Night of the Hunted

"Night of the Hunted" is a 2023 survival horror film that delivers a tense and suspenseful cinematic experience. The film follows Alice, a young woman whose road trip takes a terrifying turn when she stops at a desolate gas station in the middle of the night. She soon finds herself trapped in a deadly game of cat-and-mouse with a skilled sniper who is determined to hunt her down.

The film masterfully builds suspense, utilizing the isolated setting and the looming threat of the unseen sniper to create a palpable sense of dread. The tension is further heightened by the protagonist's vulnerability and the limited options available to her as she desperately tries to evade her pursuer.

"Night of the Hunted" is a character-driven thriller that explores themes of survival, resilience, and the human will to overcome adversity. Alice, portrayed with a compelling mix of fear and determination, is a relatable protagonist whose struggle to survive captivates the audience. The film's focus on her inner strength and resourcefulness in the face of danger makes her a compelling character to root for.

While some may find the film's pacing to be slow-burn, it ultimately pays off with a gripping and suspenseful climax. The film's minimalist approach, with its focus on the psychological and physical terror experienced by the protagonist, is a refreshing departure from the typical jump-scare driven horror films.

"Night of the Hunted" is a chilling and thought-provoking thriller that will leave viewers on the edge of their seats. It's a must-watch for fans of suspenseful thrillers and those seeking a cinematic experience that will stay with them long after the credits roll.

What is it these days with making characters so unlikable, and so pathetically entitled, particularly in horror/thrillers where you are supposed to want them to survive!?

It fails in the basic task of creating a 'good' character you root for against a 'bad' character that you want to see fail and/or die.

The 'good' character here is actually written as a unpleasant, rude, obnoxious, man-hating woman who we discover is cheating on her supportive (apparently 'too nice') husband, who wants kids and thinks she's seeing a fertility doctor, with a co-worker who she appears to hold in equal contempt. She mentions on multiple occasions her disdain for men, and that is apparently her reason for not wanting kids, but lying to her husband that she does while cheating on him with another man - makes sense huh? She has no redeeming characteristics despite attempts to give her some redeeming situations, and at no point did I actually want her to survive.

Their idea for the 'bad' character was a feeling-hard-done-by right-wing anti-vaxxer conspiracy theorist who decides to kill innocent people and reinforce the stereotypes he apparently despises. It's almost comical how little effort was made, even if you find those kind of people ridiculous and dislikable. He isn't at all threatening or scary, just a childish idiot who got off Twitter and decided to kill people in a gas station in the middle of the night.

Some failed attempts are made to try to link the antagonist to the protagonist with her working for a pharmaceutical company and him hating "big pharma" companies and their employees, but it's all rather nonsensical.

Despite this, after switching off my brain, I weirdly found myself enjoying the overall premise of the film, and it could have been much better with more imaginative script-writers, but I don't think you'll find it particularly suspenseful or engaging so unless you can enjoy a film even when it's ridiculous you'll probably be more likely to dislike this as much as you do the characters within it.

I have to be honest, this was not my favorite... there was just a lot of things that didn't work for me.

It felt like this movie was three hours long with very slow pacing and was quite repetitive in nature. The acting also generally didn't help, it wasn't the best on anyone's part and there wasn't a likable or redeemable character to enjoy. Also the amount of suspension of disbelieve required to navigate your way through this plot is hearty. But what really got me about this movie was the message/point.

It got to be extremely preachy, talking about all of these modern day issues... like, ALL of them. It felt like it was taking itself very seriously and thought that they were being very clever and woke while simultaneously not really saying or doing anything of substance. It touched on 101 different topics and issues, but none of them felt like the main premise. It also then left us completely and utterly unfulfilled in the end.

All of this added up begs the question, what was the point? I hate saying this about movies but it felt like a bit of a waste of time. It wasn't total trash but I would not recommend.

Again, another gas station movie. Again, another shooter movie. Again, at night. Again, nobody comes to the rescue. Again, same lame conversations. Again, the movie starts interesting but in 10 minutes everything starts to fell apart. Again, you know what is going to happen because you have watched this movie several other times. Again, this movie isn't realistic because people here act like robots. Again, the movie ends as many others. Honestly, I don't understand why independent movies are not risky anymore. This one is an example.

So, consequently you can skip this movie again, and follow with your life. Again. Happy Halloween.

I am a big fan isolation horror and really enjoy movies that take place in a single location. That is if the writing is good and the payoff is worth it. That was not the case with Night of the Hunted. A nihilistic, predictable and ultimately bland thriller set inside a gas station.

Without going into too much detail, the plot revolves around Alice, a selfish but resourceful pharma executive who gets attacked by a sniper while getting gas in the middle of the night.

What follows is a run of the mill cat and mouse thriller without any real original ideas. Alice is unlikable at best, though she does use some very clever ways of avoiding the shooter.

When you have an isolation horror movie like this, the script has to be really good and that is just not the case here. The movie never decides on what it wants to say. It's filled with philosophic monologues about trauma, personal loss, conspiracies and it just goes on and on and on. It's as if the writers couldn't decide which social issue they wanted to tackle, so they just tried to tackle all of them with vague conversations that go nowhere.

It's competently shot though generally uninteresting in it's cinematography. The acting is okay, with Camille Rowe giving a passable performance. The shooter was pretty bad all around with a monotone voice throughout that wears thin pretty quickly. It's not Keifer Sutherland, thats for sure.

One thing I did like about this movie was the practical effects. There didn't seem to be much CGI blood or gore, which is rare these days.