Bad Wolf

It's been nearly a decade since bad-news bushman Mick Taylor made life awfully unpleasant for a trio of backpackers exploring the Australian outback in Greg McLean's hit horror movie, Wolf Creek, but it's safe to say the character has lingered long in the public consciousness during that time. (Mick's twist on the line “That's not a knife...that's a knife” has become almost as iconic as Mick 'Crocodile' Dundee's original version.)

In McLean's Wolf Creek 2, Mick Taylor is again wreaking murderous mayhem on anyone unlucky enough to tick him off, whether it's a couple of highway patrol cops abusing their authority or a pair of lovebird Europeans who just wanted to take in the sights. The majority of Mick's attention, however, is directed towards Paul (Ryan Corr), an amiable Brit whose surfing vacation is rudely interrupted by a true-blue nutcase making hostile use of everything from an angle grinder to a semi-trailer.

Once again Mick is portrayed by veteran Aussie actor John Jarratt, who made the character such a memorable walking nightmare in the original Wolf Creek, and was eager to get back to the bloody business of keeping Australian beautiful by wiping out what Mick views as invading vermin.

“I was keen from the get-go,” laughs the affable Jarratt. “As soon as we wrapped Wolf Creek, I said 'Well, we've got to do another one'. But it took a hell of a long time to get it together because Greg was dedicated to getting the script right, and it took him four or so years before he felt it was at the stage where it was as good, if not better, than the first one.”

Jarratt admits he initially had some minor doubts about his portrayal the first time around – “I wasn't sure if I'd nailed it or if I'd made him the worst Warner Bros cartoon ever” – but he's now confident he hit the right notes in bringing Mick to life, making it easier to slip into the character's skin for the sequel.

He points out that Mick is essentially an interpretation of his father, Bruce. “But I'll say very quickly that my father wasn't a psychopath or a serial killer. He was a big, gregarious country bloke, a bull of a man, so Mick is a bit of a larrikin with a great sense of humour...sprinkled with a touch of psychopathic serial killer.”

So what makes Mick so angry? “Oh, he's not angry! He's playing a game and enjoying every minute of it. He gets a bit churlish when his playmates don't do what he wants them to, so he smacks them around to get them back in line. But where does it come from? Well, he's a professional shooter who happens to be a psychopath and he decided that backpackers were just as feral as water buffalo and should be eradicated. But you can have a lot more fun with human beings. Mick amuses himself and enjoys what he's doing, so he likes to crack a joke while causing a bit of mayhem at the same time. It's all part of the game to him.”