The Hunt

Intriguing but ultimately nothing special.

Watched this by accident, thinking it was the highly-acclaimed movie of the same name, directed by Thomas Vinterberg and starring Mads Mikkelsen. Released at about the same time too. Imagine my disappointment when instead of something rated 8.3 by IMDb I got something rated 4.7...

This said, it is not terrible. Plot is intriguing, story is gritty and there is a good degree of tension throughout. However it ultimately just seems so conventional. Linear story, no real twists. Dull ending.

Quite short though, which is a good thing.

French horror films are exactly like buses . You're waiting an entire life time for one to turn up and then several turn up all at once . This is probably down to me frequently tuning in to the Horror Channel rather than France upping their output of genre films . It's not so much horror as you'd get from the Hammer studio or George A Romero zombies shuffling around and is more like a gore drenched psychological thriller that owes a bit to john Woo's HARD TARGET and THE HUNGER GAMES as an investigative reporter comes across a story that may cost him his life

What THE HUNT is good at is creating an unsettling atmosphere . There is nothing more beautiful and tranquil as a deserted woodland . Now just imagine how different things are if it contains men who want to kill you . And that's what the film does brilliantly in conveying an intense sense of danger and menace that could be behind any tree . There's not a lot of dialogue but there's more than enough tension to keep you on the edge of your seat

That said it is a rather flawed film . Some people may respect the enigmatic nature of THE HUNT but the questions involved go unresolved . There's not a consistent tone to the film and the early scenes with Alex at the start of the film feel like they belong In another film entirely and the film suffers from a very abrupt ending that will have you scratching your head wondering if the budget had run out and the production had to stop there and then

It's basically just a bunch of guys running through the woods dressed in millitary costumes, killing eachother with bow and arrow or a knife. Compared to Battle Royale this looks really low budget, there are a few bloody moments but nothing special. There a little bit of tension but... they could've done a better job. No matter what you read, plz don't compare this one to any other violent french films like Haute Tension because you just can't compare a well made production to low budget. I'll be honest because i don't want to sound like it's garbage, it has a few moments next to the action scenes. I'm just saying that with a bit more budget it could've been better.

The survivalist horror film genre, the concept of humans hunting other humans, for whatever purpose, never strays onto the path of uniformity. While the undercurrent motive remains largely very similar, it is a well presented and interesting genre. Classics such as Turkey Shoot (1982), The Running Man (1987), Hard Target (1993) and the greats' that are Battle Royale (2000), Predators (2010) and Hunger Games (2012) do show that there is variation, imagination and interest in this particular genre.

Director, writer and editor Thomas Szczepanski has tipped his toe within this genre pool and has given a slightly surprising attempt at human confliction. Alex, a small-time reporter is under pressure to find that big scoop and with the sleazy backdrop of porn shops and strippers comes across an extremely secretive and brutal sport of where those who can afford to pay can afford to play, play that game of cat & mouse. Where the result is death and the rule of the game is there are no rules.

What makes this particular venture interesting is the way in which the unfortunate subjects' are enrolled into this elite den of depravity; kidnapped by feature-less white masked wearing thugs in monochrome outfits. Then after finding themselves tied & gagged with tongues cut out, and forced to, literally, run for their live, with each carrying their own purse of value, whoever slays the rabbit will venture in its worth.

This bears more than a feeling of foreboding; it actually accentuates the power of the situation that this reporter has naively placed himself. The whole experiment toward this genre does a fine job in building a steady rapport with Alex and empathising to his plight with the horrors with which he bears witness.

Being a French production, we should at least feel that we are in for a bloody treat while the production values are cheap and the location settings sparse. Whilst not comparing this expedition to the likes of other French Masters' as Martyrs (2008), La Horde (2009) and La Meute (2010), for example, but The Hunt does have its own values in shock, repulsion and bloodstained sequences to match the biggest of budgets. What also propels this feature further is the musical score by Fabio Poujouly, which really drives the action and sickening predicaments to another level and gels the fear and butchery together.

An independent venture, The Hunt is not a bad attempt, and too, not a poor one either, with seemingly restrictive finances it does do what it can in that it repels and disgusts, and thus, too, by doing its utmost to entertain becomes another drop in the ocean of the survivalist horror film genre.

THE HUNT is another attempt at a MOST DANGEROUS GAME style storyline, in which unsuspecting humans are hunted through the woods by a pack of sadistic predators. As a French film it has more in common with the extreme likes of FRONTIERS and MARTYRS than the classics of the genre (and I include the great Van Damme action flick HARD TARGET in that category).

Unfortunately, it's not very good, with an all-too-familiar script that detracts from the experience. The focus on sadism merely highlights the shortcomings found elsewhere in the movie. The 'game' find themselves with their tongues cut off in an early scene and it gets worse from there. The bloodshed is mean-spirited and unpleasant, but it can't hide the lack of film-making talent and the almost non-existent script. THE HUNT ably paints a disturbing picture of humankind at its worst but it doesn't have the requisite elements to make it feel like a proper movie at all.