good back-story, and good acting

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

What the hell was this, I didn't like it then, and don't like it now... The best part was seeing those girl shred off their stockings, but after that, the film evaporated into a most unsatisfying second half that is totally forgettable... Didn't like it then, don't like it now, and I won't like it tomorrow.

I love this film. It's beautifully shot and very creepy, especially as Aires Rock is meant to be a weird place to visit anyway. This is very old and I wouldn't have watched it if someone hadn't have mentioned it to me. I'm glad I did.The locations are great and I'm really curious about the reality of what went on? Whether it is actually based on some true events or not? That's what I like about films like this as oppose to the ridiculous modern horrors that plainly do not really have 'Darth Maul' hiding in the attic. This is a simple tale, well told and well acted. I'm a teacher and will be showing this to my students as if we don't show them old movies, they just get lost in time. This deserves a shout out.

The schoolgirls of Appleyard College are led by the angelic Anne- Louise Lambert, and seem to be at a blossoming age where in the absence of boys furtive glances are cast all around, giggles and valentines litter their conversations, and their beauty already drawing the notice of older men. And if you did not spot these signs, what about the tremendous Hanging Rock, jutting out of the ground with a towering phallic presence, every curve and jagged edge suggestive to the teenage mind. But under the iron-fisted rule of headmistress Mrs. Appleyard this trembling sensuality has been repressed - the Victorian-era dress code and manner of speech take this a step further. They are well trained and versed in the arts, uttering Poe and Shakespeare dreamily and somehow, appropriately. The film is at its mesmerising and hallucinogenic best when it discourages reason and logic, and simply lets the girls wander wherever their young minds and bodies take them. Weir superimposes the erratic flight of the beasts of the air on the girl's faces, and dissolves barren landscape on barren landscape. Static closeups of leftover food teem with insect and scavenger life - in the soundtrack, their buzzes become an unshakable presence in the background, serenading the untamed wilderness. And when the girls arrange themselves on the top of Hanging Rock in a formation that suggests an otherworldly, supernatural influence, the screen shimmers visibly in the heat, sweaty and hazy with perspiration and mystery. But it loses its power after that initial encounter with Hanging Rock, where it switches back to the students and teachers remaining, all of whom are desperate to solve the puzzle. The soundtrack, consisting mostly of a piercing, ethereal pan flute and a section where it turns demonic and foreboding as they make their way up the cliffs, loses it potency with each subsequent visit. What Weir wants to achieve is an atmosphere that displaces all rational explanation, as if the Australian outback was beyond the reach or understanding of humans and is reclaiming those children for itself. But he cannot resist dangling clues that inevitably spur investigation and theory; Miranda's strangely prophetic "I won't be here much longer", the single corset found at the scene of the crime, the doctor outlining all the physical injuries on Irma's body in meticulous detail as if to say 'pay attention', and the strange, additional disappearance of Miss McCraw which does not amount to much. These details, which are spoken of plainly in that English dialect, and discussed not in the outback, but in the boring grey interiors of the school, are of course not given any closure. The audience is supposed to be hypnotised and transfixed by the Hanging Rock and its grasp, but every time we switch back to the edges of civilisation their power is suppressed once more. And then in the vague, unrewarding ending that has many viewers frustrated, Weir quite deliberately conceals. He places the camera within that uncanny crevasse, peering out at a hesitant Michael inching towards it. It tilts down agonisingly to reveal Irma's body, and zooms in to show the horror on his face - and she of course conveniently cannot remember a thing about what has transpired. It never even thinks of revealing the other side, and the film becomes bewildering rather than enigmatic.

as with Peter Weir's other masterpiece The Last Wave, it requires multiple viewings and lots of digestion time to fully grasp & appreciate... I've been wanting to watch Picnic at Hanging Rock for years... bought the blu ray recently & thought it was time... after finally watching it, I'm quite shell shocked at what I've just witnessed... the mood throughout this film is on a spiritual level, hypnotic at times, tension building below... the soundtrack & sound design compliment the film & create this mysticism surrounding the missing characters... the narrative is quite minimal, focusing on the mood of the film rather than what's being said... but quite often what is being said is cryptic & only leaves you with more questions... after doing further reading, it is stated that even the novelist Joan Lindsay never confirmed if the story was based on fact or not... but many people including the producer of the film have gone to Hanging Rock & felt this unease... like they are being watched... this aspect to me is fascinating and makes this film such an achievement from the young director at the time... also worth mentioning that gorgeous the actress who played Sara, Margaret Nelson has been missing for sometime... plus the lead bitch of the school Mrs. Appleyard played by Rachel Roberts committed suicide in 1980... the more you dig with this film / novel and Hanging Rock the location, more is left unanswered... it's most definitely one of the greatest Australian films & cant wait to see it again & give it 10/10, along with 2nd viewing of The Last Wave... until then ill be hunting down Mark Hartley's 2004 doco "A Dream Within a Dream: The making of 'Picnic at Hanging Rock" & continue my research on the film, the location, it's characters & the novelist...