This grim, gut-wrenchingly powerful movie, based upon actual happenings, and for which first-time Director, Justin Kurzel, won an award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival concerns the story of John Bunting perhaps Australia's most infamous serial killer and is told from the perspective of sixteen years old Jamie Vlassakis, a boy who befriends the charismatic Bunting, and who comes to regard him as a sort of father-figure, and is eventually drawn into Bunting's murderous spree, killing his half-brother, Troy, who had abused and raped him earlier in the movie. The movie is based upon fact - these were Australia's notorious "bodies in the barrels" murders.
Most of the murder victims were either gay men or paedophiles and while most of the murders occur off-screen, the film is still two hours of a very intense and gritty experience. Unlike the vast majority of films in this genre, Snowtown depicts torture and murder in a way that is almost documentary-like; nothing is sensationalised, which makes it all the more powerfully horrific. You are essentially a fly-on-the-wall during what appears to be "real-life" murder. The director doesn't rely on graphic imagery, but more on the psychology of fear, anticipation and suspense.
Don't make the mistake of thinking that this might be "torture porn". It is certainly NOT that kind of movie. Its slow-burning plot, from a familial thriller into a white hot horror movie before your eyes, morphs a man into a monster in the process. This movie is probably not for everyone. It is an unflinchingly nasty and unpleasant movie about the worst side of humanity, and it makes no apology for that. It is a film that dares you to look away, but yet it still compels you to keep watching it.
Cinema is meant to affect us, and Snowtown does exactly that. If you are not affected by watching this movie, then you must be something closely akin to a piece of wood!
There is a 44 minute documentary about these murders available on Youtube which provides more of the factual background and which helps to put the movie into a better perspective - hXXps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fIoCGSM4dE (Replace XX with tt in order to view). I'd recommend watching it before you watch the movie if you want the best understanding of what actually happened.
As far as I am aware, the movie has only had a limited release so far. While I know that it sounds corny, you should only download this movie if you are sure that you want to watch it. Be warned - it's not "nice".
No USA release is yet confirmed, as far as I know.
