The notorious exploits of an Australian legend is authentically depicted in the chilling Darwinian horror film, Van Diemen’s Land.   

Director Jonathan Auf Der Heide and star Oscar Redding (both sharing screen writing credit) have created a blood curling re-enactment of the events behind the legend of cannibal convict Alexander Pearce, in the process driving a stake in the heart of Australia’s colonial romanticism, and proving that the truth is as horrifying as any ghost story.

Van Diemen’s Land is not the first time the pair have presented Pearce’s story on film. A previous collaboration resulted in the short film Hell’s Gates, which was something of a launching pad for this film.

Now known as Tasmania, Van Diemen’s Land was a literal hell on earth for convicts charged with repeat offences, sent to the do hard labour for their crimes.

The film begins with a group of convicts escaping into the dense forest. Led by experienced navigator Arthur Angel (Robert Greenhill), the men venture deeper into the foreboding and never ending terrain. With the elements pitted against them and rations gone, the need for survival far outweighs any moral value, as hunger is sustained with human flesh.

Shot in location during harsh conditions, Auf Der Heide aptly put his actors through the grinder, having them mix it up with the dirt and cold of the terrain, while making many a male viewer wince as they travel starkers through chilling waters.

Time is given for the viewer to get to know these men. Alliances are formed and arguments are had, especially when huger overweighs civility.

When the first kill is underway, it is a horrific shock. Auf Der Heide depicts violence in a stark and bloody manner, as blunt as the axes which chop through the flesh and bone.

As the numbers dwindle and paranoia grows, the viewer watches on in suspense, wondering who will be next to get the chop.

And, while the sickening lure of cannibalism has been the magnet to Pearce’s story, it is Auf Der Heide’s intention to show the destruction of the soul and no the devouring of flesh.

In fact, the only thing close to carnivore action is an opening shot of a British solder feasting on a piece of meat, the sickening tear of flesh and crunch of bone sure to turn many a meat eater to vegetarianism.

Survival of the fittest in action. Welcome to the dark side of human nature.