Snowtown (2011)

Film details

View on IMDb ↗
Year2011
CountryAustralia
GenreDrama
TypeMovie
Runtime119m
CastLucas Pittaway, Bob Adriaens, Louise Harris, Frank Cwiertniak, Matthew Howard, Marcus Howard, Anthony Groves, Richard Green, Aaron Viergever, Denis Davey

Review

"It's Australian director Justin Kurzel's first feature, and on the basis of this, he's not only remarkably assured at telling a story as economically as possible through images, but also knows how to conjure up an authentic sense of place — in this case, the working-class milieu of Adelaide, Australia's northern suburbs—and come up with the right visual shorthand to vividly evoke mood and reveal character. Kurzel also seems to have a sure touch with actors, judging by the utterly natural performances he elicits from a mostly nonprofessional cast. All of this helps to make The Snowtown Murders an indubitably unnerving experience; as a horror film about an innocent teen who somehow becomes an accomplice to a band of serial killers, Kurzel's film is grimly, viscerally effective." - Kenji Fujishima, Slant Magazine

Ranking history

The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS IN TOP 1,0007
HIGHEST#5152025
LOWEST#1,1212019
#466#818#1,170TOP 1,000201520162017201820192020202120232024202520262015 — #787 · Top 1,0002016 — #709 · Top 1,0002017 — #689 · Top 1,0002019 — #1,121 · Outside Top 1,0002020 — #1,120 · Outside Top 1,0002021 — #1,107 · Outside Top 1,0002023 — #922 · Top 1,0002024 — #933 · Top 1,0002025 — #515 · Top 1,0002026 — #524 · Top 1,000
Top 1,000Outside Top 1,000Missing ranking data

Dashed lines indicate missing ranking data. Select a point to view that year's published list. The 1,000 Greatest Horror Films list was not updated in 2022.

The 21st Century’s Greatest Horror Films

EDITIONS RANKED5
HIGHEST#1252025
LOWEST#3232021
Published rankingNot ranked (outside published list)

The list was not updated from 2016 to 2019 or in 2022. It expanded from a Top 250 to a Top 500 in 2021. Full rankings beyond the published lists are not available. Dotted segments and hollow points indicate editions in which the film was outside the published list; their exact ranks are unknown.

Lists featuring this film 46 lists

1428 Elm's Kelly McNeely's Terror Down Under - Top 8 Horror Films to Come From Australia2018Unranked—
365 Horror Movie's Top 20 Horror Movies of 20112012Ranked#16
Addicted to Horror Movies' Wesley Thomas' The 10 Best Australian Horror Movies2017Unranked—
Ain't it Cool News' Ambush Bug's Best Horror Films of 2011-20122012Ranked#23
Alternative Press' Mike Hohnen's 10 Australian horror movies to make your skin crawl2019Unranked—
Arrow in the Head's Jake Dee's Top 10 Australian Sci-fi Horror Flicks!2014Ranked#7
Buzzfeed's Caitlin Jinks' 13 Australian Horror Movies That'll Scare The Shit Out Of You2015Unranked—
Collider's Jessica Nobleza's 10 Scariest Australian Horror Movies of All Time, Ranked2026Ranked#7
Creepy Catalog's Holly Riordan's Australian Horror Movies - The Best Scary Films from Australia2020Unranked—
Culture Trip's Ellie Griffiths' The 11 Most Frightening Australian Horror & Thriller Films2016Unranked—
Digital Spy's Rosie Fletcher's The 13 most harrowing movies of all time2016Ranked#4
Dreadit's Top Australasian Movies2014Ranked#5
Esquire's Finlay Renwick and Tom Nicholson's The 27 Best Serial Killer Movies of All Time2021Unranked—
Flicks.com.au's Sarah Ward's The 10 best Australian horror movies of all time2020Unranked—
Golden Spiral Media's Best Australian Horror Movies2015Ranked#4
Horror Freak News' Joshua Millican's 15 Disturbing 21st Century Horror Movies You've (Probably) Never Seen2016Unranked—
Horror Movie Blog's Jazzmin Crawley's 10 Brutal Australian Horror Movies To Watch This Summer2025Unranked—
Horror Movie Reviews' 8 Best Australian Horror Movies2017Unranked—
HorrorMovies.ca's 10 Australian Horror Films You Can't MissRanked#1
HorrorMovies.ca's Monster Mary's Best Horror Films of 20122013Unranked—
HorrorMovies.ca's Most Disturbing Horror MoviesUnranked—
Knockout Horror's 20 Awesome Australian Horror Movies RANKED2023Ranked#4
Max Molinaro's 100 Overlooked Horror Movie Gems2014Ranked#77
Metro News' Tom Fordy's 10 Australian horror films you should watch2016Unranked—
News.com.au's Olly Richards' Ten terrifying horror movies you probably haven't seen2015Ranked#2
PopHorror's Joshua Millican's Ozsploitation - Top 10 Australian Horror Movies2016Unranked—
PopOptiq's Ricky da Conceição's 20 Best Horror Films of 20122012Ranked#5
PopOptiq's Ricky da Conceição's Best Horror Films of 20112011Ranked#7
PopOptiq's Ricky da Conceição's Greatest Horror Movies Ever Made Part 3 - Greatest Australian & New Zealand Horror Films2011Ranked#7
REVOLVER Magazine's Jovanka Vuckovic's The Best Horror Films of 20112012Unranked—
RogerEbert.com's The Best Horror Movies of the 2010s2020Unranked—
Rue Morgue's 200 Alternative Horror Films2012Unranked—
Rue Morgue's Maddi McGillvray's 15 Australian Horror Films That Will Make You Think Twice About Taking A Trip Down Under2018Unranked—
ScreenHub's Paul Dalgarno's Best Australian horror films – top 202023Unranked—
Taste of Cinema's Francis Wood's 10 Great Australian Horror Movies That Are Worth Your Time2015Ranked#1
The Blood Shed's Josh Millican's Top 10 Australian Horror Movies2014Unranked—
The Boston Globe's Ted Kehoe's Five horror films to keep you up all night2015Unranked—
The Brag's Holly Gawne's 7 movies that prove there's far more to Aussie horror than Wolf Creek2021Unranked—
The Irish Times' Darragh Geraghty's 50 scary films to watch at Halloween2020Unranked—
Time Out's Matt Smith's Top 10 Aussie films to scare off tourists2011Unranked—
Time Out's Matthew Singer's The 17 scariest horror movies based on true stories2025Unranked—
Time's Megan McCluskey's The 15 Best Religious Horror Movies2024Unranked—
Truly Disturbing's Ahlephia's Top 13 Must See Australian Horror Movies2013Ranked#10
Vulture's Jordan Crucchiola's 25 of the Best Coming-of-Age Horror Movies2018Unranked—
WhatCulture's Helen Jones' 15 Australian Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die2017Ranked#12
Zavvi's Alistair Ryder's 10 Best Aussie Horror Movies2023Ranked#8