Carnifex  ★★½

YOU learn something new and worth knowing every day, even from watching minor horror movies.

For instance, if I hadn’t watched Carnifex I wouldn’t have found out the Thylacele was a carnivorous marsupial the size of a lion that lived up to 46,000 years ago.

Apparently eight we’ll-preserved sketal remains were found in WA’s Kimberley region 20-odd years ago.

There are no prizes then for guessing that the 2022 Australian horror film Carnifex hangs on the possibility that some of these creatures a) might still be around and b) you probably shouldn’t go near them.

Three biologists agree to have an amateur documentarian tag along on their next trip identifying wildlife in a remote South Australian forest.

The aim is to visually document any rare fauna that could lead to an area being designated as off limits to development.

The documentarian has a relative who died in a bushfire but the script doesn’t really establish any interesting characters.

Experienced film editor Sean Lahiff does a reasonable job for his directorial debut and the creature effects aren’t bad.

Unfortunately there isn’t much else to it, apart from the usual stunning Australian scenery.

Watched on Prime Video.