10 Spine-Chilling Horror Movies Set In The Desert

7. Wake In Fright

Revenge 2017
United Artists

'Have a drink mate? Have a fight mate? Have a taste of dust and sweat, mate? There's nothing else out here.' So reads the tagline for Ted Kocheff's desert-bound thriller and cult classic.

Released in 1971, Wake in Fright follows John Grant (Gary Bond); a naïve and unsuspecting school teacher who finds himself stranded in a small town in the Australian Outback.

After losing all of his money at the local bar, John is left at the mercy of the strange, sinister locals, and the searing desert heat. Falling in with the wrong crowd - and ending up on the wrong side of several benders, bizarre rituals, and a horrifying (and controversial, due to its real-life brutalities towards the animals) kangaroo hunt - John quickly begins to spiral out of control.

Wake in Fright is considered to be a pivotal part of the Australian New Wave movement, bringing the terrors of the Australian Outback worldwide.

Contributor
Contributor

A film critic and professional writer of over ten years, Joel Harley has a deep and abiding love of all things horror, Batman and Nicolas Cage. He can be found writing online and in print, all over the Internet and in especially good bookstores.