New 4K Trailer for 1971’s ‘Wake in Fright’ Australian Outback Thriller

by Alex Billington
May 1, 2026
Source: YouTube

“What happened to John Grant? The Outback happened to John Grant.” Arrow Video has revealed their 4K restoration trailer for the cult classic Australian thriller called Wake in Fright – the US release title for this. Wake in Fright originally opened in 1971 in Australia under the title Outback there, since it’s set there following some wild and crazy folks living in the dusty Outback of Oz. Arrow states: “Raw and brutal in its depiction of Outback country drinking culture in the 1970s, Wake in Fright is an uncompromising landmark of Australian cinema from director Ted Kotcheff” (who would later direct First Blood). Kotcheff also sadly passed away just last year. Starring Gary Bond, after a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent. It first premiered at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival as well. This psychological thriller film directed by Ted Kotcheff, written by Evan Jones, stars in the cast: Gary Bond, Donald Pleasence, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay, & Jack Thompson. Based on Kenneth Cook’s 1961 novel of the same name, it follows a schoolteacher who descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in this menacing town. View below.

Here’s the new 4K trailer (+ cover art) for Ted Kotcheff’s film Wake in Fright, from Arrow’s YouTube:

And an original classic trailer for Ted Kotcheff’s film Wake in Fright aka Outback, also on YouTube:

“Have a drink, mate? Have a fight, mate? Have a taste of dust and sweat, mate? There’s nothing else out here.” John Grant (Gary Bond), a bored schoolteacher working in the remote outback, stops overnight in the frontier mining town of Bundanyabba on his way back to Sydney for the Christmas holidays. After he loses all his savings in a bad gambling bet, Grant finds himself marooned and swept up in the vortex of a succession of hard-drinking, hard-living and crude men led by Doc (Donald Pleasence) who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent as they all are. Ignored upon release, Wake in Fright has now been acclaimed as one of Australia’s most legendary, unique, horrifying contributions to cinema history by the likes of Martin Scorsese & Nick Cave, and is presented here in a definitive 4K restoration. Wake in Fright, also known as Outback, is directed by Canadian filmmaker Ted Kotcheff, just after making Two Gentlemen Sharing (1969) and before Lights Out (1972). The screenplay is written by Evan Jones; based on the novel also titled “Wake in Fright” written by Kenneth Cook. Produced by George Willoughby. This first premiered at the 1971 Cannes Film Festival before releasing in Australian cinemas in October 1971. Arrow Video will re-release Wake in Fright on 4K direct to Blu-ray – get your copy now. Any big fans of this film?

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