Here’s a cheery little movie for your Christmas entertainment — a lovely little Australian serial killer flick called “Wolf Creek.”

Based on a couple of true incidents, “Wolf Creek” is set in the vast empty spaces of the Australian outback, and the actors have all the right accents and figures of speech. But beyond those localisms, the plot of the picture seems oh so familiar.

Here’s how it goes: A pair of young English women, Liz Hunter (Cassandra Magrath) and Kristy Earl (Kestie Morassi), are on a trip through Australia, hooking up with Aussie Ben Mitchell (Nathan Phillips) to hop into a newly purchased used car and head for a giant crater in the middle of nowhere.

When the trio gets to Wolf Creek, an outback park, they have to hike three hours to get to the crater. When they get back from the hike, their car battery is dead. A seemingly friendly outbacker turns up and offers to fix their car.

But Old Mick Taylor (John Jarratt) says he can’t fix the car there and has to tow it to where he keeps his tools and parts. They sit around the fire and have a little talk before going to sleep while Mick does his work.

When the trio wakes up, they’re separated and in big, big trouble. Mick’s not such a good guy after all — as the wall of drivers licenses of earlier victims indicates. But all three are alive and all have a chance to escape.

This being a serial killer flick, however, you know that all three won’t make it to the end of the picture. So the fun, if that’s what you call it, of “Wolf Creek” is watching the three victims try to get out alive. That’s pretty standard serial killer territory.

But writer/director Greg McLean manages to inject some tension into the film with gritty realism and by showing the shifting combination of panic and clear thinking on the part of the victims. Each of the actors does well enough to be both believable and sympathetic, which is more than can be said for most efforts in similar movies.

Jarratt makes old Mick a real horror show — affable, but extremely creepy, playfully sadistic and extremely skilled at killing, whether he’s thinning herds of kangaroos or hunting down unfortunate tourists.

Suffice it to say that “Wolf Creek” isn’t standard feel-good holiday fare, and it sure isn’t for the whole family. But it’s not a bad picture for its genre. It takes itself seriously and, in doing so, has an edge that is usually missing from less believable fare. That makes it continually watchable and sometimes gripping, which is about as good as this kind of film is going to get.

Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.

Wolf Creek

**1/2 (out of four stars)

Director: Greg McLean

Stars: John Jarratt, Cassandra Magrath, Kestie Morassi, Nathan Phillips

Rated: R (for strong gruesome violence and language)

Now showing: East Park

The reel story: This decent Australian serial killer picture about three young people who are captured in the outback has some tension and realism.