Smug and uptight British school teacher John Grant (a fine portrayal by Gary Bond) finds himself stranded in a hellish small town in the Australian outback that's populated by fiercely "friendly" drunken hooligans who eventually push Grant over the edge into madness, despair, and unhindered barbarism.

Director Ted Kotcheff evokes a potently unsettling feeling of isolation and vulnerability from the remote rural region setting, maintains an unsparingly bleak tone throughout, and reveals the darker and more disturbing aspects of the rough'n'ready Aussie male character with jolting starkness and a masterful crafting of a gritty, yet surreal and nightmarish mood. The sharp and observant script by Evan Jones offers a bold and unflinching exploration of the dangers of "aggressive hospitality" and the startling extreme lengths hyper-masculine guys will go to in order to prove and assert a sense of virile potency over everything, with a chilling nocturnal kangaroo hunt rating as the definite shocking highlight. Donald Pleasance gives one of his best and most fearless performances as the educated, but slimy and depraved Doc Tyson, who assumes the role as a kind of insane fallen intellectual mentor to Grant as he descends right into the heart of human darkness. Moreover, there are bang-up contributions from Chips Rafferty as amiable constable Jock Crawford, Sylvia Kay as the forlorn and frustrated Janette Hynes, Jack Thompson as the rowdy Dick, Peter Whittle as the loutish Joe, Al Thomas as the jolly Tim, and John Meillon as affable bartender Charlie. Brian West's crisp picturesque cinematography vividly captures both the severe oppressive heat and suffocating backwoods hamlet atmosphere. A riveting and provocative stunner.

I've seen few films with as rapid a moral decline as shown here in the Australian film Wake In Fright. Although this is set in Australia in what is still in many respects a frontier area, this story could easily take place in some of the sparser populated areas of the USA or Canada. I'm willing to bet if these folks ever sober up long enough and get to the polls they vote for the right wing Country Party.

Gary Bond who is English is teaching in the outback is just looking forward to a two week holiday in Sydney and civilization. He's looking around and finds no intellectual companionship of note. Not among the kids or the grownups. The plan is to spend one night over in a bigger town and then on to the big city.

Australia has given the world the gambling game of two-up which has never caught on any place else, certainly not in the USA. It's the main activity of the town drunk or sober. They've got it refined to tournament level there. Bond loses all his money and is stuck there.

What to do, but drink and go with whatever comes after that. Bond meets a doctor played by Donald Pleasence who has totally surrendered himself to the sins of the flesh. Keeping order in this town and in his farewell big screen appearance is Constable Chips Rafferty. Rafferty was in his day Mr. Australian cinema.

I have to tell you I was disturbed and slightly revolted by the 'hunting scenes' where some of the locals go after the kangaroos. I understand that the kangaroo is in serious danger of extinction and seeing this film I can see why. It's here where Bond loses all sense of self worth and is exposed as just an envious little man who feels that life's just been terribly unfair to him.

Still what Gary Bond does in creating a character in a downward spiral is quite remarkable. If you can stomach the hunting scenes than this film will be a revelation.

John Grant (Gary Bond) is a disenfranchised teacher who is leaving town for Christmas break. An overnight stay in a rough outback town Bundanyabba turn into a crazy alcohol induced dreamscape. I can safely say there are things in here that I have never seen before.

I have never seen a more excited crowd betting on coin flips. I have never seen hand to hand fights with kangaroos. This is a haze of aggression that would put Fight Club to shame. It has the free flowing, random, meandering feel that is indicative of the 70s movie era.

John Grant is not a likable character. He couldn't care less about his teaching job. He's waiting for the final seconds to tick off until his Christmas vacation just as desperately as his little kids. He is greedy, petty, and suspicious. He is not a likable guy.

This is an art picture in the lowest order. This along with 'Mad Max' and 'Walkabout' form the base of modern Australian movies. You can see the ugliness infecting many of the present day Australian horror movies.