‘Snowtown’ Unpacks the Brutal “Bodies in the Barrels” Case [Murder Made Fiction Podcast]

Australian horror month began with Greg McLean’s Wolf Creek (listen), then tackled Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich’s 2007 creature feature Black Water (listen). For week three, Jenn and I are back in human villain territory with the “bodies in the barrels” murders depicted in Snowtown (2011) or The Snowtown Murders (2012).

In the mid to late ’90s, serial killer John Bunting groomed teenager Jamie Vlassakis to commit multiple murders under the guise of protecting their Adelaide suburb from pedophiles and queer men. Director Justin Kurzel and screenwriter Shaun Grant adapt the horrifying true story, which explores how Bunting was able to bend a whole community of malleable minds to his will, how he inserted himself into Jamie’s life, and how this garden variety murderer targeted vulnerable communities, including victims who were developmentally disabled and addicts.

It’s an exceptionally rough film because it’s not flashy (sidebar: note the content warnings, which include animal abuse, sexual assault, and torture). The performances are also extremely grounded and frightening, particularly Daniel Henshall as Bunting and newcomer Lucas Pittaway as Jamie, who goes from abused to abuser over the course of the film.

Grant’s screenplay is less interested the 11 murders the pair, along with Robert Wagner (Aaron Viergever), commit, opting instead to focus on Bunting and Jamie’s manipulative and destructive relationship. One graphic moment of violence, which focuses on Jamie’s “revenge” against his rapist step-brother Troy (Anthony Groves), is particularly challenging because of what it reveals about John’s sexual sadism.

Snowtown is easily one of the most difficult film we’ve covered on the podcast to date, but it’s a necessary watch. It’s also emblematic of director Kurzel’s interests as a filmmaker: he also directed last year’s The Order, which starred Nicholas Hoult as a white supremacist/domestic terrorist (we covered that film on Patreon).

These aren’t easy films, but they have important things to say about violent white men who incite disenfranchised communities to commit violence.

Next week: Jenn and I wrap up Australian month with another hard watch in Ben Young’s feature directorial debut, Hounds of Love (C/W again for rape, torture, and animal abuse).

Want something a little lighter? Subscribe to our Patreon (patreon.com/murdermadefiction) for a discussion of Australian grifter Belle Gibson who is the subject of Netflix’s Apple Cider Vinegar, as well as coverage of Natalia Grace and Hulu’s new series Good American Family, which is informed by the Orphan series!

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