and it was one of the films that stayed with me.Long Weekend is a very low key horror. The tension is not ramped up straight away, but builds slowly and steadily. Like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, there is no pat answer to what is actually happening, only that Peter and Marcia, (John Hargreaves and Briony Behets) are not welcome in their part of the bush. And for good reason, neither Peter or Marcia show any respect towards the bush or it's inhabitants. They carelessly start bushfires, slaughter animals with their negligence and destroy their surroundings.Peter and Marcia are not a very likable couple either, they constantly bicker and it is clear to see that their marriage is in serious trouble.The acting from both John Hargreaves and Briony Behets is excellent, both give a brilliant performance as the rapidly estranging couple that literally come under siege by their surroundings.The final scenes of this film are truly harrowing and I promise, ones that you won't forget. do yourself a favour, see the original before you see the remake. This is what Aussie cinema used to be like. Brilliant and original.Long Weekend is considered to be an Ozploitation film and even though is was a commercial flop in Australia, it was a huge hit overseas.

Long Weekend is directed by Colin Eggleston and written by Everett De Roche. It stars John Hargreaves and Briony Behets. Music is by Michael Carlos and cinematography by Vincent Monton.Peter and Marcia, their marriage teetering on the rocks, go away for what is hoped will be an idyllic long weekend of camping by the sea. But as they disrespect nature, nature decides enough is enough...Australia has produced some excellent horror movies over the decades, sitting up with the best of them is this, an abject lesson in terror wrung out from a minimalist situation. What you think is just going to be a standard "when animals attack" movie, proves to be something of far more depth and consequence. The animals do indeed attack, after Peter and Marcia carelessly trample nature's beings and foliage, where she's a ball of anger and ignorance and he's a machismo searching buffoon, but the horrors are not merely confined to what old Mother nature responds with, the horrors within the couple's marriage strike hugely audible chords, even marrying up to events unfolding in this not so idyllic paradise the couple thought they had found.Director Eggleston doesn't just plunge the couple (and us) straight into terror, he affords time for the story to build, for us to get a handle on the warring pair. He also niftily throws up a grey area in the first quarter by having the first act of carelessness as being accidental, it could happen to you or I, in fact this passage of the film has tricked us into having some empathy with the clearly troubled couple, but then bam! Eggleston puts an axe in Peter's hand and a can of insecticide in Marcia's and the film shifts into another gear. Items are brought into the narrative and dangled tantalisingly, but the director isn't clumsy in reintroducing them at a later point in the picture, the timing is right because now, as the film enters the last third, it's edge of the seat time.With such a minimalist setting, and using only two humans and their pet dog, the makers need to make their key scenes work to an optimum level. Thankfully that is the case, from a swimming scene to one where Peter is alone at night by the fire being haunted by noises all around him, it's a film of genuinely scary scenes. This is where the sound department come in and do wonders, the sounds of nature are amplified considerably for total unnerving effect, while the ambient swells for build up sequences gnaw away at the senses. Both Hargreaves and Behets are natural, and excellent because of it, while there's some beautiful natural Australian vistas brought out of the screen by Monton's photography.This is not a bloody film, but it doesn't need to be, it's an exercise in sharp breath holding terror. Messages and metaphors are there to pay heed to, but mostly this is just bloody great entertainment. 8/10

Cencorship laws changed in Australia at the end of the 1960s paving the way for a wave of, what are known as, OZ-ploitation films. Nudity, violence, sex and gore made them perfect for late night showings in the USA. Long Weekend is one of the most famous OZ-ploitation films of the 1970s. It gained a cult following and is also a favorite of Quentin Tarantino. Slow paced, thought-provoking,unexplained and atmospheric, this is a film that doesn't go by formula. Beautifully photographed and filled with uneasiness, this is a movie for those who love creepy and quirky, and especially the Australian brand of weird. The remake of the same name is atrocious.

LONG WEEKEND might not be for everyone - it is slow and subtle and the two leads are suffering from a tragedy and full of self-pity and complaints and I can see how their bickering could get on a viewer's nerves. But if you STAY WITH THIS film - it pays off. It is because of the slow pace of this film that everything builds perfectly - long a slow boiling pot - bit by bit - as they abuse each other and the natural surroundings around them - and shoot at animals and throw trash in the ocean and basically act like many humans in nature - "I am here and screw everything else" - it all comes to a head and punches you in the face. John Hargreaves is a very underrated Australian actor - he worked a lot in the 70's and 80's (Phar Lap, Beyond A Reasonable Doubt, etc.) and sadly died rather young - but he gives a terrific performance playing a rather despicable guy - and if he does not look like a blond Aussie Clive Owen - then I don't know who does.