Here we have a rare beast: for Long Weekend, both the 1978 original and the 2008 remake starring Jim Cavaziel (distributed in America with the title “Nature’s Grave”) are both worth seeing. They’re good in different ways. I might prefer the original but thanks to capable horror direction the remake has some memorably chilling moments.
Anyway, the story is the same in both: a crass suburban couple goes camping on a remote beach in Australia, and things just go wrong. To say more would spoil it. A big favorite of mine and a pretty one-of-a-kind film, in both versions.
I’ve since gotten the sense that the 1978 original of this isn’t revered as a minor classic, but I’m not sure why. We live in a world where everybody has heard of “Last House On The Left” and “I Spit On Your Grave”, both of which came out in the same general time as “Long Weekend”, and those films are both garbage, nowhere near as good. Not even in the same class.
I went back and forth whether to mark this review as “favorite” or “honorable mention” because, unlike, say, “Network”, both versions are far from undisputable, must-see cinematic masterpieces. But both of them, in their own ways, at very least hold up all the way through, and at their best have some extremely memorable and unique moments that I consider standout classic horror. I think my love of them has more to do with my particular tastes than anything else. But, ultimately, yes, in both versions, it’s a favorite of mine.