Rogue (2007 film)


Rogue is a 2007 Australian independent horror film written, produced and directed by Greg McLean, about a group of tourists in Australia who fall prey to a giant, man-eating crocodile. It stars Radha Mitchell, Michael Vartan, and Sam Worthington.
The film was inspired by the true story of Sweetheart, a giant male saltwater crocodile that attacked boats in the late 1970s, although Sweetheart was never responsible for an attack on a human. Rogue received positive reviews from critics, but was a commercial failure.

Plot

While carrying out his research as a travel journalist, cynical American Pete McKell joins a group of tourists on a crocodile watching river cruise in Kakadu National Park of Australia's Northern Territory, led by wildlife researcher Kate Ryan. After a run-in with two locals, Neil and Collin, the cruise winds to a close and Kate prepares to return the group to base.
Everett spots a flare in the distance, and Kate tells the group that they must investigate to determine whether someone needs rescuing. A few miles up river, they come across a half-sunken wreck when suddenly, something crashes into the tourists' boat, creating a crack in the side. Kate's only choice is to run it ashore on a small island in the middle of the river. The group disembark and begin discussing what to do when Everett is suddenly pulled into the water by an unseen predator and killed. Kate comes to the conclusion that they are in the heart of a large crocodile's territory and that it will be more aggressive than usual. The tourists realize that, by nightfall, the tide will start to rise and in a matter of hours, their small island will be submerged.
Neil and Collin arrive soon after and, as they near the island, an unseen force smashes their boat and sinks it. Neil manages to swim to the island safely, but Collin has been killed.
As night falls, Neil suggests that he swim to the riverbank in order to string a rope between two trees, creating a zip-line that will allow the group to cross the river. Neil succeeds in setting up the rope and Mary Ellen crosses first, only to freeze in fear halfway across. Allen becomes impatient and aggressive and attempts to get himself and his daughter Sherry across with Mary Ellen still on the line. While trying to secure the rope, Neil is attacked by the beast and killed. The tree holding the rope breaks and the three on the line fall into the water. They manage to swim back to the island, but as Allen crawls up the beach, the beast suddenly lunges out of the water, rips off his right arm, and throws him into the middle of the river, where he is dragged under and killed.
Later that night, Pete suggests they can delay the beast with a hook and bait on one side of the island while everyone escapes off the other side. Simon is skeptical of the idea, but Russell agrees to try. Lacking bait, everyone suggests using Kate's dog, Kevin, but they decide to use two dead birds that Neil and Collin had shown them earlier. Kate hooks the birds onto the boat's anchor while Pete secures the other end of the rope to a boulder and throws the bait out into the river. After a long wait, the anchor is suddenly grabbed and pulled and the group make a break for the far shore. Russell assists Sherry's mother, Elizabeth, who can't swim. Pete tries to stop the boulder from being pulled over as Kate swims across behind the group. The beast suddenly lets go of the hook and bait, seizes Kate, and drags her underwater. Pete hurriedly makes the swim across the river with Kevin in tow, and heads off into the bush to meet up with the others.
As day breaks, Pete is crossing a stream when Kevin runs away. Pete chases the dog into a cave and falls down a narrow chute into a larger cave, where he discovers Neil's mangled corpse. He realizes that the cave is the beast's lair and, to his surprise, he finds Kate alive, but badly injured and unconscious. He attempts to carry her out but has to hide when the beast returns to enter into the cave and falls asleep after killing Kevin. Trying to reach the entrance carrying Kate, Pete wakes the beast, and it makes several attempts to kill both him and Kate as he retreats into the narrow confines of the cave. Finally, after a long fight in which he gets tossed around and is severely bitten on the hand, Pete makes one desperate last stand. He braces a broken log against a large boulder with the sharp end pointing out towards the beast. The beast lunges at him, and Pete successfully impales it through the head killing it. He escapes from the cave with Kate to join the surviving tourists and waiting paramedics.
As the credits roll, the camera zooms in on a newspaper article detailing Pete's heroic battle with the beast and rescue of Kate. The article also states that authorities believe the beast was being territorial, while others believe that the beast had acquired a taste for humans.

Cast

Home media

Rogue was released on DVD in Australia on 29 May 2008. The DVD's special features include "The Making of Rogue" documentary, four featurettes, and a theatrical trailer. The US and UK DVDs feature an additional audio commentary. As of 2013, Rogue has been released on Blu-ray in Canada and the UK. The Canadian disc features the film only, whilst the UK disc includes all of the aforementioned extras, bar the trailer.

Reception

Box office

Rogue debuted in the Australian box office on 11 November 2007 making. After 11 weeks in the nation's cinemas it left making A$1.8 million. It was released in the United States on 25 April 2008 and in its first weekend made. It remained in theatres for three more days before making an exit on a low US$10,452. As of 8 August 2008, Rogue has made A$3,475,708 worldwide.

Critical response

100% of 12 critic reviews compiled by the review aggregate website Rotten Tomatoes are positive, and the average rating is 7.72/10.
Melbourne's Herald Sun critic Leigh Paatsch gave the film three out of five stars stating that, "If you must see at least one killer croc movie before you die, it may as well be this polished little Australian schlocker". Sydney Morning Herald critic Sandra Hall gave the movie three and a half out of five stars writing that, "t's almost elegant. Its only disadvantage is it conjures up inevitable comparisons with Jaws...a benchmark the film has no hope of achieving".

Accolades