★★★★1/2 out of ★★★★★
🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸out of 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
Directed by Sam Curtain
2023 is only a quarter through and already it has given us some fantastic Aussie films: Talk to Me, Late Night With the Devil, Monolith and Godless: The Eastfield Exorcism. Now we have another to add to the pile and this one, as the title suggests, is BRUTAL!
Beaten to Death has perhaps the most bloody opening scene I have ever seen! We’re introduced to our protagonist Jack (Thomas Roach) as he is being pummeled within an inch of his life, by one of the biggest men I have ever seen. However, he is able to defend himself and stumbles over the lifeless body of his girlfriend to go get help.
He finds Ned (David Tracy) who brings Jack back to the scene of the crime to investigate what has happened. But this is the outback and this is a film called Beaten to Death so you can guess that this won’t be a simple “let’s call the police and get you some help” situation…and it isn’t. The story unravels through flashbacks and multiple timelines where we follow Jack as he tries to avoid being, well, beaten to death.
This film is gorgeously shot, wonderfully acted and insanely bloody; I watched through the coward’s veil and had to plug my ears to stop the screaming. Put Australia on my list of places to visit never!
Beaten to Death just screened at Panic Fest and will be released by Welcome Villain films later in 2023. Stay tuned to The Scariest Things for all the details.
While you’re waiting for this film to come to a theater near you, listen to our podcast episode 96 for more Australian Horror recommendations.
