Dropbear (2025) Review – It’s Ridiculous and I Love It!
Welcome to Knockout Horror. Today we are heading over to the lowest of low budget sections of Tubi to check out Dropbear (2025).
Dropbear: Quick Verdict
The Verdict: An objectively terrible movie that manages to be an absolute riot for the right audience. Dropbear is a z-grade creature feature that leans heavily into the absurdity of its premise, offering farcical kills and special effects that are completely pants. It’s juvenile, cheap, and the joke wears thin by the final act, but if you fancy watching killer koalas rip out throats while the cast plays it straight, it’s a “so bad it’s good” gem perfect for a beer-and-pizza night.
Details: Director: John DeCaux | Cast: Jessica Burgess, Connor Pullinger, Lucas Andrews, Kieran Thomas McNamara, Sarah Meyer | Runtime: 86 Minutes | Release Date: December 26th 2025
Best for: Fans of Birdemic-style accidental comedy and anyone who thinks the idea of a carnivorous marsupial is inherently funny.
Worth noting: The film is based on the famous Australian tall tale used to scare tourists.
Did You Know: Despite their reputation in this film, real koalas actually have one of the smallest brains in proportion to their body size of any mammal.
Where to Watch: Tubi / VOD
Rating: 3.0/5 Stars
(Hilariously absurd, great “bad” effects, dull opening, drags in the final act)
Table of Contents
Let’s Be Clear: It’s Bad But In a Good Way!
This is an objectively bad horror movie. I want to make that point abundantly clear before I even start this review. For all it’s ridiculousness, however, Dropbear is just a ton of fun. This is proper ‘grab a beer, grab a few mates, and have a laugh’ stuff.
“B-movie fans absolutely have to stick with it, though because it gets a lot worse in the best possible way.”
The story follows a group of Americans who find themselves falling victim to a tourism scam orchestrated by Stevo Irving (Lucas Andrews) and his partner Bazza (Kieran Thomas McNamara). The pair claim they can take them to the location of the infamous ‘Dropbear’ but the whole thing is nothing more than a ruse to empty their wallets. That is, however, until the group are actually attacked by killer koalas and the trip turns into a fight for survival.
As you can see, it’s a pretty terrible story and writer, director John DeCaux doesn’t exactly go out of his way to pull you in. Characters are obnoxious, acting is a bit rough, and the premise is shaky at best. Hell, the whole Dropbear meme itself is pretty damn farcical. Turning the eucalyptus loving, Chlamydia carrying marsupials into vicious killers rather than simply dumb animals that fall out of trees.
It takes a tiny bit too long to get to the good stuff, as well. It would be perfectly understandable to come out of the first 20 minutes of this film wondering what the hell you just put on. B-movie fans absolutely have to stick with it, though because it gets a lot worse in the best possible way.
A proper farcical creature feature
Once the movie gets going, it becomes very clear what Dropbear is going for. It’s an utterly ridiculous creature feature that is doing absolutely everything it can to be completely absurd. The kills are farcical and over the top, the character’s address the threat with a level of seriousness that belies it’s laughable nature, and the effects are, frankly, completely pants.
Koalas dropping from trees to rip out throats as people scatter in fear is simply a hilarious visual. The dropbears themselves look ridiculous, as well. It’s z-grade special effects complete with animatronic looking movements and glowing red eyes. It’s impossible not to laugh unless you take yourself far too seriously.
Just when you think it can’t get any weirder, it does and in a way that I absolutely refuse to spoil because you deserve to see it yourself. Let’s just say that the threat isn’t confined to an entirely natural source and things get extremely strange.
“Once the movie gets going, it becomes very clear what Dropbear is going for. It’s an utterly ridiculous creature feature that is doing absolutely everything it can to be completely absurd.”
Again, the characters in the film react like this is utterly terrifying which provokes even more laughs. It’s just silly nonsense that is actually really enjoyable if you just don’t take it seriously. Think of movies like Birdemic: Shock and Terror but with a little more effort and you are in the right ballpark. Know what to expect and you might just have a good time.
Okay, let’s talk about the problems
With the above being said, let’s be a little bit more constructive about the film itself. This isn’t a particularly well made movie and there’s a hell of a lot that doesn’t work. Some of the early comedy moments land but the cast are pretty unlikable and it’s juvenile to a point that will be distracting to many.
The ‘dumb tourist’ trope has been done to death and the accents are all over the place. The opening parts of the movie are ruthlessly dull and will probably lose viewers who are expecting something that takes itself more seriously. It looks cheap, too.
The film opens with a dropbear kill and that sets the tone. It’s almost like a beacon suggesting that you should prepare for absurdity and terrible effects. This is going to put some people off but that’s not a huge problem; Dropbear was never intended for those viewers. People, despite the theme and the title, go into this expecting horror and that’s just not what they will find.
The Aussie Legend: What is a Dropbear?
The “Dropbear” (Thylarctos plummetus) is a piece of classic Australian tall-tale folklore. Described as a predatory, carnivorous version of the koala, they are said to be the size of a large dog, possessing powerful claws and razor-sharp teeth. As the name suggests, they hunt by dropping from gum trees onto the heads of unsuspecting prey, usually unwitting tourists, knocking them unconscious before beginning the feast.
The meme was created by Aussies specifically to “wind up” gullible visitors. Locals will often suggest ridiculous deterrents to keep tourists safe, such as spreading Vegemite behind the ears, wearing forks in your hair, or only speaking in an Australian accent. It has become such a staple of national identity that the Australian Museum even hosts a “fact sheet” for them, and the Australian Army has been known to use “Dropbear” patches as a bit of a niche-savvy joke.
It’s almost a horror satire
This is more like a full blown satire of horror than a movie that’s actually trying to be scary. It pokes fun at all the tropes that make the genre so unintentionally hilarious. Just the sheer idea that the characters are intimidated by these creatures puts paid to the idea that horror is something of a vehicle for farce when it takes itself too seriously.
It’s a very deliberate piss-take that ultimately wants to make you laugh. I can almost imagine the discussions that took place while writing. “Can we get away with this or would it be a bit too ridiculous? Nothing’s too ridiculous in Dropbear, mate… Put it in the script! Let’s get the costume ordered“.
Dropbear’s biggest sin, however, is that it reverts back to the mundane once the novelty wears off. You are looking at half an hour of satirical horror absurdity before the joke wears off and the enjoyment evaporates. After that, it’s just playing the hits and the focus turns more toward rote budget action stuff.
“The film opens with a dropbear kill and that sets the tone. It’s almost like a beacon suggesting that you should prepare for absurdity and terrible effects.”
There’s a joke that gets worn to the point of becoming thread bare in the final stanza, as well. Again, it’s easy to see it as a satirical poke at the age old horror tropes of nobody believing the survivors but it’s overdone just a tad. The line between “this is funny” and “this is awful” is razor thin in films like this so overdoing any one element is a risky move.
The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
The Good
- Farcical Fun: The movie is legitimately funny if you enjoy watching a cast treat a ridiculous, koala-based threat with absolute sincerity.
- Creative Absurdity: Just when you think the premise has peaked, it takes a bizarre turn that keeps the “so bad it’s good” momentum alive.
- Satirical Edge: At its best, it acts as a full-blown parody of horror tropes, poking fun at the very genre it occupies.
The Bad
- Mundane Stretches: The opening 20 minutes are ruthlessly dull, and the film struggles to maintain its energy once the novelty of the premise fades.
- Dumb Tourist Trope: The characters are largely unlikable, and the juvenile humour can become a bit of a distraction.
- Budget Constraints: It looks incredibly cheap, with shaky accents and Z-grade effects that will alienate anyone looking for a “real” horror film.
The Ugly: The Effects. The “dropbears” are nothing more than animatronic-looking props with glowing red eyes. They are completely pants, which makes the characters’ terrified reactions even more hilarious.
Should You Watch Dropbear?
If you fancy a few drinks and a laugh at a movie that is objectively terrible but knows how to have a good time, then give it a go. It’s a ridiculous creature feature that thrives on its own absurdity. However, if you’re looking for genuine scares or a well-crafted story, you should probably stay out of the trees.
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